What's this? It's almost as if... I've got a consistent updating schedule. Who would have thought. Can't make any promises about the next chapter though, work is really up and down with how busy it is. The previous two weeks were just, ugh.

This chapter is a bit angsty, too... It was inevitable, I guess. Nothing to warn you about though.

Oh, and I finally found a theme song for this fic! Not that I've exactly been looking, but I went on Spotify's Top 50 Viral Sweden list (there's some weird stuff in there I tell ya) and just clicked on all the previews and... there it was. THE song. It's called "Rise Again" by Gustaf & Viktor Norén. I had no idea who they were but they're brothers apparently. Give it a listen if you want! If you do, I think you'll figure out why it fits. I really like Swedish music nowadays. After Avicii came around we just got some good vibes going on. If you ignore the weird meme-ish DJs. Anyway, I felt the song was particularly fitting for this and the previous chapter :3

Also... it's my birthday on Sunday. I've been wondering if I can finish this fic before I turn 30 - and on Sunday the one year countdown begins! Let's see if I manage *sweats*. I have no idea what I'll do when I finish this fic though. I've already reached a part I thought was waaay in the future haha. Not sure how to deal with it!

Posted a new oneshot too if anyone's interested, a simple figure skater/hockey player au! It's only on ao3 though. I'm not posting anything new here on ff.

Chapter 44: Without you

xxx

As they materialized in the Konoha they belonged to, several things happened all at once. All his clones' memories burst inside his head like a giant soap bubble. The kyuubi's sinister chakra could be felt crackling in the air, causing Kurama to hiss.

The beat connecting him and Sasuke disappeared.

He swayed, grabbing Sakura for balance. Cluthing his chest, he shook his head against the weird ringing in his ears, something he couldn't attribute to either his clones or the kyuubi, but-

Your sage chakra is back, Kurama growled, and Naruto sucked in a breath. It felt like someone had grabbed him and held him sideways, the chakra rushing through him, as if it had been locked up somewhere and now broke free of its own will.

"What the," he mumbled, shaking his limbs one after the other to get rid of the tingling.

There wasn't time to think about the other stuff. Menma must have reached the village by now, the sound of the kyuubi's tails crashing into things reaching them.

"Naruto!" Sakura called, her hands glowing green over Obito's chest again. "Hurry!"

Creating a clone to stay with Sakura he then braced himself, and teleported to a mark he'd left on the wall surrounding the village. It was one of many, but his guess had been correct. Menma – or rather, the kyuubi, with an unconscious Menma hanging from one shoulder – clawed at the main gate leading into the village. It turned towards him, opening its mouth, sharp teeth boiling with red chakra.

Well, let's get this shit-show started, Kurama said, not sounding nearly as excited as he'd been when fighting Gaara.

Naruto transformed into full kyuubi mode, Kurama glowing yellow underneath him. Chakra arms shot from his back, sinking into the kyuubi to hold it down, Kurama speeding forwards, his jaw closing around the kyuubi's throat with a crunching noise.

"Fuck," Naruto muttered as part of the wall broke into rubble, the kyuubi's tails crashing into it.

If he didn't get Menma away from there, it would be a nightmare to rebuild stuff again.

"Kurama, we're gonna have to teleport back to the training grounds," he shouted, making sure his chakra arms were holding onto both Menma and the kyuubi.

"Are you insane?" Kurama spat, but Naruto didn't spare the time to reply before he heaved them all through space and back where they came from. "Right, don't know why I even asked."

He felt the sage chakra surge through him, replacing his own as he'd lost most of it to teleporting them. His clone had run in the opposite direction of the village and slapped a teleportation mark on the ground, hopefully far enough away from Sakura and Obito that they wouldn't get caught in the crossfire.

There was no point in dragging this out. The kyuubi howled, the shockwave knocking over trees, Kurama's fur slicked back against his body as Naruto held onto him. He considered his options, discarding anything that might actually hurt Menma.

"He's stronger than last time," Kurama commented, body braced against a possible attack. "This could get tricky."

"We need to make sure he stays in one piece or both Sasukes are going to kill me. Just hold him down, I've got an idea."

The howl turned into the gathering of chakra, a black, swirling bomb taking shape inside its jaws. Kurama charged, barreling into its chest, the chakra poofing into nothingness. Naruto barely stayed on as they rolled around, a cloud of dust and debris billowing around them. He coughed, creating three clones and throwing them onto the kyuubi's back. The three of them shaped a giant rasengan between them, smashing it between its shoulder blades. It shouldn't actually hurt Menma – he hoped.

"Good one!" Kurama shouted, throwing himself into the fray before the rasengan had even properly sizzled out.

His paws landed on the kyuubi's neck and head, leaving space for Menma's body. Naruto jumped down, grabbing his alter ego and shoving his shirt out of the way. Spreading the fingers of his right hand, he gathered the right type of chakra and pressed down on Menma's skin.

The seal flared up, black ink swirling as he twisted his fingers, feeling his chakra surge into it. Menma's back arched, arms and head limp, and then the kyuubi shimmered and disappeared inside him again. He let out a heavy breath, both of them landing softly on one of Kurama's tails. Not that the ground was that far down, but he appreciated the gesture.

"Looks in one piece to me," Kurama said, staring with a bored expression as Naruto checked Menma over for any obvious injuries. "Why didn't you just do the same thing to Gaara?"

"I didn't know what seal they'd used for him," he muttered back, relieved when Menma was at least breathing with all limbs intact.

"So what? With the sage chakra you could have just- Oh. Right. You didn't have the sage chakra."

Sending a look over his shoulder, because really, Naruto then picked Menma up and resigned himself to carrying him over to Sakura.

"Did you leave your brain back in the other dimension?" he asked, narrowly avoiding a tail as it tried to crush him.

"I'm not the one barely holding it together."

Naruto tensed, fingers digging into Menma's arm and leg. With the heat of the battle gone, the hollow space in his chest ached more with each heartbeat. He told himself it was only temporary. It didn't mean Sasuke was in danger. Maybe they just needed to be in the same dimension for it to work.

Not that it made him feel any better.

"Come on, I'll carry you back," Kurama offered, in a rare display of thoughtfulness.

"Thanks, but you'll just trample the whole area even more than you already did."

"Oi."

With a huff, Kurama faded out of sight, Naruto's chakra cloak disappearing with him. He stood for a moment, staring down at Menma's face. He looked terrible. Even unconscious his expression was tormented, face too pale. He tried not to think of Charasuke, crying with worry. And what about his parents? He had no idea if they'd been told, since they were still away on a mission.

At least Menma was okay, for now.

He didn't want to care about him, or that other world. Muttering to himself he started walking towards the village, gritting his teeth with each step as he tried to ignore the fear threatening to take hold of him.

He'd get back to Sakura, have her bring them to the other dimension, and then… Then what?

Naruto didn't know the answer to that question.

xxx

When Naruto returned he was carrying Menma bridal style, looking for all the world like he'd been out on a normal morning stroll if it weren't for the tension drawn on his face. Well, that and the fact that his copy was unconscious, and definitely looked a bit worse for wear.

She met him halfway through the clearing, medic nin first and concerned friend second. The longer she could push away what she saw earlier the better.

"I don't think he's hurt," Naruto said, lowering Menma to the ground and sitting down next to him. "Am I really this heavy?"

Ignoring his question she ran her hands back and forth over Menma, finding no injuries that needed immediate treatment. Him being unconscious was most likely due to the strain that the kyuubi had put on him, the way Naruto would pass out before he'd gained control of it.

"He should be fine," she sighed, daring a look towards Naruto.

He sat cross-legged, one elbow propped up on his knee, chin resting in his palm. There was nothing relaxed about the pose, however, and he eyed Menma like one might eye an irritated snake.

"Great. Let's get going, then. If Obito's ready yet, I mean."

She swallowed, hunching over Menma's body. How was she going to tell him? It was bad enough that Naruto had trusted her, had been forced to come with her on a moment's notice. No matter what Naruto's feelings towards Sasuke could be labeled as, she knew it would break him. Sasuke leaving had broken them both. Now, it was her fault that Sasuke couldn't be reached.

"Sakura-chan?"

"Obito… he can't…" She swallowed, fists clenching over his thighs. "He said he can't reach the other dimension. It's blocked."

Naruto was silent. The kind of silent where you can't breathe, for fear of breaking it. She had to, anyway, sucking in a gasp and biting her lips to keep it inside. She couldn't afford to cry, didn't want to cry, but just imagining the look on Naruto's face…

She glanced up, meeting his eyes.

There was a resignation in them she hadn't expected. A lack of fight that shouldn't be there.

"Maybe it's only temporary–" she started, but Naruto shook his head, blond strands of hair swinging with the movement.

"Spare me," he said, voice quiet.

It was worse than anger. So much worse, her chest squeezing painfully as he stood up, staring down at Menma with an unreadable look in his eyes. She hated that look on him. It reminded her of the truth, of the past, of the fact that he had lost so much. Naruto never shared much with her, he bottled it all up and put on a bright smile, and they needed him to. Now, more than ever, they needed him to pave the road ahead, to make everything look possible.

Like he'd done this whole year.

She wanted to say something. Comfort him. Tell him she would fix it, somehow.

The words wouldn't come out.

Naruto heaved a sigh, lifting his head to look at something behind her. When she turned around, she found several ninja appearing from the trees. Kakashi was first, looking as bored as ever. Konohamaru was by his side, rushing past him the moment he saw Naruto.

"Naruto!" he yelled, launching himself through the air and practically tackling him. "You're back! You're actually back!"

At least it brought a tiny smile to Naruto's lips, and he ruffled Konohamaru's hair after pushing him off.

"I sure am," he said, and the shadow passing over his face was like a knife twisting in Sakura's chest.

"Well, that was eventful," Kakashi said as he reached them, ANBU guard following closely behind. "Where's Sasuke?"

Sakura dropped her gaze to the ground, her body feeling heavy. It felt like after Sasuke had left, his name taboo, instantly causing them both to slump in depression.

"He's still in the other dimension," Naruto said, something about the way he said it leaving no room for discussion. "We should get Menma to the hospital. Let's go somewhere else to catch up."

No one questioned Naruto's orders, one of the ANBU guards – Sai – walking over to pick up Menma's limp body.

"Nice to see you again, dickless," Sai mumbled, Naruto's mouth twitching at the nickname.

"Don't make me hit you first thing," he said, though there was no heat behind the words. "And don't do anything weird to him."

Even with a mask covering his face, Sai's fake smile could be felt. He turned and left, another ANBU guard following him.

"We should hurry after them," Kakashi said, glancing between her and Naruto. "By now the news should have spread that you're back."

"Obviously," Konohamaru snorted. "Everyone could see you and Kurama take on Menma."

Kakashi tilted his head at one of the two remaining ANBU, and she headed over to where Obito rested against a tree. They moved quickly, Konohamaru attempting to barrage Naruto with questions about the other dimension. Naruto kept telling him they'd talk later, eventually snapping at him. It left the mood slightly sour, and it only worsened as they reached the village.

A large part of the wall had been torn down, a few buildings wrecked. There was a crowd gathered, ninjas and civilians alike, but she couldn't see anyone injured.

"Menma didn't head into the village," Kakashi told them as they jumped over the rubble, heading for Shikamaru. "He kept clawing at the wall and howling at the sky."

Shikamaru nodded at them as they reached him, sharp eyes scanning Naruto for a moment.

"Took you long enough," he told Naruto, hands shoved into pockets. "Clean-up is underway already, so there's no point attracting attention."

The last word was coupled with another look at Naruto, this time making a point of his robe. Sakura hadn't thought about it, but she supposed he was wearing a rather eye-catching outfit. She'd never seen him in white before. He looked a lot more like his dad, and less like the orange-clad loud troublemaker she grew up with.

"I didn't exactly dress for a fight," Naruto muttered, sighing as he ran a hand through his hair, pushing his fringe out of his eyes. "Come on, let's get this over with."

If he noticed everyone's surprised looks, he didn't show it. He acted like he wanted to be anywhere but here right now, and Sakura felt another stab to her chest. Even in serious situations Naruto was never far from a joke, never too tense to yell back. More concerning than anything else was how he didn't seem happy to see them again.

She knew why. She just didn't want to think about it.

When Shikamaru glanced at her as Naruto walked past them, she avoided his eyes. A lot of things were hanging by a thread, and she could tell that he was trying to re-calculate for these new circumstances.

Tsunade's office was empty when they reached it. While Kakashi went for her chair, sitting down with a grimace at all the paperwork littering the desk, Sakura walked over to a window. She stared out over the village, the sight still a bit unfamiliar, new buildings where old ones used to stand. It must have been weird to be in the other dimension, she thought, where everything might still look like it used to.

It was just her, Kakashi, Naruto, and Shikamaru. Konohamaru had been sternly ushered away by Kakashi despite loud protests, and the last ANBU guard had disappeared somewhere. Probably to stand guard outside. Or letting Tsunade know where they were.

"Alright," Kakashi said, and Sakura reluctantly turned around. "So Sakura was right about where you were. Feel free to explain what's going on."

Naruto, however, had walked over to his own desk placed by the wall. He rifled through the papers, messing up the neat order they'd been in. She'd organized them for him, in a bout of desperation.

"The least you could have done was not leave me with all this shit," he said, frowning at something particularly offending written on a page. "I still don't know what this one means…"

"Naruto."

Kakashi's urging tone made him huff, crumpling the papers and throwing them on the desk. He stood for a moment, back towards them, before he spun around and crossed his arms.

"You're not gonna enjoy it," he told them, leaning back on the edge of the desk. "And it's not like I know the why and how, anyway. But yeah, we somehow ended up in that other dimension where Sakura-chan and I went once because of Obito. We didn't know how to get back, so…"

He shrugged, but the movement was stiff.

"And Sasuke is still there," Shikamaru said, not needing to phrase it as a question. "When Obito recovers I'm assuming we'll switch him and Menma?"

Naruto's face hardened, and Sakura could feel his eyes on her.

"Obito is fine," she said, swallowing down the lump in her throat. "But he… lost the connection. He said it's blocked, somehow, and he can't reach it."

Silence filled the room, a heavy, suffocating thing. She stared at the floor, eyes burning. Even though she knew that Sasuke was fine, even though he could surely take care of himself, it felt as if Naruto's pain echoed through the room. He and Sasuke had been inseparable, happiness shining in Naruto's eyes each time they landed on him.

They had all secretly feared a day where they were separated again. By force, by choice – either way, neither of them wanted to imagine Naruto's pain if it happened. They had all tiptoed around Sasuke, worried he would change his mind.

"It's alright," Naruto said, even though he couldn't hide the tension in his voice. "I asked him to stay there. And to keep it short, we've met with their world's Kaguya, something or someone tried to capture Menma and Gaara using white Zetsus, clearly they managed with Menma even though he ended up here through a portal of some kind. Everything's peaceful there otherwise, but it seems that Kaguya is involved somehow even though she's not evil."

He paused, and Sakura didn't know what to think. That at least explained the bodies of white Zetsu she'd found with Menma.

"You'd think it was enough that you fought a god once," Shikamaru sighed, shuffling over to lean against Naruto's desk as well, shoulders bumping. "Alright, let's go through it all in detail and see what I can come up with."

Naruto looked at him, then at Sakura, meeting her gaze with something close to guilt.

"Yeah," he said. "Sure."

The door banged open, causing them all to jump and spin around. Tsunade stood in the opening, Shizune nervously peeking around her shoulder.

"Brat," she said, then stomped over to Naruto and enveloped him in a crushing hug. "When are you going to stop getting yourself in trouble?!"

There were muffled noises of protest, and he coughed a bit as she released him. She held him by the arms, eyeing him up and down. Sakura shuddered a little at the anger radiating off her – though hopefully she would calm down when she realized he hadn't simply run off with Sasuke. Despite their best efforts, rumors had spread about their disappearance. It couldn't be a coincidence that they left the day before Sasuke was being reinstated as a ninja of Konoha. Anything from assassinations to Sasuke convincing Naruto to turn on the village. But as time went on with no news, people had grown suspicious and distrustful.

It was a relief in that sense that Naruto had returned.

"I didn't even do anything!" Naruto complained once he'd caught his breath.

"We were just about to go through what he's been up to," Kakashi offered, rising from the chair and lazily stretching before offering her the seat. Sometimes she admired his bravery. Other times she thought he just did it to show how ill-suited he'd be as Hokage. "You didn't really miss much."

Tsunade cleared her throat in warning, but headed for her desk, dragging Naruto behind her as he protested and flailed his arms.

"Baa-chan!" he groaned, rubbing his ear and pouting as she sank down in the chair.

She ignored him, reaching down for a drawer in the desk and taking out a bottle of sake.

"Tsunade-same, please," Shizune tried in vain. "We've talked about this."

Waving her off, Tsunade pointed at Naruto.

"Talk, brat."

His glare was vicious, but, surprisingly, Naruto did as told.

xxx

There was a layer of dust in his apartment that usually wouldn't bother him. There had been a time when he travelled a lot, and cleaning was the first thing he had to do as he got back. (Or maybe second thing, usually he shook the dust off his sheets and promptly fell asleep first).

This time it felt wrong.

Maybe wrong was the wrong word. He felt out of touch with himself. Like his soul was left in that other dimension, and he was seeing things through a clone. Though, it was obvious that someone had been here after he left. The mess he remembered leaving on the kitchen table wasn't there anymore, and his fridge was empty save for a few things with long expiration dates. He'd bought a bunch of fresh foods the day before they disappeared, just so he could convince Sasuke to stay over that night.

He wondered if he would have realized his feelings if they'd never left.

Maybe at some point.

He located a duster and the broom, and set about the mindless task of ridding the place of dust. It was better if he didn't think. Even now, rage simmered underneath his skin, causing his movements to be jerky at times. A shirt Sasuke had forgotten on the couch ended up in his pile of laundry. He did the dishes. Before starting, he had carefully peeled off his new clothes and put them in his closet, safe from the dust layer, instead pulling on a pair of threadbare sweatpants and a t-shirt with the Uzumaki swirl in the middle.

At one point he turned around to yell at Sasuke for dropping a pile of scrolls haphazardly on a shelf, only to remember there was an entire dimension of distance between them.

He gritted his teeth and kept going.

It took a while, what with him going as far as to scrub down the bathtub and sort through the mountain of paperwork spilled all over his desk. When a knock sounded at his door, his sigh of relief caught on the lump in his throat.

"Sakura-chan," he mumbled as he opened it and saw his teammate standing there, pink hair tied up, still in the same clothes as before.

"Can I come in?" she asked, steps hesitant as Naruto backed into his hallway to make room for her. "I just wanted to check on you."

"Alright."

Turning, so he wouldn't need to see the worry in her eyes longer than necessary, he led the way into the kitchen. He found some green tea powder and heated up water for it, staring at the kettle with tense shoulders. She didn't say anything, but he could tell that she wanted to.

When he at last placed two cups on the table, sitting down opposite of her, she rubbed a tired hand over her face and accepted the offered one with a small smile.

"You don't even like green tea much," she said, and Naruto looked out the window, ignoring the squeeze to his lungs. "I'm sorry."

He shrugged. It wouldn't change anything. He'd known, somewhere in the back of his mind, that he couldn't count on going back right away. It wasn't Sakura's fault. Not entirely, anyway.

"I…" she started, hands loosely wrapped around the steaming cup as Naruto glanced at her.

"You don't have to say anything."

She looked up, gaze piercing the side of his head until he felt compelled to turn and meet her eyes. The look in them was determined.

"I think I have to say this."

Naruto thinned his mouth into a line, but he stayed facing her, waiting.

"Menma told Konohamaru that you and Sasuke were… together, I suppose. I didn't want to believe it. But you are, aren't you?"

"Yes."

It was such a simple word, and yet Naruto's throat felt dry as he said it, fingers pressed into the tabletop. She didn't look mad, like he'd thought she would, but she didn't look happy either.

"How long?"

"Not long at all."

She nodded, eyes flickering down to her hands. She seemed to think for a moment, a frown on her face. Realizing he was holding his breath, Naruto took a sip of his tea, grimacing at the scalding temperature. He should have made it cold instead. At least it shook some of the tension out of him, and he rolled his shoulders to get rid of some more.

"Why?"

"Why what?" he parroted back, leaning back with crossed arms as she glared a hole in the table.

"Why would you…" she trailed off, making a vague gesture with a hand.

He stayed silent.

"You kissed him," she blurted out, clenching her fists and putting them down on her lap. "I just couldn't believe it but then you-"

Something in his chest started hurting. He knew that Sakura had feelings for Sasuke – maybe not the same as when they were kids, and maybe not to the point where she wanted a relationship with him. But there had always been something in the way she acted around him, like she was waiting for him to turn around and acknowledge her as a woman, not just a teammate.

He had tried not to think about it. Kakashi was the one who had pointed it out to him, when Naruto had complained that things still seemed so stiff between Sasuke and Sakura. He had said it a bit jokingly, in the same breath he'd mentioned that there was a bet going around when Naruto would finally accept Hinata's confession.

He wondered if anyone knew he'd already rejected her.

"I love him," he said, and even though the feeling was easy, the words came out defensively. "I didn't expect us to… you know. But this is what I want."

She looked at him again, and it was weird to see her face when he'd sort of gotten used to the other Sakura the past few weeks. There was something pained in her expression, even though she clearly tried to hide it.

"You're going to be the Hokage," she said, after a long pause. "How are you going to…"

Sucking in a breath, she slammed a fist onto the table, startling him bad enough that he almost fell out of the chair. There was a crack running along the wood now, and she unclenched her fist to splay her palm over it.

"Is it making him happy?" she demanded, looking a second away from grabbing the front of his shirt to shake him. "Is it what he wants?"

Well. That was a simple enough question to answer.

"It's the only thing he wants. If I had to choose-"

He bit his lips, then stood up. The chair protested loudly as he pushed it back, but once standing he wasn't sure what to do.

"I've always chosen him first. You know that."

"…yeah." She sighed, dropping her face into her hands for a moment before standing up as well, going around the table to stand in front of him. "People won't be happy if they find out, you know."

"When they find out."

Narrowing her eyes, she reached out and squeezed his arm.

"Don't be an idiot. You can't just announce it and think there won't be chaos. He was barely pardoned, if they think he manipulated you into-"

"Well he didn't manipulate me!"

They glared at each other. Naruto wasn't sure why he felt so angry, but Sakura wasn't backing down.

"If I'm having trouble accepting this, what do you think other people will do? There are a lot of people who would like to see him gone. You can't fight all of them all the time."

"You don't have to accept anything," he muttered, shoving her hand away. "I don't need your permission. And I'm not so sure I want to be Hokage anymore."

He hadn't meant to let the last part slip out. Sakura's eyes widened, searching his face worriedly.

"But it's been your dream since forever! And we need you, Naruto. There's finally peace, but everything is so fragile. If people can't follow you anymore-"

"Shut up."

She gaped at him, only now seeming to notice the cold fury bristling under his skin. He couldn't listen to another word. It was tearing him apart – as if he didn't know already. Outside, the sky was reddening with sunset, and he had to face the night without Sasuke. He didn't want to face it with these thoughts spinning through his mind, too.

"Can we not talk about this right now?" He shifted his weight between his feet, restless. "I know already."

"Well," Sakura started, wilting a little. "You just seemed so intent on telling everyone."

He looked at her, at the pleading expression on her face, the dark circles under her eyes. She looked like a stranger. It made him think of when she decided to kill Sasuke on her own. Would she do it now? Would she make sure that Sasuke died, if he stood between Naruto and the Hokage seat?

The thought made him feel sick.

That Sasuke had stayed in the other world was now a relief, not only because of Kaguya's vague promise. Was this what she'd meant? He could handle the threat of an enemy, some unknown force wanting the both of them gone.

How was he supposed to deal with his friends wanting the same? Because if Sasuke died, Naruto would not become the Hokage. He couldn't do it alone. Not anymore.

Not if the very village he had sworn to protect was the reason for it.

"Sakura," he said, weighing his words carefully. He took a step closer to her, lifting a hand to touch the side of her face, the same side where Sasuke's kunai had nicked his own cheek when he saved her back then. "It doesn't matter if Sasuke and I are in a relationship or not… If you touch him, if anyone in this village touches him…"

She swallowed, staring up at him with fear in her eyes. He didn't want to frighten her, but he couldn't lie, either.

"How can you be so sure that I won't turn on you?"

"What…?" Her lips parted around the word, breath hitching as he cupped her face, thumb pressing into her cheek.

"You and I know the truth about Sasuke and what happened to him. What people in this village did to him, to me. And I want to look past it, I want to build a better world where it won't happen again. I think we can do it."

He paused, emotions warring inside his body, still. He had once made peace with his darker side, with the resentment, the fear, the anger. He had made peace with Kurama, who had caused his parents' deaths. The world wasn't black or white. Choosing to do the right thing… how can you be sure that the right thing doesn't hurt people? How can you be sure that it's the right thing to do, despite hurting people? How can you be sure, when you've seen something different, and it hadn't been violent at all?

But there was one thing he did know.

"If something happens to Sasuke, I'm going to find out who is responsible, and I'm going to make their last moments on earth extremely painful. Do you understand, Sakura-chan? If his existence is a threat, it's only because his death would drive me mad."

Sakura gripped his wrist, face paling.

"What's going on?" she whispered, taking a step back. "I know you've lost control before, but this is-"

"This is me having something to lose."

They stared at each other, the silence suffocating.

"I don't feel like myself right now," he added, sighing as he let go of her and took a step back, running his hand through his hair instead. The tension broke with it, though Sakura hugged herself and turned half away from him. "I'm just tired, I guess. Things were finally calming down…"

"I'll support you," Sakura said, biting her lower lip for a moment. "I'm not exactly happy, but I don't want this to come between us. And you look like you're on the verge of tearing the village apart if someone so much as mentions Sasuke's name in the wrong way."

"Haven't I always," he half joked, a wry smile on his face.

She smiled back, hesitantly.

"I still think we need to be careful," she told him, holding up a hand when Naruto's mouth opened in protest. "For Sasuke's sake. You always rush into things, Naruto. And besides…"

Naruto bit back his words, shoving his hands into his pockets, clenching them.

You know, I agree with her for once, Kurama mused inside his head. You can deal with the village when this whole crazy business is over.

"We've already been working on a plan to replace the council."

"You've what?" he asked, confused at the sudden change.

She waved at the chair, waiting until he sat down again before continuing.

"I don't want to make it sound like we've been scheming without you-"

"But you've been scheming without me, is that what you're saying?"

Huffing, she leaned against the table with her hip, clasping her hands in front of her. Naruto didn't know what to think. His knee bounced as he tried to catch her eyes.

"There's still a lot of people left who agreed with Danzo. Well, you know that. They were the ones most vocal about not letting Sasuke roam free in the village again."

He nodded, frowning. Where was she going with this? He was going to deal with them when he became Hokage, but for now they hadn't been causing much trouble.

"After you disappeared, we thought that maybe they were behind it. We had to check any possible leads, I mean, it's not like we could have known there was a whole plot in a different dimension." Glancing at him, she took a deep breath before speaking again. "We found out they'd been planning to assassinate Sasuke on the night of your birthday."

Something cold washed over him, but Sakura didn't look too bothered.

"They wouldn't have succeeded," she said, a hard look passing over her face. "It wasn't a very good plan. Maybe they didn't care about succeeding, anyway. Shikamaru thinks they might be trying to undermine you as future Hokage, to make sure we choose someone else."

"Oh." He rubbed his palms over his thighs, ignoring the itch to punch something. "Is that why you…?"

She gave him a sad look, and for a moment he felt terrible about doubting her.

"I shouldn't have said it in a way that made you think I don't want you to be happy. It's just… Everything is a mess here at the moment. In that sense, you and Sasuke, well, it's not good news. Things will just get harder. And I- well."

"You like him."

There was no point in beating around the bush, he thought. He was already a whirlwind of emotion, might as well get it out there. Sakura stared down at the floor, her silence all the confirmation he needed.

"I'm sorry," he said. "He's never going to feel that way about you."

She closed her eyes, breath hitching. She forced another breath inside, slowly letting it out.

"I should have known," she mumbled, and Naruto wanted to comfort her somehow, but didn't think she would want him to. "It's probably better like this, now I don't have to embarrass myself and tell him."

"He cares about you, you know. Just-"

"Not like that," she finished for him, rubbing at her eyes. "Today's been pretty shit, hasn't it."

"Yeah."

"No wonder I'm always a step behind you two," she said, laughing through the tears. "I was never going to reach him."

His heart ached for her, but selfishly he couldn't feel bad. Her life was so different from theirs that she could never truly understand.

"You're still part of team seven." He reached out and pressed his fist against her arm, trying his best to smile. "And you're not behind us, you're just walking a different path."

Her eyes widened, the quiet sobs pausing. Surprise turned into a smile, a real one this time, shining through the hurt.

"Maybe you're right."

"I'm always right!"

She shook her head, grasping his wrist and squeezing it once, before pushing his fist back towards him.

"I'm glad you're back," she whispered. "Please don't do anything rash, okay?"

"Sure," he said, heaving a sigh. "I've never acted rashly in my entire life."

"You're starting to sound like Sasuke."

Surprised, he blinked at her. There was an unreadable look on her face, like she was trying not to show her thoughts. Now that he thought about it, it did sound like something he would say. Snarky bastard.

"Huh. Anyway, you can tell me about your scheme and stuff tomorrow, I'm going to pass out in bed I think."

"It's been a long day," Sakura agreed, taking a few steps back. "Let's regroup tomorrow and see what Shikamaru has to say. And if Menma is awake by then we might get something out of him, too."

Naruto nodded, waving at her as she left. His apartment felt even emptier after the door closed.

You're so miserable that even I feel miserable, Kurama said.

Heading over to his bedroom, Naruto laid down in bed and closed his eyes. When he opened them again he stood in front of Kurama, the fox resting his head on his giant paws. Not really thinking about it, he closed the distance between them and jumped on top of Kurama's back, dropping down with a grunt, feeling the coarse fur tickle his hands and neck.

"Oh, come on," Kurama said, tails swishing. "You're not going to sleep like this, are you?"

"I'll sleep however I want."

"You should eat something."

"Not hungry."

Kurama growled, shifting and jostling Naruto in the process.

"Go find Iruka or something. Have some Ichiraku ramen. This is just pathetic."

Just the thought of Iruka in this world had him thinking of the other world. Would Sasuke sleep at the orphanage? Was he waiting? Was he as miserable…

He turned on his stomach, burying his face in his arms, ignoring Kurama's huff. There was so much he needed to think about, but his head hurt at the thought of thinking. He'd wanted to say more to Sasuke. He wanted to talk to him now, so badly. He wanted to be able to reach out and touch him.

In hindsight, it was kind of telling that he'd slept pretty badly whenever Sasuke had stayed in his own apartment. He hadn't wanted to be clingy – well, not more than he already was.

Now he knew that Sasuke had wanted him there. That Sasuke didn't think he was clingy at all. That in Sasuke's mind, Naruto burned so brightly that everything else was overshadowed. That Sasuke wanted him to fill every space inside him until nothing could hurt him. As if he'd been slowly corroding, all the pain eating away at him, leaving him hollow. As if Naruto washed the rust away, letting him breathe fresh air again.

It had hurt Naruto to be away from Sasuke, but it had hurt Sasuke so much more.

He knew that Sasuke would have gone with him now, no matter what Kaguya had said. But he'd stayed. He'd allowed Naruto to make the decision, had trusted him. He couldn't break that trust. He had to go back, one way or another. And when he did, he'd tell Sasuke what he was sure of now.

This pain wasn't worth it, the separation from Sasuke wasn't worth it, the thought that other people would disagree with him wasn't worth it.

He would always, always, choose Sasuke first.

A sad Naruto in this chapter :( And I do feel terrible for separating them... Aah I will have to write really fast to reunite them...

A big thank you as always to everyone leaving comments and faves! I'm trying my best to reply to everyone but I'm hopelessly behind and after reading each comment I have to roll around squealing on the floor, so it takes me a while. Very embarrassing. And I'm especially behind here of ff. Sorry OTL. It means a lot though! And thanks to your enthusiasm I will work my hardest. I also love reading your guesses and theories - I think in hindsight you will all go "ah, that was so obvious!" but so far no one has guessed the plot haha. Won't be that long until you all find out, anyway :D

Stay safe everyone! I'll go spend some time on the floor rolling on my foam roller, got some back pain to deal with... old age is coming fast... *cries*