Naruto glanced over at Sasuke, who was standing at the mirror in the hall, checking his eyes.

"C'mon, you'll be fine as long as you don't go berserk." He called, folding his arms behind his head. "Man, your bed is comfortable!"

"Don't get too comfy," Sasuke retorted as he made his way over. He sat down next to the blond and made a noise of approval. "... Although you're right, this is nice."

"Right?" He grinned. "Hey, can you try your Sharingan yet?"

"They sealed it away so that I wouldn't, and I quote," he coughed and made air quotes, "cause undue trouble."

"Well…" The blond seemed a bit doubtful, yet shrugged. "I guess they'd want to limit your power output since you're still healing."

Sasuke just closed his eyes. "If I use them, my nose bleeds. I've already filled a trash can with tissues."

Naruto winced. "Sorry, man."

The exhausted boy just sighed.

"Well, anyway… now that that weird Obito guy is gone, maybe the curse is too?" Naruto pondered aloud. "I mean, your great-grandpa probably had something to do with the curse, since it persisted even after he died."

"Those leaflets that were recovered from the chapel tower claimed that the curse would break when Madara's last link to this world was dead. At least, that's what Itachi told me." He breathed out through his nose and frowned at the window.

The boy's face fell and he touched Sasuke's shoulder. "Hey... don't tell me that you feel like that..."

"I'm not suicidal, idiot," the noiret snapped. "Nor am I that stupid. I got lucky when I found out today that Itachi was able to kick the nightmares. I won't deny that I have thought about it a lot, but I still have too much to live for now that I know I won't have to suffer forever. Besides, I think the curse is broken anyway, so now I have even more to live for."

"Like a certain someone?" Like that, the Namikaze's grin was back, and he nudged Sasuke in the side. "Perhaps a girl with pink hair...?"

Sasuke gave him a hard stare.

Naruto tried to keep up the grin for as long as he could, but eventually he coughed awkwardly and looked away. "You… really hate her, don't you?"

"I can't hate her," he disagreed, looking away with a glower. "She's grown powerful enough."

"Granny did train her well," Naruto nodded with a hum. "I like the new seal! It really brings out her eyes."

Sasuke didn't answer, simply finding the next building over to be very interesting.

"Hey, you know I'm just kidding you." Naruto pointed out. "Anyways, if you do wanna make a move on her, go for it! Hinata actually asked me to try a date with her next week."

"Finally." He sighed, nudging the boy back. "I've been waiting for her to ask you for years."

"Y- you knew before I did?!" He squeaked.

Sasuke sent him a deadpan stare. "When she used to visit with her father when we were children, we'd sit and talk about it. Of course I knew before you did. I'd wager Sakura did too."

"Oh yeah, she did meet Hinata before all of that." He nodded in recollection. "Well, what about you? Does Sakura know?"

"I don't know how I feel anymore," he confessed with a heavy sigh. "I feel like everyone's just lying to me. It's hard to think about my attraction to a girl who, for all we know, is dead already. And Mother and Father are dead… I haven't gotten past that loss yet."

Naruto patted him on the back in sympathy. "Yeah, it doesn't get any better for a while. It stops hurting, but you never forget."

After a few moments of silence, the blond spoke up. "Say, how about you go with her to meet her parents again? She was telling me about going to see her adopted brother. Maybe that'll help a little."

He just turned away.

Naruto heaved a sigh. "Sasuke, after everything we've been through… is this really how it ends? Is this it for us three?"

"It hasn't been 'us' for nearly a decade," he snapped back, eyes glowing red for a second.

It thoroughly creeped out the blond, who scooted a few inches away.

He shook his head. "I can't do this right now, Naruto. I need space."

Naruto was silent for a while, looking him in the face. Finally, he gave him a sincere smile. "I get it, man. Sorry for pushing it. I just… think you need to talk it out, y'know? It hurts to see my friends mad at each other."

He didn't say anything to that.

"How about I bring Hinata for a visit? You two were close."

"I can't bear to see her again," he quietly replied.

"Well… then how about-"

"I'm not going to see Sakura." His voice grew cold. "Drop it, Naruto."

"You have to talk it out sometime!" Naruto insisted angrily. "C'mon, Sasuke. We've been best friends our entire lives. I know you! I know this is killing you inside!"

"What I need is space! From her!" He shouted back. "And if you continue to push me, I'll need space from you too!"

Naruto just stared angrily at him, seething as his shoulders heaved.

Sasuke stared right back, his Sharingan threatening to peek through before he seemed to realize what was happening and blinked rapidly. His eyes remained ink black.

"All I'm asking," Naruto reasoned, "is one meeting. One. That's it. One meeting and I'll get off your back about this."

His best friend didn't reply.

"I know Sakura wouldn't be mad at you, so you wouldn't need to worry about her pummeling you into next week, if that's what you're worried about."

"Please," Sasuke scoffed. "She wouldn't hurt me."

"I'm just saying." Naruto's shoulders slumped, and for the first time, Sasuke could see just how weary he was. Though he had his own apartment now, his eyes had bags underneath and his face held more of a pallor than usual. "Please, Sasuke. Do it for me."

Sasuke studied him for a while before shaking his head. "... Fine, whatever."

The blond's eyes seemed to light up at that, and he grasped the older boy's hands. "Thank you. I'll be back in the morning if you wanna go out and do anything."

"We aren't going to Ichiraku."

"H- how did you even guess I'd say that?!"

A deadpan look made him squawk even more.

Sasuke huffed a laugh at that, and glanced over when a nurse peeked in.

"Visiting hours are over, Naruto," she said with an apologetic smile.

"Yeah, I got it." He nodded to her. "I'll see you later, Teme."

"Hn." Sasuke nodded and watched him leave.

As soon as Naruto was gone and the lights in the hall were turned down to a dimmer setting, he got into bed and stared up at the ceiling.

It was easy to forget the darkness within while someone else was there, but when he was by himself, it began to emerge once more, suffocating him and driving away any iota of hope he had.

Sasuke closed his eyes. "Why, gods? Why did Mother have to die? Why would Father allow himself to be killed?"

Tears spilled over his cheeks and he turned, clutching the pillow as he began to cry.

"I wish Father were here," he thought in anguish. "I would give anything to see him again."