X|||.


Sasuke walks all the way home numbly. He vaguely remembers entering inside his own abode and then walking outside to the balcony. Surrounding him was the lush greenery of his zen garden (日本庭園); with a shrine altar to the side. And in the palm of his hand was a leaf that flew by ever so gently as if it were a flow of water. There were small stone pathways structuring the small rocks and streams of water beside it. They all lead to the outlook of the hokage mountain that stood over the village of Konoha. The wind cascaded through the grass and the crickets were crying at a distance. The moon was high up in the sky.

The Uchiha looked at his koi fish pond one last time. One was a bright yellow; it's gills glistened with oranges and reds. While the other one was black entirely; some blue and white colors here and there. It's fins swished about in the pond. It was kind of symbolic; like him and Naruto. And they were swimming together in unison; like Yin and Yang.

He could still see the training targets he had used over the years from over here. He remembered Itachi teaching him jutsus with them, and swinging kunai after kunai at each and every one of them. He'd always say something about "sorry, Sasuke, maybe some other time" and then Sasuke would pout at having no bonding times with his brother.

If only he had known sooner of what his big brother was capable of...

The cherry blossoms fell around with a slight breeze; reminding Sasuke of his teammate, Sakura. She seemed different these days. Not exactly mellow, but more sure of herself than he had. He sort of envied that about her. How she could live her life to the fullest and carefree without any worries about killing anyone she loved. Because that was who he wanted to be; to just be himself. But, there was this terrible thing called fate. And, unfortunately, he had to abide by it at all costs, even if it meant severing his ties which was just part of the process. But time was nigh. Soon, he would have no choice but to leave behind the village he may have called home in another life. Including Naruto...

The sounds of nature soothed the Uchiha, though, calmed him even. It reminded him of times when his father and mother used to play with him outside. The feeling was bittersweet at best, and sometimes he dreamt of having a family of his own. But that was ignored in favor of trying to grow stronger for the sake of revenge.

From his pocket, he pulled out something miniscule. Sasuke played his bamboo flute at the dead of night; lullabying his Mother's words exactly as if by heart. He hummed bits and pieces of her lyrics, and let the music play for itself. To anyone else, he wouldn't be playing at all. But, by himself…

But here he was alone and at ease. No one to distract him from his goal, no one to save, no one to destroy here. He was all alone, just like he wanted.

He heard something in his house.

It was faint, but he heard it all the same. And it wouldn't be such a problem if the sounds weren't so constant, and after a padding of footsteps, he knew someone was there. Sighing, he shoves his instrument into his pocket once again. And walked inside, closing both the slider and the curtains behind him with a sigh. "Kakashi." He says slowly, shuffling over to said man. "Oh! There you are. He he, what a pleasant surprise. I didn't expect you to be awake this late at night."

His sensei coos with a wave. He was standing in front of the bookcase that the Uchiha knew he had unsealed somehow. "I know what you're doing. If someone outside of the family tries to enter through, they're put under a genjutsu. It only ends once…

"...they watch the ones they love die."

He adds in, not even looking at him. This was awkward enough, being as anti social as he was, but also a topic he couldn't easily talk about. It's not like death was something to poke fun at, because, in all honesty, it wasn't. A shinobi witnessing their ally die in battle is already painful enough to watch; let alone when it's someone they care about. But twice is enough for someone to lose their sanity.

And from his sensei's perspective...Oh. That would explain why he saw a repeat of Obito's death all over again. A shadow covered half of Kakashi's face, obscuring most of his features, though Sasuke didn't see.

"So, spill. What do you want from the Uchiha Library. To the point where you enter inside my house uninvited and try to look into things you shouldn't." The boy crossed his arms, and gave him a serious look that meant no messing around. He was doomed. Kakashi closed his eyes, scratching his chin in thought."Maa, maa. Easy there, Sasuke. All I know is that there's a red moon with the Mangekyou Sharingan over the sky once there's a full moon. I'd like to report this to the hokage, and see if I can find any documents or whatnot around here. It's not asking for too much, is it?" Sasuke shook his head.

"Hnn. And might I ask why, exactly?" Sasuke tapped his foot impatiently. This really wasn't the time or day to go out and solve a mystery, especially when he was interrupted halfway through his song. "Don't you want to know, as well? As a small village, all things, no matter how big or small, are substantial to us. Looking into his might benefit us for the better, you know? Every bit counts!" He added in with a chuckle. The blue boy deadpanned. "Tch, whatever. Do what you want." Sasuke was still peeved that there was no word about what had happened to the blonde. Whether he was alive or dead was uncertain. And that annoyed Sasuke, most of all.

Without even knowing, tears trickled down his cheeks just thinking about him. And Kakashi noticed.

"You know, we can work out your feelings. I know you've been down in the dumps ever since Naruto left. And I'm sure that, wherever he is, he's happy. For you, for himself, for Team Seven. You're not alone on this, Sasuke. I want you to know that." He says, cupping his chin.

The Uchiha's lower lip trembled, and suddenly a floodful of tears spilled out of his eyes.

Without even thinking, he sobs into his chest. Even now, he doesn't know why. Maybe it's because of holding it in for so long that he feels empty. Maybe it's because he doesn't know what the hell happened to his Naruto. Maybe it's because he doesn't want him dead, yet... "It's alright, Sasuke. We're here for you, you know. We're Team Seven." Kakashi soothes, brushing his hair out of his eyes. Sasuke sniffles.

"Sorry," Sasuke mumbles into Kakashi-sensei's shoulder. His sensei chuckles, patting him on the back reassuringly."From one to another, hmm? It's healthy to let it all out sometimes. This is how the shinobi world works. Sometimes those that are dear to us die in battle. Though they are dead, we must remember to live on without them." Sasuke nodded, only feeling a little bit better. He snuggled closer to him for warmth.

"That damn dobe better be OK, making me break down over him…"

"And he will be." Kakashi says, rubbing his back in circles. "It'll take some time, for sure...but you must learn to cope with these feeling of sorrow and sadness. That doesn't mean you have to mask your feelings, like Naruto did...be honest with yourself. No one's saying you have to Live a Lie."

"H - Hn." Sasuke hiccupped, closing his eyes. "You, Sasuke...I have full faith in you." Kakashi smiles, letting him go, and turning his back on him once he reached the front door. "Well, toodles! I've got a date to attend to! Good bye!" In a poof of smoke, he disappears in all Kakashi fashion. "I'll be back soon~!"

Seeing as how it was one in the morning, he opted to sleep in, even though he so badly wanted to hum himself his mother's lullaby. Making his way to his room, he lays down on his futon. And Sasuke sleeps a dream, for the first time, in a long time, and not a nightmare.

XXX

"Be careful, boys!" Mikoto Uchiha calls from the front. "Take good care of him, OK, Itachi?"

"I will." Itachi promised his mother with a small smile. She waved to them and closed the door of their house.

As they were walking along the streets with suspicious glances thrown their way from the villagers, there was only thing that caught Sasuke's eye. "It's that boy again..." He murmurs, pointing to the blonde kid across the street. He seemed to be all by himself, with no mother and father in sight. Even if he was just a stranger, the younger of the two Uchihas felt a strong, albeit strange, affinity towards him.

"What of it?" Itachi asks from beside him, mind focused mostly on the coup d' etat more so than anything else. A clouded look filled his eyes as he thought about the next great shinobi war. If he didn't stop the Uchiha and the Leaf, it would only be a matter of time before blood would shed in the process. It only snapped back to his little brother when he heard him talking about the blonde. "I - it's just that...he looks so lonely."

'Like me...'

"Hmm. I suppose it's alright." Itachi ruffled his hair playfully, in a way that Sasuke always hated him doing. "Go ahead and talk to him. I won't stop you."

"Thank you so much, big brother!" He wraps his arms around his waist and chases off after the blonde. "Hello!" He smiles brightly at the boy, helping him up to his feet. Now that he got to see him up close, he did look really dirty. Where was his home? Where was his family? They had to be here somewhere!

"W - who're you?" His crystal clear clear eyes were glassy with tears."I'm Sasuke," the boy introduces himself with dimpled cheeks. "And you are?"

"A - ah!" His blue eyes widened and he backed away, scared. Turning away, he sprinted off into the distance.

The Uchiha watched him go sadly.

XXX

The next morning, he decides to find Naruto himself, even if it meant going to the ends of the earth for his sorry ass. If he wasn't going to say sorry, then he would. He had to confront him and apologize about being more of a bastard than he usually was. Even if the baka died, he hoped that he was alright wherever he was. He was ready, now more than ever.

Sasuke stops at Icharaku's ramen stand. 'Where the hell is he?' he thinks to himself, shoving past mass amounts of people until he's at the stool where Naruto is. He's slurping down noodles, and Sasuke punches him from behind. The blonde trips over in surprise.

"Uh, Sasuke…" He mumbles, his head in circles as it looks like his teammate is staring at him from above. 'Am I seein' things or...is that the teme?' The Uchiha frowns down at his sprawled out form. "We're going. Now." He said in a voice that left no room for arguments. He dragged Naruto by the collar away from Ayame and Teuchi. Passersby stared at the two skeptically.

"WHAT THE HELL!" Naruto yelled from his spot, "I'm not some dog, teme!"

"Hn. Of course you're not a mutt like Kiba, usuratonkachi." He snorted dismissively. He realized they must look really suspicious together. After all, the only times they go out together in public is when they were with their team. And in this case, it was just the two of them. Together. Who'd have thought? Naruto grumbled to himself, something about "bastards" and "temes". Sasuke walked the both of them over to a secluded street that no one seemed to take. Everything else seemed abandoned, or, at least, shut down to some extent. But, there was this one house that seemed closed off from the others. So, the two crossed it, with Naruto helping himself up at this point from being dragged around like a ragdoll.

While they were strolling about, Naruto was subtly holding his hand. It was silent for awhile; and the two avoided eye contact or looking at each other after their date from a few days ago. It still made Naruto jittery and he had jolted once they entered inside through the hallways to a painfully familiar room. Sasuke opens it up for him, and he looks all around in awe.

"This is your room," The asshole says out of the blue, and pointed to the futon on the middle of the floor. "And we'll sleep there from now on."

"S - Sasuke?" Naruto stared aghast, so stunned that his eyes popped out of his sockets (not literally, but figuratively)

"Dobe…" He can't remember a time he'd been more forward with his feelings. "We're living together from here on out. Since you're on your own...I don't want you to die for being an idiot that can't think with your head straight. It would only slow our team down, and that's the last thing I want, you moron. I doubt even Sakura would let you sleep over at her house. You're lucky I think so strongly of our team, deadlast." He huffs, crossing his arms with a frown. His black beady eyes looked at the blonde's blue ones; just waiting for an answer.

What he didn't expect was such an onslaught of emotions from such a statement.

"S - Sasuke…" Naruto choked; blue eyes softened, and he automatically wrapped his arms around the other's waist. "Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you !" He cried into his shoulder. The blue boy felt his heart leap a miles a minute. All he could think of was Naruto. No revenge, no Itachi, no desire to grow stronger. Just...Naruto.

Was it wrong to think of his smiles, to think of his laugh? And of the blonde, in general?

Sasuke returned it back with a soft smile. As much as he'd hate to admit it, he liked the blonde smiling at him. It just showed that there was a little light left, even in the darkness...