Okay you got me. I couldn't do it. I couldn't drop this fic. It took some effort getting back into the swing of the Naruto fandom but after years of promising never to drop this fic… I couldn't let it be. I couldn't accept that I'd actually walked away and was okay with that. Because I wasn't. So I went back and reread Roommates, Blood & Tears, and Naruto - all fanfiction by Sarge aka FastForward, my favorite Naruto author and basically who's Naruto characters I based my Naruto characters on - to try and remember my boys, and how I would write them, and everything. And then I reread Remain. So here were go. Final chapter. I did it. And I'm sorry and I hope you guys enjoy it. You deserve an ending to this story, you guys are incredible.

Disclaimer (omg I forgot what it was like putting disclaimers on fics no one does this anymore): I don't own Naruto, and honestly that's a good thing because good lord the series would have never finished if I was in charge.

Kiba paced back and forth in his apartment. He was going to wring that boy's neck the next time he saw him. There was no way he would ever believe Naruto would cheat on Gaara, or anyone for that matter. Ever. Naruto knew better than anyone how much pain and damage unfaithful relationships caused. To everyone involved. No, Kiba was going to beat Naruto to a pulp for not answering this damn phone.

He'd left three messages on Naruto's answering machine. Asking why wasn't he picking up, why was he making things so complicated, why wasn't he speaking to anyone. Now he decided to wait a bit before leaving a fourth. One that would probably be a lot more aggressive than the last ones because he was seriously ticked off.

Kiba trusted Naruto to do the right thing. He simply didn't trust what Sasuke did to his mind. If Naruto was slipping, if he was remembering the tiny bit of good times over the horrendously long bad times… Kiba was going to have to knock some sense into him. Gaara seemed decent enough. He was a little stoic - arguably the blond's type, and he was obviously concerned for Naruto's wellbeing. He wanted to be there for Naruto. And Naruto should be there for him, too. Naruto should be completely and totally in the mindset of the healthy relationship rather than the dysfunctional one that destroyed him.

Kiba hit redial once again as he stepped gingerly around his dog that was following him as he strode around the apartment. "Naruto I swear to god if you don't pick up I will drive over there and lock the two of us in until you talk to me! Gaara came here thinking you might be…" Kiba stopped himself, there was no telling what an accusation of cheating could do to the sometimes fragile blond. "He was concerned for you, wanted to know if things were okay because I'm your best friend and all. He actually came to talk to me for you, man. He's a good guy. Talk to him and let him in. I don't think he'd judge you for what you think. Call me back."

Kiba hung up and sat down on the couch that he happened to be walking by. He sighed and patted his lap, inviting Akamaru to jump up. "That guy is gonna be the death of me, I swear."

"What are you doing here?" Naruto finally asked, still staring in shock. It was alarming. Having Sasuke here only reinforced all of the thoughts consuming his mind lately. Not to mention the last time Sasuke had stepped foot in this house… they'd fought rather badly. Sasuke accused him of things, hated that he was with Gaara. It was painful. Now… Naruto didn't know where they were now.

"I wanted to talk to you," Sasuke stated, voice low and gentle. As if he was trying not to frighten Naruto away. It was a soft sort of voice that Sasuke had taken on these days, especially in regards to Sakura. "Is that… is that okay?"

"Um… I guess but…" Naruto glanced around, looking for an excuse. A reason. Something that might get him out of this situation. It wasn't safe for him to be alone with Sasuke. Naruto frowned instantly at that thought. Why wasn't it safe? As if he suspected himself of doing something… no, Naruto would never. He couldn't.

With a sigh, Naruto stepped back, allowing Sasuke to pass by him and enter the house. "Yeah, yeah we can talk."

Sasuke nodded, accepting the invitation and walking in. He glanced down at the mat where he used to place his shoes, and over at the coatrack. It was all too familiar but he didn't want to fall back into a routine he had no right revisiting. He stood in the middle of the kitchen respectively as Naruto closed the door and joined him.

"Coffee? Tea?" Naruto asked, gesturing at the table.

Nodding again, Sasuke moved to one of the chairs, taking off his coat and hanging it on the back before taking a seat. "Tea please."

"Okay," Naruto didn't bother asking him what kind of tea he wanted, he only had Earl Grey at the moment and remembered Sasuke didn't like herbal teas so he should be fine with this.

Both perked up when Naruto's house phone started ringing but Naruto had decided to screen his calls this week. After two rings it went straight to voicemail. "Naruto, pick up the phone I know you're there. Why aren't you talking to anyone? You're supposed to talk to me you dumbass." The message beeped, signalling it was over and Naruto shook his head. Freaking Kiba…

He busied himself with the kettle, getting out two mugs from the cabinet. Sasuke didn't seem phased by the message, if he was he didn't say anything and Naruto didn't really want to look at him right now. It was weird. He was nervous and this was awkward for sure, but he didn't feel… completely helpless like he had in most situations involving Sasuke. He wasn't anxious or worried at all. He felt… a little at ease. Like he was having coffee with an old university acquaintance.

Beep. "Seriously, Naruto. You're not allowed to do this. Remember our friendship code or rules. I dunno we made something up and you can't put me to voicemail unless you're actually not home. I know something's up and you're making things more complicated than they need to be… call me."

Sasuke frowned behind the blonde, eyes focused on the voice coming from the living room. It wasn't the kind of message a lover left… it actually sounded like Naruto's friend. The one from the movies that was so keen on interrupting the moment they were having. Sasuke chuckled inwardly, good friend. But if Naruto seemed content on ignoring him, Sasuke wouldn't say anything.

"What did you want to talk about?" Naruto asked, changing the subject and placing the tea bags in the mugs.

"Us."

Naruto stiffened at the word but he did his best to regain his composure before turning around. "There is no us, Sasuke."

Sasuke was staring right at him, but it wasn't what Naruto had anticipated. Sasuke wasn't playing the denial card again. He didn't look like he was trying to convince Naruto to get back together with him. He was sitting there, calm and almost… sad.

"I know. I'm sorry, I know there isn't. Not anymore." Sasuke nodded, "I don't mean to do this. Moving on has been difficult and I can't imagine how hard it's been for you after everything I've done. I can't ask for forgiveness, I don't deserve it. But I think we should talk… about us. About what we were before."

Naruto frowned, "Before what?"

Beep. Naruto rolled his eyes, cursing Kiba under his breath. "Uzumaki if you don't call me back this second I will send Iruka over there or- or Akamaru! He's worried too! We seriously need to talk right now. It's important. I can't let you slip up, not again. Call me back dumbshit or you'll be dealing with a pretty pissed off friend for the next month."

Sasuke frowned. Something was clearly wrong. But Naruto was just standing there, not bothering to even look toward the phone in the living room. He was shaking his head at the message and even laughing a little. Maybe this friend got worked up about the smallest thing. Either way, Sasuke had to force himself to carry on. "Before I told you I was married. Before everything got ruined - by me. Before I became so terrible to you."

Naruto inhaled, turning as the kettle started to whistle at him. It was a good break. He wasn't sure if he could handle this. Bringing up the past… the good past. When they were happy. When they were just them with no affair, no strings, nothing but this wonderful, exhilarating feeling of falling in love. Naruto missed that more than anything.

"I was overcome with guilt. Of cheating on my wife, my best friend who I still love very much-" He noticed how Naruto's shoulders tensed as he was pouring the hot water into the cups. "As a friend, only a friend. I've come to terms with a lot of things. I've put Sakura through hell and I can never forgive myself for that. But I can't regret being with you."

Naruto put the kettle down and gripped the counter with both hands, staring down at the mugs as the water began to steep. He breathed, his lungs tight, as he braced himself for this.

"I've said it before… being with you was like finding myself. I'd finally figured out who I was… and then I lost myself. Under all that guilt. I stopped being myself, Naruto. I'm sure you noticed. I was distant. I limited our time to once a week because I was so-"

"Guilty over cheating on your wife, yes Sasuke I know that."

"So ashamed of breaking my promise to you." Sasuke continued and Naruto's head jolted up. The blond didn't turn around but Sasuke had his undivided attention now. "I promised you at the beginning. That I would end things with my wife and be with you. Yet every week I couldn't do it. I couldn't bring myself to ruin my best friend, to face who I was and be left out in the cold. I was afraid of admitting anything to myself. There's no excuse. Going back to you, after I broke my promise once again, I wanted to throw myself off a cliff. I sat out there in my car thinking, how am I going to lie to him again, how am I going to continue breaking his heart after all he's given me. Why am I such a fucking coward that I can't do everything that needs to be done so I can be with him. With you. And then I'd think… after this long… after leading him on for so long… will he even want me.

"I've thought about it a lot, Naruto." Sasuke continued speaking to Naruto's back, not minding at all that the blond wouldn't look at him. If it was more comfortable for Naruto, he'd deal with it. "About what would have happened if I'd actually left Sakura for you like I had said. Kakashi, my… friend, said that we would have ended a lot sooner. You would have broken up with me because you'd look at me and still see the affair. Everything that I'd done to you, the cheating, the wife, the false promises would have eaten away at any happiness we could have hoped to have and that would be it. He's right, I think. You did the right thing. Breaking us up. You gave yourself time to heal and gave me the reality check I needed."

Sasuke nodded to himself. He hadn't been prepared to say these things. He'd come here with no plan really, no speech prepared. This all just tumbled out. Yet it was true. He was being completely honest with himself, and Naruto, for once.

"I'm thankful that you did that. As much as it hurt. I was an asshole. I handled things badly and I'm learning from my mistakes. I'm trying to do right by people. I know it's too late, that I don't deserve a second chance, but I want you to know that I never meant to hurt you. I did. And I'm… I'll never forgive myself for that. You deserve better. You deserve…"

Naruto smiled to himself. He could practically hear Sasuke trying to remember his name, "Gaara." He supplied him and Sasuke hummed his acknowledgement.

As if on cue, the answering machine beeped once more and Kiba's voice flooded the house. "Naruto I swear to god if you don't pick up I will drive over there and lock the two of us in until you talk to me! Gaara came here thinking you might be…" There was a pause that made Naruto frown and actually turn around to look toward the phone this time. He sounded… weird. Like he was stopping himself from saying something. Probably the truth, Naruto thought, but he didn't know what that was. Must have been for Gaara to tell him. "He was concerned for you, wanted to know if things were okay because I'm your best friend and all. He actually came to talk to me for you, man. He's a good guy. Talk to him and let him in. I don't think he'd judge you for what you think. Call me back."

Naruto's mouth parted as he sucked in a breath. Gaara was worried about him, enough to go to Kiba, and he… what if he didn't judge him. What if Gaara was entirely accepting of everything Naruto felt guilty about. What if there was a chance things could work with him being honest with the redhead. Naruto's eyes shifted back to the source of his guilt. The source of the affair and everything that had been wrong with Naruto's life for over a year.

Sasuke was looking at him with a sort of sad, sympathetic smile. It was hard to tell how Kiba's message about Gaara affected him, but it was hard to tell most things with Sasuke when he didn't want you to know.

"You deserve to be happy, Naruto. And if that's not with me… then I need to accept that." He thought back to his conversation with Sakura. How distraught she was that he wanted to push back into her life, wanted to be her friend again. He shouldn't have done that. As gently as he tried to admit his feelings to her, to tell her that she was still important to him. It was only what he needed and wanted. He wanted his friend back. It wasn't fair to her. She didn't want that, and with good reason. He needed to think of what was best for Sakura and give her space. If she wanted to be friends, she'd contact him. So that's what he was doing with Naruto. Letting him know his feelings, without the threat of pushing back into his life.

"I'm going away for a bit."

Naruto frowned at the implication but didn't say anything.

"Kakashi's been invited back to Moncton… he moved there for a long while and was stationed there. One of this old cases has opened up and he wants me to join him. Thinks the time away will be beneficial and I have to agree with him. I also want to give you and Sakura some space. You deserve to live without me interfering in your life"

Sasuke nodded, standing up from the table. "I just wanted to… let you know. About that, and everything else. If you want to find me later, when you're ready, I'll be around but… you don't owe anything to me Naruto. I've taken too much from you, I can't ask for anything else."

Naruto watched as Sasuke gathered up his jacket and slipped back into it. Sasuke looked up at him when he finished zipping up his coat. "I guess this is goodbye then."

He couldn't help it. Naruto nodded when Sasuke said that and couldn't bring himself to say anything. His mind was still processing everything Sasuke had said… all the things he'd felt sitting out there in the car, how much different it was to what Naruto thought Sasuke felt with the affair. And everything Kiba had said… and everything Gaara meant to him. It was all too confusing that Naruto almost missed Sasuke walking right out the door.

"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted, stepping away from the counter.

Sasuke paused in the doorway, turning around and glancing at the blond. His expression wasn't hopeful for a possible reunion. Sasuke had given up that possibility from the time he started talking to Naruto today about how he felt. There was no way Naruto was calling him back inside to say he wanted him back. Even if he did… Sasuke didn't think he deserved that. He couldn't do that to Naruto again. Couldn't put him in the position to break up with someone to be with him. It wasn't fair.

"Yeah?"

"I…" Naruto stumbled on his words, clearly he didn't have anything in mind that he wanted to say. He just reacted. Needed Sasuke to stop and not walk out of his life just yet. Things were still unresolved. There was still… "I asked you to move in."

Sasuke frowned, tilting his head as he recalled the day when he ended the blissful beginning to their relationship. "You did."

"If you hadn't been married. If you knew you were gay before that. Would you have moved in? Would our lives be… different?" Naruto almost said better, and from Sasuke's expression, the raven knew that's what he meant.

"I would have." Sasuke couldn't hesitate. It was the truth. In that moment, he had felt incredible. It had felt as though his life were getting started, that Naruto was the start of it and he couldn't wait to keep going. And it would have been wonderful. They would have shared so much passion. Sasuke would have been able dedicate time to take Naruto out and meet all the people most important to him. But it wasn't real. It was a fantasy away from the reality that he'd trapped himself in. "But we might not have met. If I hadn't been married to Sakura I don't know where I would have ended up, where I would have gone, who I would have dated. Besides, I couldn't face myself until… I met you. And there's nothing we can do to change this."

"I know…" Naruto whispered, looking down at the floor. There was no time machine to jump into and change the course of history so he and Sasuke could have a happy relationship. There was nothing that could be done. Naruto sighed, finally able to admit to himself what Iruka and Kiba were always pushing him to do. "We shouldn't dwell on the what-ifs."

Sasuke nodded, "No, we shouldn't. We keep moving forward and see what happens."

Naruto looked up, smile on his face, a real smile. "Yeah, sounds good, Sasuke. Good luck with your case in Moncton."

Sasuke returned the smile, "Good luck with your relationship with G...aara."

They both nodded to each other, grinning at the amount of tension that had been released. The air was clear between them, not entirely, there was still a bit of lingering fog, but they couldbreathee. They could talk. They could smile and not feel as if they were doing a terrible thing. No one was guilty for it.

"Goodbye, Naruto."

"Bye, Sasuke."

"Ow! What the hell was that for?" Naruto yelled, grasping his abused arm as he stumbled away from his best friend.

"Oh you bloody well know why! Do you know how fucking worried I was? You're gonna be the death of me, man. I can't handle this amount of stress and your boyfriend coming over to my place and you not answering your damn phone and why are you smiling at me right now? It's creeping me out dude! Stop it. No don't smile wider. Fucking stop."

Naruto couldn't help it, he laughed and smiled even harder at his best friend's antics. "I'm just… I'm happy, I guess."

"You're- oh no, Naruto don't say that. That means something happened, that means-"

"Sasuke came over yesterday."

"I will fucking murder you."

"No, no Kiba not like that," Naruto laughed at how angry the brunet's expression turned at the mention of one name. "We talked. That's it, seriously. Well… he talked and I sort of stood there like mime with no limbs. And we listened to your messages."

"I fucking knew you were screening my calls."

"Not on purpose. It was a serious conversation. He confessed a lot of things to me and made other things very clear. He's not, he not going to try to be part of my life anymore, Naruto."

"He was trying to be part of your life?" Kiba bit the sentence out, still fuming at the fact that they were even discussing this asshole.

"I think he wanted to. Just like I wanted it too. Stop don't be mad. We had history, a lot of unresolved things that got buried by all the guilt and anger and depression. We needed to address it. We needed to stop being held up by the what-ifs. So he's going away. For work but also to give us some space. I actually feel like I can breathe for once and not be worried."

"If you say a weight's been lifted I'm going to throw your cliche butt of my balcony."

"You don't have a balcony, Kiba."

"I have a very large window with a bit of a ledge that you can be pushed off."

Naruto rolled his eyes, "Cliche as it is, I feel a lot better. I don't feel guilty about wishing things had been different with Sasuke. Of course I wish things had been different with him, but we all do. We all wish we hadn't suffered. It was hell. Even if I had waited a month before breaking things off with Sasuke, when he finally came out and accepted himself, it wouldn't have changed things. I would have just been waiting another month, and then another, like I always had been. I needed to break things off with him for either of us to move forward with our lives and I think we can finally do that."

Kiba frowned, studying his friend's expression. Naruto's eyes were bright, his smile wasn't strained, even his posture was upright and confident. Kiba grinned, clapping his hand down on Naruto's shoulder, "Good to have you back, buddy."

Naruto rose his brow, confused.

"I've missed you. Being all happy-go-lucky and energetic. Please tell me this Naruto is here to stay."

Naruto chuckled, understanding what Kiba meant. He really had changed a lot. "I think so."

"Good, just try not to scare Gaara away with all that peppiness."

Naruto frowned and Kiba cursed himself inwardly, "Shit sorry, Naruto."

"No… no I need to talk to Gaara."

"Are you going to break up with him?"

Naruto worried his lip between his teeth before shaking his head, "Not unless he wants to break up with me after hearing what I'm going to tell him."

"About Sasuke?"

"Yeah…"

Kiba smiled, "I think you'll be fine. Guy's pretty cool. He cares about you."

"Yeah, I care about him too. Hopefully we can work things out. Can I use your phone to call him, actually? I'll meet up with him tonight, maybe I should cook him supper. To apologize for avoiding him and making him worry."

"Oh, I thought you were gonna poison him so he wouldn't remember anything."

Naruto furrowed his brows.

"Because ya'know, you cooking-"

"You jerk!" Naruto smacked Kiba on the arm, "I can cook!"

"Ramen, kraft dinner, ramen, and oh let's see more ramen."

"Oh you're gonna take that back right now, Inuzuka!" Naruto grinned as he launched himself at the brunet, stumbling over the couch as Kiba scrambled to get away.

"No way Uzumaki, I'll just have the fire department on standby," Kiba laughed as he fled from the blond who chased him all across the apartment, Akamaru barking and chasing after the both of them until they started wrestling on the floor, laughing over the dog that continued to bark at them as they rolled over the floor, knocking things over.

The heart-filled laughs, the ease of joking around with each other, the smiles they couldn't keep off their faces. It was long overdue. They could finally be friends first and support group second. Kiba couldn't wait until Naruto told Iruka. The man would be overjoyed at seeing their old Naruto back in the flesh. He'd probably be too shocked to speak. Kiba definitely had to eavesdrop on that conversation. It would also be good for Gaara, to see what Naruto was really like. Without all the stress and anxiety hanging over him. He just hoped the redhead wouldn't be scared away by the energetic blond. But who knows, even if he was completely fine with Naruto's secrets, there was no guarantee that any relationship would last forever.

Two Years Later

"You don't have to come with me you know," Naruto insisted, fingers gripping the steering wheel hard as he struggled to focus on the road and not Kiba's fidgeting in the passenger seat.

"I'm here for… moral support. Reassurance. Back-up. All that kind of stuff at once." Kiba shrugged, but he was more antsy than Naruto. At least the blond was composed, the only reason he felt any kind of stress was because of Kiba really.

"Okay but you're driving me insane. Will you stop?" Naruto reached over and smacked Kiba's leg that refused to stop bouncing.

"Hey! Hands on the wheel buddy. Can't have you getting into an accident before the big meet up."

"I'm going to purposely drive this car into something, but only the right side."

"You're an ass and you love me."

"Nah I just love this car too much. Couldn't actually do anything to harm it."

"Oh har har."

Naruto grinned, shaking his head as he took the next left. He was nervous, true, but he wasn't freaking out. Kiba was doing all of that for him.

As they pulled into the parking lot, Kiba's eyes were everywhere at once. His head was turning and twisting so much that Naruto thought he was practicing for The Exorcism audition decades late. "Cut it out."

"I'm just trying to- oh nevermind!" Kiba unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the car door all at once and rushed out of the car. Naruto frowned as he hurried to follow him and got out of the car just in time to see Kiba stalking over to a person waiting outside the restaurant and then-

"Kiba!" Naruto shouted as he ran toward the two of them.

Kiba had pulled his arm back with so much force that when he swung, the man stumbled backwards from how hard Kiba's fist hit his face. He wasn't saying anything though, he was just holding his jaw, trying not to fall over or show how much it actually hurt. He didn't even look angry or confused at the man who punched him.

"Kiba what the hell was that?" Naruto demanded, finally reaching the two of them.

"Closure." The brunet grinned triumphantly and rubbed his knuckles before wrapping his arms around Naruto's shoulders, "You can go on your date now, I've actually got an appointment a couple blocks away. I'll walk, no worries."

"Um-"

"Have fun, Naruto. And remember, Sasuke. Anything happens and I won't be so gentle next time," Kiba's grin spread even wider as he walked away backwards, waving at the two of them before turning and jogging out of the parking lot.

"That was gentle?" Sasuke asked himself more than anyone as he nursed his jaw, finally standing up straight to look Naruto in the face. He smiled, even though Naruto could tell it hurt him a little, "Hey."

Naruto smiled back, trying not to laugh at how red Sasuke's face was, "Hi. Are you okay?"

Sasuke laughed, "Yeah… he um, Kiba right?" Naruto nodded. "He called me actually a couple days ago. Told me this was the only way he'd be okay with me taking you on a date. After he explained to me… I had to agree."

"You agreed to let Kiba punch you in the face to date me?"

Sasuke pursed his lips together as he inhaled, "Yeah pretty much."

Naruto practically doubled over, "Oh my god that is rich! But yeah you kinda deserved it. Guy needed closure. It has been a few years…"

"And still held onto the grudge, I'm impressed."

"Kiba's like that. You'll get used to it."

Sasuke's eyes softened at the implications of that. Being around long enough to meet and know Naruto's friends. "I hope so. Maybe I'll learn to duck next time he feels like getting more closure."

"Maybe," Naruto laughed, "Come on, let's go inside and get some ice for that."

"That'd be nice," Sasuke smiled, letting Naruto wrap his arm around his shoulder and lead him inside. "You look great by the way, how've you been?"

End

I did it. I did it and it's done and I'm so happy right now. I hope you guys are happy as well, if you're still reading or revisiting this fic after YEARS of me not updating. Now it's done. It's complete. I no longer have this incomplete fic hanging over my shoulders and it feels so good. I kind of share in that feeling Naruto and Sasuke and Kiba have.

To anyone wondering. A couple years since Naruto and Sasuke had their big conversation about not dwelling over the 'what-ifs' have passed and I skipped ahead. Which also means I skipped over the conversation Naruto would have with Gaara about having been involved in an affair. I didn't write it for many reasons, but essentially - Gaara's fine with what Naruto tells him, very supportive actually, and he's there for Naruto for a good while. They keep dating and they have fun. Gaara gets to see more of Kiba's old Naruto and they all hang out together. But it eventually becomes apparent that they aren't going to be together forever, they don't move in together, and they part ways as friends.

Sakura's doing fine as well, she's still bitter and hurt, but she and Sasuke have come to terms with what happened and she misses her best friend, too. She'll never truly be able to trust Sasuke again, but they're making progress.

As for Sasuke and Naruto, they contacted each other after realizing they still loved each other and are trying to give it another go. How they end up is up to you.

Thanks for reading. Please review and let me know what you thought of the ending and feel free to yell at me for taking so long to update and for telling you guys in the previous "not chapter" that I was dropping the fic when clearly I didn't have it in me to drop it. I appreciate everything this fandom did for me while I was growing up but now I can finally and happily move on from Naruto with everything completed. I'll be around if you want to find me, under ArraFrost literally everywhere else. Come hang with me on tumblr, I reblog lots of gifsets and write lots of oneshots/drabbles. Plus I have PMs turned off on this account so to contact me other than reviews, that's where you'll be able to do so. Also on my archive of our own account I have lots of Avengers, Spideypool, Sterek related fics (lots of smut) if you're interested.

Bye guys, thanks for everything.

~Arra