Disclaimer: Naruto and everything associated don't belong to me, neither do the lyrics. I'm not claiming ownership of anyone's ideas. I'm just borrowing.

Basics: PG13/T, General/Drama/Romance/Angst, AU, (?) chapters

Warnings: Boy x boy love, profanity, mild mature themes

Summary: Sasuke always did mean to leave Konoha, and that intention breaks Naruto's heart. But fate pulls a 180, and instead it is Naruto that leaves, and Sasuke is the heartbroken one.

Author's notes 1: Oh. I'm back. Join my C2 for Naru x Sasu love. If you like this, you'll like the C2. Please? Cheers. Onward with update.

X;

Counting the ways
to where you are.

X;

And so he told her.

Sometimes it is easier to bare your heart to a complete stranger. Because you know they have some sort of understanding without being close enough to you to hurt you with what they know.

He told her how his very first memories revolved in an awful, ugly orphanage. How he had nothing from the start. He had nothing but a name- Naruto Uzumaki- and an infamous reputation of being a troublemaker from the start. He gave a low, delighted laugh colored by a vague bitterness when he remembered how he desecrated the memorial of the orphanage founders at the age of seven.

"A demon at seven…" Naruto said, shaking his head and grinning widely if not happily. "Even if it was just a lot of those party Silly-string things."

"I never did nothing like that…" Ami said. "I mean; I never did anything like that." She corrected herself hastily.

Naruto blinked at the abrupt disappearance of her accent, along with the incorrect grammar and the lazy pronunciation. Ami just shook her head, and motioned for him to go on. Naruto did. He said, "They were about kick me out of there, government sent or not. Seven years old, and they hated me. Then that bastard Sasuke showed up, and suddenly all the attention was on him… All that for a stupid rich eight-year-old kid."

But Ami saw the way the lines of the teenager's face softened when he mentioned the other boy's name. She saw and with the infinite wisdom of one who has survived those turbulent years when nothing seemed right… she understood. Her lips turned upwards and she uttered softly,

"He's your best friend, isn't he," Ami stated this without any question, without any doubt, with a lingering wistfulness on her pretty face. Her previously suspicious green eyes gentled as she gazed upon the boy with the scarred cheeks, remembering something of what she was like when she was fifteen. Lost.

Naruto looked surprised. "Well, yeah, he is." He grinned again, and the prostitute could see true brightness lighting up the young boyish face. "He's back… back where I came from. I think." He peered at her uncertainly. "I think he's really pissed that I left."

"I would think so." Ami muttered, uncrossing her legs and instead stretching out. She waited expectantly for Naruto's next words.

"Well… he's a fucking hypocrite. He had this crazy running away for revenge thing, to kill the guy who killed his family." Naruto didn't mention that it was Sasuke's brother Itachi, which further complicated the conflict. Naruto paused. "But I guess I'm a fucking hypocrite too."

"Kid, sometimes the things we say… we can't promise them." Ami said.

"Yeah. I know now. But I used to get so mad at him for wanting to leave. And here I am… Me and him, we had this fight. I dunno. I woke up feeling really crappy from some goddamn dream I had. And then he had to go bring up that stupid revenge thing and he said he wouldn't care if I left, so I kinda wanted to prove him wrong… and next thing I knew, I wanted so bad to figure out who I was, and I was at the orphanage asking about my stuff, rushing home and packing, and ripping a page out of a map once I figured where I was going…"

"-And… I'm probably boring you to tears right now, aren't I?" Naruto gave a short humorless laugh and having only spent half an hour with this insane runaway kid Ami knew that it was not a Naruto laugh.

"No… no, honestly you're not." Ami informed him quietly, meeting his gaze with hers- knowing he'd recognize her own story of sorrow, knowing that he understood how perfect strangers could identify with struggling and despair, even if they were bound only by the basic kinship of humanity and the troubles that came with it.

"…Oh." Naruto blinked his blue eyes once. Then, remembering what he just said, he reached down to the floor to pluck his bag up. Having attained the bag, he rummaged through it until he pulled out a slightly crumpled paper marked with neutral colored areas and crisscrossed with red lines that indicated roads.

"Yeah. I ripped this out…" He held up the map-page up to Ami, who could read the name of her home city printed on top, "…and here I am."

They sat in a comfortable silence for a while, letting Naruto's story linger in the air. Ami breathed deeply. God, this kid… Runaways just about broke your heart, didn't they, didn't they… She fidgeted, drawing her knees up to her dress, careful about her skimpy attire. She really didn't want to freak out Naruto again.

Finally, she spoke. "I… was supposed to… entertain… some guy tonight. That bellboy, he- he relays the requests and then I go in as if I were some common whore-"

Naruto was looking intently at her. He had never met anyone like her. Orphanages were tough, but tough in the rough-and-tumble, bare walls and barely adequate facilities way. He had to use his fists to survive, but he had never met anyone who needed to… needed to… Naruto thought he might have been revolted, thinking about selling one's body like that, but the feeling that resonated within him now…

He was just sad.

"-but I guess I am, now, aren't I? Talking dirty to those creeps, acting like I'm that low, pleasing them. It's not the way to live. I lost my parents, too, Naruto. I was spiraling out of control at school, and then I gave up, I gave up when I lost Yumi, too. Dropped out, living like this…"

Ami gave an involuntary shudder. She fixed her sight on the boy. Those green eyes seemed to be burning, burning with tears, maybe, or anger, or- Naruto couldn't quite name it. "Don't you ever give up, kid. Go back home once you've found what you're looking for. Go back to whoever's waiting for you."

Naruto swallowed with some difficulty. "I planned to… I just want to find Iwasaki- and ask-"

"Iwasaki? As in the jeweler?"

"Yeah." Naruto swallowed again as he wondered if it was only he, or did he sound a little choked there? "Do- do you…"

"Yes, I know him. He used to be my neighbor."

Naruto leaned forward, hardly daring to believe that this might be true. Could she possibly- "Could you- could you please introduce me to him?" The words fell from his lips with eagerness and he couldn't remember when he last felt this hopeful, this excited.

Ami smiled at him and hugged her knees closer. "Sure, kid." She glanced at the time and noted the hour. "I… should be going. I'll bring you in the morning. Meet me at the front desk at … nine-ish?"

"Yeah, yeah! Thank you so much. You don't know how much you're helping me!" Naruto was practically dancing with glee and relief. Perhaps it wasn't a wild goose chase. Perhaps it could actually lead to something.

"Nice meeting ya, Naruto." Ami said as she slipped through the door again, as quietly and unobtrusively as she came.

"Ami- …" Naruto floundered for the right words of gratitude and understanding, but he couldn't find them. So he merely beamed another trademark smile and said, "Same."

What are the chances, he mused. That a confused bellboy would send mistakenly send a prostitute into his room. Then, of all things, the prostitute personally knew the man that he was seeking. Naruto found it all… bewildering. So instead, he smoothed out his map and folded it carefully. Then, he stuck it back into his book bag.

Then he turned over on the bed, went to sleep, and dreamed of the boy he loved.

X;

Sasuke sat still, fingers hovering over his keyboard. He wanted to write something to Naruto- but he didn't know what to say. How does one say, I finally fucking realized I'm in love with you and I still don't know if our mutual friend is telling the truth or merely delusional. Do you love me? Not to mention that the would-be recipient of the email might not even read it due to the fact running away can limit one's access to a computer.

…At least, Iruka seemed relieved that they'd heard from Naruto. Yesterday, Iruka had found Sasuke wandering in Naruto's room, perusing the photos that Naruto kept in display. The schoolteacher also seemed to know without words that Sasuke had finally come to terms with his feelings for Naruto. But Sasuke was quietly really glad to see some of the worry lift of Iruka's face when he informed Iruka that Naruto was all right, that the dobe had sent them some emails.

I wish I knew what to say.

What if Naruto did come back?

No! Sasuke chastised himself. He meant that Naruto would come back. When Naruto came back. There were no if's about it. Sasuke, oddly, felt complete trust in his best friend's promise to return home. So…

When Naruto came back, what would happen then?

Would words fail Sasuke as they did now? Or would Sasuke find, after a difficult confession, that Sakura had been wrong all along?

Sasuke pushed his keyboard away from him. God, things are always so fucking complicated.

'Just come home, Naruto.' Sasuke silently asked. 'Please.'

Naruto would have fallen over if he had heard Sasuke say 'Please.' Even if Sasuke didn't technically voice it, the dobe would have known it anyway and would have dropped his jaw comically and pointed teasingly at him. Sasuke-bastard… I didn't know 'please' was in your vocabulary! Or something like that.

God, he missed the dobe.

This all sucked.

X;

Naruto whistled cheerfully. Really, he couldn't help it. He was just so… excited. He was finally going somewhere and the thought of all the possibilities- Naruto looked like someone had lit a lantern within him. He practically glowed with hope and sunny disposition.

His knapsack slung over his shoulder, he checked the time with a cheap old clock hanging on the hotel lobby's wall, and then shoved his hands into his pockets, trying not to fidget. Where was Ami?

A few minutes later, his newfound companion made her way around the corner and Naruto waved. She ignored the leer that the guy behind the front desk gave her and instead headed straight for the blond boy who beamed at her. That smile- it reminded her how much she wanted for him to succeed and to be able to go home again.

"C'mon, kid. Let's go."

The two walked through the hotel doors and onto the streets of Hara.

They walked in amiable silence. Naruto had no idea where he was going, but he trusted that Ami did and so he followed the girl, footsteps falling evenly with hers.

As he followed her, a flicker of cold doubt crept in Naruto's heart. What if… what if- what if this was all a wild goose chase? Naruto knew that he should have tried to put a lid on his excitement, his crazy hopes that had inflated so fast. After all, life had cruelly thrown a lot of things back into his face. What made this time different?

This time, it might break him.

The fact lurked deep in Naruto's subconscious.

Naruto's hand crept up to his face, to his scarred cheeks. With his fingers, he traced the three vertical scars on his right cheek and then touched the identical second set on his left. Lost in his growing sense of quiet panic, he didn't notice when Ami stopped and he almost crashed into her. He apologized dazedly and she waved it off, and gestured to the house they stood in front of.

"This is where Iwasaki-san lives." Ami opened the gate and stepped onto the front walk leading up to the modest urban residency. Seeing Naruto's hesitation, she shook her head and said, "Naruto Uzumaki, you just came from a city more than a hundred miles away. Get in here."

Naruto obediently stepped through the gate that she held open and trailed after the young woman who was walking briskly to the front door. Wait- Naruto almost wanted to yell at her. He wasn't ready for this, he couldn't- But despite Naruto's silent plea for caution, Ami had already rung the doorbell. Naruto could hear its faint ring from within the house.

A sound of shuffling footsteps was heard from the other side of the door. The door creaked open and showed a sixty-something man on the other side.

"Hello- Ami! Looks like little Ami from next door is all grown up now," the man said, smiling, upon recognizing the young woman at his doorstep. Ami politely returned a cordial greeting. Then, the jeweler's eyes moved over to Naruto. The eyes widened as the older man took note of Naruto's face and then looked at the chain hanging around his neck. That necklace, crafted with his own two hands, almost fifteen years ago.

"You-" Iwasaki gasped.

"Iwasaki-san…" Ami said, looking a little apprehensive at the shock with which her former neighbor was staring at Naruto.

"How do you know me?" Naruto asked, far more calmly than he felt.

Iwasaki, looking taken aback, shook his head and closed his eyes. "I don't know you. But I know your face. Everyone in Hara over the age of thirty knows your face. And that necklace- it's something I made, isn't it? No, you don't need to answer. It's got my mark on it, and I remember it." He opened his eyes to look directly at Naruto.

"You must be their kid. They said you were dead. And god those scars on your cheeks-"

"Whose kid?" Naruto demanded.

Iwasaki gaped at him. "Surely you know…"

"Whose kid?!" By now Naruto's fists were tightened and his fingernails were digging bloody crescents into his palm. Ami watched the exchange between the old man and the young one and though she didn't quite understand half of it, she felt Iwasaki's distress and Naruto's confusion. What was going on?

"Arashi Kazuma, god bless him. And that woman- Kyuubi. Our governor- and that murderous, crazy wife of his." Iwasaki said forcefully. "Of course we know you. We all know you. Your dead parents left you a hell of a legacy."

X;

"Naruto."

The boy didn't respond.

"Naruto. Naruto!" Ami snapped. Naruto looked up and Ami saw that his eyes were dull.

"Ami… I don't even know if I want to find out anymore."

Iwasaki had insisted that he was not the one to tell and was adamant about Naruto leaving his property, thoroughly earning Ami's disapproval. Naruto had dutifully walked away and she went after him.

"Naruto. You could… leave. All of it. Just go back home to your friends and that Iruka that you told me about."

"I…" Naruto didn't know how to say that he just couldn't. He still wanted to know who he was, but now- now he was afraid. He had seen hatred in Iwasaki's face, certainly, hate for half of the blood he carried in his veins. 'My mother- a murderess?' He wondered. But a lot of things made more sense, now. The orphanage must have known his origin- and-

"Or you could go find that Jiraiya." Ami suggested. Iwasaki had also said if Naruto really wanted to know the story, Naruto could go find a man who had known Arashi Kazuma. Iwasaki had given them basic directions. Then, he had slammed the door in Naruto's troubled face and Ami's sympathetic one. The resounding slam at which the door had hit the frame still echoed in both of their minds.

"I… I guess I will, then."

The sun was setting upon Hara again. What a hell of first twenty-four hours in this city, Naruto thought.

"I've got to get back to… work." Ami said, a slightly dark look in her eyes. "Don't do anything stupid. And drop by before you leave, 'kay?"

"Yeah." Sensing Ami's skepticism regarding possible acts of idiocy, he reassured her with, "I'm only going to wander a bit. Maybe go visit that Jiraiya guy."

"Take care of yourself."

X;

Sasuke.

Something had been rattling around in his brain for a while, starting from when the jeweler had mentioned a legacy.

Naruto tried to ignore the mother-murderess part, but he found it quite difficult. So he let his mind wander upon the thought of Sasuke.

Naruto's heart tightened as he thought of black haired, pale skinned boy back in Konoha. Maybe Sasuke, too, had left. And when Naruto went back, Sasuke wouldn't be there. Wouldn't it be ironic, he mused, to find something that now he wasn't so sure he wanted and lose what he's always wanted and always had.

He wished Sasuke was there with him.

Maybe he should duck into another Internet café and write to the best friend he was so desperately missing… Naruto checked his money, an endless supply of which he had not. No. He couldn't afford unnecessary expenses.

A fucking legacy.

And what was the thought rattling around his brain? That it was like the burden of the Uchiha name.

'We're even more alike than I thought… Prominent family, murderous family… Orphans. Except the very ground he walks on is worshipped and apparently these scars of mine mark me as some demon child.'

When Naruto decided to take note of his surroundings, he realized that his feet had unconsciously taken him to the place that Iwasaki had given him directions for- Jiraiya's home. The house in front of him was much smaller than the jeweler's place, and while not dingy, it sported the look of having an owner who frankly didn't care much about it.

"Oh, what the hell," he murmured to himself as he made his way to the door and knocked.

And for the second time that day, Naruto Uzumaki was greeted by an older man with a shocked, "You-!"

X;

Author's note 2: Proof that I'm still alive. And I'd really really like to thank everyone who's reading this, especially the reviewers and returning readers. Apologies for inserting so many original characters- but I tried to make them realistic. Apologies for this incoherent, short chapter- I really need to edit it. Sorry!

Honestly, I didn't even think about not letting Naruto and Sasuke see each other again, but LadyBug said something about no reunion. Opinions, anyone?

I'm heavily leaning for reunion, which would happen in the next one-two chapters. But LadyBug did spark something in my brain. Something suspiciously like an alternate plotline. Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter.

Lyrics are from Five for Fighting's 100 years, Vanessa Carlton's The Wreckage, Vanessa Carlton's Afterglow, (my) I miss you, Blink182's What's my age again? Comments would be very much appreciated.