Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto!

A cool breeze ran down his neck as he stood facing the training grounds near to the forest. It was night time, and he was alone. The blond ran his hands through his hair and sighed. His whole body was worn out from the overuse of chakra, after training all day no one could blame him for being tired. It was almost eleven, yet he was still there, all alone.
"Sasuke…" the blond whispered sadly. Anyone who took the chance to look at the boy would notice his eyes were filled with pain, even though he always put on a happy face.

"…why did you leave me?" he asked, knowing that he would never answer. "humph, you left me in the rain bastard." the boy added with a slight smirk. He was trying to act happy, but no one was there, so he allowed a single tear to run down his cheek. He was sixteen, a ninja, and in his opinion to old to be crying. Yet night after night he would cry, hoping with all of his heart that the raven would return back home. Back into his arms. He sat down on the grass and leaned against the tree, taking in the scent of the sakura blossoms above him. He closed his eyes, hoping to wake up to find the raven with him, as if it was all a dream or some genjutsu that someone was using to hurt him.

Red eyes watched the young blond. He stared at the boy, admiring every inch of him. His eyes opened slightly as he noticed a single tear roll down the boys whiskered cheek. His heart ached at the sight of him, he wanted to go over and hold him. He couldn't though, the boy didn't know he was there, watching him almost every night.
"don't worry Naruto, I will be home soon." the raven stated quietly, before leaving the forest.

Naruto opened his eyes. It was morning, he noted as the light blinded him. The blond had fallen asleep by the forest and had training in less than twenty minutes. He headed home quickly and ran to where he would be meeting Kakashi, Sakura and Sai. Naruto sat on the floor and whipped out his kunai, the ground was sandy, so he could easily write his name or something on it. He absent mindedly drew some squiggles, intent on writing his name, but soon got distracted. Only when he looked did he realise what he had done. There was a small heart with the initials SU in the middle- Sasuke Uchiha. Quickly wiping them away before Sakura arrived, Naruto glanced up at the sky to see the clouds.
"Come on Uzumaki, get yourself together. Stop obsessing over what you will never have." he told himself. The blond had said that before, but the words never sunk in. Some part of him hoped that Sasuke would return and love him too, impossible as it may seem.

Tsunade jumped as a loud knock sounded on her door.
"c-come in!" she shouted hurriedly. The hokage quickly pushed some sheets on her desk so that she looked as if she was doing something.
"Tsunade," a deep voice whispered. "may I have a word?" Tsunade's jaw dropped.
"S-Sasuke?" she asked worriedly. In front of her was a tall teen, clad in a white shirt and black pants. He nodded and sat down.
"Tsunade, may I please come back home to Konoha?" he asked, a pleading look on her face.
"what about Orochimaru, Sasuke? You do realise that you are a traitor to this village don't you?" she asked, suddenly feeling a lot more confident.
"Tsunade, I never chose to leave the village, he was controlling my body using the curse seal, which is now gone." he said simply. Tsunade stared.
"gone but that must mean that Orochimaru is-"

"dead. Yes he is. I killed him, and Kabuto as soon as a regained control over my body." Sasuke told Tsunade. "and then I went and found Itachi, I killed him too. There is only one more reason for me to live, a certain blond in this village." The raven told her. Tsunade smiled, she knew this was true because the curse mark was gone.
"in that case Sasuke, welcome home!" Tsunade stood up and pulled the reluctant yet happy raven into a hug. "but you have to be kept under supervision of one of the village ounin for six months, for safety precautions." He nodded. "before you ask, Naruto is a Jounin now Sasuke, he can watch you." The usually stoic teen's face mouth turned into a smile as he turned to leave the Hokage's office.
"Tsunade, can you let me tell Naruto that I'm back myself please?" Sasuke asked.
"I will summon Kakashi, Sakura and Sai here now, Naruto should still be waiting for them- hurry!" she said smiling. He turned and left the office.
'Welcome home Sasuke, welcome home." she smiled to herself, her eyes filling up with tears. She disappeared into a puff of smoke to tell Kakashi, Sakura and Sai to leave Naruto for a while and have a day off.

"stupid Kakashi is always late…" Naruto grumbled miserably. He had been there for over an hour. The day was hot, so he had taken off his orange and black jacket and laid it on the ground besides him. "and were are Sai and Sakura?" he asked nobody in particular. Suddenly Pakunn, one of Kakashi's summoning dogs, appeared by his side.
"Uzumaki!" he said, "Kakashi said he, Sakura and Sai have business to attend to but will be here shortly so just wait ok?" Naruto nodded. "see ya round kid!" This happened a few times before, mostly it was so Tsunade could ask his team how he was coping, she could always see right through the happy mask that he showed to everyone else. Deciding he was too lazy to go home and then come back, Naruto lay back on the ground, hoping to get a small nap.
"I'm sorry." the voice made Naruto jump. He whirled around, then stopped dead in his tracks. Sasuke was standing against a nearby tree, staring at Naruto. He wasn't smiling, but he didn't look unhappy either.
"S-Sasuk-e?" Naruto said quietly, his eyes filling up. He walked cautiously towards the boy. Suddenly he stopped. "you're not evil are you?"
"Naruto, I am so sorry, Orochimaru he- he took over me, but he's gone now, and I'm home."
Naruto ran towards the raven and pulled him into a hug, only then did he notice that Sasuke was crying. He fell to his knees, the blond still holding onto him.
"Sa-Sasuke… I-I- thought I had l-lost you for-forever!" Naruto managed between sobs. Sasuke held him, letting him cry into his top. He had never planned on leaving for this long, just long enough to kill Orochimaru and rid himself of the seal. He ran his hands through the blonds hair and across his back.
"Naruto," Sasuke said, peeling the boy off him to stare into his eyes. Naruto stared back, his eyes shining with tears.
"Sasu-." he began, but was cut off by Sasuke pressing his lips to his own.
"Naruto, Itachi is dead, Orochimaru is dead, Kabuto is dead. Now the only thing I live for is you." Sasuke told him truthfully, wiping the blonds cheeks. "I love you Naruto, that is why I returned." Naruto felt another wave of tears roll down his face. Sasuke leaned in for another kiss, but was stopped by Naruto.
"Sasuke… I l-love you too." he whispered softly, then he captured the raven in another kiss.