Naruto didn't react for a moment. He just sat there with the same blank look on his face. It was making Sasuke nervous. "N…Naruto? Please, say something." He asked gently. The blonde let out a deep breath and drew in another shaky one. "Y-your not kidding Sasuke, are you?" the raven shook his head. "All along. It was her." Naruto said quietly. The blonde clenched his fists. "The whole fucking time!" he snarled. He calmed down a bit. "Right. First things first." He said. Naruto promptly turned around and punched Sasuke in the face. Caught by surprise, Sasuke fell off the sofa. "Dobe! What the hell was that for?" he shouted.
"That was for not telling me in the first place!" Naruto hollered back, jumping up. "How the hell could you let her break us up?" Naruto sat back down.
"Or was I simply not worth the bother…" he muttered quietly. Sasuke cautiously moved back near the blonde. "Of course not. It…it was because one night she came and…held a knife over your throat. I was scared, Naruto. She was so close to killing you. Kyuubi said if I left you, and made the break up painful enough for us to never have a chance of getting back together she wouldn't harm you." He said, the painful memory playing back.
"Kyuubi can't kill me, Sasuke." He said, his voice almost a whisper. "Were kind of connected; if I die, she dies with me. You were tricked, you idiot. If you had told me in the first place…" Sasuke grabbed Naruto's hand.
"Look, dobe, I didn't know that! I was so scared that I might lose you! If you were in my position…wouldn't you do the same?" he finished quietly.
"I suppose I would." Naruto agreed. "Sasuke…I need some time on my own." The raven frowned. "W-what?" Sasuke nearly fainted. "Naruto, you…you can't want to…" Sasuke trailed off.
"No Sasuke, I do want to be with you. Its…its just that I need some time to think about this." Sasuke felt Naruto's hand slip out of his own. The raven grabbed him as the blonde tried to stand up. "Please don't go!" Sasuke begged.
"Sasuke, please try and understand. Kyuubi…well, she's…she was close to me Sasuke. I just…I can't explain it. I'll see you tomorrow." The blonde mumbled. Sasuke refused to let the blonde go. "Please don't go." He repeated. "You can stay in another bedroom if you like, just please stay here. Please?" he asked. Naruto didn't know why it meant so much to Sasuke that he stayed here, but he agreed. "Fine."
The Kyuubi hadn't dared to utter a word to Naruto. She wouldn't even know what to say. The blonde was simply curled up on a bed, alone, crying silently. "How could you?" he finally muttered. He placed his hand on his stomach, covering the seal with his palm. He got no answer from the fox. "I hate you." Naruto hissed. Finally a clone appeared in front of him. "Please don't say that." Naruto sat up, still trying to stop his tears. "Because of what you did, Sasuke nearly killed himself. You nearly killed the one person I love. You nearly ruined my life. Why shouldn't I hate you?" he snarled at the fox. "I'm sorry…" she muttered. "I-I thought he would just hurt you again. I didn't think that this would happen." Naruto flopped back on the bed, his back facing the clone. "I don't care. In fact, you were the one who ruined my life in the first place. If only you had never been sealed inside me, I would have had a happy childhood. Half the people who do hate me, wouldn't." Kyuubi watched sadly as Naruto began shaking. "At least when I die, I can take you with me. Fortunately for you I still have something to live for, so that wont be anytime soon."
Kyuubi placed her hand on Naruto's shoulder, trying to comfort him. The blonde moved away immediately. "I will find a way to get rid of you. Even if have to go the Akatsuki, I will get rid of you!" He vowed, before dissolving into tears again. The clone slipped out of the room, trying to find the raven. Sasuke hadn't fallen asleep. Despite the blonde's best attempts to hide it, he could hear Naruto's crying. He jumped when he saw Naruto enter his room. When he noticed the flaming red hair and crimson eyes, he knew it wasn't his blonde. "What do you want?" Sasuke asked nervously. The fox handed him something. "Naruto had this in his pocket. I thought…you might need it." Kyuubi handed Sasuke the small ring. Sasuke put it in a drawer. "Was that it?" he mumbled. Kyuubi shook her head. "I just want you to know I'm sorry. I know it won't change anything, but I am." She stepped back. "Please go to Naruto, he needs you."
Sasuke sat up. "He said he wanted to be alone." Sasuke replied.
"He needs you, Uchiha" he finished quietly. She disappeared with a quiet 'poof'. Sasuke waited a moment before slipping into the blonde room. Naruto moved away once he felt someone near him. "Its me." Sasuke said simply. Naruto let Sasuke hold him. "Naruto, you're shaking…" Sasuke mumbled.
"I just…can't believe she would do that. Please, I don't want to talk about it. And I thought I said I wanted to be alone?" Naruto finished, pulling away from Sasuke half-heartedly. Sasuke pulled him closer again. "We both know you don't want that. I'm here for you dobe, just remember that." Naruto relaxed and simply let his tears flow. If Sasuke was becoming uncomfortable by the constant stream of wetness trailing down his neck, he didn't show it. "I love you Sasuke." Naruto mumbled, slightly exhausted. Sasuke played with Naruto's soft blonde hair. "I love you too." He whispered back.
Naruto had fallen asleep quite quickly, but Sasuke was still awake. For some reason, something was keeping him from, drifting off. He pulled away from Naruto as carefully as he could. The blonde, thankfully, didn't wake up. He just mumbled and rolled over. Sasuke went back into his own room and pulled open a drawer. He found what he was looking for; the ring. Sasuke stared at it thoughtfully. Before Kyuubi had intervened, he was going to propose to Naruto. The raven sighed and relaxed on the bed. He would just have to wait until the right time, he thought, staring at the object sitting in his palm.
Meanwhile, Naruto had noticed Sasuke leave. He sat up in the bed, wondering what was wrong with the raven. His mind drifted to other thoughts. Something he had said earlier…the Akatsuki. They had the power to extract demons from their holder. He grimaced. Then again, if Kyuubi were taken, he would die. Naruto sighed and relaxed. There was no point considering that anyway; he had killed Itachi, probably one of the most powerful members of the group. They needed the combined power for the technique to work. Naruto clenched his fists. No. He hadn't killed Itachi. Kyuubi had. He thought bitterly. The fox had made sure his once chance of freedom had been ruined. As sorry as Kyuubi was, she couldn't help but think how ridiculous Naruto was being. 'Naruto, if you think about it logically, the one who isn't free is I.'Kyuubi said.
Anger coursed through the blonde at the familiar voice. 'I don't care about you.' He thought back.
'Naruto, I was only trying to protect you, please understand that!' Kyuubi told his desperately. 'I just thought Sasuke would hurt you again and again, so I decided it would be better if you split up. I thought you could always find someone better than Sasuke. I know I was wrong now, and I know that you love Sasuke and he loves you back. Please don't hate me, I was only trying to help.' Naruto completely ignored what she had said. Kyuubi simply tried again. 'No matter how badly you want us apart, it isn't going to happen. I don't mean that in a nasty way, you just have to know that nothing will change the fact that I'm sealed inside you. Just promise me you wont do anything stupid.' Naruto narrowed his eyes.
"Don't do anything stupid? Perhaps you should have taken your own advice before trying to ruin my life!" he snarled. Kyuubi sighed.
'I know I was wrong! I know! I already explained why I did that. Can't you forgive me?' she asked. Kyuubi waited for an answer from the blonde. Naruto just let out an indignant snort. "Forgive you? Are you stupid? If you haven't noticed, Sasuke isn't here right now. No matter what he says, I don't think things are ever going to be the same again. I mean, your always going to be there. Sasuke won't be able to relax, knowing that if he does anything wrong, your going to jump out and kill him!" the blonde hissed. 'I…I've talked to Sasuke.' She admitted.
'Earlier, when you were crying, I went to him and apologized.'
"Well, since you apologized everything is going to be perfectly fine is it?" Naruto shouted angrily. 'Sasuke understands that I wont do anything again. I wont intervene, or bother either of you.'
"Well your bothering me right now." The blonde said coldly, climbing out of the bed. Kyuubi stayed silent, trying not to anger the blonde any more than she already had. Naruto, however, was thinking about what she had said. Perhaps things could go back to normal, he thought hopefully.
He walked into Sasuke's room, finding the raven asleep. Naruto pulled the covers over Sasuke and slipped in next to him. The blonde noticed Sasuke was holding something, and pulled the object from Sasuke's clenched fist. The raven seemed to have a death grip on whatever it was, but Naruto finally pulled it out. Sasuke opened his eyes. "Dobe." Naruto jumped.
"H-hello Sasuke." He said. Sasuke hadn't missed the fact that the blonde had been smiling. Perhaps now would be the right time? He thought nervously. "Naruto-"
The blonde spoke first. "Sasuke, do you think the Akatsuki could remove Kyuubi without killing me?" he asked. The raven's jaw dropped. The next couple of moments had played out so much differently in his head. "I mean, perhaps if we threatened them?"
"Naruto don't be stupid. The Akatsuki would kill both of us in seconds." Sasuke said with a sigh. Naruto shook his head. "There has to be some way to get rid of Kyuubi. If I can just find it…everything would be okay." He said.
Sasuke frowned. "What do you mean 'everything would be okay'?" Sasuke asked. "Isn't it?"
"I know that we can't be together while Kyuubi is inside me." Sasuke wondered what Naruto was thinking. "Doesn't it bother you? That she split us up and could do it again, any moment she pleases?" he asked Sasuke sadly.
"Kyuubi was only trying to h-"
"Don't say that! I can't believe she's brainwashed you too!" he said angrily. Sasuke cupped Naruto's face with his hands. "Dobe, its true, so believe it. She was only trying to help, in a weird…deranged sort of way. She's sorry for what she did, Naruto. You've been with Kyuubi your whole life. If you were truly given the chance to kill her, would you?" Naruto pulled away from Sasuke.
"Yes, I would." He mumbled.
"If it weren't for Kyuubi, you would probably be dead and Itachi would have a child. Also, Itachi and Orochimaru would be alive."
"We nearly broke up because of Kyuubi killing your brother!" Naruto replied angrily. Sasuke felt a wave of guilt hit him. "Yes, we did. But that was only because I was being selfish at the time, only thinking of my revenge, not your life." Sasuke kissed Naruto lightly. "And we probably wouldn't be here now, our bond stronger than ever. Forgive her, Naruto." Sasuke smiled. "Besides, could you really stay mad at her for the rest of your life?"
"Fine." Naruto mumbled. 'Really?' Kyuubi asked hopefully.
'Almost. I think your going to have to wait for the day until I can truly trust you again. But if you ever, ever do anything like that again, or hurt Sasuke again in any way, I will find a way to kill you.' Kyuubi laughed, but was only met with a deadly silence. 'Y-your serious…' she laughed again, but much more nervously this time. 'Don't worry, I wont.' She replied. Naruto looked up at Sasuke.
"I think she understands that I've forgiven her." He said. Sasuke nodded. He wrapped his hand around Naruto's and lifted them up so the ring that Naruto was still holding rested in the blonde's palms.
"Naruto…there was something I was going to say when you first came in." Naruto looked up at Sasuke. "I love you more than anything, Naruto. I couldn't imagine my life without you…" Sasuke lifted his gaze from the ring, into Naruto's deep blue pools. "Will you marry me?"
"Sasuke…" Naruto's eyes began to well up. The raven panicked, wondering if Naruto was going to refuse. "Yes, of course I will!" he replied happily, hugging Sasuke. The raven felt his own eyes watering, but quickly bit his lip to stop them. "I love you dobe. Or should I say…Naruto Uchiha." The blonde paused.
"Hey, who said anything about taking your name?" he asked. "What if I want you to be Sasuke Uzumaki?" Sasuke smirked.
"The bride always takes the other's name." He replied.
"Not always." Naruto said, pouting. What Sasuke said suddenly hit him. "Wait, bride?" he hollered. "I'm not a girl, teme! You're going to be my bride!" Naruto snapped back. Sasuke smirked and climbed on top of Naruto, pinning his wrists down. "Now who's the girl, hmm?" Naruto tried, and failed, to overpower Sasuke. Naruto finally gave in.
"Fine…" he muttered. Sasuke smirked.
"You're going to look good in a dress."
"D-dress?" Naruto spluttered. "If you think that I would even consider that, you have another thing coming!" Sasuke looked down at his blonde. Yeah, this wedding was going to be fun.
A/n: And I'm sorry to say, that is the end! I will be adding an epilogue, and also the prologue for my next story!
I just want to thank all the reviewers, who made me want to write more and more! I had so many nice comments, glad you all enjoyed it!
Whippasnappa.