Chapter Three: Now or Never
He had found Sasuke a few minutes ago. He waited in the tree branch he was perched on, bringing the human part of him back into control slowly.
He leapt from the tree branch and landed silently in front of Sasuke Uchiha.
"Here to bring me back again, dobe? Where's the backup?" he sneered, his eyes cold and bleak. Like stone.
"There is no backup. I am alone. I have been for a long time, Sasuke." Naruto replied, feeling the pain twist inside him. This was going to hurt. A lot.
"Alone? You? Naruto Uzumaki always has friends. Always has backup." Sasuke said, hand straying to his sword. What on Earth is going on here? Sasuke thought.
"Friends?" Naruto scoffed, chuckling. It was a horrible sound. "I told my friends that this time I would either come back with you or as a dead body. How does that make you feel, Uchiha? I would abandon my friends for you." he said. The pain was twisting even more sharply now.
Abandon his friends? Has he gone crazy? A dead body? SInce when has he been morbid? Sasuke thought.
"Why would you do that? We haven't been close for three years, dobe. I left you, dying in a valley in the middle of a storm." Sasuke said. "And what do you mean a dead body? Are you so sure of your defeat?"
"No. I know that in a fight between us I would have to try to kill you. I can't do that. What I mean when I say a dead body is that I will either bring you back home, or kill myself." Naruto said. Coldly. Emotionessly. Sasuke made a choking noise. He seemed a little shocked.
"Kill yourself?!? What happened to becoming Hokage? Your so-called 'dream'?" Sasuke asked, searching Naruto's face for the happy, idiotic boy he had once known. He saw nothing. It scared him. Where was his best friend? Where was he?
"What use is being Hokage if I don't care about my village? How can I live to protect people I don't notice anymore? I haven't been able to believe like I did since you left me, Sasuke! I smile, sure, I smile and I laugh and I eat ramen and I go on missions. But I don't really smile or laugh, I can't taste ramen anymore, and I go on missions hoping that maybe I'll die this time so that I don't have to come back and pretend all over again! I know your pain now, Sasuke, but I have no revenge to focus on, because that would mean killing you. And I just can't, Sasuke, I just can't." Naruto ranted. He said the last few words with tears in his eyes and pain in every aspect of his face. His fists were clenched and he was panting heavily.
"Why can't you kill me?" Sasuke asked quietly. Naruto was scaring him. He had never seen him so broken, never. It made his heart hurt to watch. He wondered why.
"Why? Haven't you guessed yet, you stupid Uchiha?" Naruto said, the pain now everywhere in him, burning and twisting and cutting him apart from the inside.
"No, I haven't guessed." Sasuke said, looking down at the ground, blinking away tears. TEARS?! Why would I cry for him? I haven't cried in years... Sasuke thought. Naruto growled, striding over to where Sasuke was standing and grabbing his chin.
"Look at me! Look at me!" he said, almost screaming. Sasuke met his eyes. He almost stepped back in shock. The pain is Naruto's eyes…he had seen that pain before. In the mirror, everyday.
"The reason I can't kill you, Sasuke, is because of one little thing. Don't you wonder why I'm so tormented by you leaving? Don't you wonder how you could have affected me like this?" Naruto said, whispering. Sasuke couldn't look away, couldn't tear his gaze from Naruto's. He nodded, not trusting himself to speak.
"I love you, Sasuke Uchiha. And if I can't have you then I will kill myself. Because it hurts too much to continue living like I have been. The pain of losing you forever would kill me if you say no to me now."
Sasuke's jaw dropped.
"You WHAT?!? Oh Kami. Oh shit. Holy crap." Sasuke said, stumbling backwards and fainting. Naruto stared at his prone figure, lying on the ground.
He would wait for him to wake.
He didn't have an answer yet.
So he would wait.
A/N: Ooh, what will Sasuke's answer be? Well, for those of you who want it to stay as dark as it has been, I'm sorry, but that probably won't continue. I get a feeling there will be many LOLS about Kakashi in the last chapter though :)
Thank you all so much for reading this!! I didn't expect it to get so many reviews and I definitely didn't expect so may people to read it. I honsetly didn't think it was that great.
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