Alright, I'm back with the final chapter! Who shall Naruto choose--Itachi or Sasuke?

Disclamer: I don't own any of the Naruto characters--just the idea. But oh, if I did...hehe.

On with the story!


..::Chapter Three::..

"Naruto, don't walk away from me! Don't you remember? We were together! I love you. I didn't mean to hurt you when I left. I know I did, and I'm sorry I can't take it all back, but…" Naruto swallowed hard then stopped dead in his tracks. Whoa, wait. He loved him? Perhaps this story was worth listening to.

He turned and planted his feet firmly to the ground, crossing his arms over his Akatsuki cloak and narrowing his gold eyes at the Uchiha. "Continue." He nodded, watching him closely. Sasuke swallowed and asked, "What has Itachi done to you?" "I didn't tell you to ask questions. I told you to continue. Now do so or I will walk away, and this time, I won't turn back. Understand?" Sasuke sighed and nodded.

"I left you for a man named Orochimaru. But I came back for you. I just…I couldn't live without you Naruto." Sasuke's eyes dropped from Naruto's gold ones and he said quietly, "I see now what my foolishness cost me." "What's that?" Naruto asked in a bored tone. "You." Shiny gold narrowed dangerously. "What makes you think I should believe you?" Sasuke hesitated then asked, "Well, what makes you believe him?" Naruto blinked in surprise.

"Itachi? Well, he's always been here. Ever since I woke up, he explained to me what happened to me…" "Woke up?" "Yeah. I was fighting some Jonin and—" "That's enough Naruto. We need to leave." Itachi interrupted. Sasuke growled at him and sneered, "No, let him explain." "Itachi, wait, I want to know who he is." Naruto complained as Itachi grabbed his wrist and tried to pull him away. Itachi narrowed his eyes angrily and hissed, "He is of no concern to us."

"Let go of him!" Sasuke shouted, taking a step towards them. Naruto's eyes widened as Itachi snarled, "You've become less naïve, I'll give you that Sasuke. You don't rush into things anymore. But you're still getting in my way. And I won't have it under this circumstance!" Then he sent a kunai sailing towards his little brother. "No…" the whisper escaped Naruto's tongue before he could think about it and suddenly, in a flash, he was in front of Sasuke, protecting him from the older Uchiha's weapon, feeling it embed into his own chest rather than it's original targets. A gasp of blood left his lips and he staggered back, into Sasuke's arms. His golden eyes flickered to blue, then back again.

'Sasuke!'

'Naruto!'

'Ransengan!'

'Chidori!'

Groaning Naruto held his head and shook it, as though trying to shake the unexpected memories from his mind. Sasuke still held him gently and asked, "You okay? Naruto?" "Make them stop! I don't understand! What happened?!" Naruto cried, gripping his hair tightly between his fingers. Sasuke shot Itachi a furious look.

"What have you done to him?" Itachi didn't answer, just watched. Naruto cried out as a pain shot through his head, then another, and another until he felt he would pass out. "Stop, stop, stop! All I want is the truth!" he cried, practically sobbing.

'"Kakashi-Sensei…where's Sasuke?" Naruto watched dully as Kakashi just shook his head.

He'd failed.'

"Nooooo!" the blonde howled, collapsing. Panting, he leaned back against the warm chest, listening the heartbeat, enjoying the warmth it brought and the rhythmic rise and fall of their breathing. Slowly, unsure, he opened his eyes, revealing sky blue to look into dark onyx.

"Sasuke…" he whispered, staring at him in disbelief. Then slowly a small smile graced its way onto his lips. Sasuke stared at him and murmured, "Naruto…?" "Sasuke!" Naruto cried, hugging him with as much vigor as he could muster. Then he gasped as the kunai sunk deeper into his chest, and gripped the Akatsuki cloak, writhing. Sasuke held him gently and glared up at Itachi across the river.

"What did you do to him?" Itachi smirked. "Tsukuyomi. It wasn't hard. You put him in a state of such misery he didn't have the brains enough to run." Naruto's furious blue eyes snapped open to glare at the man. "You bastard. Don't you dare pin this all on him!" he snarled, grimacing, but his gaze never faltering. Itachi smirked and said, "Why not? It is his fault. He left you, you became venerable, and so I took the advantage. It was convenient for you to loose your memory. We first planned on extracting you of the Kyuubi first off, but our leader delayed it, lucky for you. I had to keep you around at all times to make sure nothing drastic happened—like your memory coming back. Too bad it did."

Sasuke growled, but Naruto knew it was half-hearted. Sasuke knew it really had been mainly his fault that he'd lost Naruto to Itachi. This only made Naruto angrier. He hissed out a heated breath and was about to cuss the older Uchiha out when Sasuke stood, Naruto in his arms.

"You've lost Itachi. You're not getting him back. Ever." He said lowly, keeping his cool quite well. Naruto watched him, then Itachi. Itachi chuckled and shrugged carelessly. "Says you, little brother." He smirked, disappearing. A sigh of relief left the younger Uchiha's mouth in a warm wisp of air, hitting Naruto's cheek softly. He sighed and closed his eyes gently.

"Are you okay?" "I'm fine now…" he smiled without opening his eyes. Sasuke grunted softly, and started walking away. Naruto rested his head against his chest and relaxed, feeling safe. Then, "Sasuke?" "Hm?" "…Thank you for coming back for me." Sasuke smiled and kissed his former—and once again—lover on the lips softly.

"I've told you before Naruto; I can't live without you." Naruto smiled and opened his oceanic eyes. "Yeah." He smiled, kissing him deeply, forgetting the pain in his chest by the kunai—and the pain that had once resigned in his heart melted away.


Aww...so how was it? Good? Bad? Okay? Reviews are nice! puppy eyes Thanks for reading!

-- Miah-Chan