This is from Naruto's POV, for the first and indeed only time in this fic. There is only one chapter to go...

Part four – Sleet

Sasuke wouldn't stop crying. No matter what I said to him, he just kept on sobbing into my shoulder. I was so scared to see him like this. Cool, calm, Sasuke. His whole family was dead but he never seemed to care about anything, except for that one horrible day when he tried to kill me. How could he be crying like this? It was like something about him was broken, and I was the only one who could fix it.

While we sat, the wind blowing through our hair and lifting the sides of our clothes to flap around us like wings, I felt tears forming in my own eyes. How could it be that my best friend could feel this miserable? I had failed, failed everyone. I couldn't bring him back, so he had come back on his own, like this, and it was my fault. I had let him down in his hour of need. I was such an idiot!

Frustrated with myself, almost sick with worry for Sasuke, I glanced around at the scenery. Then, unexpectedly, I saw Gaara. He stood up, and ran away from the place where we sat. What was he doing there? It didn't make sense!

But then, I thought about it. He liked me, he had admitted it. And I had told Kakashi to get him to meet me at the hospital. But, I wasn't at the hospital. I was here, with Sasuke, and Gaara must have found us. And that meant that Gaara had seen us shouting at each other, and Sasuke crying, and me hugging him, and… oh no…

Too late, I realized how it must have looked. No wonder he ran away! I was torn, between Sasuke and Gaara, knowing they both needed me. How could I reassure them both, without the other thinking that I was neglecting them? I looked up at the sky and saw dark clouds. Sasuke was still crying. I hugged him tighter and rocked back and forth absent-mindedly as I desperately tried to think of a solution.

I felt a cold drop hit my forehead, and within a few moments a sudden downpour drenched us both. The storm was back. It was the perfect excuse. Sasuke lifted his head slightly, sniffing at the shock of the rain. Feeling almost guilty, I lifted him up from the floor a little, so I could look into his eyes.

"Sasuke… let's go back to the hospital, baka."

His lips twitched slightly as if he wanted to smile, but couldn't. There was still a deep-seated sadness in his eyes, but it seemed as if he was past the worst.

"Okay, dobe."

I led him back to the hospital, one arm draped over my shoulders. He shuffled a little every now and then, as if he was too weak to walk for long, and never made a sound. I tried to hold myself back and walk to his pace, but I was anxious for Gaara. By the time I had left him safely tucked up and asleep in his bed, it felt like hours had passed.

As soon as I walked through the hospital doors, the storm hit me full in the face. It nearly swept me backwards, the wind was so strong. Sleet was falling now, not rain, and each drop stung as it bounced off me. Where would Gaara have gone? In all this sleet I feared for him. He was slighter than me, thinner and smaller. The sand would protect him, but only to a certain extent. And he was upset… I was worried I would find him like yesterday, unconscious under the rain. He could catch pneumonia.

I dashed through the watery streets like the whirlpool I was named for, searching desperately for him. I sent out my kage bunshin clones down the side streets, hoping against hope that I would find him before it was too late. Where could he have gone? I was almost out of my mind with worry.

I could hardly see the street, the sleet was so heavy. It bounced painfully off my forehead. I ran through the market, the coverings on empty stalls flapping at me like ghosts. I was in such a hurry that I didn't even notice Shikamaru and Ino sheltering under an overhanging building until I heard Shikamaru shout my name. Skidding to a halt, I looked back and saw him pointing down the hill. The storm tried to steal his words away, but I saw his mouth make the shape of the name I had been waiting for. He was telling me that Gaara had been this way.

I nodded in thanks and dashed on. I wished I could be quicker. I wished I trained as hard as Rock Lee so that I could run faster. I wished I had sand like Gaara or a dog like Kiba to carry me along the streets. I wished I had a good nose like Kakashi's tracking team, or eyes like Neji, or insects like Shino, anything, anything, to help me find him. If he was hurt, or worse, I would never forgive myself. I had to reach him, to tell him that what he saw was not what it looked like. I didn't love Sasuke. How could I love my best friend? So many people thought I did, but Sasuke was more like a brother to me, as if I could ever know what having a brother really felt like. I didn't love Sasuke. I loved him.

How could he not know the way I felt? Every day, every night I thought about him. I trained hard to get stronger so that one day I could protect him. My friends were important to me, rescuing Sasuke was crucial, but in my heart I knew the only person who could make me train until I collapsed was Gaara. When Shikamaru looked at the clouds, he saw freedom. I saw Gaara's face. When I looked at the stars, I took comfort in knowing that the same ones stared down upon him. When I heard news of the Sand, I knew that it was news about him, and it left me feeling happy all day. There was no one else I could live for, no one else who could inspire me to breathe. Gaara was my everything. Without him, I would be just another monster.

At last, I began to slow down. One by one I dissolved the clones, knowing they had found nothing. He was nowhere to be seen. I thought my heart would burst under the combined pressure of exhausting myself and hoping he was alright. I didn't understand where he could be. A desperate tear trickled from my eye and joined the endless rain. The sleet was hitting me so hard I felt like I had been in a fight. I had to get to shelter. But how could I, when Gaara was out there somewhere, alone and unhappy? I couldn't take it any more. I began to cry hard, blinded by the tears as I cried out his name again and again. I had to find him. I had to rescue him. He didn't need to be alone, not when I was around. I had to help him. He needed me.

Like a sudden gift from the gods, the sleet stopped. The rain and wind slowed down until I could barely feel it. With one last effort, I filled my lungs with air and screamed as loud as I could.

"GAARA!"

There was no sound but the pattering of the rain on my coat and the stones I stood on. The wind blew the water scornfully into my eyes. I couldn't find him. I had failed, again. I was so stupid. So dumb. Nothing mattered but him, and now I had lost him.

I turned to go, facing the path from which I had come. Movement to my left made me look round wearily. I had all but given up.

"…Naruto?" It was him, standing there by the side of the path, looking at me as if he was afraid I would hurt him. His hair was dripping water over his face, and his eyes were as full of tears as mine. I began to sob again, stepping towards him slowly, afraid he would reject me.

"Gaara…" I cried. "You… you're okay…"

He stepped forward and into my waiting arms. I pulled him as close as I could, wanting to never let him go again.

"Yeah… I'm okay…" he answered, burying his head in my shoulder as the rain finally stopped.