Sasuke was not good at providing comfort.
She hadn't needed to give anyone comfort in her life up to now, and it had been a very long time since someone had comforted her. It came with the nature of her upbringing, having to mature extremely quickly and confront the demons of her life. There wasn't any time for unneeded relationships, or to make sure that the people around her were alright.
It was different now, when her goals were complete and she was completely devoted to something aside from killing people, or achieving her vengeance. Now, she needed to learn something new, and as ridiculous as it sounded she much preferred learning with a blade rather than figuring out the complexity of emotions.
She took another step forward, the rocks purposely loud under her feet so that he could know that she was coming but it was just another courtesy.
Both of their prescenes were so large that they knew where the other was every single minute they were within Konoha. He would have known she was coming to find him as soon as she had left the house, but she was being cautious - she was still guessing as to how to approach this situation and she hoped he understood that fact with her careful steps.
He was sitting down, on a bench that she couldn't remember being on top of the Hokage Monument and he hadn't moved a muscle, his head locked on to the horizon before them and reflecting on the site of the sun setting over the village.
Whatever it was that was eating him up, that had made him momentarily disappear from the village and leave her without explanation was obviously still on his mind. His hands were tightened and as calm as he seemed at first glance, she knew that his emotions were in disarray, and though she couldn't see his face yet she knew she'd have seen it in his eyes.
But she still didn't know how to comfort him, especially when she didn't know what he was concerned about, and so she tried a different approach. It hadn't been often when he had needed to comfort her, not at all for anything serious really, but she remembered that in previous situations in which she had been annoyed, or angry, his simple understanding touch had been enough to calm her, and his mere presence by her side made her mind wander elsewhere.
And so she continued on her stride, noticing how he didn't turn to look at her as she delicately sat down by his side on the bench, close enough that they could reach out and touch each other if they wanted but far from smothering him.
And then she waited. She knew that after a while, if there was anything seriously wrong, he would crack and tell her after a few minutes of thinking but she hoped, now that she was next to him, despite the fact that they were not in contact it was enough of a calming presence to help him relax.
She was proven right when after a couple more minutes, he sighed heavily, and leant back into the wooden bench, reaching a hand out to delicately grasp her own without looking towards her, but leaning into her presence nonetheless.
She let him toy with her hand for a few seconds, an almost reverent touch that was far gentler than his normal caring embrace, before turning and lowering her gaze on his face, studying him slowly even as he refused to turn towards her.
"What is it?" she asked, and she was surprised with how soft her voice was.
She truly wanted to help him, to find out what was wrong and get rid of it so that they could return home together, and carry on living what she had acknowledged was a dream, but this had to come first and as difficult as it was - his eyes had no business being that disturbed.
He turned, and she caught his eyes and despite being visibly upset about something, he smiled, a small raising at the sides of his lips as he looked at her and the simple action would have warmed her heart if it wasn't for the situation.
"I'm just…" he trailed off, and he looked back towards Konoha even as he held her hand gently. "I'm tired today, Sasuke. It's been one of those days where you can't think of anything positive."
She knew that as hard as it was for her to talk to him about her emotions, it was equally as hard for him, because as charismatic as he was and willing to strike a conversation with people, she had noted long ago that it was never about what he was thinking and feeling.
They were both emotionally independent people and while they were perfectly willing to give every part of themselves for each other, it didn't mean they were used to it, and it was few and far between where they had as serious a discussion as this - about what they were feeling.
She slipped her hand from hers, prompting him to look back at her curiously but she just reached forward, cupping at his jaw and stroking his cheek absently as she looked further into his eyes, watching as he conflicted with leaning into her touch and paying attention to whatever she was going to say.
"Why is that?" she asked, and some of what she was thinking must have seeped through in her expression because he immediately frowned, moving to hold his hand over hers and move closer to her.
It was irrational, and she knew it wasn't right, but she couldn't help but think that the source of whatever negative thoughts he was thinking, whatever had made him this reflective for the entire day was somehow her fault.
They had lived a pained existence, both of them, but the most recent years had been the best of her life. Whenever she was with Naruto, the days that they spent in the village or simply at home with each other were as if she had stolen them from another life. It was perfect, and she knew it was perfect for him as well, but the fact that something in his mind still pained him enough for him to be reclusive for the entire day somehow felt like her responsibility.
She knew she was wrong, that everyone had days where they could think of nothing but the negativity of their pained existence - days like that had been far too common for her before, but Naruto was as perceptive of what she was feeling as ever.
"No," he quickly denied, moving forward and forcing her to look him in the eyes with his spare hand. "No, don't ever think that I'm upset with you, or about you, or about what we share. Every single time I think about you, my day gets better, it's just that on days like these… everything else is too overwhelming and I can't help but think of the people we've lost, the atrocities of the shinobi world. Promise me, please, don't ever think that it's your fault if I'm ever upset."
She'd already failed spectacularly, she realized, because she had come up to meet him with the purpose of making him feel better, but her repulsive thoughts had seeped through and he was now focused on her rather than the other way around.
"I'm sorry," she nodded. "It was wrong to think that." she paused for a few seconds. "What is it that you're thinking about… can I make it better?"
She had no idea what she was doing, how to make him feel better, because no one had ever been around to comfort her whenever she had the same negative thoughts, the same bad days that he was having right now - and while she knew that he was more than strong enough to power through it by himself, it pained her to be so helpless when he was suffering, no matter how small or insignificant it might have seemed.
He relaxed again, from his previous need to make her understand that she was not the source of his discomfort, before smiling slightly and dropping the hand from her cheek into her lap.
"You're making it better already," he said, simply, eyes flashing as they caught her own.
It was flattery and she smiled from it, a slight raising of her lips, but she knew that it was more than what was face value. When it came to avoiding the question, or distracting people from the truth of what he was feeling, Naruto was well practiced and far more efficient than her.
"Sometimes talking about something helps you have a better insight on it." she provided.
His smile dropped somewhat and she knew that he didn't really want to talk about it, but sometimes what was necessary for the long run hurt in the short term and she looked at him carefully.
"I just…" he continued to trail on. "I've been thinking about whether or not I made the right choices. So many people have put their trust in me, put all of their hopes and dreams in me - some have died for it - and I've always been stalwart about continuing, about achieving what I originally set out for but sometimes, I wonder whether it was the right decision."
He didn't need to point out that years ago, he had forced herself to accept him, to put her belief into him for the future of the world, that he would achieve his dreams. She knew that he was pressured by it, that it would eventually eat anyone up, but childishly she had a belief that Naruto was infallible, undeterred by anything and determined to the grave.
But now, he needed reassurance.
"Naruto…" his eyes had been drifting, zoning out in depressive thought but he snapped back to her own now. "You're looking at it the wrong way."
He frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"When I put my trust in you, my belief that you'll achieve your dream and find a peaceful solution for this world, I didn't put my belief in the idea that you'll achieve it - I put my belief in the idea that you will remain yourself, that through it all, Naruto Uzumaki will remain himself and find the solution that is most feasibly the best."
He was still frowning, still lost in thought, and so she edged forward, legs brushing with his own as she made him understand.
"I'm sure it's the same for everyone else who has put their trust in you. No matter if you change your plans - even if you no longer desire to be Hokage, everyone who has ever put their trust and dreams into you hasn't done it because they think you can lead the world to peace, they've put their trust in you because they think that you are the best hope that we have."
This time, she turned away, because like in every serious conversation they had, she was inevitably reminded of her own prior actions.
"Some people noticed it before me, but… you are far more special than you give yourself credit for Naruto. Anyone else in your situation would have turned out completely different, would have collapsed or become a monster, but everyone put their trust in you because no matter what, you stuck to yourself and never changed. It doesn't matter if you are changing your mind, if you are wondering if you made the correct decisions or can stay true to your promises, it matters that throughout it all everyone knows that you will remain as Naruto Uzumaki, the person they trusted the world to."
His eyes clicked and he seemed to get it, but he was still disturbed - she would have been surprised if he was not - and so she did her best to smile at him.
It was at times like these in which she loved him the most. His gentle eyes, the way in which he looked at her as if she was his very lifeline - hanging on her every word and so hopelessly caught in the words that split from her mouth - it was devotion that she tried her hardest to match for him.
"I know it still puts pressure on you, that if anything it puts more, but…" she shifted from her position by his side, instead swinging her legs over his own so that she could sit on his lap, completely facing him and blocking out the view of Konohagakure behind her. "... ultimately, everyone who put their trust in you wants you to be happy, because a happy Naruto makes everyone see better, hope better."
She paused, hoping that whatever she had said was enough, and she briefly noted for a second that it must have been the most she had ever spoken at once from the rawness of her throat before his breath shuttered and he wrapped his arms around her waist, holding him on her laps as she wound a single arm around his neck.
The awe in those eyes… it meant that she had done something right, but she didn't deserve whatever emotions he was expressing underneath it.
It didn't mean that she wouldn't bask in it, however.
"I'm sorry," he mumbled, as he buried his head into her collarbone, arms tight around her waist. "I never thought of it like that, I just… I'm a bit overwhelmed, y'know?"
"Shh," she uttered into his head. "It's fine… You need to know that no matter what, whatever decisions you make or actions that you do, I'll be there."
She paused and swallowed, and he must have sensed that whatever she was going to say next was from the heart, difficult for her to express, because he lifted his head from her chest and looked back up to her in attention.
"You're… you're all that matters to me, Naruto. It sounds selfish, but in this world, I'll be with you whatever. You don't need to worry about making the correct decisions, because I'll support them nonetheless."
He froze against her, and for one horrid second she thought she'd said too much, gone along with the flow too much and spoken too much about her emotion, but then he buried his head into her again and twined a hand around her head to stroke at her neck.
"I love you," he said, simply, after a few seconds and he reached back once again to cup at her face, to display the seriousness in his gaze. "It's the same for me, Sasuke. I love you so much."
Perhaps, making Naruto feel better was like this, but she'd never have thought the discussion would be so expressive, so truthful, and so her heart beated harder nonetheless and she leant down, her hair curtaining in front of her and swamping both of them as she leant into his face, capturing his lips in something she hoped expressed just how much she felt about him and by the way he returned, she didn't need to wonder.
"I love you too," she breathed against his lips, after a few minutes of simply kissing each other.
They rested for a few more seconds, keeping their heads together so that they could simply look into each other's eyes, before, despite herself, she smirked.
"What is it?" he smiled, mirroring the small smile on her features and she realised that those were the exact words she started this conversation to begin with.
"I… I didn't know how to help you. I think I did alright."
She could tell that he was still reflective, still thinking about what she had said and what he had been thinking about previously, but everything seemed so much more insignificant when his arms were wrapped around her and his eyes dancing in amusement only an inch away.
To some degree, she was scared, because she had never revealed so much about herself, never spoken to this degree about her emotions and what they thought about each other, but that was somehow inconsequential and right now, when he laughed against her lips and she smiled, fully, she knew it was alright and it always would be.
"Maybe you should reconsider your profession if that was your first attempt at cheering someone up."
She scowled, sneering, but the sparkling of her eyes and the lightness of his laughter revealed her humour and she leant further into his embrace, hiding her face in the mixture of their hair.
"Shut up," she commanded lightly.
He was about to retort, but he seemed much more willing to comply with her command when his lips were distracted by her own, and this time she laughed out loud when he picked her up from under her legs and growled playfully against her.
It didn't matter if they had bad days, she realised, if they had each other to get through them.