Edited: [05/19/15]

"…Naruto?"

Blue eyes void of emotion and any signs of life looked into pale violet ones in a reflexive manner, indicating that the owner of the eyes was not even close to recognizing the person who had called him, inducing quite the fear from the older of the two who took in the vacant expression on the blue-eyed youth's face. There was an empty smile, naturally present on his face, and the red-haired man assumed that it was more of a habit than anything rather than a genuine display of appreciation or greeting.

"Kurama," he murmured. His voice was so frail and so weak it was barely above a whisper. "I'm sorry for dropping by without telling you beforehand. I hope you don't mind."

Kurama admittedly short circuited for a moment. Of all the things that he was expecting to come home to after a busy day in work, seeing his younger brother, evidently distraught and in such a broken state, sitting outside his apartment in his school uniform at nearly 2 am in the morning was definitely not one of them.

"I don't mind," Kurama quickly said, gently pulling the blond-haired teen to his feet, "Why didn't you call me? I would've come here immediately if you told me that you were coming to visit. How long have you been waiting out here? It's 2 am!"

The red-haired man hastily unlocked the door to his apartment, ushering his younger brother inside and supporting him when he stumbled from what he assumed was the lack of movement for who knows how long. He felt a surge of panic blossom within his chest of course but at the moment, Kurama doubted visibly panicking would help any of them so he chose to keep it to himself. Panic and discomfort was the last thing he'd like to show the younger teen when he was at this state.

It took less than five minutes before they both settled themselves in Kurama's living room with a cup of hot chocolate within their tight grasps, one out of apprehension and the other out of wariness and exhaustion. Kurama had unbuttoned his white button-down shirt and his necktie loosely hung around his neck, deciding that changing out of his attire could come later after this- whatever this could actually lead to. His blood red hair that resembled their deceased mother's own which was usually tame had a sense of roughness from the numerous times he ran his fingers through it in frustration during work, contrasting and bringing out his startling pale violet eyes which had dark bags underneath from sleep deprivation after working non-stop for days. He looked extremely fatigued but Kurama figured that Naruto was way off worse.

No words had to be spoken as they basked in comfortable yet reluctant silence for a while. They were brothers and even though they don't see each other as often as they used to when Naruto was a mere child, that didn't mean that they had forgotten how they dealt with each other's pain. They've been through this countless of times before. No one had to force the other to initiate the conversation and they agreed – though no words had to be said for it to be considered an agreement – that no questions will be asked unless answers were given first.

And Naruto who was vividly aware of the conditions started speaking.

"I... I don't really know what happened," Naruto admitted slowly. "I can't say that I was… dumped since we weren't going out in the very first place. Rejection might have been the word, but I can't say for sure because if I knew Sasuke well enough, he'll probably be disregarding the fact that I see him in that way and we'll just move on and continue with life as best friends- and that isn't really 'rejecting' me. It's either that or he'll be avoiding me like the plague, uncomfortable and horrified and all that. But I don't think he's that type of person and the worst part is that I'm not sure if I'm just convincing myself that he wouldn't hate me or that I'm telling the truth. I don't know the truth. How the fuck should I even know the truth? Nothing… Nothing makes sense, Kurama. Everything is really, really just all over the place for me right now- I don't even know where to begin. I'm so lost. I don't fucking know what to do. I... I just… Everything is so fucked up."

Kurama stayed silent, well aware of the contradictions that he was witnessing.

When he found Naruto sitting with his back against the door to his apartment with his eyes drawn to the sound of someone calling his name, he looked so empty as if nothing was registering in his head and that he was simply relying on instinct to do what he has to; he was doing everything how he thought he should, hence the empty smiles. But now that they were speaking, he was showing awareness towards his situation by admitting how he felt. He knew what was happening but the emptiness still exists.

And Kurama knew the root of the contradictions.

Detachment and impassiveness generally made it easier for them to tell what they do not want to talk about because they see themselves as completely different people. Right now, Kurama was fairly certain that Naruto was oblivious to the fact that he was even talking about himself.

"Let's start from the beginning then," Kurama said finally after a bout of silence.

"What happened?"

"I finally told Sasuke that I like him."

Kurama tried his best to mask the sense of urgency that overtook him and the perplexity that accompanied it.

"You admitted that you liked him over a year ago, Naruto. What made you do what you did now of all times?"

Blue eyes moved from warm chocolate to pale violet.

"Itachi offered Sasuke an option to move to Suna and when I found out about that, I wanted to, at the very least, let him know so that I wouldn't regret not saying anything. I didn't want to make the same mistake, Kurama. Not again if I couldn't help it. I'd rather suffer the consequences of doing something rather than hurting inside, knowing that I didn't."

"Are you talking about Jiraiya-san?"

Naruto slowly nodded, but other than that, he said nothing else.

"Naruto," Kurama sighed, "What made you think that Sasuke was leaving for Suna? You said that Itachi offered him an option. He has the option to decline and you shouldn't assume-"

There was an abrupt flash of emotion in his younger brother's eyes when he said,

"He didn't."

"…He didn't?"

"The reason why I finally told him was because he said yes. He didn't decline Itachi's offer."

"For… for how long will he be staying?" There was a sense of dread, slowly trickling into Kurama's system, and the older of the two slowly began to understand that this might've been worse than it sounds.

"An indefinite amount of time," Naruto stated mechanically as if he was repeating what someone had said. "Itachi is a very influential man and he has their family business perfectly under his control but he was uneasy- there were recent attempts to take him out because of the almost astounding results that Uchiha Inc. was producing throughout the past years under his management and he wanted to ensure the safety of his little brother. So until the matter has been dealt with, Sasuke will have to stay in Suna."

It was as if the trigger was set off because Naruto continued talking even without Kurama's encouragement, his voice gaining a sharper edge.

"I panicked. I didn't want to lose him- we were always together. We had always been ever since three years ago. I didn't know what to do and I began to think and I thought too much. I thought about how Sasuke might prefer living in Suna than in Konoha. I thought about how he might never come back. I thought about how this might be the last time I'm seeing him. I thought about how the friendship that we established might crumble to nonexistence by the time he returns and then we'll treat each other like strangers. I thought about many things, Kurama, and it scared me shitless. So… so I forced myself to make a decision. I made up my mind to settle it once and for all- to tell him and get it over with so that if he left, I wouldn't feel like… like this. That eventually, if I was rejected, I'd come to accept it and… move on. That eventually, everything will return to normal and we'll all be together again. That I wouldn't have to tell myself that I hate him every single night to convince myself that it was the truth when it wasn't… And that… that I wouldn't look at him with these eyes because we are… we were best friends… I… I don't want to lose him… I just… want everything to go back to how it used to be…"

Naruto slowly looked at Kurama, an utterly defeated look plastered across his face.

"...Nii-san," he breathed, tears beginning to gather within his lifeless blue eyes, "Can... can you please tell me how to give up on someone?"

Kurama promptly dropped the cup he had in his hands, ignoring the way it shattered on the floor and how its contents spilled in favor of rushing over to his brother's side to hold him.

Right before him sat the very same child who had blamed himself for the death of his own parents for years, crushed by guilt, engulfed in self-loathing and tormented by loneliness and hopelessness. Kurama couldn't give a damn if the world was ending right then.

After all, it has been 11 years since Naruto had cried so openly within his brother's arms.

A/N: I based Kurama's personality on Minato's own. I mean, if Naruto were to have a brother, I suspected that since Naruto had his father's coloring and his mother's mischievous personality, Kurama would have it the other way around.