AN: Surprise! Bonus Chapter! I read a lovely review and thought 'you know what, let's do it.' Maybe I just wasn't ready to let these two go yet … You guys want a few answers, hence this epilogue. Hopefully this will satisfy your curiosity, and I do hope it feels a bit more complete after this. But this is definitely the end. I will leave it up to you guys to imagine where these two go from here. I don't think I can do anymore with them. Thanks so much for reading and reviewing :)

To that particular reviewer (you know who you are): THIS IS FOR YOU ^_^

EPILOGUE

Naruto ran. The gate had been changed along the way for the third time and he now had twenty minutes to make it to the other side of the airport! He didn't realise he'd dropped his cushy as he rushed through the throngs of people on his way to an automated walkway.

'Hey, you,' someone called from behind him. 'Hey, stop for a –'

Naruto glanced back, but didn't stop. The guy was holding up his cushy; Naruto sort of waved and kept going. There was no time, sacrifices had to be made. The cushy would have to be left behind. He got on the walkway and tried desperately to politely push his way through the people who didn't seem to be in a hurry at all. Guess their gate had been changed to the other end of the place, guess they'd got there in time and hadn't had to do a one eighty with no time to spare.

Naruto ground to a halt behind a guy standing right in the middle of the walkway. His frustration boiled over as he sort of shoved past a little bit, ignoring the indignant yells from the guy. He'd spent all his money on this flight, and no guy in a stupid business suit with a stupid tiny roley case was gonna stop him from going.

The next ten minutes were a blur as Naruto made a desperate dash for his gate. He could see his goal, the big yellow sign said 'gates 88-108'. He rushed down the corridor, his heart pumping quickly with adrenaline. He checked the board on his way down, thankfully the gate hadn't been changed again. Down an escalator, down another escalator, another, rush through a corridor; others were joining him now, others were racing him.

Time was running out. He wasn't going to make it! His lungs were on fire and his steps were shortening and slowing. He pleaded desperately with his body to pick up the pace, but in the end his legs won. He was basically jogging along now, racing only the clock as he passed each board telling him he wasn't going to make.

Finally, he was at gate 102. He'd made it with only minutes to spare. The line was huge, weaving all the way through the lounge. Naruto, hacking for breath and doubled over from the sprint, tacked on the end. He knew the guy in front of him only turned to look at what had arrived behind him, but Naruto didn't care. He was on his way. In ten hours he would be in France, and he could finally, for the first time all year, clear his head and get his shit in order.

He'd spent the past couple of days with Sasuke. Alone and away from nosy friends, they'd gotten to know each other on a deeper level. Naruto thought he knew Sasuke, but the past couple of days had proven to him that he didn't know much at all. Sasuke had been closed about a lot of things, and he still was. Naruto believed he needed time to get used to the idea of sharing. What had happened when he was little had affected him so much, that he felt like he couldn't actually talk to anyone about it. Sasuke had told him about his feelings, but that had been the problem apparently. He didn't want to push his problems onto him. Naruto had scoffed and explained that maybe if he had, they wouldn't have spent all this time messing around with each other.

Sasuke had gone quiet after that, and Naruto realised that there were still barriers between them that Sasuke wasn't sure about breaking just yet. Naruto had tried to open him up about the important things, but Sasuke was so beat down with his own anxiety that he wouldn't even talk. But they had plenty of time now; on the surface they knew each other like brothers, but it was going to take some time before Sasuke would let him in. It was fine really, Naruto didn't feel offended. He knew the guy; he knew it was hard for him to even get as close as they already had. When Sasuke was ready, Naruto would be there.

Sasuke never told him why he'd left, or where he'd gone. He'd been so stubbourn about that one that Naruto had given up asking about it. Even though his curiosity was eating him from the inside out, Naruto could be patient. He'd wait until Sasuke was ready.

'Sir, your passport.'

The woman's tone suggested she'd probably already asked a couple of times, and her expression said she was not happy. Naruto held out his passport; the lady checked it, scanned it and handed it back, moving on without saying thanks or anything. Naruto was probably now a quarter of the way away from the gate. The line was moving so slowly. He checked his pass again; LAX to PAR. Ten hours and forty-five minutes. Ten hours and forty-five minutes until he saw Gaara. Ten hours and forty-five minutes before he could forget everything that had happened this year, sit back on a balcony with a beer and just let the world slip away.

Naruto felt bad; even though he was gagging for some quality time with Gaara, he would be working all the time, and they wouldn't see each other that much anyway. Naruto had considered not going at all, but when Sasuke found out, he made Naruto promise he wouldn't back out of the trip. Naruto had tried to convince Sasuke to come, but there hadn't been any time to get him a ticket. He could have just met him over there, but Sasuke didn't want to. Naruto had joked about him already being sick of him. Sasuke had smiled, kissed him and had agreed. Naruto still couldn't tell if he was joking or not.

Finally, he made it to the front of the line, there was that one guy in front of him. The lady waited expectantly as the guy, one who'd given Naruto the stink eye earlier by the way, searched for his boarding pass … and searched and searched. Holding up the line. The woman asked him to move aside and it was Naruto's turn to check in. The woman scanned his boarding pass, but the machine wouldn't read it. She smiled at him and tried again, but it just beeped again. She took his boarding pass and checked it carefully, scanning it again, but it just beeped.

'Uzumaki?'

Naruto nodded, the panic constricting his throat. After all that, his ticket was whack? Seriously? What did he have to do to catch a break around here?

'I found it,' the guy declared and shoved Naruto out of the way.

'Excuse me, sir, you will have to go to the back of line.'

'But, I'm right here,' he squeaked. Naruto could tell he was getting angry. The guy glanced at the line, which still had a ways to go halfway through the lounge.

'We really must ask you to go to the back, sir. If you don't – '

'Look, you obviously don't know who I am, but I'm not –'

'Please go to the back of the line, Mr Amalfi,' the woman instructed, all friendliness gone from her voice. 'If you continue to disturb the –

'Fine,' he spat. 'But you will be hearing about this.' And he trudged off.

All the while, Naruto was just standing there wondering whether he was getting on this plane or not.

The woman had a phone to her ear. '… definitely the flight. But, it won't scan. Yes. Yes, I understand.' She put the phone down and smiled at Naruto. 'This is the wrong ticket, sir. I will have to ask you step aside.'

And the panic bust through his chest. 'Am I getting on or not? I spent all my money on this thing, I've been through hell to get here. I just want to go and visit my friend!'

'Sir, please stay calm. Once everyone is checked in, we will deal with the problem. Just please be patient.'

Not knowing what else to do, Naruto stepped aside. He slumped on one of those really uncomfortable benches and simply sat there with his head in his hands, staring at the ugly blue carpet.

'I don't believe this,' he muttered. He felt like getting on to the airline and giving them a piece of his mind. They'd messed up somehow; why didn't his ticket work? Without a ticket he didn't know how he was gonna be going tonight. He definitely didn't have any more money to pay for a new one.

The urge to leave hit him hard in the chest. He was so over it. He'd gone to all this trouble, and now … At least Sasuke was at home. Leaving him behind hadn't felt right anyway, but Sasuke had convinced him to go. He'd said it would be good for him to forget for a while and just let him breathe, which Naruto had definitely agreed with. But it kept going around in Naruto's head. Sasuke still had him on edge; yes, they were now allowed, finally, to actually spend some time together, just like everyone thought they should, but leaving when they'd just gotten together? Was Sasuke trying to get rid of him?

'Mr Uzumaki?'

Naruto looked up at a guy in the airline's uniform.

'Naruto.'

The guy checked a piece of paper. 'Naruto,' he confirmed. 'Naruto, there's been a mistake. That ticket –'

'Cost me everything,' Naruto blurted.

'Yes, but Mr Uzumaki –'

'Naruto.'

The guy smiled in resignation. 'Naruto, you've been booked twice. The upgrade has invalidated the ticket. You can't fly-'

'But I have to! I haven't seen Gaara for ages and he invited me over, and he didn't know I was coming, but I couldn't keep it a secret so I blurted it one day and now he's waiting for me and we were going to see the Eiffel Tower.'

The guy stared, his mouth hung open slightly, the words on the tip of his tongue. 'I understand. But, you can't take up two seats and your domestic ticket is invalid.'

Upgrade.

'What upgrade?'

Now the guy was staring at him like he had lost it a bit. 'Our system shows you on the first class list. We needed you to collect your boarding pass, but it appears they've given you the invalid domestic pass. This is our mistake, and we apologise for it. Now, if you will follow me, we need to get you boarded.'

Naruto followed the guy over to the gate in a blur. The excitement of the past couple of minutes was making it difficult to absorb what the guy was saying, but Naruto came to one conclusion. Gaara was an idiot. He didn't need to spend all that money; Naruto was happy in his squished up seat with a pukey baby or two in the vicinity. He'd have to give Gaara the money back. He had no money. But he would have to pay him back eventually.

Naruto planned to call him as soon as he was in his seat. Which, by the way, was a really cool seat. It wasn't even a seat, it was like a cubicle with a sliding door, TV and –

'Cool,' Naruto said, picking up the drumsticks and headphones. He tried them out in the air. He was so going to be playing air guitar later. A flight attendant placed a small tray with a full glass on Naruto's table.

'If I can get you anything else, sir, just let me know.' Her smile blinded Naruto; he'd never seen such bright teeth in his life.

Naruto grinned at her and she left. There was so much space in there, Naruto had never seen anything like it. It was like a hotel room but smaller. He took a gulp of the stuff in the glass and gagged. It was really gross. But free. So, Naruto took another gulp and hacked it down.

He dialled Gaara. This just couldn't be said in a text, and continued exploring the cubicle while the dial tone rang.

Click. 'What's up?'

'You're a dick, that's what up,' Naruto said, pressing buttons on a console. He didn't know what they would do, but he couldn't wait to find out. The red made a small tray slide down the wall. Cool.

'What did I do?' Gaara asked, but Naruto knew he was smiling.

'I can't give it back, you know. I'll be old and wrinkly by the time I find the money.' The blue button turned on the TV. Just ads. Naruto searched for the remote. 'Did you hear me?'

'Yes. But, I'm wondering why you're giving me money?'

Naruto found the remote and started clicking through the channels. All ads. He rolled his eyes.

'Don't be that guy. I didn't ask you to do this, you know. You'll get the money back. I'll probably have to prostitute myself or something to make that sort of cash. But, I will give it back, believe it.'

'Naruto?'

'Yeah?'

'What are you going on about?'

Naruto was ready to snap. He was ready to cry and laugh all at the same time. He couldn't take it anymore. 'The first class ticket? The upgrade to this cushy little cubicle? It would have cost a mint, Gaara. You didn't have to do it. I mean it's nice and all, but man, you know me, I'm good with what I got. I don't want to owe you money, but now I do, and it's going to take forever to pay it back, but I'm going to. I don't care what you say, you'll get the money back, okay? So, end of story.'

'Naruto?'

'What?'

There was a knock on the door, Naruto looked over; shadows moved beyond. 'I didn't pay for first class.' The door slid open and a flight attendant was looking at someone out of view; she gestured into the cubicle as –

'Sasuke?' - stepped into view.

'I don't know,' Gaara was saying. 'I thought you guys weren't on speaking terms?'

'I have to go,' Naruto said. The phone slid from his fingers as Sasuke squeezed past him into the other seat. The flight attendant closed the door and Naruto snapped back to reality. He looked down at his phone, but Gaara was gone. His phone was on the home screen. Sasuke was settling himself into the seat next to the window.

'I hate these things. You know they drop out of the sky?'

'I thought you didn't want to come?'

'I was always coming, I just needed to organise it. There was no way I was sitting in the cattle pen with you. Who knows what people do to those seats.' He pressed a few buttons and got himself a drink. A few more buttons, and cool air blew over Naruto's very hot, flushed face.

'I thought you didn't want to come?'

Sasuke smirked into his glass. 'You already said that.'

Naruto couldn't stop the ball of emotion rising in his throat. He felt tears sting his eyes as he realised Sasuke wasn't sick of him, and Sasuke was full of surprises that Naruto couldn't wait to uncover. Sasuke was sipping whatever that was in the glass. Naruto grabbed the glass and pulled it away from his face.

He pulled Sasuke to him. 'You're a bastard. You could have just said –'

'But it wouldn't have been much of a surprise.'

Naruto grinned. 'You're full of shit, Uchiha. You don't like surprises.'

Sasuke laughed, and Naruto's heart pounded. In a good way this time. He really loved that sound.

'But, I've heard you don't mind them.'

'True,' Naruto agreed, and gagged down the last of the free stuff in his glass. 'But you said you weren't coming.' Sasuke's not really very imaginative, this was really out of character for him.

'Maybe I needed to get away too,' Sasuke said. 'Maybe I needed to clear my head and think, and decide what really mattered. Maybe I wanted to take my time for once. I went home. That's where I was,' he said. And then Naruto realised Sasuke wasn't talking about France. 'I thought dealing with my family's estates would distract me. I hoped it would take my mind off the fact that I was scared out of my mind.

'I wanted to stay until I forgot about you. I thought going back would help, but I didn't feel comfortable there anymore. After a month I realised I wasn't going to forget and I wasn't at home at all.' Sasuke paused and glanced at Naruto, but he didn't interrupt him. If he did, Sasuke might have gone quiet and shut up altogether. 'Do you remember when I came home and Sai – '

'You were so mad,' Naruto chimed up, remembering Sasuke's face. Sasuke nodded slowly, his lips twitched.

'Actually, I wasn't.'

'Coulda fooled me,' Naruto grumbled. But then he remembered, Sasuke had actually said he wasn't mad. Sasuke doesn't lie, he doesn't know how to. Naruto had simply convinced himself that Sasuke was angry with him.

'I didn't know you liked guys, Naruto,' Sasuke continued finally. 'I'd never really seen you with anyone. I've been in love with you since I came back from my parents' funeral, but I didn't think I ever had a chance. Until I saw you with Sai.'

'Then why didn't you say something?' Naruto tried to be careful about it, but since Sasuke was on a roll, maybe it was okay to ask?

'What would you have said?'

Naruto didn't even realise he liked Sasuke. Sasuke was high maintenance with all his weird habits and mood swings and independence and mood swings … oh wait, Naruto already thought that. He had issues, but everyone does. He'd been through so much, of course he was going to have issues, and the only way he could deal with them was to clam up and keep it to himself and Naruto respected that. But, Naruto didn't even know. Thinking back, he had missed Sasuke when he was overseas. Thinking back, maybe there was something mixed in when he saw Sasuke walk through the door. With Def Leppard pounding in his ears and ramen slipping down his throat, maybe he had been more than happy to see him? But, Naruto couldn't be sure. The history paper had been due, Sasuke's parents had just died and Sasuke was a mess. When Sasuke was gone, the air cleared, the stifling pressure to be supportive was gone, and Naruto could relax. Of course, Naruto was only fifteen back then. He didn't know what he was talking about. He definitely didn't know how to be with someone as more than a friend.

'You were under a lot of stress, man.'

'I was,' Sasuke agreed, taking up his glass again and sipping the contents.

'I honestly don't know what I would have done. But that's got nothing to do with you.' Naruto knew he should be more connected with his feelings. He'd just never got the knack of it. 'I didn't even realise until I had lunch with Sakura one day. But as soon as I did – wham – that was it, you were all I could think about. I think you realised that.'

There was a ding over the speaker and the captain gave his speech about having a good flight and when they were planning to arrive and so on. The seatbelt sign was lit up, Naruto didn't know how long it had been on for; Sasuke had his on so he put his on as well.

'I was so scared I was going to hurt you,' Sasuke mumbled. 'I couldn't do that to you.'

'You hurt me, Sasuke. More than once, remember?' The broken arm, the black eye. Calling me a moron. 'And you're probably going to do it again. Yeah,' Naruto added as Sasuke looked at him with knitted brows.

Sasuke rummaged in his satchel. 'When do we arrive? I'm going to need to get a toothbrush, I think I forgot to pack one.'

Why would he have a toothbrush in his satchel?

'At about seven, I think.' Naruto grabbed his boarding pass and checked. He tried to do the math in his head. If it was five now –

NO!

Sasuke was doing it again. Trying to distract him, so he forgot about what they were talking about. He either let him pull back into his shell, or he could just say what he needed to say. Naruto didn't want to be scared anymore; he wanted to be able to talk to him without thinking he would pull away from him. So, for the first time in a long time, Naruto drew up his confidence and made a decision.

'Sasuke?'

Sasuke was now rummaging in a little black case, pulling things out and frowning at each item. 'I haven't been to Paris for so long, does the airport still have that drug store near the food court? Otherwise, I'm going to have to …'

'Sasuke,' he insisted, pulling Sasuke's hand away from the case. Sasuke stopped playing with the little black case and sighed in annoyance, realising Naruto wasn't going to let it go. This was it, this was the turning point, this would be the first hurdle covered. Naruto had so far allowed Sasuke to get his own way, he would have usually just shut up along with him, but he wanted Sasuke to know it was okay to talk about anything. Even if it was the hard stuff. He just wanted him to talk a bit more, not much, but just a little bit more.

'What?' Sasuke asked defensively. But, he didn't ignore Naruto like he did the other day. So, it felt like a very small win.

The plane started moving, bouncing slightly as it pulled out of the terminal. 'We've gotten this far, haven't we?' Sasuke just looked away. Naruto pulled Sasuke's face toward him, hoping he would listen. 'We have all the time in the world. I'm here when you're ready. I can wait.'

'You know more about me than anyone else.'

Naruto felt the sting of tears as the plane continued away from the terminal. Lights and buildings and vehicles flashed past below.

'But, I want to know all of you.'

Sasuke chewed his bottom lip, thinking it over. Naruto had said the wrong thing; he kept letting his curiosity get the better of him. He'd blown it; he could see Sasuke was gonna shut him down, was gonna clam up again. Naruto had pushed too hard, thinking he could, but of course he couldn't. Naruto was honestly frustrated that Sasuke wasn't willing to open up easily, but Naruto could also see how hard it was for him. Could he be blamed for his curiosity? Look at what was in front of him; how could he not be curious about the deeper stuff?

Naruto sighed. 'I'm sorry.'

Sasuke's cool fingers brushed against Naruto's arm. 'I don't know how to trust, which has nothing to do with you.'

'You can use me for practice?'

Sasuke laughed softly again and Naruto relished in the sound. The rumble of the engines drowned out any other sound while the plane picked up speed on the runway. They were pushed back in their seats momentarily and then there was that weird split second of weightlessness that always made Naruto want to barf.

Sasuke was gripping his arm, digging his nails into his skin. His eyes were screwed shut and his jaw set tight. 'I hate these things,' he whispered.

'Sasuke?'

'What?'

'Are you afraid of flying?' Naruto teased.

'I really am not a fan.'

'Yeah, you are. Uchiha means fan.'

Sasuke smirked, but didn't open his eyes. Naruto leaned over him; his mouth brushed the cool skin of Sasuke's ear. Sasuke pushed his ear against Naruto's lips as Naruto squeezed his fingers.

'Just breathe, it will all be over in, like, ten hours.'

Sasuke leaned his head against Naruto's shoulder, snaking his arm through Naruto's. All Naruto could see was the top of his head. He loved Sasuke's hair, it was surprisingly soft and shone in the weird light of the cubicle. Naruto breathed in the scent of Sasuke's shampoo. He was finally allowed to explore him, finally allowed to spend time with him, finally allowed to be with him. He could finally relax, because he had more of Sasuke now, than he'd had his entire life. He wouldn't settle for it, but he needed to remember his own words from a minute ago. They had all the time in the world, all that other stuff would come.

Sasuke flinched as the plane shuddered. Naruto kissed the top of his head, all teasing and joking gone. He knew he didn't need to say it; if Sasuke didn't get it by now, he wasn't ever going to. But Naruto felt he should say it just in case. He kissed his head again and said, 'I'm right here.'

Sasuke looked up at Naruto. He wasn't smiling, he wasn't smirking and he wasn't frowning. His eyes bore into Naruto, conveying more than words ever could. 'I know.'