Disclaimer: I own nothing! There's barely any humor in this chapter guys, warning you now. I go really deep into Sasuke and Naruto's characters in this. So hold onto your hats! Hope you all like this chapter!
~Unbroken Bonds!~
Naruto walked through the village of Konoha. The thriving city was now bathed in twilight. The street lights began to awaken as the sun finished it's decent. The lamps eerily illumined Naruto's path as he walked along in silence. Slowly, the blond made his way toward his destination. He was dressed in a long sleeved orange dress shirt with black racing stripes down the front and a black leather jacket. In his hands, he held two cups and jug of sake.
With a sigh, Naruto finally reached his goal. He bent over and bushed away the dirt that had accumulated on the granite plaque. It was a routine that he and Hinata had become quite accustomed to whenever they visited this place. His hand caressed the etched name with reverence, Hyuga Neji.
With a grunt, the blond sat down in front of his friend's grave. He placed one of the cups next to stone and filled it up.
He then poured some sake into his own and said, "Cheers!" Naruto downed the cup in one big gulp.
"COUGH! Man, Jiraiya-sensei wasn't kidding; this shit burns!" exclaimed Naruto as he spoke to Neji's gravestone. "I don't drink that much because Kurama's chakra burns off the effects real quick, but I felt the need to share a drink with you today."
Naruto then refilled his sake cup and decided to sip the contents this time. He stared contemplatively at the grave.
"Neji…" he started with a sigh, "I honestly don't know what to say… You not only gave your life to save Hinata's and mine, but you had meant it to be more, didn't you? "
Naruto then took a sip from his cup and continued, "You knew Hinata loved me. One or both of us could have died that day and we…"
He trailed of and stared at the grave, roughly swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat.
"Your sacrifice gave us the chance to find one another," stated Naruto profoundly. "We owe you everything, Neji."
The blond then place a hand on the gravestone and declared, "Hinata and I will do everything in our power to change the Hyuga. We promise you that."
Naruto then bowed his head, closing his eyes. He took a deep breath and concluded, "Thank you my dear friend. With all that I am, arigato."
His closed eyes then twitched for a moment as he felt another's presence.
"What do you want, teme?" growled out Naruto irritatedly.
He then turned toward a maple tree and asked, "Can't you see I'm busy right now?"
A shadowed figure came out from behind it and answered, "Gomen, dobe. I didn't realize that you were here."
Naruto just snorted and asked, "So what's up?"
Sasuke shrugged and replied, "Sakura told me you were finally going out on a date with Hinata tonight. She said I needed to find your sorry ass to make sure you got there on time."
He should have known. Ever since he and Sasuke had developed their sixth sense to tell each other's location, Sakura had been using it to her advantage.
Naruto let out a grunt of disapproval and stated, "Well, she didn't have to go though the trouble. I'm all set!"
And with that, he quickly stood up and dusted himself off. Naruto then reached out, picked up the two cups, and poured the rest of the sake onto the ground.
Afterward he grabbed the jug as well, and then bowed to Neji's grave.
"I will visit you again soon my friend," promised Naruto. He then swiftly turned and walked toward Sasuke.
The Uchiha watched in silence as his friend made his way to over to the tree.
When he arrived, they both simply sat down and stared up at the stars.
Remorsefully, Sasuke glanced back at Neji's grave and said, "Gomen…"
Naruto looked at him with a questioning eyebrow.
"That I arrived too late to help Neji," explained the last Uchiha. "If only I had realized everything earlier…"
"It's not your fault," stated Naruto solemnly. "He gave his life so we could all have a chance to live. He wouldn't want you to waste any of it on feeling guilty."
"But…"
"No," stressed Naruto, "What happened, happened. Let's just move on."
"Hai," answered Sasuke with a sigh as he looked back up at the night sky.
"So…" asked Naruto as he shyly scratched the back of his head, "I take you being here means that you also knew?"
Sasuke smirked at his old friend and replied, "Honestly, Naruto. Everyone knew."
Having received his final confirmation, Naruto groaned in utter defeat.
"Sakura's never going to let me hear the end of this," he said forlornly.
"Nope. Sorry, dobe," confirmed raven-haired man with a grin.
Naruto then started banging the back of his head against the trunk of the tree.
"How could I not have known?" lamented Naruto to the night sky. "I even missed my own signs. I didn't realized what I was feeling for her was love until yesterday!"
"Oh, that?" asked Sasuke with grunt, "I already knew you loved her back."
"NANI?!" exclaimed Naruto in shock. "How could you have known that when I sure as hell didn't?"
Sasuke let out a sigh of disgust and replied, "Seriously, dobe? You nearly dove at her after she had been placed under the Infinite Tsukuyomi."
Naruto blushed bright red. He had forgotten teme had witnessed that.
"Well anyway," said Naruto embarrassingly as he tried to change the subject, "I'm all ready so you can report back to Sakura that I'm good to go."
Sasuke turned and stared at Naruto for a few moments in silence.
"Actually… there's something I wanted to talk to you about before you go…." eventually confessed the raven-haired man.
"Oh, like what?" asked Naruto curiously.
"Well… how do I put this…" Sasuke stated with an air of uncertainty.
"Teme," grunted the blond as his annoyance grew, "just spit it out. Whatever it is, with all you and I have been through, do you honestly think I'd hold it against you."
"Hmm…" said Sasuke as he stared grimly at his friend.
He then took a deep breath and said, "…. I lied."
"Okay," replied Naruto unsure of where exactly this was going.
"Well… not so much as lied as…. I had forgotten…" confessed the Uchiha.
"Alright, what had you forgotten?" asked Naruto with a raised eyebrow.
"You…" said Sasuke as he looked Naruto straight in the eye, "were not my first friend."
"And, you're telling me this now… why?" asked Naruto very confused. Sometimes he still didn't understand the motivations of his friend.
"When I was young, before the Uchiha Massacre," explained Sasuke with a sad sigh, "I had a friend outside of my family. … She was the daughter of a prominent clan leader within the village."
Naruto's eyes went wide.
"My father thought it would be advantageous to start a friendship with her… for the good of the clan," confessed the raven-haired man. "The two of us would play together whenever our fathers had a meeting. I hadn't meant for it to happen… but she became my first real friend."
"Hinata?" whispered Naruto in awe. He never knew the two of them had any history.
The raven-haired man looked away from his friend and back up at the stars.
"Hai," confirmed Sasuke solemnly, "Hers was the first bond outside of my family that I forged… and the very first I broke."
As he finished, Sasuke closed his eyes in despair.
"We spent every chance we could together," continued Sasuke as he opened his eyes again to stare at the moon. "Being part of such important clans was hard for most of the other children to understand."
Naruto sat quietly, watching Sasuke reminisce.
"While Hinata was always pressured to meet all of her family's expectations, I other hand was the second child," explained the raven-haired man softly. "At that point Itachi was still the heir and I was the spoiled brat who just wanted to be acknowledged."
Sasuke then turned back to address Naruto, "I… actually learned a lot about Itachi by having known Hinata-chan."
This made Naruto look down sadly.
"In fact… she was the one who first told me about you," whispered Sasuke, trapped deep in his long forgotten memories.
Naruto's whole body jerked as he looked back up at Sasuke in surprise.
"Hinata…" asked the blond hoarsely, "told you about me?"
Sasuke then relayed to Naruto what he remembered…
~Flashback~
"The other kids called me a monster and he came to my defense," explained Hinata to her friend. "I get the feeling that he's been called that a lot over the years…"
As she trailed off, Sasuke jumped in, "You don't have to rely on that kid to protect you, Hinata-chan! I'm sure I could take care of them myself. And if not, I'd bet Itachi nii-chan would be willing to give them a good scare."
Sasuke grinned confidently as Hinata quickly answered with a shake of her head, "Oh, dear, no! You both don't have to go through all that trouble just for me!"
"But I want to!" exclaimed Sasuke determinedly, "You are such a wonderful person, Hinata-chan. Best friends stick together, and I want to be there for you!"
"That's very sweet of you, Sasuke-kun," replied Hinata with a small smile. "But those bullies are my problem. I don't want you getting hurt on my behalf."
Hinata then blushed a bit as she looked away from Sasuke.
"They… hurt Naruto-kun pretty badly," explained Hinata as she gripped her hands into tight fists, "He was… so very brave."
"Oh?" asked Sasuke teasingly as he inched closer to her. "Sounds like someone has a crush!"
"What?! N-no! It's nothing like that!" she loudly protested as her face became even redder.
"Hehehe! Then why are you blushing?" playfully joked the raven-haired boy at his friend.
"I-I…" stuttered Hinata, unsure of how to reply, "well maybe a little. He… was just so brave and strong. I wish I could have done it on my own. I want to be able to stand up to bullies like he did."
"Well, that I can help you with!" declared Sasuke with a childish grin, "Come on, let's go out to the field and train!"
The raven-haired boy then grabbed the little girl's hand and dragged her outside.
"And then…" said Naruto as Sasuke trailed off, knowing what was coming next.
"The massacre happened," confirmed the raven-haired man, "A few days after, I found a beautifully wrapped bento box left on my doorstep with a card."
Naruto groaned sadly and asked, "Let me guess, you fried it?"
"Hai," answered Sasuke in almost a whisper, "I nearly burned down the whole Uchiha complex with the number of fireballs I launched."
"I incinerated it," he confessed remorsefully, "and I never spoke to Hinata again."
The blond just sighed and shook his head.
"At school, she was the only girl that left me alone. And other than you, she was the only one I couldn't bring myself to hate," admitted the last Uchiha. "Every time I'd glance at her, all I'd feel was indifference. It was as if she simply no longer existed to me."
"Perhaps that was the worst thing of all," finished Sasuke as he once again turned forlornly toward the night sky.
Naruto then coughed into his hand to make sure he caught Sasuke's attention.
When he finally glanced back at the blond, Naruto asked with a sly smirk, "So… you really think all that broke your bond with Hinata, huh?"
"What are you on about, dobe?" questioned Sasuke indignantly. "Of course it did!"
This made Naruto laugh as his grin slightly widened.
He then replied, "You are greatly underestimating, Hinata-chan."
This made Sasuke snort as he immediately dismissed the blond's claim, "Are you serious? There's no way she still considers me a friend after all that!"
"If there's one thing I know about Hinata-chan," said Naruto with complete certainty, "it is that her heart doesn't change."
Sasuke simply raised a disbelieving eyebrow at him.
"If she loves someone. She'll love them forever, no matter what they put her through," continued Naruto determinedly. "Look at both Neji and me, she still loved us after everything."
Sasuke glanced down with a frown as he contemplated this.
"Hinata probably just wanted to give you some space," added the blond with a nod of confirmation. "She knew that you would eventually come and talk to her when you were ready. My guess… she's still waiting, even after all these years."
"I… maybe," whispered Sasuke as he wondered if anything he'd thought during that time had actually been true.
"Did you know," asked Naruto confidently, "that when we went after you during your showdown with Itachi, Hinata had been the one who volunteered her group?"
Sasuke stared at his blond friend in surprise.
"And that she was the only one of our friends that didn't question Sakura and I when we said that only I would confront you," added Naruto with a sly, foxy smirk.
"Really?" questioned Sasuke uncertainly.
"Yeah," confirmed the blond, "she agreed that we had to stop you. But Hinata told me in private that she understood what I was doing and why."
"Huh…" said the last Uchiha, unable to come up with a more eloquent response.
"You know… ," confessed Sasuke sadly, "there are still days that I look back at that time horrified at what I had become."
Naruto looked down sadly.
"I let my hate consume me… and all of you almost paid the price," said Sasuke in despair. "It doesn't matter how long I atone, there's nothing I can ever do to make up for the things I've done."
The blond next to him thought for a moment and then asked, "Do know what the hardest training I ever did was?"
"Dobe, what the hell does that have to do with anything?" questioned the last Uchiha exasperatedly.
"Bear with me," pleaded Naruto as he held up pacifying hands, "It was with Bee-sensei. During part of my training, I had to face my dark side."
Now this caught Sasuke's attention, he stared at him intensely and waited for Naruto to continue.
"The hate and resentment that still lingered inside of me from when the village believed I was the fox; had taken on human form," explained Naruto. "He… looked exactly like me, expect for the eyes… so bitter, angry, and cold."
With a sigh Naruto then asked, "Do you know how I beat it?"
The raven-haired man looked at him for a moment and then shook his head.
"I reached out," said Naruto as he held out his arms, "… and I hugged him."
The blond then did the exact same thing to his perpetually cranky friend.
"Ugh! Dobe, let me go. I thought you were being serious for once," grumbled Sasuke in irritation.
"I am!" answered Naruto with a laugh, "My past, that darkness? They will always be a part of what made me who I am. If I hadn't suffered through the things I had, I wouldn't be the same person I am today."
"What?" whispered the last Uchiha in disbelief.
"The hardest thing in life is to accept pain," explained Naruto sagely. "The fact is that you did suffer. Now you have to walk away, and leave that pain behind."
"How…" asked Sasuke softly.
"I'm afraid I can't tell you that," answered the blond solemnly. "Only you can do it. All I can do is be there for you and help you find a way."
This made Sasuke sigh and glance away.
"You don't have to atone anymore, Sasuke," encouraged Naruto. "All you're doing is wallowing in your own guilt. You're just causing more unnecessary pain for yourself… and Sakura-chan as well."
"I don't deserve her," admitted the raven-haired man. "I still don't understand how… why… she would still love me after everything I put her through? …At first, I thought it was just a crush, like all the other girls had on me… but it was real. And I didn't realize it until it was too late."
"Yeah, well, we both seem to be quite good at that ," teased Naruto as he released Sasuke from his embrace, but left his one arm wrapped around his shoulders. "See the thing is you are asking a question that can't be answered."
"Really…" said the Uchiha condescendingly, "do explain to me the depths of the female mind."
"Teme!" exclaimed Naruto as he gave Sasuke a quick punch to his good arm. "Just listen! Sakura explained all this to me when I… was confused about Hinata's actions."
The blond then blushed for a moment thinking of the woman. He then pushed it aside and presented his case, "Sakura said that when a woman truly falls in love, nothing can change it. And… that she understood how Hinata felt very well."
"Humph," replied Sasuke as he glanced away. "Whatever…"
But Naruto could tell he was secretly happy to hear it.
"Anyway, she also said that love will always be a part of them," explained the blond. "All the two of us have to do is accept and return it. And having only really experienced that love for one day, I can honestly say, I don't know how I ever lived without it."
Naruto then glanced at his watch and yelled, "Oh, shit! I'd better get going or I'm going to be late!"
With that he scrambled to his feet, and quickly gathered the sake set together.
"See yah, teme!" exclaimed Naruto as he turned to take off.
"Dobe," called Sasuke before he left.
Naruto turned and looked back at him with a questioning eyebrow.
"If you hurt Hinata… I'll kill you," stated Sasuke very seriously.
This just made the blond laugh and reply, "Right back at you for Sakura-chan! She's like my sister so that means I have every right to kick your sorry ass!"
"Yeah right, dobe, like you ever could," answered Sasuke with an arrogant snort.
"Night, man!" exclaimed Naruto as he quickly took off for his date.
The last Uchiha sat and stared at his friend's quickly retreating back. He idly wondered when exactly he had started to return Sakura's feelings.
Was it during their first mission when she cried over his body? Or was it when she offered to leave the village with him. He really wasn't sure…
Over and over again, he tried to make her hate him. He had to snuff out her love for him; it would only hurt her. The day that he had almost used Chidori on her, he had felt Naruto approaching. The last fragment of him that wasn't consumed by hate had hoped the blond would save her in time. And yet… after all that, she still loved him.
Sasuke ruefully smirked to himself. What a fool he had been. He had always thought that he was good at breaking bonds. But it would seem that all the important ones still remained unbroken.
"Ironic isn't it, nii-chan?" asked Sasuke to the night sky, hoping that his question might somehow reach his brother in the great beyond.
And the thought of that, made Sasuke truly smile for the first in a long time.
To Be Continued…..
Author's Notes: Woot! Well hope everyone liked the chapter! I liked who Sasuke was becoming before the whole stupid curse mark thing, so this is me trying to get him back to square one to get him on that path again. Anyway, It's just my way of looking at it. Only one more to go! The great finale, "The Date!" Will it go the way Naruto has planned? *Snort!* No way in hell! Be prepared for one wild ride! Once again, I'm going to take my time with this one, especially because it's the last one. I'm not sure when it will be out, but I have been trying to keep these a week or two apart so we shall see.
All this and more, next time!
Oh! And I'm back from my trip so please remember to read and review!