SasuNaru What If for Naruto's birthday. Last part of the "Milky Way" series. Inspired by the novel "The Chronicles of Thunder, the Day of the Wailing Wolf", the characters of Kina, Reishi, Roen and the Wailing Wolf Village are part of it, as is the reference to their story. Everything else is my fantasy. The location of the novel is immediately after the clash between Sasuke and Itachi, I moved it much later.
Naruto, unfortunately I haven't found him. Forgive me but I need to clear this doubt, I can't live like this anymore, it's torture for me.
Sasuke.
Even though it had been dark for a while now, the big hawk had still managed to reach the window of Naruto's office with Sasuke's message, thinking about it, the same thing always happened every time the dark-haired man was away. Looking out from the windowsill, Naruto understood the reason for this for the first time, most likely the animal oriented itself in the night by following the crystalline streak of the Milky Way. For Sasuke it had an important meaning, so powerful that it may have been transmitted to his falcon perhaps unknowingly. It was born in his childhood, at that time they hadn't even met yet. Naruto, then, had involuntarily reinforced it the night in which Sasuke had agreed to return.
You accepted me too that day, it was your birthday.
While at first Sasuke's letters were long, full of details and feelings towards him, lately they had been reduced to a few telegraphic lines as if the words had become tired. Even Naruto's, initially full of hope and trepidation, were increasingly so. The blond sighed sadly considering how difficult it becomes to maintain trust in the absence of positive feedback. Words tire inexorably and irreversibly. There were only two days left until his birthday, Sasuke had promised to be there but now the little time left had made even the last spark of hope in Naruto's heart go out.
Whatever happens, I will always love you. I was born for this.
For Naruto, the day he was born also represented the anniversary of the death of those parents who he had missed so much despite never having known them. However, the void left by the advice that he had never been able to receive had been filled by the love that Sasuke had never stopped giving despite there having been a time when he had convinced himself that becoming attached was wrong and dangerous. Despite everything, Naruto had always been grateful to have received the gift of life and he was even more so having finally managed to make Sasuke understand it too.
Although it was October, the mild temperature allowed the blond to keep the windows open. He liked the noises of the night, he had always loved them and had been particularly fond of them since that evening many years ago. He remembered it wistfully.
Although the dark haired was still so immersed in the darkness of his soul, voluntarily making himself hermetic to any feeling, Naruto had traveled kilometers to reach him and to let him know that there was a more than valid reason why he had come into the world.
I love you.
How much he had missed him. Sasuke, at the time, used any excuse to stay away from Konoha, the tasks assigned to him by the then Hokage Kakashi represented his favorite food. On countless occasions Naruto had gotten the impression that Sasuke was taking far too long to complete them.
Strange for someone as smart as you.
How many times had the blond's heart broken trying to understand why Sasuke persisted in avoiding him, yet love, in cases like these, is the most effective medicine in the world. But Sasuke, not understanding this, inflicted further harm on himself.
Please stop being your own worst enemy, you have no idea how this pains me.
The blond always had to swallow lumps of tears while still smiling at everyone. Just like he had done during his childhood, he would play pranks, jokes, but none of those people he had cheered up or made mad could ever see the tears running down his plump pink cheeks when he was alone in his room. his room. Alone, as always.
However, cracks, visible only to Naruto, began to make their way in the fortress that Sasuke had built around himself, his need for affection still overflowed despite all those embankments. Naruto had always understood his reasons for keeping it hidden by arming himself with patience and understanding.
A human being cannot live without love, it is impossible.
This truth was enough to keep the blond from capitulating, sooner or later he would find his way into the heart of the boy he had always loved, that was for sure.
After Sasuke accepted the Heliolite ring representing the sun with which Naruto identified, he progressively opened his heart to him. Naruto had listened to him for long nights while he told him how he had felt betrayed by bonds and feelings, the blond had been unable to do anything but listen to him, rocking him gently. Because Naruto preferred to listen to others rather than talk about himself.
Who could care about a miserable life like mine? I have to make people feel good, if I make them depressed they will continue to discard me. If you were one of those I might die.
Everything that Naruto had always sensed was now finally coming to the surface from Sasuke's soul. Then they made love, the dark-haired man's heart finally starting to beat again, making everything incredibly divine. The love of the Sun had triumphed, the Moon had finally understood that he was worthy of it, letting it illuminate him even at night; both his and everyone's. And Naruto was wrapped in the immense happiness of finally having the person he loved by his side.
They had been their happiest years. Naruto, having realized his dream of becoming Hokage, had proven to be one of those true leaders that people follow spontaneously, he had changed people's mentality so much effortlessly and naturally, that their union was accepted immediately and with joy .
Everything was going great until that damned piece of paper turned up. Sasuke was helping Naruto sort out some archives, a shapeless pile of paperwork which also included a section of documents relating to the Fourth Shinobi World War. A bad and old memory for everyone now, however Naruto had always been convinced that the best bonds are those that are born in difficulty, he and Sasuke were now tied in double knots. Naruto smiled as he noticed how they had taken on all the small gestures of a couple that were anything but banal, they touched each other's hands with sparkling eyes, passing the papers as if not even an instant had passed since they had met. Naruto made a decision during the day, that same evening he would propose to Sasuke to marry him, he
wanted nothing more than to grow old alongside him, his closeness made it splendid for him to even tidy up an old dusty and smelly archive. The dark-haired man had rediscovered the desire to live, to be loved and to enjoy the right to be happy. Sasuke now finally experienced his sense of belonging and was proud of it.
However that day Naruto learned that absolutely nothing should be taken for granted.
The old note, so worn that it could barely be read, had turned up from one of the hideouts of the alleged Madara. It was a request for a medicine whose recipient corresponded to the name of Itachi Uchiha. It listed an address in Wolf's Cry Village.
"Naruto, you don't understand, I must at least know how much Itachi's illness had worsened at the time we clashed."
The blond had immediately capitulated, preventing Sasuke from leaving for that place would have been equivalent to throwing him again into the jaws of his old demons, the blond's heart stopped but he was forced to pretend nothing had happened. Even though many years had passed, Naruto still felt strongly the pain he had felt seeing Sasuke wear himself out unfairly. Now that he had found him as he was destined to be, he certainly couldn't afford to lose him again. And so the ocean eyes were lost again in the sky of their own color. The blue seemed to be the same consistency as the void.
Naruto hadn't been able to rest well since the note came out. He often spent his nights staring at the ceiling.
Where are you?
Are you OK?
You arrived?
Did you know what you wanted?…
Are you still there?
Every time the last question popped into his mind, Naruto tossed and turned in the sheets with his heart beating wildly. He often had to get out of bed to avoid dying of suffocation. If he had not held a position of extreme responsibility he would most likely have gone mad. However, in the evening, when he left the office wrapped in his Hokage uniform, he felt the world collapse around him again. To justify Sasuke's absence he had declared that he had assigned him a very secret mission.
"It will most likely last a few years." He had lied above all for himself.
Sasuke's first letter arrived during one of the countless nights that Naruto had decided to spend in the office so as not to have to return to that empty and silent house which had now turned into a sort of prison. It was now two months since the dark-haired man left without giving any more news.
Naruto, forgive me if I haven't let you know anything until now but unfortunately things have gotten a little more complicated than expected. Itachi's recipe came from a shop run by two orphaned boys, two brothers, Reishi and Kina. They are the ones responsible for preparing the eye drops and the drugs that Itachi used. You got it right, Naruto, my brother wouldn't even be able to stand due to the pain if he hadn't taken that stuff. On the other hand, I realized that he wasn't himself during the fight. Reishi and Kina knew him well, I asked them to prepare those medicines for me to understand their effects. While waiting and wanting to know more, however, I found myself entangled in several murder cases in which the victims' bodies were literally mummified. Kina asked me, secretly from his brother, to investigate the perpetrator of these crimes. You see Naruto, unfortunately he and Reishi are not well-liked in the Wailing Wolf Village due to their work. I couldn't escape the request of that seven-year-old, I don't know why but I saw myself at that age again. Initially I accepted the job just to make him happy, but then I realized that there was something more behind their marginalization by the people. Naruto, what I'm about to tell you is terrible, I discovered through Reishi that a terrible monster named Roen lives sealed in Kina's body, people know it. Kina is the only one who is unaware of everything. Their parents gave their lives to carry out the ritual when Kina was just an infant. Reishi is thirteen years old and does everything to protect his brother. Unfortunately, the seal that holds Roen is not eternal and every seven years the monster is freed again. It's going to happen, Naruto, I feel I have a duty to help them. I love you, I promise I will be there on your birthday with only good news. I miss you, you know?
At the time, Sasuke's words were not yet tired. However, something in Naruto's soul was starting to dig with a burning sensation that, even if slight, he certainly couldn't ignore. It grew in intensity in such a subtle way that it seemed like an invisible but lethal dagger. Thoughts that the blond managed to desperately keep away as long as he was busy but which jumped out at him again the moment he was just about to fall asleep. Naruto had learned to fear that moment, night after night. Images with the ugliest face of the monster that was sealed inside that child, insinuated themselves inexorably like water between the cracks of a rock. Sasuke was in danger of falling into traps from which he would no longer be able to free himself, his soul by now had too many scars to be able to rise again from the suffering so rooted in him that it became part of his own matter. A double trap, Naruto could only hope that Sasuke managed to dodge it even before it was triggered. It was inevitable that his good heart had pushed him to help Reishi and Kina, however it would take a lot of strength to avoid being fooled and Naruto was scared to death by this.
He would be blinded by pain again, seeing the reflection of him and Itachi in Reishi and Kina. Not only that, that child who guarded the terrible Roen without his knowledge, mirrored the situation of Naruto himself as a child. And, on top of that, the parents had given their lives to complete the ritual.
Our lives merged together.
Naruto trembled every time he thought about this combination of events in which Sasuke had found himself, a web in which he could find himself struggling endlessly and becoming more and more desperate. At that point it would have been completely useless for Naruto to have left to save him and bring him back, if his old grudges towards Konoha had been rekindled it would have been the end. Protecting the same person twice from the same toxic dynamics becomes an impossible task, pain has the inexorable tendency to become chronic.
Sasuke loved him, their mutual feelings were solid, yet that letter had had the power to drag Naruto for a month and a half almost as if he was crawling with his face on the ground filling his mouth with dirt.
The hawk came once again, still at night, Naruto stopped staying at the desk rubbing his burning eyes and sore forehead to go and collect the letter. Already seeing it still closed he noticed how it was much shorter than the previous one, he really had the impression that his heart had stopped for several moments.
How can I still be alive if my heart is still?
He was still there, or he wouldn't have been able to feel the paper between his fingers and the sounds of the late summer night. If Sasuke had been in his company, they would have made love, perhaps on that desk laughing at having caused the papers that Naruto had ordered and studied with so much effort to ungracefully ruin on the floor.
Then they would go home, not resisting the desire to unite again after having suffered so much nostalgia, Naruto would listen enraptured to the stories of the dark-haired man's adventures until they fell asleep happily in each other's arms lulled by the relaxing song of the crickets. Maybe exactly this would have happened, maybe not. Naruto would never have known if he hadn't decided to read that letter.
Naruto, I certainly didn't think I would find myself in such a situation when I left. Roen has been sealed in sanctuary forever this time, but you don't know at what cost. It was Reishi who gave his life to save his younger brother from the fury of the people, completing the ritual while I fought to immobilize the monster. It was Kina who committed the murders, Naruto, Roen pushed him with his thirst for chakra, but in the morning the boy no longer remembered anything, only Reishi was aware of it. He died taking the blame for the crimes so that Kina could live in peace. Kina doesn't know anything, I had to flee far away to avoid collapsing by throwing everything in front of the younger one. If Kina knew Reishi's sacrifice would be in vain, do you understand? He would take it out on the village people. Why does he always have to go like this, why?
Naruto gulped as his breath caught in his throat. A few lines later, Sasuke's words had become tired, his heart was exhausted. No positive feelings dedicated to Naruto, just torment. Exhausted and yet he continued to flee from those monsters who chased him wherever he went.
You can't run away from yourself, Sasuke. Let me help you.
Naruto realized for the first time the sad reality that Sasuke would only see what he wanted to see wherever he went as if his eyes had a filter. As if his heart was subjected to a sort of inertia that always brought him back to reliving the same dynamics that had existed between him and Itachi and between the two of them as children, it didn't matter how much time passed or how far he went. He would have relived everything in the eyes of every person he met. The only way was to stay by his side, he had made a mistake in letting him leave alone, he should have gone with him.
The words written by Sasuke were crooked and smudged, his hand was shaking and who knows how much he had cried on that sheet of paper.
If everything was resolved with Roen why hadn't he come back in person instead of sending the letter?
"Because there's absolutely nothing resolved, right?" Naruto murmured, petting the falcon with shining eyes.
If he had gone to take him by force he would have made things even worse.
Naruto's life became more difficult every day, torn between the desire to go and get Sasuke and to give him the chance to get rid of the pain in the time he needed, he tried to give tight smiles to his lifelong friends and to all the people who loved and admired him. Sasuke would write soon, or he would return suddenly and surprise everyone, Naruto tried to be reasonable and not panic.
Time passed, it was almost mid-September and Sasuke's last letter was the one in which he told how Reishi had died.
"Naruto, are you okay? I'm worried that you don't have your usual appetite."
Raising his ocean eyes the blond realized that Kiba was seriously apprehensive. Looking around the table he noticed that Sakura and Kakashi were also of the same opinion. Naruto sighed, lowering his eyes to the bowl of ramen that he had practically not touched, he thought that participating in that dinner in the company of old friends would make him feel better but instead the complete opposite had happened, the presence of that empty chair could definitely be felt.
"I don't feel very well, maybe a little flu." Naruto smiled encouragingly like he used to do. Not only did his role as Hokage predict this, but it was also his personality that was that way.
The friends smiled melancholy, whoever was at that table, Naruto included, couldn't have bought that excuse even for a moment.
Kiba, before entering the restaurant when Naruto hadn't arrived yet, had made a lively agreement with his other friends to organize a surprise birthday party for the blond, but now he wasn't so sure he wanted to follow through with the idea. . Everyone knew that Naruto's suffering was generated by anxiety for Sasuke, it is always terrible not to have news of your loved one and they knew it perfectly.
Naruto was encouraging and selfless towards his friends, but when it came to himself he made a decision. Since the Sun cannot exist without the Moon because, once night falls there would be no one left to remind the Earth that he is always there and that he has not abandoned her, perhaps the bowl he had in front of him at the moment would not be she was the only one who no longer cheered him up.
Naruto, I'm sorry but I can't go back yet, if I did now I would be condemned to an eternity of regrets even worse than the one you saved me from. Walking away from the Wailing Wolf Village, I accidentally came across a beggar. At first I was so overwhelmed by the pain of Kina and Reishi's story that I didn't pay much attention to it, however, the ideas slowly took a sensible form in my mind as if they were a sort of subliminal message until I woke up with a start. Night. That man lingered in my presence, Naruto, as if he knew me. Although he did it for a few moments, I can clearly see his face. I believe that he is completely blind so I don't understand, even more so, how he managed to recognize me. I'm sure I saw him crack a smile; He wears a patch on his right eye while his left eyelid is always lowered. Despite everything, he had the ability to escape me in a matter of moments. I have to know, Naruto, or I will never have peace for the rest of my life.
This is the message received on the second day of October. Naruto felt like he was dying, not only were Sasuke's words and feelings increasingly tired but now they were completely lost in obsession. The writing was no longer shaky and wet with tears now. Sasuke basked in the false security of unhealthy fixation.
This time it was the tears that escaped Naruto's eyes that creased the paper. He couldn't afford to lose him, not yet, he had to act before Sasuke stuck to any delusion so as not to go crazy.
Sasuke Uchiha can't afford to feel emotions, it's better to disguise them as something else so as not to lose his dignity, right? If you are always you, I am always me and saving you is my duty. I love you, get it into your head.
Naruto had understood everything perfectly, Sasuke had once again fallen into the trap of seeing only what he wanted. If he could never heal from his feelings of guilt, he could at least learn to accept that the medicine of love eased his torment a little.
Although he felt himself trembling with anguish inside, it was not possible for Naruto to leave immediately. He couldn't abandon his role like this overnight, he had the responsibility of a lot of people who placed themselves with extreme trust in his hands. Once all the backlogs were finished, he announced that he would have to help Sasuke in a rescue mission. It was the most difficult period of his life, he left each day so exhausted that he was tired even in the morning as soon as he opened his eyes.
For the first time Naruto realized how much more exhausting mental stress was than physical stress.
Naruto, unfortunately I haven't found him. Forgive me but I need to clear this doubt, I can't live like this anymore, it's torture for me.
Sasuke.
He had received those last words, now exhausted, just two days before his birthday.
I hope this is truly the rescue mission I'm hoping for, Sasuke. I justified myself like this to everyone because in any case I continue to trust in your intuition and your intelligence which cannot have been lost.
Never mind if he wouldn't have been able to celebrate that year as he had wanted, there were decidedly more important things at stake. The people who listened to this speech, more or less the entire village, despite being disappointed by not being able to properly celebrate their beloved leader, could not help but understand the urgency of the situation.
Naruto left at dawn on October tenth following Sasuke's falcon who acted as his guide. He entered the woods when everyone was still asleep. The sky was so beautiful it was disgusting, almost as if it wanted to mock him. Intense blue like his eyes, the sun's rays met those few remaining clouds of the night, dyeing them bright pink, they would soon dissolve as the temperature rose, one could already sense that the weather would be clear.
On my special day the weather is beautiful but... without you.
Naruto was alone now, he could cry, it seemed that in his life he was destined to always have to hide tears for one reason or another.
The image of him reflected in a stream made him stop suddenly, in that crystalline water he saw his entire life pass in a few moments.
His newborn self, that poor little bundle with pink cheeks left alone too soon. He had had no one to even teach him the most basic things, how and what to eat, how to keep his clothes in order.
The slightly older self when he didn't know how to make friends and how to be appreciated by others; still not knowing the real reason why people kept him at a distance. He had grown up convinced that it was his fault or some aspect of his person that was wrong. At that time he still didn't know Sasuke, it wasn't long before he met Itachi first during an evening spent alone swinging dejectedly on a swing, as always. Itachi already knew why people were afraid of him, they had a brief conversation during which, however, the dark haired didn't tell him the truth.
Today I know how much you grieved for me.
The self at the beginning of his friendship with Sasuke. Naruto venerated and admired him already at the time and here is how to become worthy of him. Sasuke was blinded by monsters bigger than him but the blond was the only one to see his heart amidst that thick curtain of darkness.
"Is there anything you can't do and not anytime soon, Sas'ke?"
"Of course, I'm not a square head like you!"
Naruto laughed, passing his right hand behind his neck, often blushing due to those feelings that were becoming more and more intense. He, who had never had, was unable to make Sasuke understand that he could also understand very well having had and lost.
The river in flood of memories overwhelmed him, making him fall to his knees in the middle of the cold water, his white cloak swaying on the ripples of the surface.
"Sasuke, what's wrong with you? You should have been here celebrating the birthday of the person you love instead of still ending up lost in the fog of your grief." the tears sank into the torrent to be dragged who knows where, certainly a place where they could not have witnessed the suffering that had generated them.
"I'm here Naruto, and I'm not lost in the fog."
The persuasive voice was a light breath, a smile inside. One hand, the only one possible, grabbed Naruto by his right shoulder and gently led him to sit on the bank of the stream.
The blond kept sobbing, it was something that had happened to him since he was little and it was truly absurd: if someone tried to console him in the middle of a river of tears he would cry even more. Among the answers he gave himself to try to explain this strange phenomenon, the one that stood out most to him was that he didn't feel worthy of receiving a gesture of affection from someone who showed they understood his pain.
I have to stop or I'll make the same mistake as you, Sasuke.
"Come on Naruto, hug me, you know I can't do that."
It was a dream, Naruto found himself in front of that beautiful face illuminated by the morning light, he smiled at him, he was there just for him. It had come back for him.
"Happy birthday, square head." Sasuke smiled, he stroked his blond hair with infinite tenderness as was that joking phrase.
"You… you came back…"
Yes, you're back, it's you.
Naruto hugged him, burying his head in the crook of his shoulder, the black robe was imbued with his unmistakable spicy scent, a sweet kiss rested on his sunny hair.
It's you, you're not exhausted like your words were, you're not lost in the clutches of your monsters.
The explanations would have been there but not now, they would have to wait for Naruto to enjoy his special day even more splendid than he had wanted.
Now the blond felt worthy of being consoled, he smiled looking at Sasuke who sat in front of him waiting for him. He stood there, still, with one leg raised and the other stretched out, his black cloak open at the front, revealing the tight, high-necked shirt he wore underneath him. The dark-haired man smiled like an angel waiting for his sun.
"I have a gift for you Naruto, actually, two. They are both special, one is here with me, the other you will see by the end of the day."
Naruto, still with his head resting on his shoulder, looked at him smiling. They kissed, the taste of not yet completely dry tears creeping from their lips to the tongues that caressed each other. The dark haired let him do it while Naruto began to move up, touching his chest with his fingers. His cape slipped to the ground, untied in an instant by a rapid movement of the blond's fingers, those same fingertips slowly descended back down while ocean and obsidian remained fused together. Naruto caressed every defined and solid shape under Sasuke's gray shirt, he was still amazed at how his physique had sculpted year after year, demonstrating how he was naturally inclined to possess a solid body. Broad shoulders, thin waist. The joy of having found his love again after months of waiting and suffering made the blond act almost without thinking, completely prey to extreme bliss. Sasuke had kept his promise to spend his birthday together.
Naruto's hand went up, completely removing that shirt, the dark haired's white skin was exposed together with his perfect physique. The blond felt a very powerful discharge in his lower abdomen, triggered both by that sight and by the immense happiness. Sasuke closed his eyes, leaning his head back as Naruto's lips went down from his neck to his nipples, kissing and nibbling with those hot, soft lips.
Sasuke couldn't do anything about it, when Naruto did this he surrendered completely, making him lead completely, in his hands he became a doll like he would never be in his life. His will still seemed to be annulled as he felt the blond taking off his trousers, incredible how Naruto was able to do even an apparently banal gesture like that in a sublime way. What he did, however, touched the peak of wonder, Sasuke rolled his eyes back moaning loudly with pleasure feeling Naruto repeatedly kiss his groin and then make him enter his mouth. The dark-haired man's trembling fingers made their way through his golden hair, not caring about the preciousness of the blonde's robe, they removed it, almost tearing it. Sasuke's legs wrapped around Naruto's torso as he pushed into his mouth with his hips gripped tightly by the blonde's hands.
Naruto sat up, taking off his jacket and throwing it away while he looked at the dark haired with eyes full of desire, that ocean really seemed rippled by waves made sparkling by the reflection of the sun, now. Walking on his hands he slid up Sasuke's body to kiss him again as the skin on their chests came into contact with a gentle pressure.
"Naruto…"
"Sasuke…"
Nothing more than their names spoken between hot sighs, but it summed up their entire lives.
The blond helped his partner unbutton and take off his trousers, both were trembling with pleasure. Sasuke enjoyed being in Naruto's arms, feeling that the latter, still holding him tightly, passed behind him as if he were sliding nimbly on the oil, then he lifted him, positioning his marble buttocks on his lower abdomen. Sasuke was breathless, he resumed only feeling Naruto slide inside him holding him by the waist. His body never resisted whatever Naruto wanted to do or wherever he chose to be.
"Naruto, I'm yours."
Sasuke had felt the nostalgia and pain that had been behind his absence, every night, when he watched his falcon go away following the Milky Way.
"Naruto…"
The blonde's name was a strangled sob as they moved sinuously in unison, Naruto's hand on Sasuke's tense sex had no mercy until he had brought him to the limit, then he too released himself inside his body while kissing his temple and the ear caressing it with the incandescent breath.
They rolled on the grass, in the fresh, clean water. They rotated in the current, entwined and kissing, the sky revolved above them, changing colour, until the orange of the sunset.
"This is why I came into this world, Sasuke."
So many people were eagerly and confidently waiting for both Sasuke and their leader, but he couldn't help but enjoy the best birthday of his life.
It's so wonderful because I've waited so long for it. I fully understood what it means to spend your special day with the person you love.
"Don't you want to know what I got you, Naruto?"
The blond lying on his back on the ground, Sasuke looking him in the eyes while propped up on his elbow.
"You have already given me the most beautiful gift I could have. You came back, you kept your promise to let me spend my birthday in your company despite everything you had to go through."
Sasuke smiled softly as he stroked that blonde head: "Naruto, I know there was something you wanted to tell me before that piece of paper popped out of the archive, you didn't have time with the words but your eyes screamed so loudly that it was impossible for me not to hear them."
Sasuke got up from the lawn to go and get something in the pockets of his trousers abandoned nearby, Naruto sat down to observe him curiously but calmly. They were both still naked.
When Sasuke returned to sit next to him, on the fresh grass, he seemed to emanate light as if he were the moon himself: "Will you marry me, Naruto?"
The blond opened his mouth and took a deep breath but no syllable came out. The beauty of the stone he had in front of his nose had left him astonished to say the least, milky white but not opaque like an opal. This was luminous, practically transparent, shiny, the light passing inside it was divided into a thousand colors. The shape was that of a perfect sphere, the silver on which it was mounted perfectly matched its purity.
"It is a Moonstone, so I will always be with you too."
"Damn it, Sasuke, how many times have I told you that it's useless to put objects too close to people's eyes? It's certainly not by doing this that you can see better." Naruto smiled, rubbing the back of his neck like he did when he was little.
"So, square head, are you going to give me this answer or not?" the dark haired had laid on top of him, forcing him to lie down again.
"Well, obviously if you give me a gift I'll take it." Naruto laughed, ripping the ring from his fingers and putting it on immediately afterwards.
They rolled again on the grass.
"I love you, Naruto."
"It's going to be hard to put up with you all my life, Sasuke."
With a final somersault, the dark-haired man lay down on his back, losing himself thoughtfully in the sky in which he was beginning to make his way in the evening: "Don't you ask me what the second gift is?"
Naruto sighed, stroking the dark haired delicately with a finger: "I understand that it concerns all the months during which you were away."
Sasuke turned in his direction smiling: "Come on, come on."
As they returned home hand in hand guided by the falcon and that shining ribbon of stars, Sasuke confirmed what the blond had long intuited, his mission had truly turned into a rescue mission as soon as he abandoned the Crying Wolf Village. Naruto listened to the stories extremely relieved seeing him so serene and knowing, now, that the dark haired had always had his good reasons all along during that long absence.
"Since he no longer had his right eye, when he put me under the influence of Kotoamatsukami he also lost his left. In reality the situation is completely reversible, the left eye is temporarily deactivated, it will be enough to give him back the right one which I recovered after eliminating Danzo."
Sasuke, once he finished his explanations, sighed, lowering his gaze to the ground.
Naruto squeezed his hand even tighter: "But enough torturing yourself now, Sasuke. You know that it wouldn't have been possible to make things happen differently, if it hadn't been like this I can't imagine what would happen to the world, I certainly wouldn't be here today celebrating the best birthday of my life. Most likely we would be nowhere, both the two of us and many of the people we know. Most heroes are not as lucky as us, very often they lose their life or love, however without them the continued existence of human beings would not be possible. They would like to see us happy and not while we are feeling sorry for ourselves for eternity, they would like to be remembered and welcomed with a smile."
The moon and stars illuminated two of them with smiles, faced with the truth of Naruto's words it couldn't have been otherwise.
My love, here is the world you dreamed of, it is here. I'm experiencing it like Sasuke, Naruto and all the people we've met and haven't met. It's real now, no longer just a dream. I only regret not having been able to offer my help during the war, but understanding when the time has come to step aside to make room for comrades is a fundamental stage for all people. I did my part in the right circumstance and that's okay. I am tired but not exhausted, just as my soul, my heart and my words are not. I could describe it on a par with that tiredness you feel after an intense workout, it's possible that a smile will even appear on your face while the desire to move forward becomes more intense than ever. It couldn't have been any other way, even if we can't be together in this new world, we have and we will. It's just a temporary in-between, love. But what am I telling you to do? These words are not tired but strong of the life that the whole world now has before them, now I know that they have already reached you and that you are reading them with joy. Because, yes, we won. I will be happy to spend the time I have left in this world that we wanted and shaped and, when I arrive, you will be there waiting for me.
Despite the lack of sight, the handwritten note was flawless. Perfect handwriting, no smudges or flickering. The roar of the water bounced off the stone, acting as a radar, guiding the man as he moved to the edge of the cliff, allowing him to understand exactly where he was.
The letter, rolled up and tied with a white silk ribbon, ended up together with a white rose inside a deep crack in the rock. It seemed to have no end, as a boy he had thrown so many objects into it with the intent of understanding how deep it was, without ever succeeding. Wherever all that stuff he'd thrown in had gone, it had surely formed his own personal memory chest. The letter that had ended up with us would now be the first of many.
"Where are you taking me? I have to admit I feel a little embarrassed, I'm the Hokage and I don't know the whole area as well as you, I've never been here before. What is this roar?"
Sasuke smiled, hard to believe that Naruto was actually in trouble since his every step was more or less a leap of joy.
"It's the Naka River."
"Wow, I didn't do it so impetuous, it usually flows calmly."
The dark haired smiled again. He didn't explain to Naruto why he had never taken him there, it was for reasons that were now buried in the past, his and that of the person who was waiting for them there. Now that Naruto would also know the evocative place, it would take on a whole new meaning for all three of them.
The blond stopped suddenly when he saw that silhouette backlit in the moonlight. Sasuke had told him everything, however, hearing words and being personally faced with a fait accompli are two things with a completely different intensity. The figure appeared dark in contrast to the waterfall which, in the background, seemed to be made of silver. Clouds of water, atomized by the great leap, rose up, further highlighting the white light that flooded the entire scene.
"It is not possible…"
Despite the noise, Sasuke could hear the whisper that had escaped Naruto's open mouth.
"Naruto, you should learn to trust me even if I'm far away." Still smiling, Sasuke gently grabbed his hand again to move him forward.
Sensing their presence, the person sitting on the edge of the cliff stood up to turn and begin walking in their direction. The moonlight reflected on the soft black curls that had reached to touch his shoulders. The white tunic, although it was the only thing he had owned for years, was clean and well cared for. Even though under the thick fringe you could see the bandages covering the missing right eye and the lowered left eyelid, the beautiful smile never stopped leaving his face.
"Happy birthday, Naruto."
The blond surrendered to that reassuring embrace.
"Shisui…"
This time Naruto's tears were of sincere emotion and admiration for the hero in front of him, he deserved everything that life had taken from him from now on. Sasuke nodded understandingly reading all this directly from the blond's eyes.
Here is a case where words are useless, if they were tired or superfluous they could only hurt.
"Let's go home" said the dark-haired man, hugging both of them.
The time had come for him to reciprocate that teaching he had received many years before, the Milky Way was waiting in the sky, placid and shining, for him to guide his affections along the path of happiness and salvation.
Thanks, Shisui.
Looking up at that strip of stars, Sasuke was sure he saw one shine brighter than the others for a few moments.
Thanks, Nii – san.