A Family Affair

Chapter 19

Naruto's head ached as he lay in bed Monday morning.

The doctors would have told him that it was just a side effect of his fall, that he should take some of the medication they'd prescribed for him, wait half an hour, and he'd be all better—ready to face the day. He knew that because it had been what they'd told him the entire time he'd been held in the hospital. In that white room with its blank walls. Where the empty, happy faces of the nurses came to check on him every few hours. Telling him how nicely he was healing, how unnoticeable the new crook in his nose would be, how normal the headaches were.

But he wasn't in the hospital anymore. He was finally home, in his own bed. Alone and surrounded by the quiet, the darkness, the thoughts. The ones that had plagued him, that had haunted him, that hadn't left him for even one second during his time in the hospital.

Thoughts of Sasuke, of his plan, of how ready—how excited he was to see it all happen.

That was the cause of his headaches. He knew it, could feel it deep inside of himself. It was the anticipation. The gnawing, insidious feeling of rightness about what he was going to do that was burning in his mind as he ran through his plan again and again. Picturing everyone's faces—picturing Sasuke's face as everything in the world finally righted itself.

As the truth finally came out.

Because today was the day. Finally. It was his moment—of reckoning, of revenge, of—

RIIIING

Naruto blinked when the loud noise from beside him suddenly broke through his thoughts. He stared at his ceiling questioningly for a few moments before the noise came again, then he turned his head and reached for his nightstand so he could grab his phone. The new one he'd had to buy—been forced to buy, really—that only had a few numbers saved inside it. One of which was calling him now.

He answered, put the phone to his ear, and barely had to wait a breath before the person on the other end of the line spoke.

"Hey, Naruto. I saw you called me earlier. What's up?"

Naruto pushed himself up in bed. The gnawing grew, the anticipation flickered brightly.

Yes, today was the day. The one he'd been waiting so patiently for, planning from the very first moment that he'd taken those pictures—those damnable pictures that had started all this, that had led him to this.

Now, he just needed a little help getting it started.

"Oh, hey, Kiba. I was wondering, how would you like to help me with something?"

"Depends on what it is, I guess."

Naruto smirked.

"Oh, don't worry. I think you'll like it."

XxX

"I don't like it."

Sasuke stood in the doorway to the bedroom with his hands on his hips. Itachi stopped folding the shirt in his hands and grabbed his phone from a shelf in the closet so he could turn off the music he'd been listening to while he worked.

"Don't like what?" he asked when he turned to Sasuke.

"Packing," Sasuke said. He walked over to the bed and fell backward onto it, groaning. "It's so much woooork!"

"Well, I don't think anyone really likes it, sweetheart," Itachi said reasonably, a note of fondness in his voice. Sasuke waved his hand vaguely.

"Yeah, but who else has to pack up half of a house this fast?"

"Mm, that's fair, I suppose," Itachi hummed thoughtfully. He finished folding his shirt, set it neatly in the box with the rest of his clothes, and then walked over to the bed. He threw himself down next to Sasuke, making the mattress bounce and jostling him a little bit, but he offered Sasuke a smile once he was comfortable. "Why don't we take a break for a bit then?"

Sasuke sighed in relief. That's what he'd been hoping to hear, and the words were so wonderful to his ears that Sasuke pushed himself up so he could lean over and look at Itachi.

"Bless you, you beautiful man," he muttered like a prayer before he kissed his brother.

Itachi laughed as he pulled away and Sasuke flopped back down beside him, immediately closing his eyes as he did his best to hold onto and stretch these few moments of calm and normalcy out before they got back to packing. Because it was weird to see how empty things were beginning to look. Weird how different and unfamiliar Itachi's house suddenly was when compared to yesterday.

Then things had been in a neat and tidy order but now, shelves were empty, boxes were scattered throughout almost every room, and there was just a general, almost uneasy sense of disarray in the house. One that indicated the change that was coming, creeping closer and closer with every minute. Leaving Sasuke with a hollow inside his chest every time he acknowledged it because it left him with a question.

"Are you going to miss it?" he asked quietly.

One that had grown bigger and more demanding of an answer every time his mind was allowed to wander to it.

"Miss what?" Itachi asked.

Like now.

"Being here," Sasuke answered. "In this house." He opened his eyes and glanced at Itachi. "In the village?"

Itachi let out a soft noise and a slow breath. Like he'd been expecting the question, like he too had been avoiding thinking about it as much as possible until this moment. He looked over at Sasuke, examining him, then shook his head.

"No," he said simply. "No, I won't."

Sasuke hummed quietly and turned to lay on his side, waiting for his brother to continue, to explain his reasons why. But Itachi didn't. Instead, he just offered Sasuke a smile and turned the question back on him.

"What about you? Are you going to miss it all?"

Sasuke thought about it, remembering how he'd felt throughout the last week or so; how hard, desperate, and downright scary things had been at times; how out of place he'd begun to feel in the village he'd grown up and spent his life in thus far, and he wanted to say no. He wanted to feel the conviction that Itachi clearly did.

However…

"Is it bad if I say yes?" he muttered, not quite looking at his brother. Because he felt nervous, ashamed—like he was taking something away from Itachi's experiences by not feeling the same way.

But this was the place he'd spent his entire life, and many of his memories weren't bad, especially not when he compared them to what he knew Itachi had gone through over the years. So how could he not miss it, even just a little bit?

"Not at all," Itachi replied. He reached out and patted Sasuke's hand. "I think it's probably normal to feel that way."

"Normal?" Sasuke laughed. "Wow, I can't believe anything about me can be considered normal."

"Well, I wouldn't get too used to it or anything, if I were you," Itachi joked. "But if you want to bask in it for a little while, we could go take a walk?"

"Yeah?" Sasuke asked, perking up at the prospect. He sat up and looked back at Itachi. "What about packing though?"

Itachi shrugged. "Eh, we can extend our break for a bit," he said, pushing himself up. "It'll be good to get out and it'll give you a chance to take everything in one last time. Plus, we can swing by the high school and pick up your diploma."

Whatever excitement Sasuke had been feeling drained from him suddenly when he heard that and his shoulders slumped.

"Oh, right. My diploma…"

Itachi tilted his head. "What is it?"

"Nothing," Sasuke said quickly. "Nothing, it's just…"

He looked down at his hand on top of the blanket they were sitting on, focusing on the way it folded under his fingers as he moved them back and forth. Rubbing at the fabric like he was trying to erase the thought that had blossomed in his mind. The worry that had quickly settled deep down inside him.

"What if we run into him?"

"Naruto, you mean?" Itachi questioned. Sasuke nodded.

"He's bound to be there."

Itachi was quiet for a beat then reached over and put his hand on top of Sasuke's and said simply, "Then we'll leave."

"I dunno, Itachi…" Sasuke said, lifting his head and eyeing his brother skeptically. Not because he didn't trust Itachi or even because he was scared of running into Naruto, but because he just didn't think it could be that easy.

After all, when had anything ever been easy with Naruto?

Itachi's expression softened at Sasuke's hesitation and he squeezed his hand gently. "Look, I know you don't want to deal with him, sweetheart; trust me, I don't either. But what can he do to us now that we haven't already done to ourselves at this point?"

Sasuke tilted his head side to side, considering that. "Yeah, I guess that's true."

"Exactly," Itachi nodded. "So are you really going to let him keep stopping you from doing what you want?"

"Nooo," Sasuke conceded quietly, shaking his head. Itachi grinned and leaned over, bumping their shoulders together playfully.

"What was that? I didn't quite hear you."

Sasuke huffed out a laugh and rolled his eyes. "I said, no," he repeated louder, bumping Itachi back.

"That's what I thought," Itachi said smugly. "Now, would you like to go on a walk, or would you like to get back to—?"

"A walk," Sasuke interrupted before he had to hear the dreaded word pack uttered. He stood up and held up his hands. "Definitely a walk."

"Alright," Itachi chuckled as he stood up. "Then let me just fold up those last few shirts real quick so I don't have to worry about it when we get back and we'll go."

Sasuke nodded and left the room, heading down the hall so he could put on his shoes and jacket, and then grab his wallet and phone from the dining table. When he reached for his phone, though, his fingers stilled just an inch away from the screen as his eyes caught sight of the other phone that had been sitting on the table for the last couple of days.

Naruto's phone.

The screen was dark and shattered with little bits of glass missing, half-tucked away, innocuous, underneath a small pile of mail that Itachi had brought in when he'd gotten home from the store yesterday, but something about the sight of it made him pause and he reached for it. He pulled it out from underneath the mail and brushed his fingers against the deeply scarred surface while a slew of questions began to swim in his mind, begging to suddenly be answered.

Because why hadn't they thrown it away?

Why had Itachi brought it back home with him in the first place?

But, most importantly…

Why did Sasuke suddenly want to give it back?

That final question left Sasuke with a furrowed brow and he pulled his fingers back just slightly as he tried to reason with himself. Because it didn't matter if Naruto had this phone. It was broken, after all—garbage.

But…

Sasuke glanced toward the trashcan.

Throwing it away just didn't feel right for some reason. Maybe because it wasn't his or maybe because he'd never really thought about casually tossing an electronic in the trash to begin with. Either way, he didn't know.

What he did know, though, was that he didn't want to keep it around. No, that was the very last thing he wanted. Especially when they were leaving tomorrow, starting over, starting fresh. It just seemed wrong, dirty almost, to even consider keeping it when he knew what it was—what it would be.

Nothing but a cracked, desolate reminder of his relationship with a boy who had tried to ruin his life; who had pushed him further than anyone else—to anger, to fear, to such senseless antipathy that he couldn't even bring himself to remember the years—literal years before all of this that had been good, that had brought joy to his life, despite knowing that they had, indeed, existed. That the memory of them would always exist somewhere inside of him.

So where did that leave him? What could he do?

What should he do?

Sasuke thought about it for a minute, staring at the hunk of glass on the table as he listened to his brother shuffling around down the hallway. The answer wasn't a difficult one to come to, but it was a difficult one to accept and follow through with.

But he did.

Sighing, he reached forward again and grabbed Naruto's phone. Felt the weight of it in his hand and then in his back pocket as he slipped it there to keep it safe during their walk.

Not because he cared—that was important to note, important to remind himself of. No, he did not care in the least. But he knew he needed to give it back. It was the only way.

The only way to get Naruto out of his life, once and for all. The only way to rid himself of the last vestiges of the guilt and anger that kept fighting for dominance in him any time he let his thoughts roam too freely. He just needed the closure, if, indeed, they even saw Naruto at all.

But as Sasuke reached for his own phone and put it in his front pocket, he knew that somehow, somewhere, he would see Naruto today.

It was inevitable. It always was.

"Oh-kay," Itachi's voice came suddenly from down the hall, breaking Sasuke from his thoughts. "Let's go. I'm—"

XxX

"…ready."

"Huh?" Naruto said, quickly looking up from his laptop and shutting it when he saw Kiba in the auditorium doorway behind him.

Kiba tilted his head. "I said everything's ready," he repeated, gesturing over to the projector that was set up a few feet away.

"Oh, awesome. Thanks."

Kiba nodded but he didn't move to leave or to say anything else. He just kept watching Naruto, his brown eyes looking more concerned than Naruto liked.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Nothing, nothing," Kiba answered quickly, holding his hands up defensively but then he clicked his tongue and shifted on his feet. "I'm just…wondering, you know, if this is okay?"

"If what is okay?" Naruto asked quietly, carefully as his jaw set.

"All of this." Kiba gestured toward the projector and then Naruto's laptop, which he laid a hand on top of protectively. "I mean, is it—" Kiba shrugged "—you know, really okay to pull some kinda prank during graduation?"

Naruto blinked and relaxed a little. His shoulders lowered as he reminded himself that Kiba didn't know—that he didn't understand, that he wouldn't. At least, not until he saw like everyone else.

"Of course, Kiba," he said assuredly, putting his laptop aside so he could stand up and go over to his friend. He put a hand on Kiba's shoulder. "Like I told you on the phone—we gotta go out with a bang, yeah? One last epic prank that'll keep everyone talking."

Kiba considered that briefly before his eyes lit up and he grinned mischievously the same way that Naruto had imagined the brunette did when he'd proposed the idea of this final, epic "prank" to him on the phone earlier.

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

Naruto smiled. "Of course I am."

"I just wish you'd let me see the pictures, though, man," Kiba complained. His eyes flicked from Naruto to where his laptop was behind him. "I just feel left out of the joke, I guess. It's weird."

"I know, I know," Naruto nodded emphatically. "But, I promise, it'll be worth it. Don't you trust me?"

"Of course I do," Kiba answered without hesitation.

"Then trust me," Naruto insisted. "It'll be better if you see it with everyone else. Now…" He patted Kiba's shoulder. "We should go. They're gonna open for rehearsals soon and the last thing I need is that old perv Jiraiya finding out we messed with stuff. He'll just flip and ruin everything."

"Alright," Kiba said reluctantly. "Alright, yeah; I'll catch ya in a bit then."

He walked away from Naruto and went to go grab his bag. Naruto waved goodbye to Kiba as he left, standing there with a stupid smile plastered on his face until he couldn't hear the other boy's shoes squeaking in the hall outside the auditorium anymore. Then he turned and went back over to his laptop. He opened it and felt satisfaction spread, warm and comforting, in his chest when he saw the pictures staring back at him on the screen.

The pictures he'd thankfully had the sense to back up before all of the…unpleasantness the other day.

Naruto reached up to touch his bandaged and sensitive nose, hissing softly as he was forced to admit to himself, yet again, that Itachi knew how to throw a punch.

"But so do I," Naruto muttered to himself, smiling at the pictures in front of him before he shut his laptop again and stuffed it into his bag.

And mine'll be so much worse than a broken nose and a concussion.

Naruto stood up, laughing quietly to himself, and slung his bag over his shoulder, heading out the same way Kiba had before. Through the side hall of the auditorium that connected back to the rest of the campus. The halls were empty as he walked. Quieter than they had been over his years of school—except, of course, when he'd been forced to stay after school for one of the countless long, dry lectures from Jiraiya about why he needed to get his act together. (As if he were one to talk.)

Now, though, there was an intensity to the silence. One that made his head hurt again like it had this morning. One that grew with every step he took until it was overwhelming him, deafening him. Until it wasn't silence that he was hearing anymore but echoes of the past instead. His past. Their past.

Conversations.

"C'mon, just let me borrow your homework this once…"—"That's what you said last time, Naruto."

Stories.

"…and then he tripped! Right in front of me!"—"What? No way, Naruto! You're totally lying."

Arguments.

"I just want you to tell me the truth…about how you feel about me…"—"You know how I feel about you, Naruto."

With Sasuke, about Sasuke, because of Sasuke.

Always Sasuke.

And the memories made Naruto sick to his stomach with longing—with anger, but he forced himself to take a deep breath. He stopped and cleared his thoughts the way his therapist had taught him after his parents had died years before. Which normally worked to stop the voices, the echoes, the encroaching, depressing questions of why this, why him?

But as he stood in the hall near his math classroom now, he just couldn't shake Sasuke's voice from his mind.

Laughing, cheerful, quiet—

"You're ridiculous, you know that, right?"

No—wait.

Not quiet.

Distant.

Naruto narrowed his eyes and swiveled his head toward the window next to him. He walked over slowly and looked outside. Positive that the voice hadn't just been in his imagination this time. It had sounded too real for that, too tangible.

And sure enough—

"Well, would you want me any other way?" came a second voice suddenly.

This one was deeper, delighted, but just as familiar. And the sound of it—the audacity of the words, the fondness in them—mixed with the sight outside the window made Naruto's nose ache as he sneered.

Because Sasuke wasn't alone.

Of course he wasn't.

No, he was walking toward the school, through the front doors, standing next to, close to—too close to—him.

Never Naruto.

Just him.

Always—

XxX

"Itachi?" Sakura questioned when she saw Itachi open up the school office's door. He smiled at her and she tilted her head, ready to ask why he was here when he stepped aside, allowing Sakura to see—"Sasuke!"

She rushed over, dropping the stack of papers she'd come in to collect, and threw her arms around Sasuke in a tight hug. He hugged her back, laughing warmly.

"Hey, Sakura," he said nonchalantly as if his presence wasn't important, or like the mere sight of him didn't set her at ease.

Because it did. It so definitely did.

After all, she'd worried for the past day that she wouldn't get to see him before he left tomorrow, that she'd oversleep or all her clocks would suddenly stop working, or something else would go awry that would keep her from seeing him.

But now, here he was. Looking safe, happy, and loved. Right in front of her.

Yes, right in…

"Wait, what're you doing here?" she asked, suddenly realizing just what his presence meant. "I thought you weren't coming today."

Sasuke smiled good-naturedly. "We came to pick up my diploma," he explained. "You mentioned it yesterday, right? Well, Itachi was gracious enough to let us take a break from all the horrendous packing so…" He spread his arms as if to say here we are.

"Yeah, you're welcome, by the way," Itachi joked, nudging him. Sasuke laughed. Sakura did too, if only because their enthusiasm, their happiness was contagious and she wanted to be a part of it.

"Well, Kurenai-sensei had to step out," she said. "It's just her and I here at the moment, but if you give me a second, I'm sure I can find it for you."

"Sure. Thanks, Sakura."

She nodded and turned around, heading over to one of the desks toward the back of the room to look for Sasuke's diploma amongst the others that were stacked neatly on the desk in thick black folders. She found his quickly, which wasn't surprising considering that she'd been the one who'd organized them all in the first place. But even after slipping it out of the stack, she stayed at the desk for a few extra moments, listening to what she could catch of the light conversation that Sasuke and Itachi were having.

"No, I told you, there's no way that—" Sasuke was saying.

"You told me?" Itachi interrupted, a grin on his face. "I think you mean, I told you."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and waved his hand dismissively before he kept chattering animatedly about whatever they were talking about. The sight made Sakura smile. She'd never seen Sasuke this happy in her life. Oh, sure, there'd been that time a few weeks ago when… Well, now that she thought about it, it would have had to have been after things had started up between him and Itachi, but there had still been a subdued quality to him. A kind of secrecy, or maybe even a little bit of shame.

Now, though, there didn't seem to be any of that, which became very apparent when she watched Sasuke step closer to Itachi while he lowered his voice further, to the point that Sakura couldn't even hear the soft rumble of it from across the room. Itachi's eyebrow rose and he smirked, whispering something in return before his hand brushed against Sasuke's.

And she watched as their fingers entwined for a second before she finally cleared her throat and walked back over, effectively breaking them away from one another. Or at least reminding them that there were other people around.

"Here you go," she said, holding out the folder to Sasuke.

"Thanks," he said. Then, at the same time, he and Itachi both reached out to take it. Their fingers brushed together gently and a smile passed between them before Itachi dropped his hand, letting Sasuke take it. Sasuke shot an amused look at her. "Chivalrous, isn't he?"

Sakura laughed. "It looks that way."

"And you saw the way he held the door open for me, yeah? He did it at the front door, too."

Itachi rolled his eyes. "Yeah, and then you called me ridiculous."

"Because you are," Sasuke shot back quickly. Then he shrugged. "But it's cute."

He shifted after he said that, toward Itachi. Like he was going to reach out for him again, but then he paused and cleared his throat, seeming to remember himself without her help this time.

"Anyway, thanks for this," he said, holding up the folder and nodding. "But I guess we should get out of here."

"Oh, yeah, of course," she said, trying not to seem overly disappointed. When he turned around and started to leave, though, she stepped forward involuntarily and blurted out, "Ah, wait!"

Sasuke turned and looked at her questioningly. "Yeah?"

Sakura shifted on her feet, unsure of what to say but knowing that she needed to say something, anything that would keep him here an extra minute—an extra second even. Because she wasn't ready to let go yet. Just like she wasn't ready to say those silly, sad, absolutely disgusting words that she'd practiced for an hour in front of her mirror yesterday after they'd gotten off the phone, trying to perfect the art of I'm definitely not crying before, ultimately, deciding to just go out and buy some of the best waterproof makeup she could find.

"It's, um, still alright if I come by in the morning?" she ended up asking. "You know, to, uh…"

"Absolutely," Sasuke answered. "We don't leave until…" He looked at Itachi.

"Around ten-thirty or eleven, somewhere in there," Itachi supplied.

Sakura smiled even as she felt her heart sink. She had a time frame now and she knew that she'd just spent the next — she glanced at the analog clock on the wall above the door — twenty or so hours counting down the minutes and the moments that she had left.

Like this one, which had to end sometime.

"Alright, well…" She gave a little wave, then immediately, silently berated herself for that. Because, c'mon, a wave? "I'll see you…tomorrow."

"Okay, see you then," Sasuke replied but something in his demeanor shifted. And even though Itachi opened the door for him so they could leave, he didn't move. He eyed Sakura for a moment before he cleared his throat, opened his arms, and asked, "Do you want a—"

"Of course I do!" she exclaimed, darting over and hugging him tightly again before he could finish the question. All three of them laughed.

But then, suddenly, over the din of their happy laughter, a cold, hollow voice joined in, breaking Sasuke and Sakura apart.

XxX

"Well, isn't this nice?"

Naruto stepped into the room through the open doorway, his eyes trained on Sasuke, who was staring right back at him. Not angrily, he noticed immediately. Not even surprised by his sudden presence.

In fact, it was a quick movement — microscopic, really — but Naruto could have sworn that for a second, no just half a second, Sasuke had almost smiled. Or smirked. Or maybe, maybe he'd been about to laugh again. Naruto wasn't sure, all he knew was that whatever he was almost positive that he'd seen start to pull at Sasuke's face was quickly wiped away when Itachi moved forward, trying to put himself between Naruto and Sasuke.

"Naruto."

Because of course he was.

That was all he had ever done, after all.

But, surprisingly, Sasuke didn't let him. He put his hand on Itachi's arm, stopping him, and tilted his head forward when Itachi glanced his way. A fleeting moment of recognition passed between them before Itachi stepped back to where he was and, instead, Sasuke stepped forward boldly, slipping his hand out of Sakura's grasp when she tried to reach out and stop him.

"I was wondering when I'd see you," he said quietly.

"What?" Naruto asked, his eyebrows stitching together in confusion—in hope—at what he'd just heard, at how that had sounded.

Because it sounded like Sasuke had been…waiting.

For him.

But that was impossible. It was incredible. It was—

"Well it wasn't like I thought you were suddenly going to leave me alone or anything," Sasuke grumbled.

—most definitely not true.

Naruto's shoulders slumped slightly, disappointed to hear that. To know that Sasuke had only been expecting him to pop up like some annoying blemish on his otherwise perfect day.

He brushed it off, though. He had to. He'd been hurt enough already, so it was easy. Totally easy. Definitely easy. He just shook his head, rolled his shoulders back, and stepped forward, leaving the hurt behind him.

Like he always had to.

It was the only choice he had, after all.

"Yeah, sorry to disappoint you but that's not gonna happen. At least not until everything's said and done today."

"Naruto…" Sakura ground out harshly but Sasuke nodded.

"Mm, yeah, I figured you'd say that. Which is why I came to get this." Sasuke held up a black folder for him to see.

Naruto barely glanced at it. "And what's that?"

"My diploma," Sasuke answered. "Which means I'm done, so you have fun."

"Done?" He looked from Sasuke to the folder and then back again before he asked carefully, "What… What do you mean: done?"

But Naruto's heart fell into his stomach as soon as the question was out of his mouth because he knew. From the faintly triumphant expression on Sasuke's face alone, he knew.

"I mean, I'm not going to be there."

There. At graduation, was what he meant.

"But…that's not fair," Naruto breathed, not caring how childish it sounded. "You're supposed to see it. You're supposed to be there."

"Well, I won't be."

"Why not?" he demanded.

Sasuke stared at him like he was looking for something, waiting for something, but he shook his head after a second and sighed. "Because I'm done playing this game with you, Naruto. Don't you get that?"

Naruto rocked back involuntarily. "Game… You think this is a—a game?"

"What else would it be?" Sasuke asked. "You're trying to get back at me, trying to hurt me, trying to make me angry. What is that if not a game?"

"It's not…" Naruto squeezed his eyes shut as his head began to throb. "I'm not—"

"It doesn't matter, Naruto," Sasuke interrupted. "You can keep playing all you want, but—"

"It's not a—!" Naruto started to shout, forcing his eyes open as he stepped forward and reached for Sasuke. But he stopped when he saw the way Itachi shifted forward, ready to attack, and clasped his hand into a fist before dropping it back to his side while his chest rose and fell rapidly. Pain, anger, and sorrow overwhelmed him in equal measure.

"This is not a game, Sasuke. This—this…" He gestured between them. Desperate to make him understand. Sure that he could do it if he could just finally—finally—say the right thing. "This is real, Sasuke. I just want you to see that, is all. To see that what we have is real."

But Sasuke shook his head. "But it's not, Naruto. It never was. The only thing that was real, the only thing we had was our friendship. But you destroyed that with…" Sasuke gestured at him while looking him up and down. "This."

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "No," he said, shaking his head. "No, I didn't ruin anything. He did. He did, Sasuke!"

He pointed accusingly at Itachi, who didn't move to respond, to take responsibility for what he'd done—for how he'd taken Sasuke away from him. For how he'd ruined Naruto's life. He just looked from Naruto to Sasuke like he was waiting to be told what to do, what to say, what to think.

As if Sasuke controlled him. As if Sasuke had been controlling him the entire time, which was silly, stupid really because that would mean…

It would mean that—

No, Naruto thought. He shook his head to try and make the thought, the doubt, the terrible, pounding pain go away.

Because it wasn't possible. Sasuke, his Sasuke, couldn't be behind this. Behind the sin, the lies, the pain.

Naruto's pain.

No, that was ridiculous. It was Itachi. It had to be Itachi.

It had to be.

But Sasuke was right in front of him, shaking his head.

"Itachi didn't do anything, Naruto. It was—"

"It was him!" he interrupted. Because if Sasuke didn't say it out loud, if he couldn't, then Naruto wouldn't have to think about it. He wouldn't have to consider the possibility that Sasuke…

That Sasuke had hurt him.

"It. Was. Him," he repeated. Slowly, carefully. Articulating every word. "I know it was him."

Sasuke was silent. Everyone was silent. Or maybe Naruto just couldn't hear them over the roaring in his ears, the pounding in his head, the deep thrum of agony in his body. But their mouths weren't moving. They were all just looking at him. Staring.

Like he had some kind of problem.

No, like… Like he was the problem.

Finally, though, Sasuke sighed and stepped forward. He reached out and put his hand on Naruto's arm. His touch hurt, everything hurt, but it felt so good—had been what Naruto had been craving for so long that he leaned into it just slightly, closing his eyes when Sasuke didn't pull away.

"Naruto, listen to me," Sasuke said softly. He didn't continue until Naruto opened his eyes and looked at him. Then he offered a small, pitiful smile and said, "It was my fault."

The admission was quiet, gentle even, but the words, oh the words.

"No, it—"

"It was, Naruto," Sasuke continued, talking over him. "It was my fault you got hurt. Not Itachi's—mine."

Naruto's nostrils flared. His eyes burned. He could feel his lip begin to quiver but before he could stop it and the influx of emotions that came rolling suddenly over him with it, he felt like he was outside of himself. A step back and just to the left of his body. Watching. Aware. But not quite in control.

"But that means…" he heard himself say softly. The rage he knew he'd been feeling just seconds ago completely gone, leaving only the hurt, the raw pain behind. "That means you chose him. You chose…him. Over me."

Sasuke nodded slowly.

"I did," Sasuke confirmed. "I did choose him. Because I love him, Naruto."

"But I love you!" he heard himself plead. Like it would change something this time when it hadn't all the other times before. He watched himself reach up and wipe at his eyes, but he couldn't feel himself crying. "I love you, Sasuke."

"I know, but I don't love you back."

Sasuke studied him for another beat before he dropped his hand. As soon as he did, Naruto felt his consciousness shift, felt himself becoming aware of his body again. Of the tears spilling down his cheeks and dripping from his chin; of the way his entire body was shaking, vibrating; of the horrible, agonizing ache in his chest.

The ache he'd been ignoring for weeks.

The ache that was throbbing in time with his head.

The ache that had been growing worse each and every day that he kept shutting it behind wall after wall because he'd been determined to fix it. To fix Sasuke.

To fix them.

But now, as he stood here, looking like a fool in front of the three of them, Naruto knew—he finally accepted that he couldn't fix it. That he didn't even know where to start.

Well, no, that wasn't exactly true, was it? Because he did have one thing, one outlet for the pain and heartbreak he felt…

"I'm still going to tell," he muttered, watching Sasuke, studying him—curious if it would change his mind. He was surprised when Sasuke nodded.

"Okay. You can," Sasuke said. "I even give you permission to do it."

"What?" Naruto and Sakura said at the same time. His voice was quiet while her's was loud, yet both of them were equally shocked.

"Well, it's not like there's any point trying to stop him, is there?" Sasuke directed the question to Sakura. "Not when our parents already know."

"I mean, I guess not…" she grumbled unhappily, though seemingly not surprised to hear that.

Naruto was, though.

So much so that his mouth fell open, but he couldn't manage to get a single word to come out of him as he watched Sasuke gesture toward Sakura vaguely as if she'd made some point for him.

"Exactly," Sasuke said. He turned his gaze back to Naruto. "So, if it'll make you feel better to do it, Naruto, then you go right ahead because I…" He glanced over at Itachi. "Well, I think we're ready for everyone else to know, aren't we?"

Itachi nodded. Like Sakura, he wasn't fazed by Sasuke's words, his permission, the undeniable blessing he was giving Naruto to pull the trigger he'd had his finger on for the last week.

It was crazy. Ridiculous. Something Naruto had never expected to hear because it just seemed like—

"You don't care," he whispered.

It was supposed to be a question. He'd meant it as a question, but it had come out so much softer. Defeated, really.

"Now, I didn't say that," Sasuke said quickly, laughing to himself. "It's just, Itachi and I are leaving tomorrow. So what is there to worry about anymore?"

Naruto froze. His mind was reeling, unable to keep up with the series of revelations that Sasuke was dropping on him, but he forced himself to focus on what he'd just heard.

Leaving? Leaving?

"You mean, like…?"

He said it carefully, aware of how big the unfinished question was, how important the answer would be to him. How much he didn't want to hear it.

"Yeah, we're moving. Somewhere that no one knows us." Sasuke stepped back a little and reached out, grabbing Itachi's hand. Solidifying his choice further as their fingers linked easily, without even a whisper of hesitation. "Where we can be together."

Itachi looked at Sasuke and smiled at him. When Sasuke smiled back, Naruto hated how easily the notion came to him—that Sasuke looked happy. That they both looked happy. In a way that Naruto hadn't seen in years.

In a way that Sasuke had never seemed to be with him.

He looked at Sakura, silently asking her if she saw it too. If it was obvious to someone other than him. When she nodded slightly, Naruto felt something inside him crack and his lip quivered. He forced his gaze to the ground, away from the two of them and the moment that he no longer seemed to be a part of. The one he'd never been welcomed into in the first place.

"I can't be happy for you," he muttered, shaking his head. "I won't be."

"That's okay," Sasuke said understandingly. "I'm not asking you to be. I just…wanted you to know."

Naruto bit his lip hard and nodded curtly. "Well. Now I know."

"Yeah, I guess you do." Silence hung around them for a beat after that, but when Naruto didn't say or ask or argue about anything else, Sasuke cleared his throat. "Well, I guess we better go then. We still have packing to do."

"Alright," Sakura said softly. She moved to hug Sasuke again briefly and then offered Itachi a smile. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow," Sasuke agreed.

Then, still holding Itachi's hand, they stepped Naruto's way. He didn't move immediately, not ready to give up the moment yet, to give up Sasuke yet, but he didn't know what else there was to hold onto, what else there was to say. So he moved and let them pass, keeping his gaze down. Refusing to watch Sasuke walk away from him again.

But Sasuke stopped when he was only a foot away and turned back.

"Oh, Naruto. I almost forgot."

Naruto looked up despite himself as Sasuke reached into his back pocket to pull something out. He held it out toward Naruto and he saw it was his old phone. The screen was shattered and dark.

"It broke the other day, but—" Sasuke shrugged "—I thought you might want it back."

Naruto studied him briefly, waiting to see if there was anything else there, anything behind his gaze. Anything that might betray the happiness that was still shining so clearly in his eyes.

There wasn't.

"Thanks," he muttered, reaching out to take the phone.

His fingers brushed Sasuke's for a second, but there was no spark. No pop of color, no delight.

No love.

And Naruto forced himself to admit as he watched Sasuke turn and walk away from him for the last time that maybe there never had been.

Because maybe…

"You okay, Naruto?" Sakura asked, coming up behind him and putting her hand on his arm.

His shoulders slumped. "No," he sobbed as he listened to the sound of Sasuke's footsteps disappear. "No, I'm not."

Because maybe it had all just been in his mind the whole time.