I do not own these series, nor do I make any money off of this.
"talking"
'thinking'
Chapter 98: Sayonara
"I can't see anything in the pitch dark, even if it's scary, I'm all right
The countless starry sky is still here now, forever
I won't cry because the sky I saw before with you was beautiful"
Sasuke blinked before he turned and looked at the source of the beautiful singing. He gasped as Naruto sat on the edge of a window. The moon's light fell upon the blond, giving him an ethereal glow. Sasuke stared at him, lost for words. Naruto must have felt his eyes on him as he stopped singing and turned his head towards him. "Did I wake you?"
"Not really," Sasuke lied. Silence filled the air and something told Sasuke to break it. "I didn't know you could sing."
Naruto blushed. "While traveling with Ero-Senin, I met a traveling bard named Lyra. She tried to teach me how to play the lute, but I wasn't really good at it." He scratched at the back of his neck. "She said I had clumsy fingers too stiff for playing. But I'd like to try again one day."
"And she taught you how to sing?" Sasuke asked.
Naruto nodded. "Just a few songs. That one is my favorite though." He glanced up at the moon. "It is getting late. We should probably get some sleep." He jumped down, walked to his sleeping bag and got into it. Sasuke stared at his back. He wanted to hear more of the song, but Naruto was right, they really needed to get some sleep.
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"Thank you for your help," a woman said.
"No problem!" Naruto smiled, whipping some sweat from his forehead. "Do you need anything else?"
"No," the woman said. "That's all I needed. Thank you very much." She handed him a slip of paper, proving that Naruto completed his mission.
Naruto got the money from the guild and took on another mission. His goal was to get as much money as possible since he didn't know how much longer they'd be traveling. The missions hadn't helped much with his leveling, but he knew they wouldn't be in this world for long. All he had to do was survive two more days. Sasuke and Kurama didn't really agree with his way of thinking, so they had gone off on their own. Naruto knew that Kurama was most likely fighting the strongest creatures he could find while Sasuke was doing his best to level up as fast as possible without overexerting himself. He was a little bit worried about Kurama since he didn't seem to understand that he was just as vulnerable as he was. In Kurama's current form, he was human. Naruto sighed. He had to have faith that Kurama wouldn't do anything foolish.
Naruto took a step forward when he saw a light from his bracelet. He touched it, but there was no response. He moved a hand to his heart as he felt a strange pang. He glanced up at the sky. "Sasuke?" He felt the pang again and his feet began to move.
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Kurama tossed aside another snake, watching as it crumbled to dust. The Naga standing before him hissed. The mud lifted into the air and formed into a few more snakes. Kurama took them out quickly before he moved behind the Naga. Wrapping his arms around the creature, Kurama let his body heat up. The Naga let out a scream as it burned. Kurama flinched as it hurt his ears, but he held on until the Naga fell silent. He let go and the Naga fell to the ground dead. He remembered that its core was worth money and Naruto would be happy if Kurama brought it back with him. He was just about to cut it out when the light on his bracelet flashed. He tapped it, but didn't get a response. Kurama grinned. "Guess I'll just have to test out my new skill, Search: Mini-Map." A holographic map of the area appeared before him. He moved his fingers towards it. Realizing that he could touch it, he moved the map a little and found Naruto. There weren't any red dots near him. He then moved it to find Sasuke. Kurama found a red dot very close to him. He frowned. He honestly didn't care if the Uchiha died. Besides, he should be able to defend himself. Then he remembered that Sasuke wasn't at full power, having been weakened by this world's rules. He took a second to rip out the Naga's core before he started running towards where Sasuke was. He also saw that Naruto was also heading that way.
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"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled. He ran over to Sasuke's fallen body. "Sasuke." He began to shake the boy. With no reaction, Naruto's hands went to Sasuke's wound. He tried to heal it, but for some reason, it wouldn't close. "Come on! Why isn't it healing?" He added more chakra, but nothing changed.
"D-dobe," Sasuke managed to say, his eyes opening slightly. All he could see was a yellow blur.
"Sasuke?" Naruto asked. Sasuke coughed. "Don't worry. I'm healing you now." His eyes shifted red as the chakra turned a darker red.
"S-stop," Sasuke choked out. "Not gonna work."
"Just shut up," Naruto said as tears began to cloud his eyes. "It will work."
Sasuke reached up and pulled Naruto's head down, slamming their lips together. Naruto made a muffled noise of surprise as Sasuke deepened the kiss. His head fell back as Naruto pulled away, gasping for air. Naruto saw that a smile was on Sasuke's face. "Na...ru...to…" Sasuke closed his eyes.
"Sasuke?" Naruto asked. His hand slipped on Sasuke's wound and he looked down at the blood. His eyes widened as his other hand moved to find a pulse. Finding none, Naruto began to panic. He pressed his head against the raven's chest but didn't hear anything. "Sasuke!" Naruto slammed a hand on Sasuke's chest, trying to give him CPR. Tears rolled down his face as he blew air into Sasuke's mouth before going back to trying to get Sasuke's heart to resume beating. "Come on Sasuke! Come on!"
That's how Kurama found them. A look of realization appeared on the red-head's face as he stepped towards them. "Kit," he called, but Naruto didn't seem to hear him. He got down on his knees and placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder, hearing the blond mumbling Sasuke's name as he gave another hard press to Sasuke's chest. "Kit, he's gone."
"N-no he's not," Naruto said. "He'll be fine." He turned slightly, meeting Kurama's eyes. "Help me heal him."
Kurama shook his head. "I can't."
"I… I know you hate him, but please," Naruto begged. "Please heal him, for me."
Kurama wrapped his arms around Naruto. "Naruto, Sasuke's dead."
"No!" Naruto yelled, fleeing from Kurama's arms. "He's just sleeping!" He turned back to Sasuke. "He'll wake up soon!"
"Kit," Kurama said.
"No!" Naruto cried. "No!" He grabbed Sasuke's body and pulled him into his arms. "He can't be dead! Sasuke! Please, open your eyes!" When nothing happened, Naruto left out a cry of pain as he began to shake. "Sasuke! Sasuke!" Kurama wrapped his arms around both boys as Naruto continued to cry.
Kurama stood up several minutes later, with a sleeping Naruto in his arms. He had cried himself to sleep. Kurama looked over to a clone of himself, carefully picking up Sasuke. He knew that Naruto would be angry with him if he just left the Uchiha's body behind. He didn't bother to look at Akuji's body as he headed back to town. Several people gasped as two Kuramas walked through the town. The inn they'd been staying in rejected them, so he went back to searching for one. The only place that accepted them inside was broken down, but Kurama didn't care as long as there were two beds. He placed Naruto in one, covering his body so he'd sleep more comfortably. His clone sat Sasuke's body on the other bed. Once his clone was gone, Kurama sat between the beds, facing Naruto. He'd keep watch over the boy until he awoke.
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"I want to live even if it's a little, even if it's a little, right by your side
You're the one I like the most, so I can be strong…"
Naruto paused, noticing that Lyra was staring at him oddly. "What?"
"You always get a really sad expression on your face when you sing that part," Lyra said.
"It's a sad song," Naruto said, trying to defend himself.
"I know," Lyra said. "But I wonder, who are you thinking about when you sing it?"
Naruto blushed. "M-my teammate." He looked away. "S-sakura-chan."
Lyra raised an eyebrow. Naruto hadn't been completely honest, but he wasn't completely lying either. She knew better than to prod. "Alright. Now let's try playing the lute again."
"I thought you said my fingers were too stiff?" Naruto pouted.
"True," Lyra said. "But it won't hurt to try again." She handed her lute to Naruto. He tried to play it only to have it yanked from his grasp. He looked at Lyra questioningly. "Yeah, I was wrong. Just stick to singing while I play." Naruto pouted again before he nodded. Again, a familiar pale face popped in his head as the words flew from his lips.
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Naruto awoke with a start, screaming Sasuke's name. Kurama pushed him back onto the bed, trying to calm him down. "Kit, it's me."
"Sasuke," Naruto said. "Where's Sasuke?" Kurama glanced to the side and Naruto followed his line of sight. He gasped at the sight of Sasuke on the other bed. "He's…"
"Dead," Kurama said. "It seems that our chakra cannot be used to heal in this world." Kurama looked down. "Just as he said."
Tears began to roll down Naruto's face. "Why?" The look on Naruto's face caused Kurama to pull him into a hug. "Why Sasuke?"
"I don't know," Kurama said.
"I… I love him," Naruto said.
"I know," Kurama said.
"He kissed me," Naruto said. Kurama nodded despite not having been there to see it. "Why?"
"Because he loves… loved you," Kurama said. "And because he did, you have to keep going. He wouldn't want you to hurt yourself like this." Naruto forced himself to nod. Kurama knew that Naruto was in too much emotional pain to really understand everything. "Just get some sleep for now." Again, Naruto nodded. He laid down, pulling the covers back over his body. "I'm going to get some things. I'll be right back." Without hearing a reply, Kurama left the room. He set up a barrier over their room's door so no one could get in. Then, he went to the nearest shop to buy some medicine and water. Naruto's head had been unusually warm and since Kurama's chakra wasn't going to heal him, he needed to make sure to get some medicine to keep the blond healthy. He briefly wondered if a potion would have helped Sasuke, but then he shook his head. The Uchiha had taken too much damage and a potion wasn't able to help recover the blood he had lost.
Kurama ignored the stares and the whispering of the townsfolk. He wondered if he spooked them with the clone. His mind went to the body he saw near Sasuke and Naruto. It was hard to tell, but he still managed to recognize the body as Akuji's. Naruto had clearly been extremely mad when he punched Akuji to death. He wasn't really sure why the man would attack Sasuke. Maybe it was revenge for saving his comrades which in turn made them leave him? Still, Naruto was responsible for that, not Sasuke. 'Foolish,' Kurama thought, returning to the inn. 'He brought it on himself.'
Making sure the barrier was still intact, Kurama walked back into their room. His eyes found Naruto's bed empty and he panicked a little before he frowned. He sighed as he saw Naruto in Sasuke's bed, his arms wrapped around the older boy. Kurama put everything down before walking over to the bed. He contemplated whether or not to move Naruto back to the other bed, but decided against it. Instead, he propped open Naruto's mouth enough to pour in some medicine. Luckily, Naruto swallowed it and remained asleep.
Kurama found Naruto's bag and went through it, checking to see what they still had. There was a scroll holding a tent, some clothes, and a few weapons along with a second scroll that held food and more clothes. Thankfully, his level allowed him to break the seal and summon some clothes so that Naruto could wear something clean when he got up. Kurama glanced at Sasuke and decided he too needed a change of clothes. He didn't want to leave the Uchiha in such a state, despite his hatred for him. He grabbed Sasuke's bag and pulled out his scroll. Something white caught Kurama's eyes and he pulled out the stone Sasuke had received from the Keeper of the World of In-Between. He stared at it as it seemed to glow. Suddenly, it flew out of his hand and floated above Sasuke's body. It then fell right into his wound. Kurama stood up, thinking something bad was going to happen when his eyes widened once more. The stone began to crumble, its dust covering the wound. The wound began to close as the stone's glow slowly dimmed.
The song is "Planetarium" by Ai Otsuka. The song is also covered by Luke Lee. It is originally from the Japanese Drama "Hana Yori Dango" (2005). I'm a huge fan of this drama. There are two other versions that I've seen: "Boys Over Flowers" (South Korean, 2009) and "Meteor Gardens" (Chinese, 2018). Of the three of them, I like the South Korean version the most. "Meteor Gardens" has a disappointing and rushed ending, so I can't really recommend it.