Last chapter, and it's short. Yea, I know, this story was ridiculously... well, ridiculous. It was a spur of the moment and it ended up being something that I probably should have kept in my vault. Well, I hope that you like it (vaguely) nonetheless, and I appriciate you reading, no matter how much the story needed help. Ja ne!

Chapter 3

Naruto could only stare.

"But… but how? When? Why don't I remember?" he stammered, staring at Kakashi.

The silver-haired man blinked. "You don't… remember? You have no idea what happened that night?"

Naruto shook his head. "No. All I know is that I woke in my house covered in Sasuke's blood. I cleaned up and ran to find him because I wanted to know what had happened! What do you mean I did it?"

Kakashi moved past the blond to where Sasuke was still cowering on the bed, rubbing a hand over the raven's hair gently. Sasuke sank closer to the man's touch; he seemed to have formed some type of security in a bond with Kakashi. His eyes stared accusingly at Naruto, though he didn't say a word.

Naruto swallowed. What could have I done?

There was a long silence, and then Kakashi spoke. "I think I understand now. The claw marks, those are from the Kyuubi, not you. It was only your body…" He closed his single visible eye, thinking. "I know that Sasuke is smart enough to realize that, so why is he so closed off…"

Naruto moved forward a step, wanting to see if Sasuke would still have the same adverse reaction to him. Sasuke didn't move backwards any, but he did flinch as Naruto's hand was outstretched in his direction. The blond felt a stab at his heart, frowning. "I'm not going to hurt you Sasuke… I would never want to do that…"

Sasuke's lips pressed into a thin line, and then he spoke softly. "Just keep away."

"But Sasuke, I don't want to hurt you! I wouldn't do that, you know that I wouldn't, right?" Naruto said, desperate to get his friend to understand.

"I know!" Sasuke cried out, coming away from Kakashi's side. "I know that, alright? It's just that… he is different than you. What if he got out again, hm? What would happen then?"

Naruto was at a loss for words; he didn't know how to respond to the question. He was quiet for a long moment, and then he spoke. "I don't really know. But I promise you, I won't let him do that again, not without a fight." He looked up, his blue eyes serious and full of pain. "I never want to see this happen to you again, Sasuke. I care about you too much to let you get hurt."

Sasuke blinked at those words, his dark eyes staring at the blond in a little shock. He remained silent, and then nodded. "Alright. I believe you."

Kakashi's mask moved in a way that indicated he was smiling. "I see. You were just a little frightened by waking up to see him there, yes?"

Sasuke nodded, a faint blush coming to his cheeks. "I'm not afraid of him."

"Yes you are." Naruto said fiercely, rushing forward a few steps and watching as Sasuke flinched. "See? You still flinch."

"I can't help it, alright!.?" Sasuke growled. "I'm not afraid of you! I'm just… nervous."

Naruto looked down, his blue eyes dark as he did. "That wasn't even me… I don't even remember what happened, and you're still afraid of me…"

There was a silence for a moment, and then Sasuke reached out, putting a shaking hand on Naruto's shoulder. "I know that it wasn't you… It just… it scared me, to know that you were capable of something like that, whether or not you were aware of it." Sasuke tilted his head down, getting into Naruto's face. "Do you understand?"

With a nod the blond smiled slightly. "Yes. I do. I just hope that this won't ruin our friendship, Sasuke."

That made the black-haired boy snort. "As if we were ever friends, dobe."

Naruto growled. "After all that I've done for you, that's all that you have to say?.! Geez, teme, you are such an ass."

"Not any more than you."

Kakashi grinned from his spot in the corner of the room. 'Perhaps things will go back to normal after all…'

"Hey, Sasuke!"

The black-haired boy looked up as he heard his name shouted across the training grounds, smirking slightly as his blond knucklehead of a friend came into view. Naruto ran up to him with a huge grin on his face, his blue eyes closed against the bright sunlight of the afternoon.

"Ya wanna spar, Sasuke?"

Sasuke snorted faintly. "Why would I want to spar with a dobe like you?"

Naruto glared at him, punching him in the arm. "Teme."

Both were forcibly reminded of the events of nearly a month ago as Sasuke flinched at the punch. While Sasuke had managed to get over his fear of Naruto, he still jumped every now and then when Naruto hit him or threatened him in some way. In truth, this would be the first sparring that he would have with Naruto since the incident.

Sasuke just hadn't been able to take the beating, not only physically, but also mentally. The sight of Naruto rushing towards him with weapons and such had been too much, especially that close after the… problem.

Though both had been willing to forget it, Sasuke understanding that it had been the Kyuubi, and Naruto realizing that he simply needed to work on his control, there hadn't been any problems. Naruto had started getting lessons from Kakashi in controlling the inner demon, lessons that taught Naruto self-control and discipline in order to help him calm his demon. They had been working perfectly, already Naruto had better chakra control and the demon had not gotten out again, even though Naruto had said that he had been fought a few times.

Sasuke was proud of him, he supposed. At least on some level.

And so all had been forgiven. Sasuke had moved on, healed, and learned to cope with what had happened. Naruto had helped immensely, moving things at Sasuke's pace, and simply being there throughout all of the troubles. Sasuke had nearly forgotten the events.

Naruto crossed his arms. "So, teme? You comin'?"

Sasuke scoffed lightly, stuffing his hands in his pockets and taking a few steps forward, ready to face the fight. "Always, dobe."