Red String

A/N: I'm sorry for putting this up. I wanted to write something angsty and sad. Please, feel free to flame to your heart's content. A rather long oneshot (almost 6,000 words). I'm sorry.

This was the Valley of the End.

Gallons upon gallons of icy water thundered down a 90 degree slope, crashing upon itself and throwing up a cold mist that stung like a million small shards of ice. It crashed and roared like a wounded lion, a never-ending cry of misery.

Twin statues, monuments of the past, stood on either side of the falls, staring each other down as they had done ever since the moment they were created. The river flowed on, the water crashed down, the stone stared lifelessly forever onwards.

The roar of the waterfall hurt.

The icy water hurt.

The cries of a thousand small birds hurt.

Naruto struggled to open his eyes, fighting against blood loss and fatigue. His loud orange jacket was stained with blood; his blood. He'd seen more of his own blood today than he'd cared to see in a lifetime -- staining his jacket, trickling down his temple, bubbling at the corner of his mouth.

And of course, slathered all over the hand of his best friend, Sasuke Uchiha.

Sasuke Uchiha, who had been a brother, a best friend, a -- could he say it? -- a lover. And now, he'd thrust a Chidori right through Naruto's chest.

"Sa...sasu..ke," choked Naruto, using the last of his strength to grip the Uchiha's arm. "Wh...why...?"

"Because you're worth nothing to me. Absolutely nothing. You're just a loser; always were, always will be. And I don't want anything to do with you." Naruto flinched and groaned, his hand slipping down to his side and eyes closing. Sasuke apathetically pulled his hand from the blonde's body with a sickening squelch and tossed the body aside, watching as it floated on the icy water. There was a brief flash of emotion in his eyes as he looked upon the body of his former friend; then it was gone, and he disappeared.

Naruto was still hanging on dearly to consciousness, but it was a losing battle. After everything he'd been through, his mind was screaming for shutdown. He drifted off into darkness, memories and thoughts swirling around him like a dust storm.

The roar of the waterfall hurt. The icy water, the cry of the birds--they all hurt.

But the betrayal hurt worse than all of that combined.

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"How is he doing?"

Tsunade looked up from her paperwork with haunted brown eyes, surveying the ninja before her. Shikamaru, Ino, Hinata, Sakura, Lee, Kakashi, Iruka, and the Sand Siblings; all arranged in neat little rows, all with the same question on their lips.

"How is he doing, Lady Hokage?"

Tsunade sighed. "Who?"

"You know very well who, Lady Hokage. Don't play dumb with us. I'll ask this only once: how is Naruto Uzumaki doing?" Gaara's patience was fraying fast.

Tsunade sighed again, a long, heartfelt sigh that seemed to come from the very depths of her being. "His injuries are severe. But he's healing at a fast rate and should be fine...physically."

"Physically? What about mentally?!" Iruka dashed forward and slammed his palms on the desk, causing papers to flutter about. "What's wrong with him??" Kakashi placed a hand on the man's shoulder but he violently shook him off, eyes filled with tears. "What's wrong with Naruto?!"

Tsunade buried her face in her hands. "Put it simply, he's gone insane." Iruka's eyes widened and he stepped back, disbelief written all over his face. "We're going to do a psychological assessment to confirm, but...right now, it's pretty evident that his mind is...elsewhere." A shocked silence filled the room, so thick you could have sliced it with a knife. Naruto, gone mad? How could that even be possible?

Tsunade continued. "If you want you may sit in on the assessment, but be gentle with him. No sudden movements. Do not talk to him about anything that has to do with Sasuke or his mission. Do not scold him. If you must talk to him, make small talk, nothing that could set off a psychotic break." There was a very pregnant pause as Tsunade stood, cracking her back as she stretched. "All right, let's get this over with."

She led the small band of ninja out into the corridor, past several doors and messenger-nin on their way to deliver important parcels to diplomats. They stopped in front of a plain white door and Tsunade took a deep breath to steady herself. They went inside.

The room was fairly large and painted light blue instead of the blinding hospital white one usually saw in the rooms of sick people. Sitting up in bed was a heavily bandaged Naruto, who was toying with something absentmindedly. He didn't seem to have heard the Hokage come in. Everyone filed in after Tsunade, lining up along the walls, not quite sure where to look. The busty blonde woman pulled up a wooden chair beside the bed and sat, waiting for Naruto to acknowledge her existence. The blonde slowly looked up with dim blue eyes, smiling a ghost of his former smile.

"Hey, baa-chan," whispered the boy hoarsely, as if he hadn't used his voice in a long time. The Hokage smiled sadly and patted his arm gently.

"Hello, Naruto," she said softly. "How are you feeling today?"

"I feel fine," he giggled, toying more frantically with whatever he had in his fingers. "I feel great. Look at me, baa-chan, I look like a mummy. Don't I look weird?" Tsunade saw a flash of red on his hands and switched her eyes back onto the gaunt face of the Kyuubi vessel.

"What's that you have in your hands, Naruto?" she asked gently. Naruto cocked his head to the side and held up a thin piece of red yarn, roughly ten inches long. Still wearing his ghostly smile, he replied, "Oh, this? This is my bond with Sasuke. You know that old story that soulmates are bound by red string? This is it," he giggled, holding up the dirty crimson thread. "We each have one piece. But Sasuke probably threw his away. I'm the only one left," he said in a singsong voice. "No more red string for Sasuke."

Kakashi felt sick to his stomach, as did the others in the room. How could this bandaged, broken...creature on the bed be their Naruto? There was no way. It all had to be a bad dream. They would wake up, and Sasuke would still be here, and Naruto would still be smiling...

"Why do you still have it, Naruto?" Tsunade was dying inside. She hated this new Naruto, so fragile and broken. She wanted her smiling little brother back, so that she could look forward to each new day. Not this ghost, this shy little ghost, on the brink of insanity.

"It's all I have left of Sasuke. I'll keep it until the day I die." Naruto giggled again, that shrill, hysteric giggle. "Until I die, shouldn't be long now."

"Don't say that, Naruto!! DON'T YOU DARE SAY THAT!!" Sakura screamed, launching herself at the boy. She grabbed him roughly by the shoulders and shook him for all he was worth, tears streaming down her face all the while. "Don't you dare say you're going to die!! Naruto, you stupid idiot!! Come back to us!! NARUTO!!"

"Sakura, stand down!!" yelled Tsunade, prying the hysterical girl away from Naruto. Kakashi held her back as Tsunade checked Naruto's bandages to see if any of his wounds had reopened. Naruto just stared blankly at Sakura, seeing and yet not seeing.

"I'm...an idiot?" he whispered softly. "I suppose I am...I can't even bring my best friend back...I can't do anything..."

"Shhh, of course you're not an idiot, shhh..." whispered Tsunade soothingly. "It's all right, we're just worried, we're all worried about you..."

"Kill me, baa-chan. Please kill me," said Naruto pleasantly, as if he were talking about the weather. Tsunade froze, breathing fast. "I want to die. Please let me die. Sasuke wanted to kill me. Why didn't you let him?" Naruto smiled crazily. "God, I want to know what I did wrong. Why did Sasuke leave me? Why..."

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The first thing Shikamaru did when he left the room was run to the nearest trash can and vomit noisily.

"What...the fuck," he said hoarsely, wiping his mouth. "That was not Naruto. There's a mistake. This is too fucked up."

"It's him," sighed Tsunade, leaning against the wall. "I wish to God I didn't have to say this but it's him. Naruto's gone insane. There's nothing we can do."

"Fucking Sasuke," muttered Shikamaru. "This is all his fault. If it weren't for him we'd still have Naruto. That no good whorebag fucktard Sasu--"

"That's enough, Shikamaru," said Iruka tiredly. He turned to the Hokage. "What is to be done about him, milady?"

Tsunade willed the tears to stay back, far back, where they could not spill down her cheeks. "He'll have to be sent to KIMI."

The uproar was immense.

"No fucking way!"

"Don't do it, Lady Hokage!"

"He doesn't belong there!"

"You can fix him! Don't send him!"

"I don't have a choice," said Tsunade firmly, though every fiber of her being screamed for her to change her mind. "You've seen him. He's a threat to himself. It's for the best."

"Don't you dare say that. How could sending him to KIMI possibly be for the best?!" yelled Iruka. "Why can't you treat him? He wouldn't want to be sent to KIMI, not in a million years!"

"I'm not changing my mind." With that, the Hokage strode away, green coattails flapping in the small breeze. Iruka hit the wall and slid to the floor, sobbing. The thunderous sounds of silence filled the hall, heavy with grief.

Day One

Tsunade ran out of her office, heart racing a mile a minute. Frantic screams resonated throughout the halls, high and frenzied. Skidding as she reached a corner, she caught sight of a team of medic-nins restraining a screaming blonde boy. Her heart sank as one of them scurried over to her; Naruto's shrieks intensified.

"My lady, we apologize, but he started thrashing about and screaming so we couldn't sedate him..."

"What set this off?" asked Tsunade, eyes flicking from the medic before her to the wild face of the Kyuubi vessel. The man hesitantly held up a dirty piece of red string. Tsunade's heart caught in her throat.

"We took this away from him since it was a suicide risk, and he started freaking out," he stated apologetically. "Apparently it means a lot to him, but he's a danger to himself and this could potentially result in..."

"All right." Tsunade bit her lip and pushed past the medic-nin, heading for the screaming boy. He lunged forward, eyes wild and so wide the Hokage could see the whites all around his bright blue irises.

"Tell them to give it back!" he screamed, struggling fiercely against the doctors. "Tell them to give it back to me! It's all I've got left of Sasuke! It's mine! It's the only thing keeping me alive! GIVE IT BACK GODDAMN YOU!!"

The Hokage bent down and gently stroked Naruto's face, hushing him as she would a crying child. Her tone was soothing, and her expression was gentle, but her heart was tormented with guilt. She would be forced to betray Naruto's trust, and even if it was just for a moment, even if it was for his own good -- it was betrayal nonetheless. Slowly, gently, she soothed Naruto with meaningless, gilded words that masked their true purpose. Soon the blonde stopped thrashing about, and quicker than lightning, a medic saw his chance and plunged a hypodermic into his arm. Naruto whimpered pitifully like a wounded animal and clutched at Tsunade's jacket, eyes becoming cloudy as the drug took over his mind and body. The Hokage whispered "I'm sorry," before straightening up and giving orders to the medics. She made sure to put the string in her coat pocket before walking away.

Day Three

Naruto's eyes were open, but he didn't really see anything.

There wasn't anything to see. Just blank, padded white walls, a white cot, and white, white, white...

He was so numb to everything. Somewhere in the farthest corner of his mind, he vaguely registered the fact that he was in an insane asylum, that Sasuke had betrayed him, that baa-chan had betrayed him. But there was mostly that overwhelming numbness.

The Godaime walked in at that moment, taking in the sight of the boy curled in fetal position on the floor. Hazily, he smiled at her.

"Traitor," he said pleasantly. Tsunade froze at once. Dimly, Naruto realized he was in a straightjacket. "You let them take it away. You hate me, don't you baa-chan?"

"Of course not," choked out the woman, taking a hesitant step forward. "Of course I don't hate you, Naruto."

"Sasuke said he hated me, too. But you know what? I still love him. God, I still love him. Can I have a hug, baa-chan?" Naruto looked up at her with innocent blue eyes, like a small child. Tsunade honored his request, hugging him tightly and quickly so that he could not see her tears.

Day Twelve

"Lady Hokage!! Come quickly!!" A medic burst into her office without preamble, with a wide-eyed look of panic. Tsunade abandoned her paperwork at once and disappeared in a poof of smoke after him, reappearing in front of Naruto's room. She gasped loudly and threw her hands to her mouth, trying to push down an overwhelming wave of nausea.

Naruto was sitting on the floor of his cell, absorbed in his work. Everything in his cell was white--except for the space around him.

Bright crimson red. Covering his arm, his nimble fingers. Naruto was methodically working his way down the underside of his forearm, carving a long, bloody line into his flesh. His life's blood oozed from his arm, staining his white clothes and the floor beneath him. His eyes were dim and vacant, and yet strangely there. Tsunade ran in, yanking his fingers from his arms with a sick squelch. Naruto looked up at her with mild curiosity as she healed his arm. Tsunade was biting her lip, shaking so hard she could barely concentrate the chakra in her palm. Soon there wasn't even a scar on the flesh, just blood everywhere.

"Why would you do such a thing, Naruto?" she whispered frantically. Naruto tilted his head to the side and gave her that smile again, so crazy, so...not Naruto.

"I was looking for my string," was his reply. "They took it away. I was wondering where it was hiding, so I looked everywhere but I couldn't find it. And then I thought, hey, Kyuubi is inside me, but I can't see him. So what if my string is inside me too? And I started to look," he giggled, "but it was so hard to find. It's all red inside, you know. But you know what? I think I found it without knowing it. So it's all okay. Blood is red, did you know that? Like the string that binds me and Sasuke..."

Naruto babbled on amiably about nothing, while Tsunade looked on, feeling lost and heartbroken.

Day Forty-eight

"Again, Naruto?" whispered Tsunade, sounding for all the world like a mother scolding her child for letting go of her hand and running off into a busy street. But she was not his mother, no matter how much she wanted to be, and he had not run into a busy street, which she would have greatly preferred. Anything over this self-mutilation. It had been going on for much too long. The scars weren't even fading as well anymore.

"I had to find Sasuke," replied Naruto.

Day 360

The Hokage was crying.

"I can't take it anymore. I want out. I don't want to lose Naruto too. I've lost everything. Why Naruto??" she screamed, throwing a chair through the window of her office with a thunderous shatter. "Why do I have to lose Naruto too??"

There were whispers in the village.

"I hear that demon fox made Lady Hokage go crazy too," whispered a man to his friend. The other snickered.

"Apparently the brat's been at KIMI for almost a year. Good riddance, the thing was starting to get on my nerves, dirtying the air with his foul presen--"

The man found himself choking and gasping for air as a large, calloused hand wrapped itself around his neck and pinned him violently against a wall. A monstrous white dog snapped at his companion, scattering him and anyone in the immediate vicinity in an instant. The attacker, Kiba, growled low in his throat and leaned towards the sputtering man, killer intent in his eyes.

"If you say one more thing about Naruto," growled Kiba, "I swear I won't hesitate to rip out your throat and leave you for the crows. Do I make myself clear, slime?"

The man frantically tried to nod, which was difficult considering he was dangling a few inches off the ground by his neck. Kiba dropped him unceremoniously, kicking him viciously for good measure.

"It's people like you who dirty the air with their presence," he snarled.

Naruto hummed to himself cheerfully as he sliced through his arms with his fingernails, blue eyes sparkling gleefully. Red splattered out onto the white floor and white clothes, standing out horribly. Somewhere inside Naruto's body, the Kyuubi stirred and growled loudly in disapproval at the self-mutilation.

"Oh, be quiet, you," said Naruto happily, licking the blood from his fingers.

Day 1,196

He'd come back.

A raven-haired shinobi, tired, bloodied, limping slightly towards the towering gates of Konohagakure. Reveling in the fact that at long last his older brother was dead. Dead, rotting somewhere on a desolate rock face, with the crows he'd favored so picking at his flesh, the useless eyes. And Sasuke Uchiha, the victor, trudging back to the village he'd abandoned to settle down. For good.

He'd regretted a lot. He'd regretted standing by while his family was killed. He'd regretted it every time his comrades got injured. He'd even regretted it, a little, at the end when the life faded from his brother's blinded eyes.

But most of all he regretted leaving the village. Leaving Naruto.

He wondered if Naruto would still be waiting for him. He certainly didn't deserve it. But then again Naruto was all about giving, even to those who didn't deserve it. Especially those who didn't deserve it. He was sure Naruto would forgive him. He had to. Hadn't they been best friends? Lovers?

The guards at the village gates called for him to halt. "State your name," commanded one. Sasuke looked up and the guard gasped.

"S-Sasuke Uchiha!" He breathed. He quickly collected himself and said in a brisk manner, "You must come with us. The Hokage must be informed, and you are technically a rogue ninja. You must be detained for a time." The last Uchiha grunted and submitted easily enough as the guards teleported him to Hokage Tower. Guard number two knocked meekly at the door.

"What the hell do you want?!" snapped a female voice. The guards withdrew hurriedly, standing far away from the door. Sasuke raised an eyebrow in confusion.

The door opened and Shizune stood there, looking nervous. "I'm very sorry about that, milady is not in the best of moods, there's been another event..." she trailed off when she saw Sasuke and her eyes widened. The door slammed shut. By this time the young Uchiha was extremely put off by all this.

BAM went the door as it all but flew off its hinges. In the place where it had once been stood a busty blonde woman with a small purple diamond-shaped patch on her forehead. Her eyes were the slightest bit bloodshot, as if she'd been crying, and her expression was one of pure rage and disgust.

"Uchiha. In here. Now," she snarled, motioning jerkily to her office with her pointer finger. "You two, scram. Now!!" The guards poofed away without missing a beat, and Sasuke tentatively walked past the Hokage. She pulled on the heavily abused door and slammed it shut with thunderous force before stalking back to her desk, sitting down in her chair and glaring at Sasuke over the top of her folded hands.

"You've got some nerve," she began calmly, "just sauntering back into this village like you've been away on a vacation. You've been gone more than three years. You've trained under Orochimaru, the lowest SCUM on the face of the earth, and for what? For power? For revenge? Tch! You're nothing but a wet-behind-the-ears brat, despite what the elders may say about your genius. So what if you're the most powerful shinobi in existence; all that power means nothing in the end."

There was silence in the room.

"So you've managed to kill Orochimaru and Itachi in the time you've been gone. Whoop-dee-fuckin'-doo. The Council is definitely going to reduce your sentence because of that. They already favor you enough. It's safe to say you'll only get house arrest and be barred from taking the Chuunin exams for at least a year." Tsunade sighed and massaged her temples. Sasuke chose not to say anything.

"I really don't want to have to deal with you anymore. Just lie down on that cot over there so I can heal you and kick you out of here."

Not literally, I hope, thought Sasuke and he obeyed and lay down. Tsunade came over and set about to treating the various wounds, greenish-blue chakra emanating from her palms. After about fifteen minutes Sasuke was as good as new.

"Now get out." Malice was crashing over Sasuke's head in gigantic waves, drenching him with negative vibes.

"Where's Naruto?" he blurted out. Tsunade whipped around and stared at Sasuke.

"I..." he faltered, then pressed on. "I assumed he would have burst in by now...begging for a new mission or something..."

Tsunade turned away.

"I'll take you to see him tomorrow," she said softly. "If you really want to see him, that is--"

"I do!" said Sasuke fiercely. "He's...the reason I came back," he said softly.

"Pfft," said Tsunade with such venom that Sasuke looked up in shock. "Come here tomorrow morning, 8:00." She glanced at Sasuke. "And don't eat breakfast."

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A knock on the door. Tsunade wiped her eyes and took a deep breath. "Come in."

In came Sasuke Uchiha, dressed respectably in something that resembled his old outfit before he defected to Orochimaru, complete with the Uchiha fan on the back. He stood in front of the door, seemingly timid, but with that same stony expression on his face.

Tsunade stood, chair scraping against the floor. "Come with me then. Did you eat breakfast?"

"No."

"Good. I don't want to be cleaning up your vomit."

A million thoughts crossed Sasuke's mind. Vomit? What had happened to Naruto? Had he been gravely injured on a mission? Was he disfigured? Limbs missing?

He couldn't be dead, could he?

"What's happened to Na--" he began, but Tsunade placed a finger gently on his lips to silence him.

"You'll see," she said, a little sadly. She couldn't bring herself to totally hate Sasuke, not really. Not if she wanted to be 100 percent honest with herself. After all, who would have guessed that this would have happened?

Not her.

Not Sasuke.

Not even God.

"We'll walk. It's not that far." The pair silently descended the stairs in the tower, through the lobby, into the fresh morning air of Konoha. Although worried about Naruto, Sasuke couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction...a feeling of home as he breathed in. He'd never leave here. This was home.

The walk was brisk and short. There were people milling about, but none of them paid the two any attention. In fact, it looked as though people were trying to avoid looking at them. Sasuke thought this a little strange; wouldn't people acknowledge the fact that the Hokage and the Uchiha traitor were among them?

Uneasiness settled over Sasuke, so he tried to block it all out. It was only after he nearly bumped into Tsunade that he finally looked up.

His breath caught in his throat.

"No," he said. "Please, no, this is a joke, it's a dream, it's not true--"

"It's true," said Tsunade, with a sad, bitter smile on her face. "He's here at KIMI." Pause. "Konoha Institute for the Mentally Insane."

Sasuke was starting to hyperventilate. "How long?" he managed to choke out.

Tsunade was lost in thought. "Since the day after you left," she replied absentmindedly as she strode to the doors.

Sasuke froze.

This was all because of him?

Naruto was in this hellhole...because of him?

He felt sick to his stomach.

"Are you coming or not?" called Tsunade. Sasuke swallowed, feeling a lump in his throat. He had to see Naruto. He had to. He followed Tsunade.

The smell of disinfectant hit him as soon as he stepped through the doors. The air was cold. The atmosphere was heavy.

It felt like death.

"Lady Tsunade," said the nurse working at the receptionist's desk. She looked sad to be seeing the Hokage. As if she'd seen too much of her in this place. Too much sorrow. Too much pain.

"How is he?" asked the Hokage.

"He was doing it again. The healers intercepted, but he's gotten so quick with it. He doesn't even heal properly anymore."

Sasuke didn't want to hear these words, but he couldn't help listening with morbid fascination. What was Naruto doing to himself?

"Let's be off, then," said Tsunade wearily, and for the first time Sasuke could see the age beginning to show on her face, despite her efforts at keeping up her youthful appearance. He followed obediently, lost in his own thoughts. Up they went, up one flight of stairs, through a stark white hallway, past several rooms with thick, clear windows offering views of the "patients"--a woman with glazed eyes, a drooling man, a boy no older than twelve with sunken cheeks and pale grey eyes, trapped in a straightjacket.

KIMI was a truly horrendous place. It could even shatter a sane person. Sasuke began to shiver.

"Here we are," whispered Tsunade, so softly, so hoarsely that Sasuke almost missed it. He looked through the glass.

He almost wished he hadn't.

It barely even resembled Naruto. His natural tan, once enhanced by the sun and emanating a healthy glow, was gone. His skin was pallid, gaunt. Paler than Sasuke, much paler. The six whisker marks on his sunken cheeks stood out clearly. His eyes were dim, somehow more washed out. Nothing like the clear, vibrant cerulean Sasuke remembered. His hair even looked washed out, somehow, not as colorful as it once was. It hung a little longer than it had once been, shaggy, like an unkempt dog. He was wrapped in a straightjacket, sitting against a white wall with faint pinkish smudges. Sasuke felt his stomach flip-flop.

"Who..." he stuttered. Tsunade didn't bother answering, and instead opened the door to the cell and strode in.

"Hello Naruto," she said gently. The boy looked up at her and smiled.

"Hey baa-chan, how're you doing today?" Tsunade smiled and began undoing the straightjacket, freeing Naruto's arms and torso. Sasuke just stood by, watching through the glass, almost scared of going in.

"I brought a visitor for you today," she said. Naruto perked up.

"Is it Neji?" he asked hopefully. His eyes glimmered with a spark of life, and it made Sasuke's gut clench painfully; partly because that spark was not there all the time, and partly because of how Naruto's mind rushed right to Neji. Call it what you will; it was jealousy, and that just made Sasuke feel worse. He should be happy that there was someone that could make Naruto happy when he was like this...and yet...

"No, it's not Neji," said Tsunade softly. "It's someone you've wanted to see for a very long time." She looked to the glass, and, knowing Sasuke was watching, beckoned for him to come in. He inhaled deeply and all but tiptoed in, apprehensively watching Naruto's face for any type of emotion--anger, sadness, irritation, happiness--anything.

What he got was a blank slate.

"Sa...suke?" he half-asked, half stated. He held out his arms, as if he were a small child wanting to be picked up. Sasuke knelt down in front of his former friend and allowed the blonde's small hands to cup his face. They were cool and dry, almost pleasant on his face. Close up, he could see prominent scars on Naruto's bare arms; long slashes all along the undersides, some looking quite recent, others very old.

Sasuke's eyes filled with tears as he looked Naruto right in the face. What had he done to his friend?

"Why is Sasuke crying?" asked Naruto, smiling gently. A thin finger brushed a tear away before it ran down the Uchiha's pale cheek. "There's no reason to cry. It's been three years. We're finally together, right? We're bound together. There's no way we wouldn't be able to find each other."

Sasuke sniffed inaudibly and closed his eyes, one hand pressing Naruto's against his face, the other rummaging about in his pocket. He opened his eyes, gazed right into Naruto's, revealed what was in his hand.

A piece of red string.

Naruto's eyes widened. "You...you kept it...I thought you'd thrown it away..."

"Never," whispered Sasuke. "This is our bond."

Tsunade knelt down as well and pressed something against Naruto's wrist. He glanced at her questioningly and took it; it was his string, confiscated three years ago.

With trembling fingers he knotted his and Sasuke's string together. Sasuke gently kissed Naruto's forehead.

"I'm so sorry," he said.

Naruto smiled and closed his eyes.

"This is our bond," he whispered.

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Sasuke stepped through the doors of KIMI, face stoic and betraying nothing, but inside he was just the slightest bit happy. Naruto had seemed okay yesterday, when he'd finally seen him after three years. Perhaps he'd be all right for a little catching up?

The receptionist glanced up at Sasuke, then froze, an almost terrified expression on her face.

"Uhm," he began, mentally smacking himself for his lack of eloquence. "I'm here to see Uzumaki Naruto."

The receptionist made some sort of odd choking noise in her throat, bowing her head over her records. It was a few seconds before he realized that she was crying.

"What? What's wrong? Did something happen?" asked Sasuke frantically. The girl looked up, hand covering her mouth, eyes filled with anguish.

"He's gone, Sasuke."

The Uchiha whirled around to see the Hokage slowly descending the stairs, face expressionless.

"Gone? You mean he's escaped? Why aren't you looking for him?" asked Sasuke desperately, praying to God she didn't mean--

"He's dead. He died this morning." Tsunade sat down heavily on the bottom step, burying her head in her arms. Sasuke felt as though time had frozen completely.

Dead? How could Naruto die? How could NARUTO die? How could Naruto DIE??

"How? How did this happen?" he rasped, throat suddenly dry.

"You saw the scars on his arms. He'd been cutting himself, babbling about red string. He refused to eat a lot of the time. He was wasting away. He probably got a few of his cuts infected. There are a million reasons." Tsunade stopped. "I think he was only hanging on for you."

Sasuke's breath caught in his throat.

"He was probably sick for a long time. You saw him, Sasuke. Kyuubi was even refusing to heal him. The only reason he lasted this long was probably because he wanted to see you. That's all. He just...finally gave up."

"No. Naruto doesn't give up. He can't. He can't be d..dead." Sasuke was beginning to cry, and to hell with keeping up the Uchiha facade of power and stoniness.

"I wish he wasn't," whispered Tsunade.

For the first time ever, Sasuke truly felt alone.

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The funeral was the next day.

Teams Kurenai, Asuma, Gai, and the remaining Team Kakashi were in attendance. The Sand Siblings had rushed to Konoha as soon as they got the news of Naruto's death. Old man Ichiraku and Ayame stood side by side, the girl being comforted by the old man. Tsunade and Shizune stood together, a little off to the side. A few of the villagers who hadn't hated Naruto were there, keeping to the edges of the little group, aware that they were not really a part of it all.

Pure white flowers were placed neatly on his grave.

The rain fell heavily, relentlessly. Disguising the tears of mortals with tears from the heavens. Thunder boomed, an anguished cry.

Sasuke fell to his knees.

Come on Sasuke, train with me.

Pfft. You're not worth my time.

Teme!

Dobe!

He cried freely, large, hacking sobs that shook his entire body. Even those who harbored resentment towards him for driving Naruto to the edge softened. It wasn't really his fault. It wasn't really anyone's fault.

I...really like you, Sasuke.

I like you too.

Not like brothers! Maybe once, but I--

Naruto was cut off by a passionate kiss.

I didn't mean it like that, either.

Sasuke sobbed, and cried, and wailed until finally he couldn't cry anymore. He just stared at the ground, the rain soaking him right through, muddying his hands and knees.

Sasuke, let's get ramen!

Ugh, again?

What are you saying? Ramen is the best thing ever! It's even better than you!

Thanks a lot. Just for that, you're paying.

What?! No fair!

Remorse.

Regret.

Guilt.

Overwhelming sadness.

Loneliness.

I love you.

A piece of red string in his pocket. Two parts, knotted together. A bond that would never be broken.

Even in death.

A/N: I'M SO SORRY I KILLED NARUTO I'M SORRY I WILL APOLOGIZE TO THE WORLD!!

I felt like killing myself when I finished this. Reviews of all kinds are welcome. Even flames. Especially flames. I deserve them.