WARNING: This contains spoilers to the ending of my fic "Creatures of the Night." I guess it can kind of work as a stand-alone, as well. If you ever intend to read CotN, don't read this! If you don't, knock yourself out.

AN: This is dedicated to/written for Dramagirl725 aka Jill. Thanks for being so patient, sorry it took so long, and I hope you like it :)

Dirt crunched loudly beneath Naruto's sneakers as he slowly made his way along the path, stopping across the graveyard and turning to glance down the rows of tombstones at Sakura. She was still in front of Ino's grave, placing a flower on top of the stone. He looked away, shoving his hands in his pockets, and staring at the name engraved on the stone before him.

"I'm still mad." Even if Sasuke was dead, if his ghost was around, Naruto wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of letting him off the hook that easily. "You should've made Sakura your heir, not me. How you even thought I would like that stupid ass job of yours, I'll never know! And it's not like we needed the money, it's not like we only decided to keep you around for it. It's not like-like money means anything at fucking all!"

His fists clenched tightly and he struggled to calm himself down, staring at the stone angrily, as if it were Sasuke. As if he were right in front of him. The bastard knew, he fucking knew Naruto never wanted the type of easy job where he just signed a few sheets of paper a day and that was it. He'd always told Sasuke he was glad it was the raven and not him working at the Uchiha's company. How could he have done this to him?! It was a constant reminder! A reminder of what he'd had, what he'd lost!

He slammed his fist hard against the top of the stone, pain shooting up his arm. He shook it out with a wince, brushing away the tears falling from his eyes almost violently. He hated this. This feeling. This weakness. He just—wanted Sasuke back. He'd lost everyone important to him. He always lost. Why couldn't he ever gain?

"You're lucky I still have Sakura, or I'd be joining you, asshole," he whispered, ignoring the tears now. He couldn't find the strength to brush them away. "It's too hard. I can't do this without you. I can't keep up with this lifestyle. It's too different from the one I used to have." He looked up at the sky, noting the sun was beginning to set. It would be dark soon. It would be time soon.

He missed Sasuke. And Kakashi. And even Ino, in some weird way. He missed them all. And he hated losing people all the time. He was never going to lose anyone ever again. Sakura was his entire life, now. He was going to guard her to his last breath. Nothing was going to touch her.

His hand started to reach out to touch the cool stone, but he pulled it back. It wasn't Sasuke, not really. It was just a stone with his name on it. Sasuke was gone. He was gone, and he was never coming back.

Naruto didn't turn his head as he heard Sakura approach. He knew it was time. Time to say goodbye. And every day, it got harder. He couldn't keep doing this; keep coming here. It hurt too much.

This is the last time, he told Sasuke mentally as Sakura spoke to him. I love you too much to keep doing this to myself. I'm not coming back. I'll see you again when it's my time. Until then... I'll see you only in my dreams.

Because I can't keep coming to stand in front of you, knowing you're not really here to greet me.

I'll see you in hell, bastard. After all, isn't that where all the fallen angels go?

END.