Warnings: There will be explicit sex, violence, gratuitous cursing and gay relationships in this fic.

A/N: It took me a while to work out a storyline I was happy with, but finally the first chapter of Unleashed is here! It picks up a few months after Partners (and if you haven't read Partners you need to do that now, otherwise this won't make a lot of sense tbh). I hope you'll enjoy!

UNLEASHED

The sound of something breaking downstairs was immediately followed by a soul wrenching roar. Kushina startled awake, having fallen asleep in the chair placed next to Naruto's crib after tucking him in earlier. She recognised that roar. The cold tendrils of fear filled her. Nothing good ever came from hearing that sound. It looked like they had been found.

Wasting no time she got to her feet and rushed over to the crib where tired blue eyes peered up at her. Her beautiful baby boy. "I won't let them hurt you," she said in a whisper as the sound of what was unmistakably fighting came from the first floor. "Daddy will make sure we're safe," she added, trying to keep Naruto calm as her eyes swept over the room, looking for any kind of weapon she could use if worst came to worst. Grabbing a lamp and testing its heft she turned towards the bedroom door. She heard feet rushing up the stairs, and she only hoped it would be Minato coming through that door. Her fingers tightened around the metal of the lamp, and she exhaled in an attempt to calm herself. She needed to be strong for Naruto.

The door slammed open, startling Naruto into a high-pitched scream.

Heavy boots pounded into the puddles and streams the rain was creating, soaking socks and pants equally. No sane person would willingly go out in this weather, but then again, you had to be a little bit insane to hunt vampires for a living.

Naruto dragged a hand through his hair, pushing wet bangs out of his face, noting that he was long overdue for a haircut, and then realising that this was neither the time nor place to be thinking about personal grooming. He had a job to do. Places to see, vampires to kill, business as usual.

Even through the loud thrumming of the rain he heard his own breath grow laboured as he ran across deserted streets. His target had a substantial head start, and had pulled him on a wild chase through the industrial district, past buildings closed for the day and through narrow alleys where even the rats had fled for shelter, but Naruto was gaining on him. Every so often there was a flash of red as the vampire looked back at him, so the vampire was equally aware that it was getting closer and closer to being caught up with. Just a little bit more and Naruto could end this. Hopefully the vampire would realise that it wasn't going to outrun him and stop to fight. A cornered vampire tended to be a vicious one, but Naruto was armed and ready.

He was starting to think that maybe it would be nice if the vampire concluded that attacking was better than running sooner rather than later, because he was getting eager to get out of the rain. He was ready to go home, take a long shower—preferably with company—and then spend the rest of the night in bed. Again with company.

A quick glance at a street sign as he ran past it made Naruto uneasy. The vampire was pulling him along away from the industrial district towards a residential area. So far they'd been hoofing it through empty streets, but the closer they got to people's homes the greater the chance there were people outside, stupid or desperate enough to brave an autumn storm. Naruto needed to stop it before they got there.

Naruto saw how the vampire darted to the side, vanishing into a small side street, and he quickly followed, ignoring the burn in his thighs as he upped his speed, intending to stop this before they got to the next intersection. He was contemplating pulling out his gun and ending it with a bullet to a skull, but he was afraid the time it would take him to stop long enough to aim would give the vampire the opportunity to flee completely, so he didn't dare to do it until he got closer. He was not going to let this one get away.

Naruto nearly tripped over a pile of discarded garbage bags, but sidestepped them at the last moment and rushed after the vampire.

It was hard to see with the rain in his eyes, but the moment the world tinted with red, sharpening his vision, he stubbornly shook his head and willed his beast back in its cage. Naruto was not risking shifting in any way. He could take the vampire on his own.

A sudden terrified yelp from somewhere ahead drew all his attention. He saw the vampire skid to a halt and then lurch to the side, and Naruto knew that could only mean one thing, it had been distracted by a prey.

His fingers were stiff from the cold, so it took Naruto two tries to get his gun free from its holster while he was running, but finally he wrapped his hand around the grip, hoping he wasn't too late.

A large dumpster was blocking most of the alley, so he couldn't see what was happening. He threw all he had into running, finally rounding it, nearly falling on his ass as his boots struggled to get purchase on the wet ground. The vampire was crouched over a shape Naruto knew would be a human. Next to them a shopping cart lay on its side, empty bottles spilling over the dirty asphalt as the wheels spun slowly. A cardboard box that was already dying under the downpour was lying half-smashed underneath the body of the homeless person on the ground, weak arms pushing at the vampire hovering over him. The man wouldn't be able to fight off the vampire, and Naruto couldn't shoot, because there was too great of a chance he'd hit the man.

The only reason the man wasn't dead already was the layers of clothes he was bundled up in, a thick coat and scarves wrapped around his throat. The vampire was snarling and yanking at the fabric, desperately trying to get through to the frail skin underneath. It would only take it a few more seconds, so Naruto had no time to hesitate. He drew back a booted foot and aimed it at the vampire's side.

It didn't have the intended effect of throwing the vampire off of the man, but it did make it snap its head around, red eyes burning at Naruto. It leapt, and Naruto didn't even have time to lift his arm to fire the gun before it was on him, taking Naruto with him to the ground by the force of the jump. Naruto's arm slammed into the dumpster, pain shooting through it. He had a fleeting thought that he hoped it wasn't broken, but that was soon gone as he realised the vampire had used the opportunity to start running again, having given up its prey to seek an escape. Hunting vampires that wasn't lost in blood lust was different than the crazed ones. This one was still cunning, able to realise that if he escaped he could find better blood. Self-preservation trumping the thirst for blood.

Naruto spared a second to ensure the man wasn't hurt before he was running again.

Where the hell was Sasuke? They had split up in an attempt to cut off the vampire, but Naruto hadn't seen the hide nor hair of him since, and he was getting worried. Not so much for himself, he could handle a vampire on his own, even though this one was proving to be a hard on to catch. What if it wasn't the only vampire around, what if Sasuke had been attacked? Shit, they never should have gone different ways, Naruto hated not knowing where Sasuke was. They were a team after all.

Tearing around a corner he had seen the vampire take he was met with a chain link fence. Naruto cursed to himself and started climbing the feet to the top, throwing himself over it and running again, glad his arm wasn't broken after all, it'd be hell to climb with one arm. He hadn't even stopped to assess the state of his arm before climbing, so that was mostly pure luck.

Only then did he realise the implications of having been able to climb so easily.

His gun.

He had lost his gun. It must've been thrown from his hand when he slammed the arm into the dumpster, and he had been too focused on the vampire to realise, and now there was no way he would get it back, which left him severely debilitated on the weapons front. Not to say that he didn't have other options, he just didn't have any as effective as the gun. There was a sheath of throwing knives fastened at his thigh; he would have to make due with those. It severely limited his range though, he'd need to get closer to get a finishing throw in.

He saw the alley open onto the street ahead, a car driving past, sending water splashing at the vampire. Neither car nor demon seemed to notice.

Naruto skidded around the corner and as alley turned to sidewalk it was clear they weren't in the industrial district anymore. He was running out of time, but the space between the vampire and him was shrinking, inch by painful inch. Closer, he needed to get closer, just so he could stop this…

Naruto wasn't sure what made him look back over his shoulder, but when he saw the familiar shape making its way down the sidewalk in his direction he wanted to whoop. Sasuke! Still alive and fighting, and here to see Naruto take down the vampire spectacularly. Naruto should thank the vampire for leading them back to a main road, or Sasuke would've never found them.

Getting a fresh spur of energy from seeing Sasuke he pushed his body, forcing his aching legs to pick up speed, boots pounding against the concrete. He dipped a hand to his thigh, grabbing the handle of a knife and making ready to toss when the slam of a door drew the attention of both him and the vampire.

On one of the small entrance steps further down the sidewalk and across the street three girls had just exited, hands intertwined and pulling each other along as they laughed, completely oblivious to the demon running in their direction. They stepped onto the sidewalk, and in the same moment the vampire veered off course, leaving the sidewalk to head straight towards the trio. Their backs were towards it, and they had no idea, no way to protect themselves, and the vampire was too far ahead, Naruto wouldn't be able to hit it with the knife, not fatally, not enough to do anything other than piss it off.

Sasuke was still too far away to catch up, so Naruto was on his own.

He needed to buy himself time, needed to get the vampire to focus on him, not the girls, but the girls were easy prey. What could he do to lure it away from its fresh dinner? It might have given up on the hobo, but these girls would tear apart like paper if it got its claw in them. Thin jackets would do nothing to shield them from fangs. It would be a bloodbath.

The vampire snarled loud enough that Naruto could hear it through the thrumming of the rain and the pounding of his boots, and suddenly the girls realised they weren't alone on the street. Their heads snapped around, and shrill screams pierced the air. Naruto hoped they would start running, but terror had them freeze in their steps, looking at their impending doom like deer caught in the headlight of a semi barrelling down the freeway.

There was no time to think, so Naruto reacted. The knife might not be enough to stop the vampire, but it could distract it. He didn't hesitate as he drew a sharp edge along the back of his forearm, slicing through fabric and skin and flesh. Blood welled from the cut, thick and smelling richly of copper, and Naruto hoped that his improvised plan would work. For good measure he threw the knife towards the vampire.

The vampire didn't notice the knife until it embedded itself deeply in its shoulder, but when metal met flesh it threw itself around, eyes ablaze as it roared. It wasn't the wound itself that had stopped it. The knife had been dripping with blood. Fresh, warm blood, and the vampire's senses were highly tuned to the scent of it. The rain couldn't wash the smell away when it was lodged in his back. If it hadn't wanted blood before, it would definitely want it now.

Naruto stopped running, standing on the sidewalk, hand slowly going to the leg sheath to pull out another knife. As the vampire's gaze had locked on his arm he knew it would come to him, there was no need to run anymore.

Blood was running down his arms in rivulets washed thin by the rain, red bleeding out into nothing on the ground. The vampire's lips were peeled away from his teeth, yellowing fangs visible even from this distance. Then it exploded into action, feet digging against the ground as it pushed itself into a sprint directly towards Naruto.

The blade sliced through the air as Naruto threw it, but at this distance with water in his eyes and fingers stiff from the cold it was hard to aim, and it sliced past the vampire, only opening a shallow cut on its arm. It would take a lot more to stop a hungry vampire, and he was already digging out a new knife. Using the small moment he had before the vampire was on him he threw a quick glance over his shoulder, expecting to see Sasuke coming to his rescue with katana drawn, ready to finish what Naruto started with his annoyed glare in place. Sasuke had never been very fond of Naruto's rash plans.

Sasuke was standing a good thirty yards behind him, and while his katana was drawn it was hanging from a limp hand. His eyes were staring blankly ahead in Naruto's direction, but they were unfocused, as if Sasuke wasn't really here at all anymore.

The next second the vampire was on him, and Naruto had to throw his hands up to stop the snarling demon from sinking its fangs into his neck. The vampire's momentum had been too great, pushing the both of them to the ground, Naruto's breath knocked out of him as he slammed into the concrete of the sidewalk.

He had one arm pressed against the vampire's throat, shoving it away as well as he could while he tried to manoeuvre his other hand up to jam the knife he was clutching into any vulnerable body part he could find. He felt it sink into the back of an arm, but it wouldn't be enough to stop a bloodthirsty vampire, it probably didn't even notice. Shit! What was Sasuke doing?

"Sasuke!" he yelled. Warm breath smelling sickly of blood fanned over his face as he tried to gather his feet underneath himself to kick the vampire away.

Sasuke was oblivious to the water running down his face, didn't notice the shrill screaming of girls on the other side of the road, or the snarl of a vampire.

All he saw was blood. It filled his vision with red. Naruto's blood, too much. Naruto was hurt, again, and he hadn't been able to stop it. Hadn't been able to stop the knife ripping Naruto open, could only see him crumpling to the floor in a pool of blood.

More blood, Itachi's. Itachi's eyes looking at him as he died for a final time, because of him, because Sasuke had taken his life.

His mind spun down a path of memories he hadn't allowed himself to think of for the last weeks. He had pushed them deep into his subconscious, but now he couldn't stop them, couldn't stop the images of his family, dead on the ground. Naruto dying in front of him, Itachi with his katana through his chest.

His mother and father lying dead on the ground. Bodies piled high, all the ones Sasuke hadn't been able to save, kids and adults alike, necks torn out, bodies broken, blood everywhere. Rivers of blood left in his wake and now he was powerless yet again.

His body was shaking, and his throat was closing, making it hard to breathe. He tried to drag in a breath, but couldn't get it down, couldn't fill his lungs. A band of steel was locked around his chest, squeezing down on lungs and heart, a deep pain that made it impossible to breathe, made his heart beat thud in his chest, a fast tattoo he felt all up his throat.

His eyes were open, but the world was fading on the edges, until all he saw were the dripping of blood. He couldn't focus, couldn't...

Naruto...

Naruto was going to die, and Sasuke couldn't save him. Too weak. Too weak to save anyone. Failure...

His body was numbing, and fingers that had been curled around the familiar hilt of his katana lost their strength, and the weapon clattered to the ground. He barely noticed, fingers twitching around a handful of air. He had to do something, there was something he should do, someone he should help, but he couldn't focus, couldn't make out a clear though. He couldn't breathe, and he was going to die, and there was something he should be doing, but he couldn't even remember.

"Sasuke!" a familiar voice pierced through the haze, and he honed in on it, clutched to it as if his life depended on it. He was drawn towards it, away from the chasm of darkness he was losing himself in.

The world cleared, but even now it made no sense. There was someone on the ground, blond hair dark from water, and something atop him, jaws snapping as it fought against the man on the ground.

Sasuke started running. He had to do something, had to help. Naruto. Naruto was the man on the ground, and he was in trouble, and Sasuke wasn't there to help him, and now he might really lose him. He drew a ragged breath, fought to push it into his lungs. Too far away, he was too far away.

He could only watch as Naruto drew up a foot and thrust it hard enough into the vampire's gut to throw it off him. There was no hesitation as Naruto rolled after, one hand dipping down to grab a knife, arm following a sharp curve as he slammed it into the vampire's skull, piercing through its temple until only the handle of the knife was visible. The vampire crumpled to the ground, dead.

Sasuke stared at the dead vampire, and Naruto, who was jumping to his feet, seemingly unscathed. The realisation that he had been close to losing Naruto again hit him. He'd been useless. Had frozen up when he needed to act, and it had left Naruto alone. They were supposed to be partners, but Sasuke hadn't been there for Naruto.

He didn't understand what had happened. Why had he suddenly been unable to focus on the situation, why had all those memories suddenly surfaced? He thought he had been over it, thought he had moved on. It had been three months since he'd stopped Itachi, and he'd been fine since then. Hadn't he?

Sure, he had nightmares. Bad ones that made him wake up drenched in sweat, but that was normal, wasn't it? He found it best to try to forget about the bad dreams and push through with his day. He still had a job to do, even if he had gotten the revenge he had been working towards for most of his life. He had avenged his family and given his brother the peace he deserved, and now he needed to make sure other families didn't experience the same, so he needed to keep working.

His hands were trembling, and he found himself falling to his knees, too weak to stand up. He tried to draw a deep breath, but his throat was still too tight, and he found himself desperately trying to breath, unable to do so. His brother. Dead because of him. Naruto almost dead because of him. How many more? How many more deaths were he responsible for? How many people had died because he hadn't been able to stop the vampire's in time? The vampire Naruto had just executed had killed people. Could Sasuke have saved them if he was better?

Weak. He felt so weak. He wasn't strong enough. Without Naruto he'd be dead long ago, wouldn't he? And now he couldn't even protect Naruto back. Shit, what was happening to him, why couldn't he focus, why did it hurt so much?

Naruto pushed to his feet, shaking wet hair out of his face, about to ask Sasuke what the hell had taken him so long when he saw Sasuke's face. It was ashy grey, and his eyes unfocused still.

Naruto had no idea what was going on, but something was wrong with Sasuke. He dropped to his knees in front of him, cradling his face in his hands, trying to get him to focus. He was drawing quick, shallow breaths, and even if he was looking at Naruto he wasn't really there.

"Sasuke!" Naruto said, pressing his forehead against his. "Snap out of it, please!"

Sasuke blinked sluggishly, dark brown eyes slowly focusing on Naruto, as if he was finally realising he was sitting there right in front of him.

"Naruto," he said slowly between ragged breaths.

"Take a slow breath for me, Sasuke, please," Naruto said, dragging his thumbs over Sasuke's cheek bones.

It seemed to be a fight, but slowly Sasuke was calming down, his breathing evening out. Naruto was vaguely aware of the three girls running away, but his focus was solely on Sasuke. The vampire was dead, so it wasn't like they were going to be interrupted.

When Sasuke finally seemed to come out of it, eyes focusing, breathing evening out, Naruto called Kakashi. They needed a team of cleaners to pick up the body. They had silver nitrate ampules on them, but with the heavy rain it would probably wash away before it could eat through the vampire's flesh. He didn't tell Kakashi about Sasuke, he figured that could wait until tomorrow, when they went back to the office to make a full report. Right now Sasuke needed to go home.

When the call was made and the waiting started Naruto got Sasuke over to a staircase right by them, getting him to sit down.

"Your arm," Sasuke said as Naruto fussed over him.

Naruto glanced down at himself. The gash across his forearm was deep enough that it hadn't healed, and it was still bleeding, even if it was slowing down. His shirt was a mess of red, and now Sasuke's was too. "It's okay, it'll heal soon," Naruto said. Now that he'd been made aware of it he realised that it stung, but it wasn't anything he couldn't deal with. He'd had worse wounds.

"We should stop the bleeding," Sasuke said, making to push off the stairs.

Naruto shoved him back on his ass. "I can fix that."

He didn't exactly go around with bandages in his pocket, so with a sigh he realised there was only one thing to do. He pulled a knife from his sheath, and sliced off a strip of fabric from the bottom hem of his shirt. With the cut in the sleeve, and the blood, the shirt was ruined anyways. It was a shame really, Naruto liked that shirt. Years of wearing and washing had made it perfectly comfortable.

Using his teeth he tied off the improvised bandage. He couldn't do much about the blood still staining his arm and shirt, but at least he wouldn't bleed anymore. Giving his accelerated healing he'd probably be fine by morning anyways.

After the cleaners had come and taken care of the vampire, as well as sent on a chase to find the traumatized homeless person and Naruto's gun, Naruto and Sasuke walked back to the car. The Lexus was parked too far away, the vampire having brought them on an impressive chase. Naruto wouldn't have to go for another run this week; his cardio was already taken care of.

When they got to the silver-grey Lexus, brand new as of last month he hesitated for a moment. He didn't think Sasuke was up for driving, but so far he hadn't been allowed behind the wheel of the car.

Sasuke didn't say anything the entire walk, and any questions Naruto asked was met with noncommittal grunts. Naruto was eerily reminded of the early stages of their partnership, before he won Sasuke over with his charm.

To Naruto's surprise Sasuke handed Naruto the keys to his car and walked over to the passenger side. Naruto would've been excited if not for the circumstances.

The leather seats crinkled happily when he slid into the driver's seat, and his stiff fingers flexed around the steering wheel. He hoped their wet clothes weren't going to ruin the upholstery, but he couldn't really do much about that now. It was drive like this, or nude, and he didn't think the latter was a good idea.

The drive back to his apartment was as silent as the walk to the car had been. Sasuke's head was tipped against the window, and he was staring outside. Naruto hated this. Hated not knowing what was wrong with Sasuke, but he also knew that asking wasn't going to solve anything. Sasuke wouldn't be ready to talk, at least not yet. All he could do now was take care of him.

There was no question, Sasuke was not going to be left alone tonight, so Naruto parked outside his apartment building, and Sasuke followed him back inside. They were both shivering by now, their bodies flushed empty of adrenaline, and clothes dripping wet. Naruto dragged Sasuke along into the bathroom and turned on the shower, letting it heat up.

Sasuke was standing with his head bowed and his hands fisted, making no move to get ready for a shower. Naruto hesitated for a moment, and then stepped close, bringing his hands to Sasuke's cheeks, brushing away the water drops lingering there. "I'm going to take off your clothes now, okay?"

Sasuke shrugged, and Naruto took that as answer good enough. His cold fingers fumbled with the buttons of Sasuke's shirt, but soon he could pull it off and drop it to the floor. Sasuke's slacks and shoes and socks soon followed, leaving him only in his boxer briefs. Naruto took them off too, wasn't like he hadn't seen Sasuke naked before, and then gently nudged Sasuke towards the shower. His own clothes was gracelessly yanked off, joining Sasuke's on the floor as Naruto followed into the shower, pressing his chest against Sasuke's back. It really was too crowded in the small stall, but he didn't think Sasuke should be alone right now.

The warm water was doing what it could to heat them up, but Sasuke was still shivering. Naruto turned him around so they were chest against chest, and made him tip his head back so he could saturate his hair with warm water.

With a bit of manoeuvring Naruto managed to grab the shampoo bottle, and dumped a generous amount into his hands. He shuffled them around until Sasuke's head wasn't under the spray anymore, and ran his hands through the dark locks, coating them with foam. This was another sign Sasuke wasn't completely himself, he wasn't complaining about Naruto's choice of cheap as fuck shampoo; he just let Naruto clean his hair and just closed his eyes.

Naruto took his time, digging his fingertips into Sasuke's scalp, massaging him, hoping it would help. Bit by bit Sasuke seemed to calm down. At some point the shivering stopped, and his shoulders relaxed. When Naruto rinsed through his hair Sasuke sighed, and leaned closer, just slightly, enough for Naruto to believe that he was going to be okay.

Unlike their previous shared showers there was nothing erotic about this. He ran soapy hands over Sasuke's body, but it was all about comfort. He could feel Sasuke grow less apathetic underneath his touch, as if he was letting go of the pain from earlier. Naruto didn't know, but he was pretty sure Sasuke had some sort of a panic attack; he'd have to google it later on to be sure. It wasn't their first mission since what happened with Sasuke's brother, and Sasuke had been fine for most of the time since, so Naruto wasn't sure what had triggered it, but he knew that the only thing he could really do now was take care of him and make him feel safe.

As the warm water was running out Naruto got them out of the shower, and started drying Sasuke off. Sasuke just grumbled and grabbed the towel, taking over the job himself. Naruto figured it was a good thing; he was turning back into himself.

Naruto tucked Sasuke into bed, making sure to find an extra blanket for him just in case he got cold. Then he crawled in after, wrapping his arm around him, pulling him against his chest. Sasuke stiffened for a moment, and then he relaxed into it with a shuddered sigh.

Naruto made small circles with his thumb against Sasuke's arm, and for a while they just laid there in silence. Naruto didn't want to push Sasuke, but in the end he didn't have to.

"I'm sorry," Sasuke said quietly.

"You don't have anything to apologise for," Naruto said, thumb stilling against Sasuke's skin.

"We're supposed to be partners, but I froze, and I wasn't there to back you up," Sasuke stated harshly.

"Well, you couldn't exactly know what I was going to do."

Sasuke was quiet for a moment, and Naruto thought maybe he had fallen asleep.

"Your plan was idiotic," he finally admitted, and Naruto's lips twisted into a wry grin. He wasn't going to deny it. "But I'm used to that, and normally I would've just followed along, killing the vampire before it even got close to you, but I just..." His voice faded away.

"It's okay, Sasuke, you don't need to talk about it if you don't want to."

"I do want to! Or no, I don't, but I need you to know what went wrong, because it affected our job, and I can't let that happen."

Naruto pressed his forehead against the back of Sasuke's head. "Tell me what you were seeing," he whispered.

"I saw Itachi. And you, back in the mansion. So much blood..." Sasuke's voice trailed off. He was clearly uncomfortable talking about it. Still not used to sharing anything with anyone, and Naruto didn't blame him. Sasuke had to kill his own brother. Had probably thought he saw Naruto die. Anyone would struggle with the aftermath of that, but Sasuke had seemingly handled it remarkably well. He'd been ready to go back to work as soon as Kakashi allowed them, and had been just as stoic and strong as ever. At least seemingly. Naruto was a heavy sleeper, but that didn't mean he didn't wake up when Sasuke screamed in his sleep.

For a few minutes they laid in silence, then Naruto cleared his throat, unsure how Sasuke would take what he was about to say. "Do you think maybe you should talk to Shizune?"

He felt Sasuke stiffen, and was expecting to get chewed out any moment.

Shizune was the DPA therapist. She helped agents from every unit when they were struggling. Both Naruto and Sasuke had been to see her when they got back from the ordeal with Itachi. Kakashi refused to allow them back on duty until they'd both had sessions with her.

Considering the nature of their work having a therapist available was important, and most agents ended up having debriefings with her when things had been too rough. Naruto had found her to be a pleasant woman that listened well, and didn't try to analyse them too much. He knew Sasuke hadn't wanted to go, and knowing him he'd probably not talked much either. Sasuke had done the session he was forced to, and then probably just glared at the woman until she let him back onto active duty.

"Going to her won't make you weak, it just shows that you are willing to do anything to become well," Naruto continued. It had terrified him to see Sasuke so out of it, he didn't want to experience that again.

"I'll talk to Kakashi about it," Sasuke finally said. "He'll set up an appointment."

Naruto tightened his arm around Sasuke, kissing the back of his head.

"Thank you," he whispered. "I love you."

Sasuke didn't say anything in return, but he pushed backwards, burrowing into Naruto's chest, and for Naruto that was good enough.