Summary: Sasuke was gone for 3 years. What will his reappearance ignite in Naruto? SasuNaru.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Warning: Shonen-ai/yaoi

...

Let the leaf fly

Naruto sighed as he stared into the boundless blue expanse people called the sky. His fingers unconsciously fiddled with the withered leaf in his hand. He tried not to let his emotions take over again as he thought back 3 years ago.

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"Naruto."

The blonde turned around to see his arch rival-cum-secret crush.

The hyperactive blonde raised an eyebrow. It was way past midnight. What was the raven-haired boy still doing out so late at night?

"Eh, bastard. What are you doing out so late?" Naruto voiced out his curiosity.

"And you?" Was the only cold reply the Uchiha shot back.

Naruto turned fully. He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. Although seeing the one he liked being so cold towards him hurt, Naruto was already used to it. "I was hungry, so I came out to find food. And, and! I found it!" Naruto started, wanting to converse with Sasuke longer. "There's this shop dow-"

"Naruto," Sasuke cut Naruto off, staring straight into his eyes.

Naruto gulped at the intensity of the gaze.

"W-what?"

"I need to talk to you," Sasuke simply said.

Naruto swallowed again before nodding hesitantly. Sasuke curtly nodded before turning on his heel and walking through the cold and darkened streets of Konoha, leaving a confused Naruto to follow his trail towards the woods.

Naruto didn't know where Sasuke was leading him to. He just followed behind, keeping his eyes on the back of his teammate. But whatever it was, he had a feeling it wasn't going something he liked.

When he almost ran into a low branch however, he tore his eyes away from the boy in front of him to take in his surroundings. They were somewhere in the middle of the forest, with only dense trees in their vision.

Finally, the stoic boy stopped and Naruto looked at him. They were in a clearing with nothing to accompany them but a slow-moving river. Sasuke moved to sit on the ground under a huge oak tree.

His head was bowed and Naruto wondered if his friend was meditating and if he should disturb him or not.

"Sit."

Naruto blinked at the sudden intrusion, namely Sasuke's voice.

"Um...okay..." Naruto nervously replied before sitting a few feet in front of his crush, waiting for the Uchiha to tell him what he wanted to say.

"Naruto..."

The blonde looked expectantly at the other boy.

"I... I'm..."

Naruto raised his eyebrows. This was the first time he had ever seen the impassive boy lose his cool.

"What? You're what, Sasuke?" Then Naruto gasped. "Don't tell me you're going to die!? No! That can't happen! Sakura and Kakashi and-" A blow to his head made Naruto stop his rambling.

The blonde shinobi's hand came up to soothe the sore spot as he looked up to see Sasuke glaring at him. "Listen to me."

Naruto pouted before nodding. Sasuke looked down again, his hands clutching his knees. So hard that his knuckles turned white.

"Naruto, I'm..." Sasuke cleared his throat. "I'm going away."

Naruto paused. His face scrunched up in confusion. "Huh?"

Sasuke repeated himself, slightly louder this time. "I said, I'm going away," he said briefly.

Naruto nodded slowly. "Okay...so you're going away. To where?"

"... To find Itachi," Sasuke mumbled lowly.

Being the dense boy he was, Naruto naturally took a while to process the seriousness of the situation.

"Okay. Let me get this straight. You're going away to find Itachi..." Then Naruto stopped as the realization finally sunk in.

Sasuke was going to leave Konoha and everybody that cared for him to go and find Itachi. Without the guarantee of him coming back.

"WHAT!? You can't do that! You'll get killed!" Naruto yelled, jumping to his feet and glaring down at the ebony-haired boy. Sasuke continued keeping his head down as he listened to the continuous rambling of the blonde boy's so-called lecture.

"You're not strong enough for that traitor! You can't defeat him! He'll kill you! And what if you get killed!? What will happen to Sakura who loves you so much!? To Kakashi-sensei who treats you like his own son!? To me... who..."

As if the lack of sleep and the sudden outburst finally caught up with the loud ninja, Naruto collapsed to his knees onto the ground.

Sasuke looked up. What was Naruto going to say about himself?

Without looking up, Naruto whispered just loud enough for Sasuke to hear, "When are you going?"

Sasuke stared at the mop of sun-kissed hair. "Today at dawn," Sasuke replied softly.

Naruto looked up to the sky. The area was the only part not covered up from the overlooking sky by trees.

"That's almost," Naruto stated sadly. Sasuke mutely nodded. Naruto bowed his head again as Sasuke continued staring at his friend.

Then they just sat there in the cold arms of silence wrapping around them.

Before long, Naruto felt the rays of the sun hitting his back and he looked up again to see the dark of the sky get chased away by the warm heat of the sun.

He didn't as much as flinch when Sasuke stood up. Sasuke turned to go but just as he was about to disappear into the dense forest again, he glanced over his shoulder at the only boy he had come to care for.

"I promise I'll be back," Sasuke whispered.

Then as he drifted off into the green life, only three soft words were heard. So soft, they would have been blown away if there was a slight breeze at that moment.

"I love you."

Naruto blinked. He couldn't believe his ears. The one he admired for so long... was gone, leaving behind only three words. Everyone Naruto cared for would leave him one day. They never stayed, never offered him comfort in the times when he needed them.

Naruto looked to his left and smiled sadly. Bunches of morning glories were smoothly blossoming, bathing in the attention the sun was giving them, each and everyone wanting to wake the place up with their vibrant violet.

Then something caught his eye. It was a lone morning glory, desperately trying to spread its petals like the rest of its kind, trying desperately to get some attention its way. It seemed to struggle for so long, until it finally gave up and just bent its head.

He got up and walked over to the flower. Just as his fingertips touched the petals, a leave from its stem dropped onto his hand. Naruto stared at it in amazement. It was as if, the morning glory was himself, and that the leaf that had just wilted off, was... Sasuke.

And coincidently, that was the last leaf of its stem.

Naruto sat down in front of the tree supporting the violet flower as he stared down at his shoes.

That was the first time in the whole of Uzumaki Naruto's life that he let the tears flow freely down his face.

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Naruto smiled solemnly at the memory as a tear slid down his cheek. Three years and he still couldn't get over that he was alone and left with no one.

He stood up and dusted himself off.

He watched as the sun rose from behind the mountains, yet again chasing away the darkness of the sky.

Then he turned and walked back into the forest, turning on the now withered morning glory.

...