A/N: Done! Can't believe it. My car broke down, this divorce is dragging on and life in general sucks, so I haven't felt much like writing. Still, one has to be grateful for what they have. I finally sat down and wrote this last chapter. I had started to write it completely differently, but then I deleted it and went with this ending. I'm glad I did. This feels much better, more right. It's not far off from what the other version was, anyway.

You may all thank Nekokritszy for convincing me not to delete this story. I guess I'll just keep it up here as motivation to do better.

Thanks for all the reviews on last the chap! I'm surprised so many of you didn't guess Genjutsu right off. I hope this is a satisfactory conclusion for those who've been here since the first chap of Until You. Even if it's not, though, I'm okay with it and I guess that's what really matters even if I do strive to please my readers. So without further ado...here's the final installment. Enjoy!

Chapter 8

Night fell and passed with the lazy movement of the stars bearing witness. Dawn came, morning, afternoon and night returned. As day was breaking a second time, Sasuke groaned and stirred. He moved one hand through the dirt and debris near his face; it was all the movement he was capable of.

Eyes closed, afloat on a stormy sea of blazing agony, Sasuke inched his hand upward until he could put it to his head. His head was pounding. It felt like demons the size of mountains were stomping around his brain with steel-shod feet. He felt like throwing up, like shitting himself. Holy fucking God, Sasuke thought. I must be dying.

He tried to get up and just the thought of it hurt. His muscles burned, his bones screamed. His blood itself was in pain. Sasuke opened his eyes a fraction of an inch and closed them quickly again. He hissed, managed a weak sob; the sunlight had multiplied the pain in his head until Sasuke felt he would welcome death.

How long he lay there after regaining consciousness he didn't know, but the pain wasn't even thinking of subsiding when a shadow fell over him. It was probably that misbegotten fish freak Kisame or that whore Konan. Sasuke hoped they killed him quickly.

The man gazed down at the boy who lay breathing in shallow pants. He'd seen Itachi's body as well. This young man had the Uchiha look to him; he had to be Itachi's 'dead' brother, Sasuke. He stooped and bent to the man, trying to understand what was wrong with him.

Sasuke was unmarked as far as the man could see. Yet he appeared to be gravely wounded. Itachi had a kunai protruding from his chest, his eyes half-opened, clearly dead. The man knew of Itachi's prowess in battle. If this Sasuke had defeated him there was no telling what the toll had been. He must have pushed himself beyond the limits of his body. Likely there is internal damage. Ah, but to have killed Itachi! Impressive. The man looked around at the destroyed hideout and land. He'd come to spy on Itachi after hearing that he'd killed Pain. Instead he'd found that Armageddon had apparently come. The man looked back at Sasuke. The boy needed care.

When Sasuke felt himself gently picked up, he passed out again.

"You can have this one," Gaara said generously. He handed Naruto a huge plushie of a purple dinosaur. It was as tall as Gaara, certainly fatter.

Naruto took the plushie and examined the big grin on it. "Thank you," he said to Gaara. "Have you had sex with this one as well?"

"I think I really would go insane if I had sex with Barney there. He was given to me, but I don't like him too much."

"Why?"

"Have you seen his shows? Watch an episode and you'll know why."

"Oh." Naruto stroked the soft toy with his big hands. No one had given him anything before. He liked the plushie very much.

Gaara stood up, wading through the waist-high sea of plushies to his door. "'Bee probably won't be back for awhile. Want to go on a spree?"

Naruto stood as well, the Barney toy held securely under one arm. "What kind of spree?"

"Well, there's a prison over in the next village that I haven't hit yet…"

"Yes. I'll come."

Sasuke woke in a darkened place, his pain slightly less. He felt cool cloths on his burning skin, then blankets draped over him when he began freezing again. Someone tended his internal injuries with hands glowing with chakra. Sasuke never saw who it was, but whoever they were they seemed to be helping him, not killing him.

"Who…" Sasuke croaked.

"Shhh. I'm a friend," the man whispered.

That was all, no other words were spoken. Sasuke got the impression the person was male and incredibly old. His hands were very strong and sure for all of that, though. Sasuke felt himself steadily improving as he was fed and cared for. He let himself sleep.

Killerbee walked into his cottage a few days after his night with Naruto with a distinct air of unease. He'd left before the blond had woken, too cowardly to face him after the things he had done with him. He hadn't meant for Hachibi to get involved at all, had been powerless to recall him once the Bijuus had joined.

Though he'd had lovers in the past, nothing had equaled that night with the blond boy. 'Bee had never known such intimacy, such passion. He's expected a comforting night with the beautiful young man, not to fall in love. He had no idea how Naruto would react to him now, hence his unease.

He heard laughing from Gaara's room. He recognized the redhead's high laugh, but the deep booming howls were unfamiliar to Killerbee. He frowned as he made his way towards Gaara's door. That couldn't be Naruto?

Killerbee opened the door. Naruto was rolling in those atrocious toys with Gaara, laughing as they had some kind of mock battle. They hit each other with the things, threw the smaller ones at each other's heads. At the same time they were both eating one candy bar after another. The room was littered with candy wrappers, mixed in with the horrid plushies. Gaara spotted him first.

"Neh, Old Man! Guess what Naruto told me. He said he trained with Jiraiya himself! Isn't that the height of cool?"

Killerbee only had eyes for Naruto. The blond had gone still, looking at him. A small smile still played around his full mouth, but the blue eyes were serious. They stared at Killerbee with an unreadable expression.

'Bee said he hadn't known Jiraiya had had a student. Then he spoke directly to the blond whose eyes were turning his bowels to water. He gripped the knob on the door tightly, wanting to get this over with. "Naruto. I'd like to speak to you a moment, if you don't mind?"

Gaara looked back and forth between 'Bee and Naruto. "You in trouble, man?"

"I don't know," Naruto said. He got up and walked calmly past Killerbee and into the main room. The older man closed Gaara's door softly.

Naruto turned to face Killerbee. In Gaara's room he'd felt happiness at seeing Killerbee returned. He remembered their night, but knew better than to bring it up. Sasuke had needed a long time before he was able to discuss their blanket activities during the day. He wondered what Killerbee wanted.

The dark man cleared his throat nervously, his hands in his pockets as he studied the floor in front of his feet. He frowned slightly as he spoke. "There are two things I want to discuss. The first is that night." He paused here to glance up at Naruto.

Naruto kept his gaze on Killerbee's, unblinking, not looking away. Killerbee forged ahead.

"You may have regretted it afterward; you were upset that night, vulnerable. What may have appeared to be a good idea at the time might have seemed like a mistake in the morning…" Killerbee trailed off. Naruto adjusted his thinking to take in the fact that apparently Killerbee wanted to discuss what had happened.

"I don't regret it," Naruto said. "I was embarrassed when I woke up. I don't know why. But I don't regret it."

Killerbee watched the boy, relief easing the tension in his body. "Ah. I see. Do you…was it…enjoyable? I got the impression it was different from what you're used to."

"It was. Enjoyable and different."

Killerbee did not have the stones to ask if Naruto would let it happen again. For now, it was enough that he didn't regret that night and wasn't disgusted by how the Bijuus had gotten involved. "The other matter I wanted to discuss is your friend. Sasuke."

The older man had to take a step back as Naruto's entire body came alive. The blond fairly crackled with his repressed emotions as he stepped up to Killerbee quickly. "Sasuke? You've seen him? Where is he, did he get away from Itachi?"

The blue eyes were too intense at such close proximity. Killerbee lowered his eyes to where Naruto's muscular arm was strangling the purple dinosaur around its soft throat. "No, I didn't see him. The hideout is in ruins. It looked as if a major battle took place. I saw Itachi's body. He'd been stabbed to death. There was no sign of Sasuke."

Naruto digested this as he stared at Killerbee's face. He seemed to be searching the older man's countenance for more information that he desperately wanted. "What were you doing at the hideout? They could have killed you. You specifically told me going there would mean my death."

Killerbee turned from Naruto's questioning gaze in embarrassment. "Yes, well. Seeing how upset you were, I decided to see if I could at least discover the nature of the trap."

Naruto clutched his gift as he spoke. "If Itachi's dead then Sasuke must be free. Maybe he killed Itachi. I need to go and find him." He turned for the door.

'Bee was there, grabbing his shoulder lightly. By now Gaara had come out of his room and was listening. "Naruto, wait," the older man said. "You don't know where he is, how will you find him?"

Naruto gently removed the hand from his shoulder. "I will find him. He might be looking for me too, might be hurt."

Gaara felt almost sick at the thought of Naruto leaving their valley, but he acknowledged that neither he nor Killerbee would be able to stop him. Not where this Sasuke was concerned. He spoke up. "I'll come with you Naruto. I'll help you find him."

"So will I," 'Bee said. "If he's hurt we'll bring him here."

Naruto looked at them and nodded his head in thanks.

They left immediately. Gaara gave the blond a questioning glance when it appeared he was taking Barney with him. Naruto caught the look and reluctantly left the plushie at the cottage. He set it carefully near Killerbee's bed.

Naruto searched the ruins of the hideout himself, shifting pieces of debris larger than himself with ease. Itachi's body was nowhere to be found. There was no sign of Sasuke.

The surrounding countryside was explored thoroughly, all villages in every country searched, Sasuke's description given. No one had seen him or knew where he was. Gaara said it was as if Sasuke had been sucked from the earth and into an alternate dimension somewhere. There was just no sign of the guy.

Naruto's disappointment was a kunai to his skull. After weeks of searching the trio of Jinchuurikis returned to the cottage. Naruto was back to his silent, uncommunicative ways. His eyes were haunted pools of grief. Once at the cottage he went directly to Killerbee's room and sat on the floor. He didn't even look at the Barney plushie, just sat and stared at the fire Killerbee built in the fireplace. He did not answer questions posed to him, did not eat unless his body drove him to it. He hardly slept.

Gaara cried for his friend's pain, tried to give him more plushies, sang to him, sat with him. Naruto did not respond. Killerbee let the boy know he wasn't alone but otherwise left the blond to deal with his grief in his own way.

Sasuke gasped, sat up, looked around. He was in some kind of vast dim space that had no windows or doors. He turned his head and saw an elderly man sitting not far away. Sasuke ran a hand down his midriff, noting that his body felt perfectly fine as he studied the man. "Who are you," Sasuke finally asked.

"A friend."

"I don't have friends."

"I healed your injuries. You would have died without my help. Aren't those the actions of a friend?" The man gave a small quizzical smile.

Sasuke had been through too much recently to even consider believing some old shit he'd never seen before. Even if he hadn't, though, Sasuke never trusted anyone. Besides, he was a master manipulator; he knew when he was being bullshitted. "Those are the actions of someone who thinks to gain my trust. I don't know who you are, but you want something."

The man widened his smile in appreciation of such cunning. "I like you. You show great promise. Yes, I want something."

Sasuke remained silent. He was starting to get a very edgy feeling. He could find no way to enter or exit the space they were in. As long as he was stuck here, he was in this man's power.

The man lifted a hand casually. "I want you to join me."

"In what?"

"In taking over the world."

Sasuke looked the old man up and down from the corner of his eye. The man looked like a stiff wind would finish him off. Take over the world? Yeah and Sasuke would suddenly start going around in drag. "Dude, who are you? And why do you want me, someone you don't know from a hole in the ground, to join you?"

"Who I am is unimportant. You have power that quite lives up to the glory of your clan name. And you look remarkably like a brother I once had."

Sasuke struggled not to snort. "Touching. What do you know of my clan?"

"Much. Will you join me?"

"Join someone who refuses to give me his name? No. I got my own life to live and I'm not interested in ruling the world." Sasuke was careful not to demand that the man release him from wherever this place was. He didn't want to call attention to the fact that he was at the guy's mercy.

The man studied him for a long time in silence. Perhaps he'd been wrong about the boy. He was as yet immature and self-absorbed. That Sasuke would eventually join him he had no doubt. But perhaps now wasn't the time. He would wait a few years, let the boy ripen and mature. Then he would approach him again.

For now, he stood and prepared to return them both to the real world. He paused as Sasuke stood as well. "Who is Blondie?" he asked.

Sasuke froze. Then he cursed himself for giving away that he even knew the name. He met the dark eyes unblinkingly. "Who?"

"You kept calling out to someone named Blondie in your delirium."

Sasuke made his face blank. "No idea. How long have I been here?"

"Hard to say. Time in these dimensions tends to freeze. I'd say more than a week, though."

The air around them seemed to twist and swirl and suddenly Sasuke found himself in a dense forest with the man. He looked around at the trees that were blocking most of the sunlight. "Where are we?"

"Land of Forest," the man replied. "The long walk back to the Five Great Nations will give you time to think over my offer. I will see you again someday, Uchiha Sasuke."

Sasuke watched the guy disappear in another swirl of air and cursed a blue streak at the noiseless trees. Land of Forest! He remembered that map he and Blondie had found in the crone's cottage. Jesus, Forest Country was at the extreme edge. I hope that geezer dies a slow and painful death, he raged. It would take him weeks, possibly months to get back. And that was if his narrow ass didn't get lost. I ain't thinking about shit except Blondie, Old Man.

Sasuke huffed and began walking.

One night, three weeks after the trio had returned to the cottage in the valley, Naruto sat in Killerbee's room, staring at the leaping flames in the fireplace as usual. Gaara was off in the village. Killerbee was sitting on his mattress, reading. Naruto spoke for the first time since abandoning the search for Sasuke. "I lost him," he said quietly to the flames. "He was the first person to accept me, to love me. He trusted me above everyone else and I lost him."

Naruto's voice was hollow. Killerbee put his book down to come and sit beside him. He was thankful the boy was finally speaking again. He'd been worried the boy's grief had unhinged his mind. He cautiously put an arm around the heavy slumped shoulders as he spoke to the blond. "You didn't lose him. He may yet be somewhere, alive and well."

Naruto turned his head slowly to regard 'Bee with lifeless blue eyes. "I have lost him. We were partners. I abandoned him in that place and saved myself. I should never have left him. I should have ripped him from Itachi's grasp by force. Now he's gone, probably dead. I will never…never see…" Naruto's face crumpled as he cried at last. He cried long, wrenching sobs of loss and hurt and regret. The pain he'd been holding at bay was such that Naruto didn't know if he could bear it.

Killerbee swiftly pulled the big kid into his lap. It was awkward to say the least, but he rocked and murmured to him, holding the boy securely as his tears soaked through both their shirts. Gaara came home before dawn to find them like that, Naruto still bawling. He sat beside them and laid a hand on Naruto's shivering back, offering what comfort he could.

Crying like that was another first for Naruto but it served to help bring him back to some semblance of himself. He did not cry after that, but he didn't shut out the other two again either. It took a long time, days and weeks, but Naruto slowly began talking again as Gaara bombarded him with his bubbly personality. Gaara got him eating food regularly once more. He sang soft songs of hope and encouragement and the beauty of life. Naruto listened more to the voice than the words. One day he smiled.

At night, Naruto slept beside Killerbee. The older man did not approach him sexually. Naruto sometimes cried out in his fitful sleep, calling Sasuke's name in a pleading voice, or promising to kill Itachi with his bare hands. Killerbee soothed and stroked Naruto until he was calm again. Once Naruto had turned to him in his sleep and begun kissing Killerbee. The older man allowed it. Then Naruto was crawling on top of him, entering him, thrusting hard as he said Sasuke's name over and over again. The next day Killerbee had looked at the blond and known the kid remembered nothing of the act. He also knew that Naruto would never love him.

A couple of months passed, winter was blanketing the valley in pure white snow when Naruto addressed his two companions over breakfast. "I'm going home," he announced.

Gaara choked on a piece of bacon. "What! Back to Konoha?! They'll kill you!" His green eyes were wide with alarm. Killerbee frowned in deep concern.

"No," Naruto clarified. "To the cottage Sasuke and I found. That's our home."

"Son, we searched that place when we were looking for him. Sasuke wasn't there," Killerbee said. "You think he's there now?"

"I don't know. But I need to go there. If he's looking for me, he'll know to find me there."

"But," Gaara said trying not to let his voice tremble. "What about us? You're going to leave us? We're best friends, you can't leave."

"There are still some members of Akatsuki out there, Naruto," Killerbee reminded him quietly. "I'm not sure it's a good idea for you to be on your own."

Naruto looked back and forth between the two people who'd brought out so much in him. He'd come to care for them very much. He loved them both. "I will never forget either of you. I hope you come and see me when you have time, but I have to do this. I must."

Gaara's plaintive tears did nothing to dissuade Naruto, nor did Killerbee's sound arguments. Naruto packed his small bag, tucked Barney securely under one beefy arm and stood in the main room later that day, ready to leave.

Killerbee embraced him long and hard. Gaara rushed and gave Naruto another plushie. He said it was called Rainbow Brite. He hugged Naruto as well, promising to come visit when the winter was over.

Naruto left the cottage in the valley with his own tears threatening. The two Jinchuuriki had been closer to him than family. He would miss them.

He arrived at the cottage he'd called home so briefly to find it unchanged, the seals he'd used to lock it still in place. Naruto swallowed his disappointment; he'd hoped Sasuke had found his way back.

The animals and vegetables were long gone. Naruto was glad he'd bought supplies along the way. He chopped wood for the stove and the fireplace in the forest behind the cottage and proceeded to clean away the accumulated dust from the one-room structure.

His days were quiet, solitary affairs that were reminiscent of his days in Konoha before he'd met Sasuke. He'd been dead then. Sasuke had tried to rob him and he'd been brought to life. Now Sasuke was gone. Naruto wasn't dead, but his was not a personality accustomed to sustaining hope in obviously hopeless situations. He tended to accept life as it was handed to him. Sasuke was the eternally optimistic, indomitably buoyant one. Without him Naruto was left in a kind of limbo.

The season passed with excruciating slowness. Naruto lived, ate, slept. Sometimes he thought of Sasuke. Sometimes he held his plushies and thought of Gaara. Spring came with the budding of trees and the discovery that the garden in the forest was producing something. Green shoots dotted the earth where the garden had been. Naruto went back to it daily to try and tend to it. Killerbee had been in possession of a garden.

Spring passed.

Summer came blazing along. Naruto spent a lot of time at the stream in the woods training and swimming to keep cool. His money had run out months ago; he lived off the land or stole from the village whatever he needed. Otherwise he kept to himself. He spoke to no one. His days were endless, monotonous and lonely. He faced the prospect of living the rest of his life as a silent hermit with cold resolve.

Summer was over. Fall was evident in the crisp air. Naruto stood in his cottage and looked around. It was his birthday. He was thinking longingly of Killerbee's apple cider when a faint noise behind him had him turning around.

Naruto was seeing a ghost. The specter was just as thin and filthy as the first time he'd seen him. His clothes were in rags, his hair long and dreadlocked, his eyes feverish. Naruto stood in mute shock, staring at the figure in the doorway.

Sasuke had gotten lost. He'd had no money, had been forced to kill and steal his way back to the Five Great Nations. Once there he'd looked in every village for Blondie. He'd even risked his neck by infiltrating Konoha to look for the guy. He was nowhere to be found. He'd finally remembered the cottage but had forgotten the precise location. It had taken him another few weeks to find it again and now that he'd finally made it, he was rewarded. Here Blondie was, beautiful, big as life and Sasuke wanted to die from the force of his feelings. He staggered into the one room on shaky legs; he hadn't eaten in days.

Naruto rushed forward and caught Sasuke as he fell. His shock was numbing him, making him incapable of speech, but he managed one word, the only word that mattered. "Sasuke?"

Sasuke felt Blondie's big arms around him and knew he'd come home. His heat was sheer heaven. Sasuke was tempted to burrow into it and let sleep claim his exhausted body but he had to set things straight. The thought of Blondie going all this time thinking that he'd left him for his brother was what had kept him from giving up. He'd nearly died several times in the past year only to force himself to go on. He had to live, if only so he could tell Blondie that he hadn't abandoned him.

"Naruto," he whispered. His head was cradled in the crook of the blond's elbow. Naruto was on the floor, Sasuke in his lap. "I didn't…Itachi…he…"

"Shhh," Naruto said urgently. His heart was thudding painfully, his shock slowly being replaced with the knowledge that Sasuke was alive, was here in his arms. "I know what he did to you. I understand, Sasuke, you don't have to explain."

Forgiveness. It was all that Sasuke had wanted. He closed his eyes as his head fell limply on Naruto's shoulder.

Sasuke did not wake up again. Naruto realized his partner was starving. There wasn't a shred of food in the house. Naruto went out to the village and raided the grocery store. The clerk tried to stop him. Naruto slashed his throat to ribbons with one clawed hand; Sasuke was back and needed food. Nothing would stop Naruto from feeding him.

Naruto laboriously nursed Sasuke back to health over the next few days. He remained by Sasuke's side, feeding him, warming him with his heat. Sasuke woke and ate and slept in turns. He mended.

A morning came when Naruto woke to find Sasuke looking at him from where he lay in the safety of Naruto's arms. Naruto had acquired a bed during the past year. They lay in it now, under the blankets. Sasuke's eyes searched Naruto's wonderingly, as if he still couldn't get over the miracle of his presence.

Neither remembered moving, but the kiss seared their souls. It fused them, welding the break between them shut so that they were again whole and united. Sasuke's hands clutched imploringly at Naruto's body and the blond was ready.

Killerbee's touch had taught Naruto a few things. He took time running his hands over Sasuke's long limbs now, rubbing and massaging to arouse Sasuke. He kissed the white throat, the elfin ears, the pointed chin. His full lips brushed those dark eyes he'd missed so much. They traveled down the straight nose to the soft, soft lips Sasuke had parted and waiting. Their tongues fought lazily, knowing they had all the time in the world and that it would be spent in each other's company. Naruto shifted, settled his weight on Sasuke. He dragged his mouth over the smooth shoulders, the heaving chest, the flat stomach.

"Blondie," Sasuke whispered. He raised his legs as the blond head moved to his ass, nuzzling there. That well-remembered tongue delved his entrance, making him shudder and cry out. Blondie sucked the tight ring of flesh gently until it relaxed, then his mouth moved upward until Sasuke's slim erection was swallowed whole. The slow, strong suction had Sasuke rearing to a sitting position, curling around Naruto's head as he came without warning. Naruto swallowed around his pulsing cock and Sasuke snatched at the blond hair desperately.

Naruto felt wild at touching Sasuke again at last. He shoved the thinner boy back to the mattress, flipping him over with a swipe of one arm. He entered Sasuke as the boy was still shuddering from his climax. Sasuke cried out into his pillow. Naruto left Killerbee's teachings behind to pound Sasuke just as roughly, just as hungrily as he'd ever done. The bed creaked and groaned even as Sasuke shrieked in ecstasy.

They made energetic love for the rest of the day and a good portion of the night. Sometimes Sasuke rode Naruto. They kissed throughout each mating, unwilling to be parted in any way. When at last Sasuke collapsed on the mattress, unable to go on, Naruto stretched beside him. He gathered him close. Their breathing was ragged in the dark cottage.

Finally, Naruto spoke to Sasuke, the first words he'd said since saying the boy's name some days ago. "I thought I lost you."

Sasuke shifted, held Naruto tighter. "No matter what happens you will never lose me. You're the only thing that kept me going." He tilted his head back so he could see those blue eyes. "I don't need anything in life but you, Blondie. Always you."

Naruto understood. He'd briefly thought he could remain with Killerbee and Gaara. Life with them was wonderful, but it was Sasuke he needed. It was what had made him return to the cottage even though he'd been certain Sasuke was gone forever. He loved the two Jinchuuriki, but it was always going to be Sasuke for the blond.

"Always you," Naruto echoed.

They slept.

Epilogue

Sasuke and Naruto spent a lot of time making love as they both recovered from their separation. In between the sex and the sleep, they told each other all that had gone on while they'd been parted. Naruto heard how Sasuke had killed his brother. "It was hearing how he was going to kill you that snapped me out of it," Sasuke had said. Naruto hugged him close.

Sasuke heard about Killerbee and Gaara. Something in the way Blondie said Killerbee's name made the Uchiha suspect something had gone on between them but he didn't ask. He himself had been unable to tell how his brother had violated him. Gaara sounded like someone Sasuke would hate on sight.

Eventually they began traveling again. They were different from when they'd left Konoha two years previously, but essentially they were the same; they stole and raised hell and had a ball doing it. They began collecting money again, rebuilding their lost wealth. On Christmas, they spent the morning fucking lazily as snow fell outside the cottage. Just as Naruto was about to come, they both heard a strident voice outside the cottage, yelling in outrage.

"If you'd moved your sorry ass a little faster, we'd have been here by now. Jesus Christ, I told Naruto I'd visit him months ago!" There was pounding on the cottage door.

Naruto grinned and leapt out of the bed. Sasuke moved more slowly. He wasn't used to seeing Blondie react like that to anyone or anything. Who did that voice belong to?

The answer was a short, wiry redhead bearing an armload of gifts. He skipped into the cottage, shaking snow from his hair as he pressed the gifts into Naruto's hands. A tall, muscular black guy came in behind the red-haired kid. Sasuke realized this must be Killerbee and Gaara.

Gaara took in Sasuke with one slow look that raked him from head to heels. Sasuke gave Gaara the same appraisal. Prepared though they each were to hate the other, they were too alike to manage it. Sasuke and Gaara were like two peas in a pod, soon exchanging jokes and kills as if they were old friends. Naruto and Killerbee looked on in bafflement.

"You are well?" 'Bee asked Naruto as he watched Sasuke laugh at something Gaara said.

"Yes. Very. I'm glad you came."

'Bee placed a hand on the back of Naruto's neck affectionately. He smiled sadly. Gaara and Sasuke seemed to take to each other naturally. Had Naruto never met the black-haired teen, Killerbee might have had a chance with him. Another time, another place, the older man mused ruefully.

Sasuke and Naruto's visitors stayed through the holidays. Killerbee informed Naruto that Akatsuki had disbanded. The remaining members were in parts unknown. Itachi's body had never been found. Gaara said he was finally going back to his village to take up the mantle of Kazekage. He urged Sasuke and Naruto to visit him. They said that they would.

The gifts turned out to be plushies, of course. Gaara, Sasuke and Naruto had a plushie fight as snow continued to fall thickly outside the cottage. After awhile the screams and taunts drew even Killerbee in and then it was a war with the teens all against the older man. Poor Barney was torn to shreds.

Laughter could be heard ringing through the small cottage as that New Year's Day came to a close.