Rated: M

(I personally find the content very deep in , in case any little kiddos chance upons this, then its under M, so they were warned.)

Pairing: SasuNaru

Genre: Romance/Angst

Summary: He and Naruto was the last thing each ever needed, ever wanted, forever. SasuNaru. (The origin behind their pendants)

Unbeta'd & Oneshot.

(Happy Birthday, Naruto.)

Connected,

He was biting hard on his lip, not enough to break the skin and make it bleed, but hard enough till there were marks left over after he had let go of it. It was a strange thing to be doing, but it was comforting.

Naruto was worried, angry, tired and about another few thousand emotions that he couldn't express. But, a very small part of him was happy. It was going to be a special day soon.

His birthday.

The blonde smiled forlornly to himself, small rays of setting sunlight shining warmly on him, lighting up his face – It was glowing orange, not that Naruto could actually see his own reflection. And even if he was able to, he wouldn't care.

At least, not at that moment.

Of course, in the few years that this day rolled by, the birthday celebrations got better. The villagers began to accept him, and he got presents from people all over the place, not just from his friends and teachers, but also from the people he met on missions.

This year, he got a wooden sword, a flower; some ryo packed in envelopes and even free packets of cup ramen. Even a small girl he helped a few days ago– she was having problems finding her cat, something Naruto felt very déjà vu about, it brought him back memories of his genin days – gave him a small bell that hung from her neck on a thin string. He declined the offer at first, but the girl surprised him by notifying him that people were supposed to get presents on their birthdays, it didn't matter that her gift was early. When he asked her how she knew that it was his going to be his special day soon, the girl just smiled.

"You are connected. Fire and wind, they will wreak havoc, they will cause sadness. But you are each other's strength, each other's weaknesses. However…"

Here she paused and studied Naruto's face with a saddened expression.

"You two can never be."

The blond was too bewildered by the girl's intelligence at quoting long confusing sentences to notice that by the time he woke up from his dazed state and wanted to ask her what she had meant, she was gone, her faint rose scent still lingering in the area she had been in.

The bell was still clutched in his right hand, its golden surface shining brightly – not even reflecting the light of the morning sun. Orange and blue strings that were woven together to become was attached to the top of the bell. It was a bell, no doubt; obviously the girl had tied it to the limp black string that was around her neck.

His memory of her stayed fresh in his mind. She seemed only about 10 or so, had shoulder length brown hair and had donned on a white kimono. Eyes that were light purple looked kind enough. Her feet were bare, but something about her presence made Naruto want to find out more.

He did not remember seeing her around in the town; neither did he see her for the rest of the day. Even when he gathered his friend to tell them what happened to him, none of them understood Naruto, simply changing the subject to whether Naruto was going delusional so near his birthday.

Sakura on the other hand, was a different story.

"That girl, I don't know what's her name, but I helped her, and she gave me this." Naruto held up the bell for Sakura to see, and the kunoichi took the bell from his hand. Instantly, a searing pain went through her whole body, and she immediately let go of the bell. Turning her palm around, a small word on her hand that glowed appeared.

Sa.

Naruto panicked of course, being the usual style for him – and started freaking out over Sakura's palm.

"Sakura-chan! Are you okay?! That girl is going to pay for hurting you, I swear!" The jinchuuriki stood up and punched a fist upwards into the air, his blue eyes glistening with determination. At the same time Sakura was about to reply, another burning pain went through the medical-nin's frame, and another word appeared on her hand, next to the previous mark.

Su.

"….Then I'll make her pay for your injury, really! What are 10 year olds becoming these days?" It was a question, meant to be answered, but it never was. Instead, Sakura's heart was beating so fast, hoping and wishing that what she thought would not come true. She couldn't watch this happen to either of them, not again, never.

The wish went unfulfilled when yet another small shudder shook her, then a spark of electricity – it felt so much like it – her vision blurred into blue electric sparks, and then when it cleared, her palm spoke for her.

Ke.

Naruto, meanwhile, was happily going about how he would teach that little girl a lesson to pay attention to the pinkette. Somehow, she felt something was going to happen, something that would scar.

Then her mind went blank, and a voice of a child spoke.

"You are connected. Fire and wind, they will wreak havoc, they will cause sadness. But you are each other's strength, each other's weaknesses. However…"

"You two can never be."

Then a familiar voice spoke.

"To go home, but not to stay. To take, but not to return."

"This is the end, of everything."

A sharp cry shot out of her mouth, and then the world went black.

"Sasuke!"

-x-

Sakura awoke on the morning of Naruto's birthday, said friend sitting by her bedside at the hospital. She looked at the calendar on the wall, and then wished him a happy birthday, causing the blond to grin.

"Don't ever freak me out like that again, Sakura-chan. What happened? You started screaming and then you fainted. Then for some reason you mentioned the bastard's name. Why? Dreaming about him again?"

It was meant as a joke, and the jinchuuriki grinned. But the serious and worried look on Sakura's face made his expression fall.

"….Sakura-chan?"

"Naruto…I have a feeling, something bad is going to happen." She sat up then, her green eyes focused and alert. "I touched that bell, and then I saw Sasuke-kun's name. Then two voices, his and a child's, they were speaking. They said it was the end of everything."

A awkward heavy silence then presented itself in the room, Naruto's face devoid of emotion, but his eyes curious.

Why? Is it true? End, of what?

So many questions threatened to fly out of his mouth, but then Sakura said something that made him freeze.

"That girl…she saw knows something. You have to run, Naruto, or hide." The pinkette's gaze drifted towards the left, not daring to look her friend in the eyes.

"Sasuke is dying."

A loud crash resonated in the small hospital room, a vase containing some flowers sent from Ino was knocked off the bedside table and was sent crashing towards the floor. Naruto's eyes were hidden by his hair, one of his hands covering his eyes.

"Sakura-chan, if this is a joke, then its not funny I –"

"I have a feeling, he has killed Itachi and-"

"If he's killed Itachi, then…then he can come back right?! He'll come back and we can help him get better, and then we'll be Team 7 again, like the old times, right, Sakura-chan?"

"No, Naruto. You don't understand, he is coming back but…"

Sakura's heart clenched tightly, her mind so aware that she was going to hurt Naruto.

I'm so sorry.

"He's taking you with him."

Naruto started laughing then, in spite of the tense atmosphere in the room. He picked up a flower from the broken ceramic pieces of the glass – a rose, red as blood. "It's going to be the other way around, don't be silly. If he's coming back, we can go find him and take him here faster – since he's dying and all, though I think the teme's impossible to die I –"

"He's going to kill you, and he will die with you…so that you can be… - NARUTO!"

Together.

The blond suddenly lost balance and fell off the chair, his eyes glassing over, causing Sakura to scream in fear and rush towards her friend.

"Don't die, don't die, don't go."

-x-

The bell had suddenly rung; it was loud and painful as it was sweet and enticing at the same time. Sakura couldn't hear it, but Naruto did. It was a shrill, deep ringing sound, one that shook his whole soul and being. How the bell had rang, the blond had no idea. It was firmly attached to the string that held the pendant from Tsunade, and Naruto didn't remember moving.

His vision clouded, and then he started falling into an infinite light, not fully awake but not fully asleep, hovering in between realms.

As he fell, he heard dreams of others, the confusion and the feeling of being trapped nearby. Where was he, what was he doing here, why was he here? Thoughts like these invaded Naruto's mind. Was he the only one here?

Sakura-chan.

Where was she? Was she okay?

He tried to speak, but no sound came out. Struggling with so much screaming power, but still it was all silent around him.

Was it a genjutsu?

A memory then hit him, the panic in Sakura's voice evident.

"He's going to kill you, and he will die with you…so that you can be… - NARUTO!"

Together.

The blond suddenly lost balance and fell off the chair, his eyes glassing over, causing Sakura to scream in fear and rush towards her friend.

"Don't die, don't die, don't go."

He didn't know if it was even his memory, but it seemed real enough. Naruto wanted to comfort Sakura, he wasn't going to die, that she was talking nonsense and she had nothing to worry about.

"You're earlier then me, dobe."

It cannot be…impossible.

But then he saw him. Black hair and bangs framing a perfectly sculpted pale face and fathomless black eyes that seemed to go on forever.

Uchiha…Sasuke?

The white of the dimension then seemed to ripple, as if it was water, and someone had dropped a stone into it. Then their surroundings seemed to change, turning back to a familiar place, a place that Naruto remembered with pain.

The Valley of the End.

Water splashed around his ankles, and he could move again. What he could not do, however, was to talk. He struggled again, but gave up after Sasuke stared at him, shaking his head.

And then he did something none of them were actually planning to do.

Neither Sasuke nor Naruto were prepared for it.

The raven took Naruto's hand in his, and grabbed two of his fingers, like how the flashback they both had so many years ago during that faithful fight had. Before all the complications happened, before the pain and the tears – during the innocence of childhood – the beginnings of this complicated relationship.

For the first time in almost forever – and it was already deemed impossible by Naruto – Sasuke was real, Sasuke was in front of him. It was Sasuke holding his hand, it was Sasuke here with him, and it was Sasuke, really him, really Sasuke.

Tears fell from cerulean blue eyes, mixing with the water that splashed down from the waterfall. He wanted to tell Sasuke, tell Sasuke everything, his sadness, his happiness, to show him the things that he had suddenly remembered in his memories from young, to thank him, to ask for him to return, to ask him for acceptance.

Sasuke kept quiet, his eyes softening.

I'm sorry.

Naruto could hear him in his mind, but Sasuke wasn't even moving his lips. They were still bound together by their hands, Naruto shaking as he cried silently.

I'm sorry for everything.

A fleeting though of Sakura went through Naruto's mind, making him remember that he was probably dead if Sasuke was here, holding his hand, sharingan not activated in his eyes.

Was he meant to be with Sasuke now?

Not now, Naruto.

But didn't the girl say that being together…as friends or even something more was impossible? Sasuke frowned, and then pulled the blond by his fingers, who then fell into the raven's embrace.

One day, I promise.

Naruto could hear himself choking on his tears. Why he was crying now, he had no idea. Was it for the pain that half of him believed that he was dead? Or was it because the other half of him wanted Sasuke to stay with him forever, to never leave him again?

He knew he was making Sasuke's shoulder wet with tears, but he couldn't care less. It was painful to stand here, it was painful to see him and not say anything, but to be able to hear him and listen to him apologise.

As long as you have the bell, you have me. But I have molded the bell into something else.

Naruto felt arms wound around his neck and place yet another necklace around it. He didn't remember the bell disappearing from its place on his neck, but he was in no position to analyze the situation.

I have one of you.

He moved away from Sasuke's shoulder and looked at his exposed chest then, a pendant, onyx black and shining with a seemingly invisible light.

It was a picture of him on it, the pendant somewhat heart shaped, or maybe it was his imagination.

That probably meant that he had an identical one as well.

Sasuke nodded his head, confirming Naruto's assumption.

We are each other's biggest strength and weakness. You are…everything I am not. But everything I am, you are.

Naruto's body was convulsing already, a steady stream of tears running down his cheeks. He knew every word to be true, believing, truly, that with all his heart, all the effort put into training was for Sasuke and Sasuke alone. Never anyone else.

Before…we go…and something, something I'm afraid will happen…

Was Itachi dead? But that question wasn't answered. Naruto felt Sasuke breathe in his scent on his neck, and then the raven looked at him, and…

Smiled.

A true genuine smile, small, but true.

Happy Birthday, Naruto. I love you.

-x-

"SASUKE!"

There was sound coming out from the blond's mouth now, perspiration running down his forehead and his neck.

Where was Sasuke? What would happen?

But he found himself in a hospital room, alone and bathed in the warm light of the setting sun.

Was it, really just a dream?

Then a small burst of energy hit him from the inside, causing a warm flooding sensation to his body. Something else hit his brain with a memory, a memory of whatever had just maybe occurred.

The bell! The pendant!

As he reached up to his neck to find it, he felt the cool metal against his warm skin of his fingertips. It was…heart shaped?

It was real?

Not believing it, Naruto turned to the bedside table to try and use the phone to call Sakura and ask for her advice when he noticed a small piece of paper, with several words scribbled on it.

Naruto,

I placed you in a genjutsu.

But, it wasn't to torture you.

The pendant is now a part of you, as mine is a part of me.

We are connected, and I will never forget that.

Happy Birthday Naruto, I'm sorry.

I love you.

Uchiha Sasuke.

Naruto clutched the pendant harder with his hand, tears falling down his cheeks yet again.

I love you too, Sasuke.

Forever and...always.

--

And so they fought,

And so they laughed,

Friends.

Before they knew it, they were inseparable.

--

A/N: Happy Birthday Naruto! (: I'm sorry if that was too angsty for your liking. I decided there should be a story about how they got the pendants that are featured in the manga cover for Chapter 411. Hoped you liked it, rushed it so that it could come out on Naruto's birthday.

Skylovesyou. (L)