Well here's the last chapter of MAXED-OUT. I hope you all enjoy it (: Very sorry for how long this took me to update. Musical and school are a terrible combination aslkfsdlkfjsdaf.

Chapter Forty-Two: Heart Song

Thump. Thump. Thump. "Goes my heart. For. You. Dancing to mixed. Up. Tunes. Oo~oo." Thump. Thump. Thump. "Pluck-ing-strings. Messed. Up. Words. To tell you a story of how much you mean to me." Thump. Thump. "It'd take two years to fill in the lines, to cover the world, to sing you this song, to show you how much you mean to me. Oo~oo."

"New song?" Pein handed over a glass of water that was topped with a lemon—the most fanciest glass of water Sasuke would ever receive.

He took a swig. "Something like that." in all honesty this was the first time he had picked up his guitar, notebook, and silly idea that he could write a decent song to express his feelings. Ha, yeah right. More like how can one self-induce a migraine in four simple steps. "It's not coming out the way I want, though."

Pein regarded the raven coolly, sliding his towel in and around the circumference of a glass. "A songwriter having difficulties writing a song. Ironic, perhaps?"

"Your twisted sense of humor isn't needed," Sasuke frowned deeply. He could never understand why Naruto regarded this blunt and overly-sarcastic man so highly. Then he evaluated his own personality, and the fact that Naruto fell for him, and simmered down. 'This just shows he has bad taste in guys.' The thought was more melancholic than he really wanted it to be.

"Contrary to belief, my sense of humor has been said to lift even the most depressed of beings out of the holes they dig themselves into." the bartender held his glass high in the air. Pein had one eye closed as he examined the glass in his hands. Not a spot in sight; 'Perfect.' He set the glass down with its companions behind the counter. "Honestly I have no idea why you're struggling with this. You speak your mind on a daily basis. What's so hard about one song?"

What's so hard about one song? That was the million dollar question. If Sasuke could answer it with a word that was painted with truth so fully not a hint of sarcasm could be noted, he would. Without skipping a beat, moreover. Yet the answer wasn't even on the tip of his tongue.

Pein watched the varying emotions dance through Sasuke's face, uncertainty and confusion. He sighed, slipping out from behind the bar to take a seat next to Sasuke. "Don't kill what little brain cells you have left, Sasuke." Pein fingered through Sasuke's notebook, scanning over various lyrics and phrases. He scoffed and closed the book. "There's nothing wrong with what you have now. So stop sweating and get out of my bar." he narrowed his eyes slightly. "Naruto's a simple guy, worrying about the extravagances will only confuse his silly brain. Stay true and most importantly be yourself and he'll be putty in your hands." a tiny smirk crawled onto Pein's lips, knowing his words had struck home and hit hard.

Always overcomplicating matters, over thinking, worrying, stressing... Sasuke had forgotten to take a step back and breathe. Remember what their relationship was built on. Not fancy semantics and highly overdone euphemisms, but Saturday night movie nights, comical baking escapades, late night study sessions... Their relationship was only glamorized because of their repute in the world as highly acclaimed JPOP singers. If they never grew up with the limelight, Sasuke wouldn't have been unconsciously grabbing onto the best and superfluous way to express his feelings.

He never thought he'd be saying these words to Pein, ever, but: "Thank you." his quiet words danced around the empty club.

Pein had a rather pleased smile on his face. "That'll be three dollars for the water. I'll put that on Naruto's tab for you."

+MAXED-OUT+

"And one-two-three-four. One-two-three-four. Turn! Turn! Jump! Bend those knees! Kit, what are you doing? Your body must be at forty-five degrees when performing the twist! Raven, pick up your feet! You're sloppy!"

The harsh, Spartan dance training continued for another hour. Only when their dance instructor was satisfied did Naruto and Sasuke finally stop to suck in some air.

"T-Ten year... break... okay?" Naruto gasped out. His body was sprawled on the floor. His white shirt was rolled up and exposed his well-developed eyes stained with sweat.

Sasuke was happy to obliged. The raven was lying on his stomach. His heartbeat was erratic; desperate to break free from its bony confines. They had a concert coming up in the next two weeks. "A stellar comeback for survivors!" Jiraiya had boasted just a few days before. His vision for the concert was something far beyond the realms MAXED-OUT had ever touched before. Vicious, raw, and passionate. Vibrant, alive, and beastly. Jiraiya and Tsunade had spent ample time pounding and pounding into their skulls that for their next comeback tour they needed a whole new image.

"Fierce!" Jiraiya smacked his hand against the blackboard that screamed the word 'FIERCE'. "We need to show the world that you, MAXED-OUT, are not pretty boys—but survivors! Everyone knows what you've been through, hell, your stories have made nightly news more than once. We'll take the negatives and switch them around," he twirled his finger, "into a positive. Comprende?"

"The fact that you randomly threw in Spanish for no apparent reason gives me very divided feelings." Naruto deadpanned.

Jiraiya scowled. "I'm in no mood for your crap, punk. This is serious! We've pushed back your comeback tour long enough! Anymore and your fans will go in a frenzy. Need I remind you of the Kobe Incident?"

Sasuke and Naruto both visibly paled. No, they did not need a reminder of the events transpired on the fated 'Kobe Incident'. Images and memories were forever imprinted into their minds and hearts.

"That's what I thought," Jiraiya replied smugly. "Follow with me. Fierce, strong—SURVIVORS. That's our theme. The name of our comeback tour will be Warriors Comeback. We'll need songs that focus around one central theme; coming back from the depths of Hell as a stronger person. A twist to our normal soft, cutesy, image you've clung to. This is where I'll see whether you're actual performers, one who can morph with the tides, or class acts who can barely handle the change in temperature.

For the next three months I need your all. Every ounce of your energy is going into this comeback tour. If you can't give me what I want, leave. Because I'm not in the mood to deal with brats who doesn't want to show the world their change."

Jiraiya's speech was unexpected from the normally carefree man. His words shook the two to the core. Enough that when the intense dance practices and rigorous hours of singing almost became too much, Jiraiya's words would ring through their heads, rattle their hearts, torment them to continue. When one felt like giving up, the other would pick them up. Remind them why they're going through such hellish training.

"We have to show them we're survivors, right?" Naruto's cheeks were flushed. His shirt was drenched in sweat. Sasuke could see the slight wobble in his lover's knees. "If we give up... now... how can we show them... the warriors MAXED-OUT truly is?"

That night Sasuke and Naruto had practiced until four in the morning. Slept five hours and picked up from where they left off.

All in all, the training was hellish. The practices were brutal. On the final day, five days before the concert, Naruto and Sasuke had retreated into the sweet comfort of their room. Exhausted beyond belief, Sasuke pulled Naruto on top of him, falling on top of his bed sheets.

"How long has it been since we've done this?" Sasuke peppered kisses up and down Naruto's neck without any intention of delving into personal desires. His bones were too worn and he honestly couldn't trust himself to do anything more strenuous tonight.

A loss of breath. A slight arch to his back. Sasuke's lips felt like washing water poured down Naruto's body after completing a 5k marathon. "Too long," he murmured, nuzzling his nose against Sasuke's cheek. "I could go to sleep right now and not wake up for 30 years."

"Jiraiya will hang you upside down if you sleep through our comeback tour," Sasuke reminded him.

Naruto cracked a wild grin. "Totally still worth the try, though."

"True. Just don't come to me when Jiraiya comes after you with a pitchfork and torch."

"Extreme, much?"

"Maybe," Sasuke smirked.

For the next couple of minutes the two let the silence engulf them in a comfortable embrace. Submerging themselves into the soothing sound of the clock ticking, of Iruka making dinner downstairs, of the cars zooming outside their window. Naruto snuggled closer to Sasuke's chest, resting his head against his lover's chest. The soft, hypnotic drum of Sasuke's heartbeat almost lulled him to sleep.

"Sasuke."

"Yeah?"

"I wrote you a song."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Wanna hear it?"

"No."

Naruto perked his head up, eyes narrowed in questioning. "Why not?"

"Because," Sasuke smirked and cupped Naruto's face. "I have a song for you, and I'm not going to let you hear it until the day of our concert—so it's only fair I place the same rule on myself."

A few seconds passed as Naruto's brain tried to process what he had just heard. He ripped of his shirt and threw it into the corner. "You have no idea how happy you just made me," Naruto had a silly, love-dazed grin towards his lover.

Sasuke had a huge amused grin eating his face. "I think I can grasp the main gist..." he wrapped his arms around Naruto's neck, pulling him down for a passionate kiss that lead to rather sweaty, steamy, acts held underneath the sheets.

+MAXED-OUT: Day of the Concert+

Naruto and Sasuke were backstage completely oblivious to the mayhem of stage hands, managers, camera men, make-up artists, and more running back and forth in a scramble to make sure everything was perfection; a paragon for generations to remember. Their hands were clasped and their foreheads pressed together as they whispered their ritual to one another.

"We're going to kick some major ass tonight," Naruto smirked. His heartbeat was going in a frenzy of high endorphins pumping through his brain. The butterflies raving in his stomach, his toes twitching, his fingers curling to wrap around a microphone, his throat ready to belt out chords, made him feel so... alive. This was what he loved. What he always wanted to do with his life. And he was able to have his dream along with the love of his life.

Pretty cool, wouldn't you say?

Sasuke mirrored the smirk and flicked Naruto on the forehead. "We can't call ourselves MAXED-OUT if we don't give them our all."

"Oh, we could, but Jiraiya would probably shoot us point blank if we throw all his Spartan training into the ground."

"Blaze of glory death?"

Naruto cackled, "Blaze of glory death, love."

"Oi! What are you punks doing back here goofing off?" speak of the devil. Jiraiya barreled into their space, face set into a permanent pout and eyes furrowed deeply. "You're in three minutes! Three minutes! Get your butts into gear before I kick them into gear!"

"Don't be so high maintenance, gramps! Have we ever let you down?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?" Jiraiya folded his arms.

"Possibly."

"Get on stage, brats." Jiraiya waved the boys over towards the stage, adjusting his head mike as the words: 'All ready to go.' blasted in his ears. "The crowd's growing impatient so give them a show worth remembering!"

"Of course we will!" Naruto smiled over his shoulder, holding his thumb up high in the air. "We're MAXED-OUT."

Sasuke smirked in response. "We're the best unit in Japan. Giving a bad show is practically impossible for us."

"Yeah, yeah. Talk the talk but I want to see the walk that backs this all up out there!"

+MAXED-OUT+

"Whoa! Such a huge turn-out! You guys are fantastic!" Naruto grabbed onto the microphone, gazing out into the crowd of screaming fans and technicolor lights. "Gosh I'm actually getting kinda nervous! Grandma," he squinted his eyes and searched the crowd, "is that you?"

The crowd burst into laughter at Naruto's antics. Sasuke stood beside him with his arms crossed and a playful scowl on his face. "We haven't even been on stage for three minutes and you're already making a fool out of yourself."

"Fool? Oh no, Sasuke. It's called having fun. You should try it sometime."

"Please. I know how to have fun, Kit. I just don't engage in the sort of antics that get me in trouble. Remember the time at the beach where we—?"

"Ending this conversation now!" Naruto came up from behind to slap his hands over Sasuke's mouth. The crowd was in an absolutely uproar as their fanservice continued. Sasuke would say a snarky comment to which Naruto threw an sexual innuendo or two right back to get the crowd going again.

After a few rounds, Naruto came up to the microphone again. "Alright guys! I know you could see us banter and flirt all night long but you did come here for a concert! Not just to see two attractive guys go at it, ne?" there were hoots and hollers of agreements all across the floor. Naruto bounced giddly. "Awesome! Then let's start this night with a bang! Overcome!"

A powerful drum solo exploded throughout the stadium. Everyone was out of their seats jumping up and down as the excitement pounded across the ground. Naruto broke out into a sonorous first note.

"You can't sway me. I'm like a mighty skyscraper extending to the sky! Fireworks exploded and I'm brighter than ever, stronger than ever, living forever."

+MAXED-OUT+

An hour and thirty minutes later both Sasuke and Naruto were on stage, back to back, with sweat caking to every inch of skin. Their breaths were ragged. Their chests rose and fell at a haphazard pace. Yet the adrenaline that coursed through their system from the sight of their fans going crazy, screaming out their love and amazement for their performance, gave them a new strength to sing at least one last song...

"They want us to keep going all night," Sasuke cracked after taking a mighty swig of water. He opened the bottle and poured the remaining contents over his head. Oh the crowd loved that.

Naruto stood beside him with his hand on his side, taking a sip of water himself. "I know. It's crazy. Don't they know we have a Walking Dead marathon to catch up with?"

"I think you mean, 'Don't they know I—as in you—has a Walking Dead Marathon to catch up with?" Sasuke cocked an eyebrow, amusement painted clearly on his face. "You know I can't stand that show."

"This totally proves my point that you are batshit loco! How can you not like a show about the zombie apocalypse? I mean, come on. It's practically giving us survival tips on how to survive in case such a thing happens. Am I right guys?" Naruto turned the mic to the crowd. There were agreements and disapprovals all over, which made Naruto burst into laughter. "Okay. Okay. Maybe I shouldn't have gone so extreme with the criticism..."

"Damn right you shouldn't have," Sasuke came up from behind to wrap his arms around Naruto's waist, resting his chin on the boy's shoulder. "Besides. We still have one song left. So I'll be taking this," he grabbed the microphone out of Naruto's hand and steered Naruto over to a chair that stage crew had placed while Naruto was distracted. "And you're going to sit right here while I get my guitar."

Wait. What?! Naruto was completely stupefied. Just what was Sasuke planning to do, huh? He looked out the crowd, seeing the looks of confusion and wonder that also hit the crowd. 'Well shit, Sasuke. Way to pull out a monkey wrench. Wait, is that even the right way to use that...? Why would I monkey even have a wrench I mean come on—' Naruto's ramble was cut off by Sasuke coming back with his guitar and a stage crew member dragging a chair behind him.

The chair was set and Sasuke sat down, placing the guitar on his knees. He did a quick, five-second check to make sure everything was tuned before he played a simple chord. The crowd fell silent.

"For a... long time. I wanted to give you something that showed you how I felt about you. You know, and I know, and the whole world knows that I'm terrible with words. With how to handle emotions. So I thought I'd write you a song instead..." Sasuke started to strum a slow, steady rhythm on the guitar for three bars before he opened his mouth and sang.

Thump. Thump. Thump. "Goes my heart. For. You. Dancing to mixed. Up. Tunes. Oo~oo." Thump. Thump. Thump. "Pluck-ing-strings. Messed. Up. Words. To tell you a story of how much you mean to me." Thump. Thump. "It'd take two years to fill in the lines, to cover the world, to sing you this song, to show you how much you mean to me. Oo~oo."

"Yet I'm taking on this impossible task. I'm challenging my fate, and the world, as I think of the words to say. Think of what to do. To tell you how much my heart beats for you. Oo~oo." Thump. Thump. Thump.

"And today I thought I could tell you. I thought my words and lines were perfect and complete. Then we locked glances and I fell. The words left me. I fell into the chasm you create so easily, and I'm swallowed by the feelings I fear I can never begin to describe." Thump. Thump. Thump.

Sasuke jumped into the chorus again about mixed up tunes and plucking strings. His voice was serene with a raspy edge to it. Naruto could barely keep his eyes off of the raven. He was simply... captivated. Awed. Inspired. Amazed. So many words and so little time to figure out what he was feeling. He could feel his heart swelling and threatening to explode. No song he wrote for Sasuke, in Naruto's opinion, could come close to the words tumbling out of Sasuke's lips. These feelings... they were real. There was emotion and thought and love put behind every phrase. And coming from someone Naruto once believed was incapable of ever loving anything ... it was amazing.

"Can you take the time, oh dear please do, to notice me. To hear me out. To believe in me and this and everything that we are. Oo~oo. If you can give me the chance, oh take my hand. For everything I've done, and everything I will do..." Sasuke played one last chord, letting the notes reverberate through the crowd. Naruto's breath caught in his throat. Sasuke's hand was placed over his heart. "Is for the heart that beats... right in front of you." Sasuke paused. "I love you, Naruto."

For two minutes, there was nothing but silence. Naruto thought he could hear his heart pounding and screaming to escape it's bonafide prism for the sake of freedom. He gulped. Soon there were thunderous applauses and roars from the crowd. People were crying. Teardrops hit Sasuke's hand from where it touched Naruto's chest.

"Liked it a lot, huh?" Somehow through all the emotion Sasuke still managed to be a cheeky bastard. He lifted his head to wipe away some stray tears.

"Shut up!" Naruto hiccuped, allowing Sasuke to touch his face. "H-How could I not like that song...? It was beautiful..." he whispered, his eyes shutting half-way and a pleased smile on his face. "You should write me songs more often..."

The raven scoffed. "Dobe..." Sasuke pulled Naruto forward so their lips touched.

If everyone wasn't in an uproar before, they were now.

+MAXED-OUT+

Two weeks after their stellar performance and the media was still buzzing about the kiss that set off, and this is a quote, "Fireworks throughout the entire nation"! The album featuring their comeback single and Sasuke's song, If Only Words Could Describe sold millions of copies all over the world. To say Jiraiya was a happy camper when the sales report came in would have been an understatement.

"You little brats have done me well once more! Look at all that money we've made!" Jiraiya rubbed the packet of reports against his face, drool rolling down the side of his chin. "I can smell that promotion I've been aiming for coming right out of the oven for me to eat!"

Thanks to a great performance, Tsunade gave them a three day break before they would head out for a world tour. Sasuke and Naruto had spent the last two days going out on dates and enjoying steamy, passionate times underneath the sheets. On the last day of their vacation, Naruto was in the kitchen helping Iruka make some breakfast while Sasuke had just come back in from his morning jog.

"Ew. Please take a shower before you hug me." Naruto playfully nudged Sasuke off of him so he could flip the pancake.

Sasuke frowned. "I thought you enjoyed me all hot and sweaty."

"Yeah. While we're having sex. Not while I'm trying to flip a pancake!"

"Oi. What have I told you two about dirty talk around the kitchen?" Iruka wagged his spatula at the two boys who gave him less-than-innocent grins.

"Sorry Iruka!" they said simultaneously.

"Sorry my ass... Sasuke! Get a quick shower then come down for breakfast. This is your last day of vacation so feel free to take the time to relax because Lord knows you won't have anytime to yourselves once you start traveling."

Keeping true to that testament, MAXED-OUT decided that a day at home watching movies, playing video games, and simply being together in the privacy of their own penthouse.

"I think we should watch Avengers next."

"We watched that yesterday, Dobe."

"Sooooo? That movie is so good you can watch it five times in a row and it'll never get boring!"

"Tch. True, but you have a fetish for men in spandex.'

"Pfffft... maybe..."

"Besides," Sasuke started to lean Naruto back against the couch. "There's a much better way to spend the night I was thinking of that involves a little—"

"Oi! Naruto! Sasuke! Open the door!" Kiba was outside banging on the door with Pein, Gaara, Sakura, Ino, and Lee standing behind him. "I know you bastards are in their sucking face! Break up for like five seconds to let us in!"

Sasuke's eyebrow twitched and Naruto let out a groan.

"He's not going to leave unless we open the door..." Naruto muttered.

"Maybe we can sneak out the window."

"Tried that. Didn't work."

A haggard sigh. Naruto pulled himself out from Sasuke's embrace and headed for the door. "Oh well. Since when have we ever gotten a peaceful night to ourselves?"

"Is that some sick joke?" Sasuke cracked from the seat.

"Nah. Just the truth," Naruto opened the door and was bombarded with cheers, tackles, and hugs like he had been released from the military the day before. Despite their earlier moment being disrupted, a smile still managed to wiggle itself onto his face.

'Who needs a peaceful last day, anyways?' Naruto thought as he watched his friends do what they did best—annoy the ever loving shit out of Sasuke.

"Hey Naruto can I—"

"For the love of God Kiba if you touch that!"

Eh, maybe a peaceful last day would have better after all...

The End

Well it's over. After like a year now? Maybe less than that I'm terrible at keeping track of time. Anyways a HUUUUUGE thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favorited this story and me, over the course of this story. It was really fun to write and I just thank you to everyone who has stuck with me to the very end. I really have no idea what my next project will be. I was thinking for writing for KHR or One Piece but maybe I'll stick to my Naruto fandom for another season.

Anyways you'll definitely hear from me again so once again thank you for reading this crazy story.

/THROWS FLOWERS AND STUFF AT YOUR FACES

Bye guys~ Till we meet again.

Oh wow that sounded like a cheesy anime ending.