A/N: I do not own the Naruto series. Kishimoto-sensei does, and I wish I could live as his room mate and have him just make the narusasu/sasunaru pairing OFFICIAL.

"Just...What were you expecting...Really... What did you expect?" Naruto whispered softly, voice shaken.
Sasuke remained silent for a while and closed his eyes.
A tear rolled down his face as he opened them back, and he could only hoarsely laugh.
"I...I don't know really...Everything's a blur..."
He coughed violently and shook in Naruto's arms. Tired, he closed his eyes once again.

"Hey now, don't go to sleep...Open your eyes Sasuke. Open them...Please."
Naruto choked on his last word, finding it hard to hold back tears.
He gently rocked themselves, trying his best to be of comfort.

"Power...I guess. But I was weak then. Heh. I'm not even sure if I can say I'm strong now either." Sasuke laughed, but it was sarcastic of course. He sighed tiredly, and nuzzled a little deeper into Naruto's chest. Naruto frowned.
"You were never weak, Sasuke. Never."
Sasuke smiled slightly.
"But I was. So weak, and so desperate for power. So weak, I gave into temptation. So weak...That I left you...For a promise that was never meant to be fulfilled. Stupid...I...yeah...I was weak, and stupid."
Naruto cradled his head and shushed him.
"Don't say that...shh...Please...Don't say that. You...You've always been strong Sasuke. You still are. You came back, didn't you?"
Naruto paused to beam down at Sasuke.
"You came back."

At this, Sasuke tightened his grip on Naruto's arms, and nuzzled possibly even deeper into his chest, blocking his face from Naruto's view.
Blushing, he brought his hand to his face, trying to hide, as tears flowed freely down his cheeks.
Sasuke attempted to speak, but all he could muster between choked sobs were-
"I'm...I'm s...sorry.
Should...shouldn't..ave...left...
stupid...proud...too...too..weak...
love...love...I love you...
th..thank...thank you."

He paused, breathing harder. He coughed, and Naruto knew that Sasuke's tears weren't the only things seeping through his jacket. He looked down at Sasuke, horrified to see a delicate ribbon of blood run from the corner of his mouth.

"Sasuke! Please, please! Hold on, alright? For me? Please?"
Naruto's voice was slightly higher, as he started to beg Sasuke to hold on, almost incoherently.
His heartbeat grew faster, and Sasuke could feel it against his cheek.
He smiled. He inhaled deeply, taking in the scent that he had foolishly taken for granted.
His eyes grew even more tired, and Sasuke's thoughts, his focus and attention, slowly started crumbling as he tried his best to stay awake for the man whose arms he was in.
Struggling, he opened his eyes as wide as he could.
He could feel hot tears on his cheeks, but they weren't his.
He looked up to see the crying face of Naruto. He couldn't help but laugh softly. He always found Naruto
cute whenever he was upset and couldn't hide it.

Naruto tried to blink away the tears as he started to speak.
"Ne...Sasuke...Please...Don't go...Please? Everything's in the past, okay? Please...please stay. I'm not mad at you anymore...so please."

Sasuke struggled to breathe, coughing up blood once again.
He smiled tiredly.
"Moron...Who says I'm going anywhere?"
Tears that Naruto thought had gone came back and ran down his whiskered cheeks in rivulets.
With as much strength that he could gather, Sasuke lifted his arm to cup Naruto's wet cheek, then gently brought their faces together.
And for the first time in what seemed an eternity, the two kissed.
Admitedly, it was just as before.
The softness, the warmth, the heal of emotional scars. Only, this time, instead of sweetness, it was the bitter, coppery blood of Sasuke that lingered in their mouths.
He could have gagged, but Naruto couldn't have cared less for the taste.
The only thing on his mind was that the one he was kissing was the one he loved, his most precious person, and that was all that mattered.

Reluctantly, they broke the kiss, their lungs screaming for air.
They shuddered at the sudden loss of contact.
Naruto smiled. "So, you staying right? You're not gonna leave right?"
Sasuke smiled softly and nodded, their noses softly nudging.
He looked deeply into Naruto's eyes.
"I'm not going anywhere..." he paused, and placed his hand on Naruto's chest, just at the position of his heart.

"I'm already home."

Sasuke slowly closed his eyes, and softly, he kissed Naruto.

He kissed him goodnight.
He kissed him goodbye.

As Naruto felt Sasuke's body go limp, he shivered, almost violently, tightening his grip on Sasuke.
Somehow, he couldn't bring himself to feel angry.
He could only smile sadly.
He kissed Sasuke's pale lips and softly whimpered.

"Liar..."

owari -

comments? feedback? ego fodder? hehe. I just want to know if I'm not wasting my time bawling over my own piece of crap, depending on feedback work.
thanks for reading.