A/N: I fail at life… Anyway, hope you enjoy, I know I sure didn't…

Epilogue

One Year Later

A pleasant breeze, still ripe from summer, wafted the hair of passerby, claiming loose hats and scarves. The sun, hiding shyly behind billowous clouds, would occasionally grace the city with its beauty, slowly gaining confidence and not hiding quite as often.

A young adult, eyes wiser than the few years actually spent on Earth, walked with purpose towards a specific place. Hand deep in his pocket, He gave no sign of the nervousness his heart truly held. One year older, wiser, and happier than he'd ever been, but the twangs of guilt had constantly riddled him, though not enough to truly dampen his spirits.

Sasuke, bypassing his parents grave for the time being, continued to walk until he stopped abruptly and stared down at the gravestone in front of him. He was quiet for so long, unsure of how to start, until he uncharacteristically blurted out the first thing he thought of. "I have a boyfriend."

Sasuke refrained, just barely, from slapping his forehead at his skillful tact, but that would be just proving how much of an influence said boyfriend had had concerning his restraint. Over the course of the past year, Sasuke had changed dramatically, and it was all thanks to that blonde "annoyance".

While he was still quiet, anti-social, and had quite a temper, he was just a smidge more mellow. Being around Naruto as much as he was left him with a slightly more positive outlook on life, and gave him something genuine to look forward to.

"I mentioned him last time, remember? Naruto," he said, effortlessly gliding over the lapse in control. And if Sasuke didn't know any better, he'd say that somehow, Itachi was condescendingly saying "duh," as if he knew it was bound to happen. Sasuke shouldn't have been surprised – he had never mentioned people by name to the tombstone before Naruto.

He dropped the flower clung loosely in his left hand, watching it land gracefully on the base of the stone. "An offering from Naruto, since I'm not ready for him to join me yet…"

And Sasuke felt a huge weight lift from his shoulders, realizing belatedly that what he'd been feeling since the previous year wasn't guilt, it was anxiousness. The approval carried by the wind washed it away as easy as if it were nothing important instead of everything in the world. He was afraid Itachi wouldn't approve, or something of a similar ilk, and didn't know if he could take that.

In the giddiness of such a weight gone, Sasuke felt a small smile curl his lips as he sat down. "Thanks." He closed his eyes for a moment, letting the sun wash over his pale features. "He works with me at the hospital now." He laughed. "The nurses treat us like a godsend, with how quickly and efficiently we can get the work done. And he respects my wish to not tell any of his friends about it."

Sasuke fell silent for a moment, thinking. His eyes brightened slightly. "Oh! A few months ago, I got a raise at Java Sounds. Surprising, I know. So I quit my other job and now have too much free time to know how to deal with it. But I have found a few ways to entertain myself with the free time," he said with a smirk.

He didn't elaborate, was sure Itachi didn't need to know about his younger brother's hormone surges. "I won't bore you with the story of how we got together, but I feel the need to mention that it's all because of a bet Kakashi had…" his fists clenched before he relaxed the muscles. "But I'm over it now. I got my revenge on it months ago. Again, no details other than it had much to do with honey, feathers, and a youthful "beast." It was fun."

Sasuke thought of all the other, less important details of his life, and only relayed the interesting/semi-important information.

All too soon he ran out of topics and lapsed again into silence. He stood, feeling lighter than he had in a long time, and said his good-byes, promising to visit again in a year. His parents got a much more condensed and censored version, and he stared up at the sky.

Life wasn't fair, he knew that, but sometimes something happened that would make up for all the shit that you have been struggling against to live. So life was much more bearable with someone else with you to shoulder some of the burden, he reasoned.

A few feet away from the gate to the cemetery, and Sasuke looked up, and a smile managed to make it past his restraint. There was Naruto, leaning causally against the metal, looking up at a hawk flying overhead. When he noticed he was no longer alone, Naruto looked down, back to earth, and smiled brightly. "How'd it go?" he asked, making Sasuke roll his eyes at the suggestion it could go badly.

"Good," he replied, savoring the sense of wellbeing and comfortableness with closed eyes.

Their hands intertwined easily, loosely, naturally, as they walked away from the gate. A reassuring squeeze and Naruto pulled Sasuke, walking faster down the road to find themselves something to eat.

Sasuke sighed, finally at peace. Despite his calmer facial expression, a sense of happiness washed daintily over him. Yeah, this was what life was meant to be like.

A few stolen kisses and they disappeared across the horizon, finally able to get on with the rest of their lives.

A/N: And there is the end of "A Helping Hand"! It'll take too long to personally thank everyone, so a general thank you will have to suffice. So THANKS! To everyone who reviewed, favourited, and alerted! Never in my wildest dreams did I expect for this story to be so popular, it was just supposed to be a stress relief… So thanks!

But with this out of the way, I can work on "With Torn Up Pages" now!! Woo! And for those who care, MY BIRTHDAY IS LESS THAN A WEEK AWAY, OCT. 3!! As you may be able to tell, I'm excited…