Specks of Gold

Extra - Afterwards

He dreamed of Sasuke nearly every night. Not horrible dreams—At least, not all the time—bygone dreams, and visions of the future. He wondered if he would ever erase his guilt, or pain, that enveloped him like a warm coat. Those styles of thoughts didn't haunt him as considerably as he was used to, but they tended to peeked out from the depths of his subconscious at the most inopportune moments.

He remembered warm, summer days when they lounged at the beach with their friends. He counted himself lucky that he could still, could always, picture their faces—smiling and laughing as they threw themselves into the water in all manner of fancy tricks. He remembered cold winter nights with hot cocoa and knitted scarves. His favorite had been one his mother had crafted him for Christmas, a bright orange shawl that he could wrap around himself twice if he wished. It would be a long, painstaking process, he realized, to separate the simple memories from the intricate hurt, but he was ready, he was finally ready to be himself again.

But, at times, when he dreamed of Sasuke, he would be holding him all over again, and his complicated mind would expand or reduce the memory. Some nights Sasuke would yell at him, blame him for letting him die or curse him for the fate he let befall Sakura. Other nights, he would spew meaningless words or love and affection; He would forgive Naruto for his faults and ease his sorrow. Neither, however, changed the fact that he would always plummet to the depths below.

Although, Naruto found that, the more time he spent with Sasuke in his waking hours, in his dreams, he would hold on a little longer each time and scream a little less.

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

"What are you thinking about?" Sasuke asked, tracing lazy patterns on his skin. Naruto took his time to answer, mulling it over. He yawned, stretching his arms out above his head. He took great benefit from his cat-nap; Sasuke had worn him out.

"Everything." He replied simply. Sasuke chuckled, turning over from his position on his back and threw an arm over Naruto's bare middle; His mouth ended up under Naruto's ear, hot breath tickling the side of his face. Naruto shivered, despite the warmth, as Sasuke snuggled into his side.

"How much 'everything' we talking about?" He asked. Naruto smiled at him.

"I was thinking about our middle school days, actually." Sasuke snorted.

"Really? Why? They were horrible." Naruto laughed, smoothing back Sasuke's hair which had fallen into his face.

"Maybe for you. It was great for me."

"Yeah, "Mr. Popular", I remember." Sasuke said, rolling his eyes. "Not everybody could run with the cool crowd like you." Naruto sniggered.

"Oh, whatever. You're such a hater, Sasuke." Sasuke groaned.

"Please, no, I haven't had to hear that it so long. Don't you start that, now."

"You mad, bro?"

"Naruto-"

"YOLO!" He screamed.

"I swear to God I'm going to kill you." Naruto descended into a fit of giggles as Sasuke covered his face with a pillow. He pushed him off lightheartedly; he grabbed Sasuke's face to kiss him, hoping Sasuke would be appeased and decide not to end him yet.

"See, here I thought that you went and changed on me, but now I see you're still the same idiot I used to know." Sasuke said it jokingly, but Naruto felt himself sober up.

"Is that a bad thing?" He asked, unsure of himself suddenly. Sasuke gave him a breathtaking smile.

"Nah, of course not. It's good to know you'll always be the same Naruto I know and love, somewhere under there."

Naruto smiled back, basking in the warm-tinglies he felt in his chest. His smile turned devious, when a thought popped into his head.

"Well, it's good you feel that way, because I was also thinking about Sai earlier, too." He said, busting into laughter when Sasuke shot in a dark look.

"Don't speak his name in my presence, ever." Sasuke said dangerously. Naruto couldn't help but chortle at the deep furrow in his brow. He poked it. Sasuke batted his hand away.

"What ever happened between you guys, anyway?" He asked, genuinely curious. It was one of the few subjects Sasuke never told him about.

"I'd rather not say." He said, folding his arms and trying not to pout.

"Did it have something to do with me dating him?" He questioned, cocking an eyebrow skyward. Sasuke looked away from him, sucking his teeth. Bingo! Nailed it.

"….Maybe." He said.

"Well then, I'm sure you'll be happy to know that I only dated him because he looked like you." Sasuke's head whipped back around, and Naruto bit his lip to keep a smile at bay at his excitement.

"Really? Don't fuck with me, Naruto." He said. Naruto noted the surprise, and a little bit of triumph in his eyes. He rolled his own.

"No, I'm serious! Turned out he was nothing like you, though. We never even had sex; he was more worried about talking about my penis than actually touching it." Sasuke made a face that looked like he was constipated, which Naruto knew meant he was trying desperately not to laugh. Sasuke suddenly rolled over on top of him, kissing him all over his face and neck.

"Good. I'm glad, because you're mine." He said. Naruto enjoyed the attention, but as Sasuke's hands began to wander, he was afraid that he was planning to have his dirty way with him, again, and the last few rounds had tired him out and made him starving.

"Sasuke…" He moaned feebly, fighting off the exploring hands. "I'm fammmished~" Sasuke stared at him.

"Don't say my name like that if you want to get up anytime soon." He said, but still pulled back and began to make his way toward the kitchen.

"Make me ramen, Sasuke!" He yelled before he made it all the way out the bedroom door. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Naturally. There's no way you'd ever eat anything except you favorite food."

"And don't you ever forget it!" He said with a saucy smirk. Sasuke laughed, moving into the kitchen.

Naruto relaxed, smiling to himself. He threw his arms behind his head and sighed contently. He could do this, he could get past all the bottled up emotions and say the things he never said. He could also accept that maybe some of the things would never go away; they would just simmer down to a controllable level that he could deal with. He was just happy, so very happy, that he wouldn't have to go the rest of these endless years alone. He never wanted to let go of this feeling ever again.

Suddenly, his eyes scrunched up, and he clicked his teeth in thought.

"Hey, Sasuke!" He yelled. "Can you still do Gangnam Style?"

Specks of Gold – Extra

A/N: Not another full chapter, but…meh. I wanted this in the first one but it didn't fit like I wanted it to, so I thought I do it as kind of an afterthought. Hope you liked it!

-TheWonderYears