Summary: After three laborous years, Sasuke finally returns to Konoha.

Warnings: I don't really know. None, I guess.

A/N: Don't ask. Oneshot.

Can't Breathe Until You've Choked

Author: Alley-Oop

Nearly the whole village watched as the S-ranked ninja stumbled towards the front gates. His steps were uneasy, whether from fatigue or tentativeness, no one could tell. His face betrayed nothing, the same expressionless mask that everyone had come to know.

However, the closer he got, the more obvious his awful state became.

"Let me through!" could be heard as a certain blonde boy pushed his way to the front to watch his old comrade's return. He stared in shock at the spectacle before him.

Sasuke limped along, leaning heavily against his katana- the sword more like a walking stick rather than a deadly weapon. The blade sunk into the ground with each step the young boy took. The dried blood on it shimmered slightly through the gathering mud on the end in the bright, midday sun.

It was made excruciatingly clear that the three years outside of Konoha had not been an easy ride on the teenager. His clothes- if one could possibly regard them as any more than rags (or the scraps of what were once rags, even)- were torn to shreds. A loincloth, to be quite frank, might have covered more skin collectively than the tatters of what was once a decent, if not slightly ridiculous, outfit. The large, purple bow itself was MIA, leaving the wind to tousle around the remains of what may have once been recognized as a shirt.

"Sasuke…" escaped Naruto's lips in a hushed whisper. Everyone in the still-growing crowd gasped as the S-class once-missing nin stumbled and fell to his knees, his hands wrapped tightly around the hilt of his katana the only thing that kept the boy from face-planting into the ground.

The stoic mask cracked for just a moment to reveal an expression of pure agony as Sasuke pushed himself back to his feet. Then all emotion was gone again. It had been a mere slip of the boy's attention. That was it.

"Sasuke!" Naruto called. He started to run forward, but a hand on either of his shoulders stopped him. Kakashi and Iruka.

"Wait," Kakashi told the impatient blonde. "Iruka, find Tsunade." The brunette nodded and disappeared with nothing more than a poof in place of where he had been.

"But, Kakashi-sensei-!" Naruto protested furtively.

"Wait," the older man insisted. Naruto waited and watched eagerly and impatiently as Sasuke made his slow progression towards the front gates, toward where an entire crowd awaited him in both awe and fear. That painful, exhausted advance. Naruto observed quietly as each step seemed to take longer and seemed to be even more deliberate. Sasuke did not want to continue, that was obvious. He was clearly in anguish. Yet the young boy persisted. He needed this: he needed to come home, to see familiar faces; to talk to people that did not intend to harm him. He needed to finish the journey that he alone had started.

Sasuke was close enough that Naruto could make out some of the finer details. He could see the deep, jagged wounds all over Sasuke's body, he could make out the splotches of blood staining bruised porcelain skin, as well as what was left of the cloth that Sasuke wore. The dark half-moons under his eyes suggested many restless nights. His hair hung limp with carelessness and grease, no longer holding the silky, luscious quality that Sasuke had always been proud of (even if he didn't admit it).

But he was the same Sasuke. Naruto would recognize those sharp features anywhere. He knew those dark eyes that, though they tried to conceal it, showed all of Sasuke's emotions, even if there were too many feelings and thoughts floating in those dark orbs to possibly decipher them all. Naruto knew that boy that was struggling towards them with halting, uneasy steps.

Naruto, when he was sure that Kakashi was too focused on Sasuke to notice him, seized the opportunity to run forward, towards his struggling companion. Sasuke didn't stop, slow down, or speed up to meet the blonde, but carried on his ragged pace. When Naruto got closer, he could hear Sasuke's uneven breathing, each time he inhaled sounding like more of a struggle than the last.

"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled, coming closer to the wounded boy. Sasuke said nothing in return, didn't even look towards Naruto, in fact. His focus was completely captivated by the Konoha gates in front of him, his face twisted into a determined grimace.

Finally, Naruto reached Sasuke, immediately trying to help his friend, but Sasuke would have none of it.

"Get off me," he hissed, using a good amount of his waning energy to push Naruto back harder than was entirely necessary.

"Sasuke, I-"

But Sasuke was beyond listening. He continued to force himself forward, staggering and falling, his sword still being misused as it dug into the soft, yielding earth.

Naruto looked to the crowd and saw Kakashi shaking his head, but it was in no amused manner that he did so. He had told Naruto to stay, to be patient. The hyper blonde just wouldn't listen. He didn't understand what was happening. Kakashi doubted that anyone did.

Sasuke was ending his journey. He had gone out on his own, done what needed done, and now he was coming back. But it was his journey, and he wanted to make it alone. Naruto didn't understand that. He was a social person and enjoyed having friends to support him along the way. Sasuke was a solitary creature, and for his own honor and respectability, he wanted to finish this on his own.

Naruto watched from his spot, completely stationary, as Sasuke struggled all the way to the front of the crowd, which backed away from him with a collective gasp. Sasuke pulled his sword out of the ground, his left leg now supporting most of his weight, and placed it into its proper sheath. He gave the crowd a steady, even gaze, as if he were calculating something. He took a breath, opened his mouth to say something, and then collapsed. He was completely unconscious. He had returned with what energy he had, and now it was gone.

Sasuke's journey was over.

A/N: So, this one is finished up, now. I don't know why I wrote it, or how it turned out the way it did, but here it is. Another gem saved from the deep, dark crevices of my computer. Hope you liked it.