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"Just what is a friend to you?"
"...I'm glad you asked."
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There, a boy sat on the old swing. Everything else was absent. Or rather, the existence of this beast was sentenced to be ignored and left out in this world. He was alone either way. Even by the three, which threatened to give up on the worn ropes of the swing with each creaking noise in the condemning silence. The boy, the beast felt painfully small in that silence.
Sasuke stood at the back, next to him today's Naruto was present. "First, let me apologize." The blonde spoke, words came out unrushed and solid.
"You?" The raven haired man's eyes widened slightly, just enough to be noticed.
"Yeah. For not understanding you sooner, back then..."
The scene shifted. Now the Uchiha kid sat by a chill river, silently watching as small waves passed by. He sat there like the world weighed on him. He was aware of every little detail, every unnecessary shift that occured in the living. It was simply in his nature. His own thoughts and hyper-awareness were an unvisible hold on his own shoulders.
"Never sought to be understood anyway."
"You didn't. I did. One more thing I lacked while you were the perfection in my eyes."
Sasuke scoffed in a weak attempt of humor. "It was the other way around, dobe." He murmured, more like to himself.
Little Naruto passed by the road above river, hands in the pockets, trying to shrug off whatever sick feeling was gnawing at him inside. His blue eyes caught the other boy, another alone individual like himself.
"I'd been relieved in the fact that you shared my pain. Assumed we were the same. And somehow, that made me happy, y'know. I'd clung to that thought for my dear life, acted selfish 'cause it felt like an actual connection. Thus concluding with me not seeing your true pain."
The little Uchiha felt the invading gaze at his back. He turned, onyx orbs met the blue ones, almost offended, hurt. The beast was startled as if caught while doing something inexcusable, frowned defensively. Then he jerked away with hurried steps, leaving the last survivor of the Uchiha clan on his own without saying anything.
The scene shifted again, this time presenting a blank canvas, an empty space purer than any possible heaven, that only the two of them filled.
"I tried so hard to build connections while you, on the contrary, were desperately in need to get rid of them. It hurt you so much. You felt everything so intensely, unbearably." Naruto looked at Sasuke intently as the other avoided eye contact while listening him, the revelation visibly bothered the Uchiha. But he didn't say anything, he didn't want to interrupt when the rarest anomaly of talking finally happened to them.
Naruto seemed to be content at that. "We fought to understand each other better. Because that was the only way we knew, which seems failed. Don't you think so?"
A smile too little, formed on Sasuke's lips. He shrugged effortlessly. "I don't know, it kind of worked."
At that, the blonde burst a laughter he didn't know he still reserved at the moment. "Could've been smoother."
"Could've."
Naruto sighed, a bittersweet smile replaced the earlier laugh. "Your pain was one thing. I admit that I was too blind at seeing things. Or rather... putting meaning at things wasn't my best ability."
"Well, even the dumb could say that about you."
"Sasuke." The tone held so much emotion, so much weight that Sasuke was frozen for a few milliseconds. It felt so raw, so Naruto way- but at the same time, intimate. It was poured out from the blond's mouth too easily. Naruto didn't even hesitate when he continued.
"I meant it when I said you were my friend. But there was more to it. You were my... goal, in every aspect. You were the one I envied the most. The one I felt the closest. So close that I thought words needn't to be there at all. You were the one I'd follow everywhere, even if it's a demon's rotted stomach, and bring back. I couldn't bear it when you tried to handle and carry everything on your own. It pained you, you wanted it to do so."
Naruto took a deep breath. Talking about the things that were bottled up all those years was difficult, even for him. But he didn't falter, he didn't doubt the trust he had for the other. He needed to say these, there wouldn't be a better time, better place. So he waited a while for his words to sink in while he chose his next words attentively. "Watching you do that to yourself was worse. I just... couldn't ignore. Still a bit selfish of me, huh?"
Sasuke looked at the wide, stupid grin the blonde flashed. It was so bright. So annoyingly bright that he thought he could be blinded by it. A part of him wondered if he was under Mugen Tsukuyomi as well, his weary mind still trying to protect himself against any emotional harm, though his logical side decided it was impossible.
Utterly speechless, he found himself laying flat on the ground at the valley once again. His body was sore from after all the fight, he felt like a worn out rag tossed away somewhere. Both his muscles and feelings were a mess. He looked up at the starry sky above him as he repeated the blond's words inside his head, again and again. Watching you do that to yourself was worse.
The raven-haired opened his mouth- yet gave up on the act midway when a treacherous tremble went through his lips. He wanted to say something, wanted to tease Naruto for babbling this much. But he couldn't dare to speak when he felt like his heart was about to hollow itself out.
"Damn it, Sasuke." Came the same carefree voice from next to him, the blonde's eyes were up at the sky as well. "Look who's the rogue ninja, yet look who's talking about these... forbidden topics. Shinobi must not show their feelings." Naruto chuckled lightheartedly at himself, with a sigh at the end. "Getting one more step away from becoming the hokage but at least, I beat you in another competition, yeah? Wish I could move right now, y'know- so I could ensure you won't escape ever again. Then I can challenge you properly, over everything, y'know. Over fighting, over 'who'll heal first', over-"
Naruto looked towards the other's way, but Sasuke turned his back just in time- though not before the blonde caught a single unruly tear.
Silence settled between them once more. Only the sound of shallow breathing and the distant rush of water filled the valley. Naruto's expression softened into something unbearably gentle.
"I forgot to add the most important part. Sasuke," Naruto murmured in a steady, sincere tone. Followed by a quiet, so quiet and fragile that even Sasuke hardly heard it,
"I love you."