Naruto's POV:
. . .
"Naruto..."
I feel my body slowly sinking. Opening my eyes, I only see a blurred vision. I try to speak, but only bubbles come out.
What the hell? Am I underwater?
"Naruto..."
My vision slowly unblurs and I see Sasuke. I look at my own body, realizing we are both 16 again. His body floats right above mine, with his face only about an inch away from mine. We calmly stare into each other's eyes.
Mesmerized by his eyes, I barely notice when he activates his Chidori and aims it at me.
"Naruto!"
Once I notice it, I try to speak. I try shouting, screaming, even whispering. But still, nothing comes out. I helplessly watch as he slowly aims it right at my chest, never breaking eye contact with me.
"Naruto!!!!!"
. . .
"Sasuke!" I shout, finally waking up, sweating. I immediately sit up and panic.
Breathing hard, I realize I had been dreaming. I look at my clothes and notice my sleeve is torn. All the memories from what happened with Sasuke suddenly come flooding back to me.
"Naruto," Kurama calls my name. "I'm sorry, I tried waking you but Sasuke's genjutsu was too strong."
"Genjutsu, huh?" I respond in my conscience.
Kurama sighs. "I told you, you were going to get your heart broken again. Now look at you. What else to expect from an Uchiha?"
I try to defend him like I always do. Except this time, I can't think of anything to say.
He chuckles. "Finally realize, huh?"
I silently reflect on it when I see Shikamaru and Sai walk in. I look around, finally realizing I'm back at the cave.
"I see you're awake," Shikamaru says, crossing his arms and leaning against the cave wall.
"So...Sasuke, huh? I figured you were into guys too, but him of all people?" Sai says.
Shikamaru elbows him hard, getting him to shut up.
"I don't know what you're talking about," I say, avoiding eye contact.
"Come on, we heard you shout his name when you woke up. You were also muttering a few other embarrassing things while you were knocked out..." Sai teases.
Shikamaru elbows him again and clears his throat.
"Anyways...I think that asshole put you under a genjutsu. We found you and Hinata laying on the ground, with you badly injured. You'd probably be in crutches right now if it wasn't for Sakura's medical jutsu and your Nine Tails chakra," Shikamaru says.
I widen my eyes, remembering Hinata. "Is Hinata okay?"
He nods. "Yeah. That damn Otsutsuki extracted a lot of blood from her, but she's doing good now. Her and Sakura are resting. She used up a lot of chakra healing both you and Hinata. It's been a stressful day for her," he says, rubbing his head.
I notice the sunset outside.
"How long have I been out?" I ask.
"About 20 hours. Almost a whole day," Sai says.
"Let's rest for the night and head back first thing in the morning," Shikamaru says, yawning.
"Head back? To Konoha?" I say, turning my head towards him.
"Our mission was to save Hinata. She's here with us now, so let's head home," Shikamaru says, crossing his arms.
"But what about-"
"You can't be serious right now. The guy put you under a genjutsu. I don't know what exactly happened or where he is right now, but I'm guessing he decided to go with the enemy. Not that I'm surprised or anything," he says, muttering the last sentence.
I silently look at my lap and don't respond.
"Hmm, you're usually quick to defend him. So I'm guessing that's what happened, then. C'mon, Naruto. You have so many fangirls -- and guys -- back home at Konoha. So many people would love to be with you. You spent years chasing after this guy, you gotta give up," he says, putting a hand on my shoulder.
"Did you give up when it came to asking out Temari?" I say, raising an eyebrow.
Shikamaru scoffs. "That's different. Sure, she's scary, but she never went rogue or tried to kill me. She showed me her love through her actions. Can't really say the same about Sasuke," he says.
Sai nods in agreement. "True. I get scared of Ino too sometimes, but she shows me her love through her actions. Has Sasuke ever done that for you?"
I grunt and turn away from them. They're right. But what do I do now? I want to leave and go back, but I just can't. Even if we go save him, how do we know if he'll come back willingly?
Shikamaru sighs. "Well. Maybe you'll have better luck talking to Sakura and Hinata. I'm gonna go smoke," he says, leaving.
Sai tilts his head and stays for a moment.
"If you really want to go after him, we'll go with you Naruto. But how long are you going to keep this up?" Sai says, before leaving too.
I wish I could just tell them all to shut up and stop saying those things about Sasuke. But I can't. I don't even know how to feel about him anymore.
I stand up and dust myself off. I decide to take Shikamaru's advice and look for Sakura and Hinata.
As I travel deeper into the cave, I see Hinata lighting a candle.
"Hinata!" I shout in surprise.
She immediately shushes me, motioning towards a sleeping Sakura. I see Sakura curled in the corner, hugging the scarf Hinata made her. I hold back a laugh. When Sakura isn't so scary, she can be such a softie.
I turn back to Hinata, who is watching Sakura with a smile.
"She must've been worried sick about me, huh?" She says.
"Yeah," I said. I notice a bandage wrapped around her upper arm.
Following my gaze, she reassures me.
"I'm fine. They stuck a lot of needles through me, extracting my blood. Toneri...he said he needed my Hyuga DNA for something. I'm not sure," she says, scratching her head.
I sigh. "I'm sorry you went through that," I say, looking at the ground. We've all been through so much. Maybe Shikamaru was right. Maybe we should return home.
Hinata gives me a look of sympathy.
"I heard about Sasuke. It seems Sasuke is the reason I'm back here. We're gonna go save him, right?" She says.
I pick my head up, recalling what Toneri said about the "deal" he and Sasuke made. Did he do that to save Hinata?
"Shikamaru said we should head back to Konoha...but I'm not sure," I say.
"If you're gonna let that dickhead tell you what's best, then you're more of an idiot than I thought," Sakura says from across the room.
Me and Hinata both jump in surprise, seeing Sakura sitting up and yawning.
"Sakura-chan! You need to rest!" Hinata says, quickly running toward her.
I walk towards her as well, sitting next to her. I put my head in my hands, and loudly groan.
"Please tell me what to do, Sakura-chan!" I whine.
"I'd punch you on the head right now if I had enough chakra," Sakura says, leaning her head on Hinata's shoulder.
"Yeah, then you'd have to heal me again."
She rolls her eyes. "Do you want advice or not?"
I sigh. "I called him a Rogue Uchiha. I told him he was still the same Rogue Uchiha from 3 years ago. What kind of person says that? No wonder he left," I say, looking down.
"Well did you mean it?"
"Wha- No! Of course not! I just...I wanted to hurt him as bad as he hurt me." I pause.
Realizing what I just said, I start to chuckle.
"I told Sasuke that love should conquer hatred, and look at me now. I'm starting to sound just like him," I continue.
Sakura stares at me for a second, then looks at Hinata. Then they both start to laugh.
"Hey!" I shout. "I'm serious, ya know!"
They calm down and Hinata stands up.
"I'm gonna go get some water, you two keep talking," Hinata says. She kisses Sakura on the cheek and leaves.
I cross my arms. "What was that about?"
"Oh, Naruto. Yes, love is better than hatred, but it can't conquer it. They balance each other out. You can't force someone to be full of love all the time. Just like now, all that hate you were bottling up probably bursted when you said those things to Sasuke. For Sasuke, it was probably the opposite. All that love he was bottling up probably bursted when he kissed you," she says.
I ponder for a moment, then suddenly gasp.
"How did you-"
"Oh please, the whole group suspected it. You two were acting weird the entire trip, I figured it was gonna happen eventually," she says, smirking.
I look away to hide my flustered face, and then deeply sigh.
"He never said it back."
"What?" Sakura says, confused.
"That day. 2 years ago, after our fight at the Final Valley. Before you found and healed us, we talked for a while. And I...told him I love him. He never said it back," I say, looking down.
Sakura puts her hand on my shoulder as I continue.
"I thought maybe he just didn't feel the same but...when I looked at him, he was crying. It was only one tear, and he turned away from me quickly, but...still. It was enough for me to at least wonder about it, ya know? And then I wrote those stupid damn letters. And he never responded. He always kept me at arm's length, always unsure of what he was thinking or feeling." I bury my head in my hands again.
She remains silent.
"He asked why he should love a world that doesn't love him back and...I couldn't answer. I just don't know what to think, Sakura-chan."
Sakura picks up her travel bag and pulls out a black cloak, handing it to me. I pick my head up, inspecting the cloak.
"Is this...?"
"Sasuke's cloak. You were holding on to it when we found you on the ground outside," she says.
She puts the cloak on my lap and sighs.
"Honestly Naruto, I don't know what to tell you. You are the only one who knows Sasuke best. Whatever decision you make, I'll support you. But I know you. You're not the type of person to give up or walk away. Just remember that, and don't lose sight of yourself," she says.
She then stands up and leaves the room, leaving me alone with my thoughts.