The bright flame that danced between Kabuto and Sasuke was slowly dying out. As the flesh that was being burnt turned into ashes and as two lives that were once living flesh were extinguished, so did the fire slowly but surely burned itself out. When Kabuto slowly made his way towards Sasuke, Sasuke backed away. His broken rib poked at his lung, making it difficult to breath. Before Orochimaru died, he had also succeeded in twisting his ankle out of function, so it hurt when he tried to walk. But he pressed his hand against the wall behind him and heaved himself up. His eyes flickered to the other side of the room, where Naruto was slumped over on the corner. His normally tanned skin looked deathly pale, and even his lips were turning blue. Sasuke turned his eyes back to the fire. It somehow felt like the fire symbolized Naruto's life—it used to burn so vigorously, but it kept burning lower and lower, threatening to die out at any minute.

The fire went out.

Kabuto's eyes hardened. His face did not express sadness any longer. Fury filled his face, and he looked almost maniacally gleeful. Wordlessly he lunged towards Sasuke. His fist solidly connected with the side of Sasuke's face, who wasn't fast enough to dodge it. Injuries and lose of blood made his reaction time slow, and Sasuke was flung into the air. He failed in breaking the fall, and heavily landed on his side. He wasn't sure whether it was a coincidence or was deliberately done, but he had landed next to Naruto. Sasuke slowly and painfully picked himself up into a sitting position, glancing at Naruto's face. Naruto looked so small and helpless, wrapped up in Sasuke's robes, his face pale and ashen, his eyes only half-open and dull. Sasuke gently placed his hand against Naruto's face and shuddered at how cold the skin felt.

"Leave the dead to sleep," Kabuto said. His voice was quiet, almost a throaty whisper. "I'll help you join him right now."

"Naruto said…" Sasuke felt his eyes getting groggy. He wanted to sleep. He was tired. He was so very tired. He just wanted to close his eyes and rest. But… "Naruto said… We can live together. He said the story would end if we die, so… I have to do my best to live…"

"But he's not alive anymore," Kabuto replied. Sasuke wordlessly held his hand up against Naruto's nose and realized that Kabuto was right. Naruto wasn't breathing anymore. Sasuke lowered his face. When did he die? Hot tears ran across his cheeks.

"…Even so, I'll live. I won't run away. I promised Naruto. He said, 'I don't want you to die, Sasuke'. He said, 'Even if I have to be a corpse, I'll be with you on your road of life'. So… I have to live for both of us now."

"Do you really think you can live in a world without him?" Kabuto sounded gentle. "Are you really strong enough to be all alone in this world?"

Sasuke felt more tears spilling over his cheeks. He closed Naruto's eyes and kissed his eyelids, then his cold lips. Then he shakily stood up and faced Kabuto. "I'm not alone. Naruto won't leave me to be alone anymore. In my memories, Naruto will continue to live. As long as I continue to breath, his story will not be forgotten. Our story will continue to mingle into one if I can stay alive."

Kabuto narrowed his eyes. "…Then I'll end that story, the same way you have ended Orochimaru-sama's life."

Sharp needles thrown at his legs couldn't be avoided. Sasuke's legs gave out underneath him at the paralyzing poison contained in the needles, and Sasuke clumsily picked himself up again, heavily leaning against the wall. Kabuto slowly approached him. There was no need to chase him around anymore; Sasuke won't be able to run. Sasuke took a deep breath and started to concentrate energy in his body to form the chidori. The singing of birds began to echo in the empty, destroyed room as bright blue energy started to dance at Sasuke's fingertips. However, before he could properly gather the energy, he saw Kabuto taking out a short knife and throwing it towards him. Sasuke felt the knife digging into his side, and the energy he had gathered dissipated into the air. He no longer felt pain, but he did feel hot liquid spilling out of his body. More loss of blood. What difference did it make?
"Why do you keep fighting?" Kabuto asked. He threw another knife at Sasuke. Sasuke couldn't dodge this one, either, and he felt it lodging at his other reached Sasuke and clutched at his shirt collar, his other hand holding a knife against his throat. "It's over. It's all over for both of us. So why do you still insist on continuing?"

Sasuke's eyes landed on Naruto's prone figure, and he crookedly smiled. His smile strangely looked like Naruto's cocky smiles. "It isn't over."

'When you have precious person you have to protect no matter what—'

There was a strange prickling sensation in his eyes. Sasuke took a deep breath, then opened his eyes as widely as he can, concentrating all of his remaining energy in his eyes. It felt as if fire suddenly leapt to life in his eyes, and he could see everything with such miniscule details that it felt dizzy. He could even see the dust floating in front of him, the tiny loose threads of Kabuto's shirt, the little hemoglobin and platelet molecules in blood drops that dotted the floor.

His eyes met Kabuto's eyes, and Sasuke's smile widened. "Mangekyou Sharingan."

"Wha-?"

It felt as if the ground dropped out under his feet. Pleasant, floating sensation was accompanied by complete darkness, and Kabuto wildly looked around him in unknown fear. He frowned as a spot in the darkness gradually grew brighter and brighter. His frown turned into shock, then joy as he recognized the person who was standing amongst the light. Orochimaru was standing in front of him, bathed in light, dressed in pure white robe. He strangely looked young and small, perhaps even younger than Kabuto. His back was towards Kabuto, but he turned his head and met Kabuto's eyes. His eyes softened in a smile.

"Kabuto…" A delicate hand was held out towards him. "Come."

It didn't matter that this was obviously an illusion. Kabuto ran towards the light, embracing the smaller form into his arms, and at the same time the dark eyes of the one he loved the most turned red as the illusion shattered into tiny pieces and light surrounded everything; light was everywhere. There was so much light that he couldn't see anymore.

Kabuto reached his hand towards the sky. Then his lips curled up in a smile.

"…Thank you."

His body convulsed as he threw up blood, drenching both himself and Sasuke. His eyes rapidly dimmed as Sasuke pulled his hand out of Kabuto's chest, his hand covered with blood. His hand had penetrated through Kabuto's heart, killing him painlessly and almost immediately. With his bloodied hands, Sasuke gently eased Kabuto's eyes closed. He was childishly smiling. Sasuke couldn't help but smile back.

"Go find him. And don't lose him this time…"

He lowered Kabuto'scorpse to the floor, then tried to stand, only to fall down again. He paused to cough blood up. Blood clogging up his throat was making it hard to him to breath, and his broken rib bone kept widening the hole in his lung. Sasuke slowly crawled towards Naruto, then rested his head against Naruto's cold chest.

"Naruto… I kept my promise…"

Hot tears quickly drenched Naruto's clothing, which was already wet with blood.

"So why didn't you keep your promise? How could you die on me like this? I always broke the promise we made, but you always kept the promise. And now I finally kept my promise, but you…"

Sasuke lifted his tear-drenched face towards Naruto's face.

"I'll die at this rate, so I'll be coming to see you soon, Naruto. Let's never separate again in the other world. I finally realized what I really 'wanted', so… So next time, I won't let the story end like this. I'm sorry. I… Uuuu…"

Sasuke embraced Naruto as tightly as he can, trembling as he cried. He felt his body rapidly cooling, too. Soon, very soon, he would be able to meet Naruto again.

"…Who said the story ended?"

"…!"

Sasuke's mouth dropped open in shock. His widened black eyes met blue eyes, which had narrowed in laughter. His trembling fingers rested against Naruto's cheeks, then Sasuke lowered his head and started to cry even harder.

"You… idiot! Moron! Thought… You died… I was… I…"

"You're getting your snot all over me," Naruto affectionately said. His voice was a throaty whisper and he looked more dead then alive, but he was definitely living. Tears were also slowly running down his face, but his tone was light and playful. "How dare you to assumethat I wasdead without my permission? I don't die that easily. And I keep my words, unlike someone else around here that I can mention."

"You… weren't breathing, though?" Sasuke weakly asked, resting his forehead against Naruto's neck.

"I shut down most of my body functions to stay alive. I was breathing; but just very weakly." Naruto lowered his head to rest his cheek against Sasuke's head. "Tomorrow, we'll write a new chapter of our lives."

"Together, right?" Sasuke asked. He still sounded anxious, looking at Naruto worriedly. Naruto nodded before closing his eyes.

"Always."

---

"I can't believe Orochimaru left us alive," Jiraiya muttered to himself as he ran towards Orochimaru's location with Shizune and Tsunade. Tsunade looked annoyed.

"You still don't get it, do you?"

"…?"

"Orochimaru… still liked you. He still thought of us as… well, friends, I guess. If the term is loosely used. He didn't want us to be involved. That's why he only paralyzed us before he left."

"Why is he still fighting against us, then? If he really wants to be comrades again, he should help us, shouldn't he?" Jiraiya asked. Tsunade stopped running. Jiraiya also stopped, looking at her questioningly.

"…But you won't return his feelings. We've all changed so much that he knew that we couldn't return to the time when we were comrades; when we were most important friends to each other. You know that as well."

"…" Jiraiya's eyes slightly flickered with unknown emotion before he turned away. "Let's hurry and get the brats before Orochimaru makes fur coat out of them."

"Raccoons are made more into hats than coats," a dry voice said. Jiraiya and Tusnade turned to the speaker. They had been so absorbed in their conversation that they had not noticed Gaara, but Shizune was helping Gaara with Sasuke and Naruto, their arm slung over each of his shoulders.

"Are they still alive?" Tsunade asked, immediately reaching for her medicine kit. Gaara nodded, then lowered his head.

"But barely. Please help them…"

Gaara's voice trailed off as he lost consciousness and fell into Shizune's arms, who yelped and tried to support combined weight of Sasuke, Naruto, and Gaara. Jiraiya and Tsunade rushed forward to help her. Jiraiya grimaced at the physical condition of the three children. When he tried to pull Naruto's hand away from Sasuke's hand, Sasuke clutched at Naruto's hand harder, frowning. He couldn't even open his eyes, yet herefused tolet go of Naruto's hand.

"It's okay now," Jiraiya quietly said. "You don't have to be separated anymore. Let go of his hand. He'll give you his hand again if you ever need it."

There was a brief hesitation, then Sasuke allowed Naruto's hand to be pulled away.

---

The last of Naruto that Gaara saw as he left the hospital was of him laughing as Sasuke fussed over him. While adjusting Naruto'spillow and tucking him in,Sasuke accidentally pulled one of theIV chords out of his vein, and Naruto started to yell at Sasuke and hit him with a pillow. But they were both laughing, and they looked really happy. Gaara quietly left without saying goodbye.

There was a dull ache in his heart. The partner that he had been waiting for all his life already had someone else who was most important to him. He himself had loved Naruto even before they had met, simply because Naruto was someone who was to return his love. Naruto wasn't supposed to make him feel this lonely, to make him feel this much pain. But because he still loved Naruto, Gaara silently wished Naruto's happiness as he staggered home alone.

"Why are you looking so whipped? That's unlike you," a cheerful voice said. Gaara's expression did not change, but his stiff posture visibly relaxed.

"…aneue."

"Really, cubs are so troublesome," Gaara's brother-in-law added, crookedly smiling. "You okay? You sureit's okay for you tobe back from the hospital already?"

"I'm fine," Gaara said. His eyes met the eyes of the person who was shyly lingering behind his siblings.

"While you were running all over the place for someone else's mate, he worried about you and waited for you all this time, you know," Kankuro said, pushing Neji forward. "Geez, think about others' feelings once in a while, won't you? You made us worried, too."

Neji hesitated, then deeply bowed to Gaara. "Gaara-sama, welcome back home."

"Aa." Gaara started to walk towards Neji, then broke into a run. He flung himself into Neji's arms. Neji looked surprised, but pleasantly so, as he wrapped his arms around Gaara's smaller body. "…Sorry to make you worry."

"You've returned, so it's all right," Neji replied, smiling. "You're not hurt anywhere, Gaara-sama? Do you need anything? Are you hungry?"

"Get a room," Temari groaned. Neji had the decency to blush, while Gaara glared at his older sister. But his glare softened as Temari warmly smiled. "But that aside. Welcome back, little brother."

"Un, thank you…" Gaara shyly smiled. He was surrounded by people who came to greet him back home. Somehow he no longer felt lonely.

---

"Kakashi! It's been quite a long time since the last time I saw you!" Jiraiya said, waving a hand. Kakashi respectively inclined his head.

"Indeed. Good afternoon, Jiraiya-sama." He glanced at the bottle of alcohol Jiraiya held in his hand.

"For a foolish pupil of mine," Jiraiya cheerfully said, waving the bottle. "I thought I'll have a drink with him. It's been quite a while since I saw him,too."

"More then that, how have you two been doing?" Tsunade asked. She glanced at Iruka, who didn't seem very happy. "…If you need any help, don't hesitate to ask. First pregnancy is supposed to be the hardest, after all."

"Yes, it's a big trouble for Iruka-san, but I think winter pregnancy is better than summer pregnancy. Isn't that right, darling?" Kakashi asked, wrapping his arms around Iruka's stomach, which was starting to show that he was with Kakashi's child. Iruka blushed and pushed him away.

"Where you touching me, and what do you mean by 'darling', Kakashi-san?"

Kakashi widely grinned. "Don't be so shy; we're mates, after all."

"Gaaaah! So why are you always like that, Kakashi-san!"

Tsunade tugged at Jiraiya, who was affectionately watching the couple. "We should get going."

Jiraiya nodded and turned to the two. "Have pretty, healthy babies, you two."

While Iruka did his best to look like a ripe tomato, Kakashi gleefullyreplied, "Thank you. You two have a safe trip."

Leaving the two, Tsunade and Jiraiya walked in silence for few hours before they stopped at a deeper part of the forest. There were two graves, side by side, and in front ofthe tombstones were pastel-colored bouquets of cosmos. Two sets of footsteps could be seen around the graves.

"It seems that your son and his mate came to visit before us, hm?" Jiraiya asked, smiling down at the grave of his former student. "I came to have a drink with you and your spouse. So how did you two find your new son-in-law? A fox and a wolf—quite a couple that thosetwo make, don't you think?"

---

Dai 20 Wa: -Eternity- Ookami to Kitsune no Monogatari

---

There is a legend about a fox and a wolf. Meeting under different circumstances, the two fell in love and decided to spend the rest of their lives together as each other's constant companion. There were many things that hindered the two's happiness, but they did not give up. No matter what happened, they wanted to continue their tale together, as 'The Legend of Wolf and Fox', not just a story of one of them. That was why they were able to become strong. That was why they did their best to live.

"Ah, but the legend is not over yet. You shouldn't use the past tense."

A young boy's dark blue eyes narrowed in amusement, his lips curling up in a smile. He held up his finger in front of his lips.

"We're still alive. We're still going to walk down the path of life together. The 'present' that we live in right now is the most important thing to us, because we can live that 'present' together. Crossing the boundaries of time and space, to create amiracle called 'meeting' each other, we'll now become a legend together."

He brushed his long, bluish-black hair away from his eyes, smiling even more widely. His canines slightly showed.

"Actually, the legend is just starting! We've just started! So…"

He turned away, but one ofhis hand was outstretched.

"If you dare, come with us. Be part of our legend, too. Now come."

His laughter was quickly swept away by the wind.

"After all, you're alive right now, aren't you?"

---

-The End-

Thank you for following me through to the end of this story. I'm sure Sasuke and Naruto found 'happy ending' at the end of their journey down the road of life together, and surely their 'legend' was long and filled with happiness at just being able to be together. Right now they're shining more brilliantly than anyone else, because they were strong enough to grasp the 'present' with their own hands. Let's all wipe our tears away, strongly stand up, and bravely step into the 'present', too.

It was a lot of fun for me to write stories. When I met those who shared my interest and were kind enough to encourage me with the stories I was writing, I was truly happy. But I'm a bit tired right now. I do not have strength to write much, so there won't be a long-chaptered story after this. It isn't that I'll completely stop writing; I'll write one-shots and such. But a long project is out of the question for now.

I'll be solely concentrating on drawing fan comics and working on my website from now on. Thank you for all the support uptil now. I'll meet you again later, and hopefully with a smiling face at that time. Please always be happy. (bows)