I'm sorry

Don't leave me

Tears freely fell from the corner of that pair of blue eyes. They almost didn't even make it to those whiskered cheeks because the wind of the forest kissed them away instantly. Naruto cried hard, but the more he cried the faster he ran. He just wanted to be as far from Konoha as possible. Everything suddenly became so overwhelming. The love he felt for the black haired boy who seemed to break him over and over again was simply too big for his fragile heart. The weight of his friends and people he cared about knowing about that love was finally falling over his shoulders too. Once again, his love and care for Sakura was also hurting him. For real. Not like when he was a kid who thought he was in love, but as an adult who finally realized that he loved his friend so much but she didn't care for him back. And last but not least, the "I love you"s. He dreamed about the moment when Sasuke would finally say that but not even once in his life he imagined it would end up being so painful. It was crashing him.

For the first time in his whole life, he was broken and ready to give up.

Naruto ran non stop for about an hour, until he was as far as he could and finally his legs gave in and fell on his hands and knees in the darkness of the forest. The nausea that he had managed to control for the last hour took over and he puked for the fifth time that night. He didn't know anymore if it was still because of the alcohol or if it was just the nervousness and pain he felt. He retched and spat as he clenched his stomach hardly for way more time than it was normal, he coughed and puked until everything turned blurry and then... black...

Sasuke at the same time was still fighting with Shikamaru. He claimed that no one had the right to take Naruto away from him. That no one had the right to get in the middle of them. Shikamaru said he agreed. He knew that there was nothing anyone could do in the matters of a couple but Naruto had had enough for today. He calmed Sasuke down and explained that he should give the blond Shinobi some space and time. He needed to understand that it was useless to talk to Naruto when he was like this. Not to mention no one had ever seen the blond boy as out of control as he had been in the last five hours or so. Finally, Sasuke walked with Shikamaru back to the Hokages hill.

"He was here when I found him, Shikamaru. Look around. How do you want me not to worry?" He pointed around to show the boy in the ponytail all the empty Sake bottles and the huge vomit pool that still rested by a nearby tree. "He threw up at least four times and... and... I know something's wrong. I just... I know"

"Look, Sasuke. I'm worried too, ok? Of course I am. That baka there... he is my best friend-"

"Yeah but you're not in love with him!" Sasuke cut Shikamaru off, who was speaking with a clear tone of sadness.

"Sasuke..." The Nara boy raised his hand and the raven boy immediately stayed quiet and lowered his head. "If you're going to react like this, then we won't be able to talk"

"No, wait. Oh fuck... I'm sorry, ok? I'm just nervous. Scared. I'm sorry" he said and the ponytailed boy was surprised. Sasuke apologizing was not something you see often... or ever... for that matter.

"It's fine" Shikamaru sighed and he walked near a tree and sat down, making sure there was no puke that would get him dirty. It was clear that Naruto had expelled pretty much all the Sake he had drank (and probably everything he had eaten before that). He signaled Sasuke to sit down with him and the raven man obeyed.

"You need to calm down, Sasuke. Naruto needs time to think and to calm down too. He won't hear you if he's like this" Shikamaru said calmly as he usually did.

"Why are you so sure about it?" Sasuke questioned.

"Look. The thing is... all those years that you were away, I got to know Naruto pretty well. It's like when we all found out about you being a criminal but we didn't know why. He did know. We had all decided to kill you but he stood up against us, after he met you, when the Danzo thing happened. No matter how much we tried to make him speak or to make him understand, he wouldn't hear any of us. He was just sure he could stop you and bring you back. You probably don't know this but he went looking for the Raikage to beg him not to do anything against you, after the Killer-B thing. He wasn't heard. Before that, he was badly wounded by some cloud ninjas because he refused to tell them anything about you. Then Sakura went to him and... she said some... things... to make him stop looking for you but he didn't care. He was really upset-"