No one really figured out why they made such a good match.

Maybe it was the way Naruto's horrible orange jumpsuit clashed with Sasuke's emo prince outfit. Or maybe it was the way Sasuke's Chidori would weaken the enemy significantly and Naruto would finish the poor bastard off with a well-timed Rasengan.

Perhaps it was also the way they fought with each other on a daily basis, like a married couple would. Or according to Sakura's observations, the way they go so far for each other, but never for others.

Hinata felt it was the way they use terms of endearment, like "Sasuke-teme" and "Naruto-dobe". Never mind the fact that it meant asshole and moron respectively. Ino had a different approach. She felt that it was the way their personalities cover each other's flaws, like Sasuke's cool-headedness for Naruto's rashness and Naruto's determination for Sasuke's indifference.

It could also be the way they compete with each other to see who was better.

Before battle, they argue and throw insults at each other. And when Sasuke ends up protecting Naruto, he says, "Are you alright, coward?"

Naruto hears "Don't ever do that again, you might hurt yourself."
He replies, "Of course I am, I never needed your help anyway!"

Sasuke hears "Don't worry about me. I'm fine."

But perhaps it could also be the way they unconsciously care for each other so much.

When enemy ninja ambushed Naruto, Sasuke leapt to his rescue fiercely.

When Haku heavily injured Sasuke, Naruto went into a frenzy and practically killed Haku.

When Sasuke was fighting a Sound ninja at the Chuunin preliminary exams, Naruto worried about him.

When Naruto first fought a proper fight against Sasuke, no one saw the tears in the raven's downcast eyes.

When Sasuke told Naruto that he was leaving for Orochimaru at the Valley of the End, both knew the hurt and disappointment in Naruto's eyes that he was unable to conceal.

When Naruto collapsed after Sasuke dealt the final blow and was unable to wake up, Sasuke dropped to his knees and cried silently with the rain.

When Sasuke finally left Naruto with their bonds broken, no one knew of his pain.

But still, even after two years, Naruto still insists on finding Sasuke back. He knows Sasuke will return to him. He knows Sasuke will come back to Konoha. He knows his and Sasuke's memories remain there in his heart and he knows he will not let them go.

Sasuke knows it too.

Sasuke knows that once he was done with his duties with the Akatsuki, he woukd go back. He knows Naruto is still waiting for him. He knows he will never give Naruto up.

"Heh, dobe, I'll come back."

But Sasuke knows it's just a lie. He knows that Pein has crushed Konoha. He knows he'll never get to see Naruto again, no matter how much he tried.

Sasuke also likes to go to the large memorial stone near the training grounds. He enjoys sitting there and leaning against the stone for hours on end, tracing the engraved names with his pale finger.

Uzumaki Naruto.

It was his favourite name. He particularly missed said person as much when it rained.

The raindrops trickled down the neatly engraved name with unnatural grace and glistened every time. Sasuke smiled sadly, his first smile since Pein invaded Konoha, and told the glistening rain.

"Not now, I'm waiting for a dobe."

His pale finger moved one space down and traced another name.

Uchiha Sasuke.

His own.

"Teme, you're so early! Can't you be later than usual?"

"Hn, dobe. I'm just... thinking about the past."

The blond approached the raven with a huge grin on his face and looked at the other two names under theirs.

Haruno Sakura.

Hatake Kakashi.

"Sakura-chan should be here any minute."

The pink-haired girl bounded up happily to them and smiled sadly at her own name engraved in the marble stone.

"Kakashi-sensei's late again."

"He always is, hn. But I guess seeing his name here on this stone should be normal since he knew he was going to sacrifice himself for Konoha in the end."

"Like us, teme."

--

Dammit, I sidetracked from a light SasuNaru to a Team 7-centric fic D: