Pairs
Disclaimer: Nothing yet.
Author's Note: Today's been a slow day; maybe that's why I've been writing so much. shrugs
-!-!-!-!
"What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies."-Aristotle
-!-!-!-!
We were given two hands to hold
It was a subtle movement, done almost unconsciously. His large tanned hand slipped into the brunette's pale, slender one under the interrogation table. Five years of separation could do a lot, but Sasuke had a feeling that very little could damage Naruto's trust in people.
Two legs to walk
Naruto shouldered Sasuke's usually slight weight once again as he trudged down the familiar path to the village. He was always so light, but when the Uchiha was knocked out, he became a dead weight. The mud was squelching under his sandals and the blonde tried to keep Sasuke's legs from dragging, as he was the shorter of the two.
The gates loomed over them as they neared and Naruto could just barely see the stark whiteness of the hospital building across the village and he groaned. Sasuke so owed him.
Two eyes to see
Sasuke knew how uncomfortable Naruto got in hospitals. The powerful scent of antiseptic was strong even for a normal sense of smell, but with Naruto's incredible nose, it was probably overwhelming. Most people saw the obvious signs, the fidgeting, the constant need to have something to do with his hands and the way he was regularly glancing at the exit and the windows, always looking for a way out. Sasuke saw the other things; how he would always twitch slightly as another patient was admitted or as a nurse came by with medicines, how even though he would fidget so much on the hard, uncomfortable hospital chairs, he never got up. He would stay beside the hospital bed in a silent vigil.
Seeing these things always made Sasuke slightly guilty, although he'd never admit it. It also felt, for lack of a better term, nice that Naruto would stay still in a place he absolutely hated just for him.
Two ears to listen
Naruto, contrary to popular belief, was a master at seeing underneath the underneath. Everyone's words had double meaning, he knew, and that was what he would listen for and not the actual words.
"I've been so busy at the hospital lately." Sakura would say.
"There's been so many familiar faces and so much blood."is what she would mean.
"I got lost on the road of life." Kakashi would often pull out this well-worn excuse.
"I can't help it. The five minutes I mean to stay there turn into hours. I can't stop saying sorry." Were the words that no one would ever hear him say.
"I don't want to talk about it." Sasuke would tell him after Naruto would see the haunted expression on his pale face.
"I can't talk about it." Naruto never needed to wonder about Sasuke's words. They were usually written completely in his eyes, but his expression would darken only at night, when the moonlight would spill across the wooden floors of their apartment and Naruto couldn't see his face, so he had to listen for it.
But why only one heart?
Because the other one was given to someone for us to find.
Sasuke wrapped his arms around the slumbering blonde's waist, resting his forehead against Naruto's shoulder. It often crossed his mind that Sasuke didn't deserve this person, that he'd been forgiven far too many times when anyone else would have turned him away.
And every time he would voice these thoughts to Naruto, the blonde would narrow his eyes and object to every single piece of his reasoning. And Sasuke would once again thank whatever higher being that was up there(the ones not torturing him) for their meeting on that dock, eleven years ago.