The crowds in the halls were thinning out now, and Sasuke glanced up at the black and white wall clock. He heard rubber soles shuffle against the tile from across the hall, knowing that it was Chouji without even looking. Someone started to cackle a few feet down, and another shouted some sentence, of which Sasuke could only discern the words "hell" and "no." It was difficult to hear much over the chatter, so Sasuke tuned it out as he browsed his textbooks. Introduction to Chemistry, 6th edition. He'd take his English book as well to avoid returning.
The halls were lined by several long windows, allowing enough natural lighting for Sasuke to easily see inside of his locker. It was an abnormally bright and clear day in March. It was warm enough to get by without his coat, which Sasuke was taking full advantage of after months of freezing cold and his school's subpar heating system. He wore a thin maroon thermal and a pair of dark blue jeans, his black sneakers peeking out from the hem of his pants. They were dry. For once this season, the sidewalks weren't covered in slush.
The sounds were dwindling. It was two minutes until 1, so he'd have to leave for his chemistry class now. The three-leveled shelf system inside his locker was perfectly positioned to hold all of his books, spine facing out, on the middle level. On the bottom, underneath the shelves, was his sweater, and on the top level was his neatly folded lab coat. A mirror was affixed to the inside of his locker door, and he gave himself a quick look over to ensure that everything was in place, moving a stray lock of hair to the other side of his bangs.
Sasuke slipped his backpack off of one shoulder, resting it against his locker as he quickly packed his books and lab goggles. Zipping his bag again, he slung it onto his back and closed his locker behind him, snapping the padlock into place and walking forward. The two hallways in this building met like a cross, and his chemistry lab was just on the opposite side. He briskly walked past the hallway intersection towards his chemistry lab, joined by a classmate coming from the intersecting hallway. Naruto had his hands in his pockets, whistling and looking up at the ceiling without half a mind as to where he was going.
The kid had never been all that intrusive before. They'd had their moments, sure. It was bound to happen, as long as they'd attended the same school. They'd somehow followed each other, from grade school to middle school to high school, both of them now junior year. Naruto was a familiar face, but Sasuke had never had much more to go on than that. He watched Naruto with a sort of morbid curiosity as he bounced from travesty to mishap to travesty, but the two never had a reason to intermingle. Sasuke stopped at watching, as he'd never have much to gain from befriending someone whose priorities were so misaligned.
That is, until said kid became his lab partner this school year. Sasuke had never been one to describe a class as "painful." He was well liked by teachers and students, and the subject material always came easily to him. But thanks to Naruto, Sasuke now understood what pain was in the context of academia. Pain was working on a group lab assignment at 3 in the morning because he'd gotten a text at midnight explaining that no, Naruto actually had no idea how to do Stoichiometry problems, and no amount of cramming could fix that. It was three failed attempts at measuring Coke's pH with a litmus strip. It was stained lab coats, broken beakers, and misfiring Bunsen burners. Really, it was anything having anything to do with this dumbass across the hall.
The chemistry door was held open by a door stop, and the two of them approached the threshold at the very same instant. They both stood in front of the doorway, and Sasuke's eyes caught Naruto's. Then Sasuke resolutely stepped towards the threshold.
Not so surprisingly, Naruto had the same idea, plowing forward without a second thought. Sasuke could no longer move foreward, the width of both of their shoulders filling the entirety of the door frame and packing the two together. Sasuke flashed Naruto a sordid glare, which Naruto quickly returned. Like hell would Sasuke be the one to back away. They both squeezed forward, grunting as they smashed against each other and finally burst through the other end.
"Still can't slip through?" said a tote head blond to Sasuke with a hint of playfulness, leaning against one of the lab stations in the front row. "I'd think you'd have the advantage now."
Sasuke rolled his eyes at Suigetsu, walking towards the side of the room.
"Fuck you too, Suigetsu," Sasuke answered half-heartedly, hearing Suigetsu snicker as he walked past him.
A long whiteboard made up the wall of their classroom, Kakashi's large station at the front. The station, roughly the length and width of a pool table, had its own sink as well as a myriad of drawers and shelves on the other side. The rest of the classroom made up a series of two-person stations, each with their own sink and chemistry set.
They approached their lab table, which was directly to the left of Kakashi's station. Naruto zipped his backpack wide open and rested it by their station, a pencil rolling out as he removed his lab coat, scrunched into a large wad shoved between two of his binders. Naruto didn't even bother to pick the pencil up, and it was entirely possible that he hadn't even noticed. The bell rang, and both Naruto and Sasuke took a seat, their stools positioned as far away from each other's as possible. Naturally, Kakashi wasn't even there. Late again.
Sasuke understood why everyone liked Kakashi. Kakashi was laid back and would let people swear in class and forget their homework. Yet it was this very quality that Sasuke despised about him. Kakashi was indifferent to Naruto's antics and could never keep him in line, which made Sasuke's life a living hell. It was also the reason why Kakashi had inflicted Naruto upon him. He was too lazy to teach Naruto the subject material, so he'd saddled Sasuke with the responsibility instead. This was going on his sixth month with Naruto as a lab partner, and it never got easier.
And finally Kakashi entered the classroom, a thermos of coffee in his hand as he closed the door behind him, pulling out his chair and sitting at his desk.
"Alright," he addressed the class. "You know what to do. Suit up."
Sasuke quickly threw on the lab coat he had hanging over his forearm, buttoning it up and rummaging for his lab goggles out of his backpack. Naruto quickly threw the wrinkled garment on, plopping his goggles on the desktop. People were still chattering.
"Shut up for a second," Kakashi interrupted, and the class was silent. Kakashi asked so little that people actually did take his requests seriously.
"For this lab experiment, we're going to make our own Aspirin."
Kakashi was putting his own lab coat and goggles himself.
"Woah," Naruto muttered under his breath at the novelty of the experiment. Clearly, he hadn't read ahead.
"Turn your lab book to page 164."
Their lab book was thin blue paperback, bound by a flexible spine. Sasuke slid his book out and turned to the proper page, pinning the left hand pages underneath the book as he set it to the side of the table for easy reference. The ingredients:
"3.0 g salicylic acid
6 mL acetic anhydride*
5-8 drops of 85% phosphoric acid or concentrated sulfuric acid*
Distilled water (about 50 mL)
10 mL ethanol
*Use extreme caution when handling these chemicals."
Sasuke groaned inwardly at that last line. Caution and Naruto didn't really mix. He'd have to keep a close eye on him. This babysitting got old.
"We're working with some volatile chemicals today, but you all are adults. I trust you won't do anything stupid and abide by the safety procedures I've taught you."
God, Kakashi, Sasuke thought. Please don't trust us. I've got a walking disaster to my right.
Naruto snapped his latex gloves on exuberantly while Sasuke situated his goggles. They were enormous and unfortunately standardized for his school. They never did anyone's dignity any favors, but Sasuke did have to concede that eyes are pretty damned important body parts. However, Naruto never seemed to mind. He often reminded Sasuke of an oblivious dog sitting there with its tongue hanging out, with absolutely no concept of how mind-numbingly stupid it looked.
When one student went for the supplies, the rest herded after the supply area. Sasuke moved for the flasks first, knowing that Naruto would have absolutely no idea what an Erlenmeyer flask would look like. Sasuke had to make several trips, as the list of ingredients and supplies was rather hefty. Naruto at least made himself useful regarding the few ingredients which he did recognize. He also brought a large bowl of water back to the desk.
"What's this?" Sasuke asked dully.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say it's water, smartass," Naruto shot back.
"We only needed 50 milliliters."
"Well, now we have more," Naruto answered, undaunted by his mistake.
How could Naruto mess up getting water? Just as Sasuke prepared to snap back, Kakashi interrupted.
"If everyone's ready…" Kakashi trailed off looking over the class to make sure each student was fully geared. "Weigh out our three grams of salicylic acid. Record how much you measured down to the dot, because we're going to be calculating actual and theoretical yield later."
The salicylic acid was a mound of white powder, somewhat resembling flour. A weak acid. As everyone followed Kakashi's instructions, Kakashi got out a small novel and began to read. Standard procedure. Sasuke wondered what the hell Kakashi always found so interesting, to the point that he couldn't just put the book down for a few hours during class.
Naruto reached for the empty flask, but Sasuke intercepted him.
"What?" Naruto asked with a sigh.
"We have to zero the scale," Sasuke told him, placing the empty flask on the scale and resetting the number to zero.
Sasuke took the flask and delicately scooped a small lump of white powder into it.
"Hey! I was gonna do that!" Naruto griped.
"You'll get over it," Sasuke mumbled dismissively.
"Dick," Naruto grumbled under his breath.
The scale read 2.98 grams.
Naruto took the scoop from Sasuke, now adding another small lump. 3.12. Sasuke rolled his eyes theatrically. It didn't need to be exactly 3.00, he knew, as long as they kept track of their values.
"Satisfied?" he baited.
"Add 6 milliliters of acetic anhydride…" Kakashi ordered flatly.
Naruto reached out for a glass bottle clearly labeled "phosphoric acid," haphazardly taking the lid off.
"The hell are you doing?" Sasuke asked, pointing to the bottle.
"What?" Naruto responded, his voice dragging out as his eyes squinted like they tended to do when Naruto was confused. Sasuke was so sick of seeing that look.
"That's phosphoric acid, you idiot!"
Sasuke clearly remembered the asterisk as the bottom of their lab instructions.
*Use extreme caution when handling these chemicals.
Sasuke was remembering that footnote just about now. The bottle hung just over the flask with a mound of salicylic acid.
"Huh?"
"We're supposed to add five to eight drops of that, not six milliliters."
"What?"
Sasuke glanced at Naruto in disbelief. How could he be nearly five months into this class and still not know how dangerous 85% phosphoric acid is? Sasuke gave an exasperated sigh, knowing Naruto was probably expecting him to explain, which was pointless anyway as it would clearly go over his head.
"Just let me do it," Sasuke answered.
"No! I want to do it!" Naruto shot back, pulling the bottle away.
"That's the wrong bottle!"
"Pft," Naruto answered, "Like it matters. You think he'd actually give us something dangerous? It's not like we're in a real lab. Chill out."
Sasuke grabbed the flask of white powder and moved it away from Naruto.
"No! Give it to me!" Naruto replied, grabbing for the flask.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?"
They were hissing at each other, keeping their voices down. The table next to them had begun to cast them strange looks. Sasuke grabbed Naruto's arm, keeping him from making a very hazardous mistake.
"Just get out of my way and let me finish the experiment."
He should've known. As Naruto reached for theacetic anhydride, which actually was the right bottle. Sasuke nonetheless swatted his hand away. Finally, Kakashi's attention had been caught. He sighed, rubbing his temples.
"What are you two doing?" he asked, waiting for one of the boys to respond. Neither did.
"Get it together and cooperate."
"I'd cooperate if he'd cooperate!" Naruto shouted, pointing at his offending lab partner.
"And by 'cooperate,' you mean allow you to dump concentrated phosphoric acid all over the salicylic acid?"
Kakashi paused.
"You were adding phosphoric acid?"
Naruto huffed, standing to the side.
"Pay attention. These chemicals actually can be dangerous. I can't treat you like an adult if you don't act like one."
Naruto grunted, a frown on his face.
"You were to add the acetic anhydride first."
"He doesn't even know what that is," Sasuke complained.
"I do know!"
"Then what is it?" Sasuke challenged.
Naruto was silent for a moment, the entire class watching them.
"I don't have to answer to you!"
The class laughed, and Sasuke gave a self-satisfied smirk, tilting his head to the side. Naruto sulked as he blindly reached for an eyedropper. The only problem is that Sasuke's hand was right next to a bowl of water which Naruto had incorrectly measured. Naruto's arm collided with Sasuke's wrist, and Sasuke's forearm hit the bowl. It fell right off their display and onto the floor, the water spilling right next to the teacher's desk.
Again, the entire class went silent.
"Alright, this is it," Kakashi said, frustrated now. "Both of you get a zero for participation today. Naruto, clean up the water."
Sasuke clenched his jaw. Although he had a solid A in this class, Naruto lowering his grade irked him nonetheless. Naruto charged forward, angrily ripping a paper towel off of the roll on Kakashi's desk to clean up the growing puddle.
"It was his fault!" Naruto shouted defensively, turning around and pointing at Sasuke. "He's the one who knocked it over!"
The glance Kakashi cast Sasuke made him angrier than anything Naruto had done this period. It was a look of pity. Kakashi seemed to catch himself, quickly settling into his typical deadpan expression. Sasuke swung around the desk, also grabbing a paper towel.
"Sasuke, you don't have to do that," Kakashi told him. In return, Sasuke cast him the nastiest scowl he could muster. Just like Naruto, he got down onto his knees and wiped the towel against the ground.
Sasuke's kneecaps ached slightly as they pressed hard against the tile floor. He moved his hand in circular motions, grabbing another towel on the ground as his first one grew too wet. The entire classroom was watching, though it wasn't like Sasuke gave a damn. Sasuke glared at Naruto, and Naruto returned it.
"This is your fault," Sasuke said, under his breath.
"Like hell it is, asshole," Naruto grumbled back.
Kakashi's phone rang, some generic ringtone with a buzz. He walked over and glanced at the caller ID.
"Damn. I have to take this call. Stop the experiment while I'm out."
And Kakashi left class, as he so often tended to. In his absence, the students began to chatter. Finally, the attention was off of them, though every now and again a student would give them a glance.
Sasuke continued to scrub at the ground, paying his classmates no mind. He had no idea how Naruto could live like this. He didn't give a damn about school. His dream was to be a famous author, but he didn't even know how to spell the word "definitely." Sasuke knew, because he'd been assigned once to go over one of Naruto's drafts in literature class. It was a horrible paper. Naruto would probably end up flipping burgers for a lifetime, and honestly, it suited him.
Naruto sulked as he cleaned up the fluid, pouting now. Sasuke rolled his eyes. Had Naruto expected anything else, acting this way? It was so typical. They'd been attending the same school for eight years, and it was like nothing between the two of them ever changed. Even after Sasuke was discharged from the hospital and came back to school, when everyone treated him like he was made of glass, Naruto didn't skip a beat for an instant. Had it really been just three months since then? Even what was happening right now… If he were to be truly honest, a part of him actually appreciated it.
Sasuke heard a loud bang, which he could only assume was the sound of their door being slammed against the wall. The class went dead silent, and Sasuke and Naruto instantly stopped their tasks. Sasuke glanced around the teacher's desk, watching the door ricochet off the wall. A boy just one year above them entered, footsteps slow and loud. He was wearing a thick coat and camouflaged pants, his bright red hair contrasting from his dark clothing violently. His green eyes were furiously aglow. And another bang. Only this wasn't the door. It was a gunshot.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes, the deer in plain sight. Sasuke hadn't had much luck today, and neither had Itachi. It was the tail end of deer season, so a lot of them had been picked off. The chances of them bringing venison home for supper were dwindling by the hour.
He raised his sniper rifle. The crosshairs lined up against the deer's skull, just perfectly. He hesitated for a moment. The deer was about thirty feet away, and his target was small. But Sasuke was a damned good shot.
"One shot, one kill."
That was Sasuke's motto when he hunted. When his father taught him to hunt deer last year, he told Sasuke to aim for the "boiler room": the heart and the lungs. It was a large target, and an easy one for a novice to hit.
For Sasuke's first kill, he took his father's advice. Just like his father had told him too, he pulled the trigger and hit the deer straight in the chest. But the deer hobbled off quickly, disappearing into the brush. Sasuke ran after the animal, guided by a trail of blood.
He again caught sight of the deer just before its legs gave out from beneath it, gracelessly colliding with the ground. Sasuke paused, slowly walking up to the deer as it bled out, surrounded now by crimson mud. The deer gasped for air, and Sasuke froze for just an instant before he picked up his gun again and fired directly into the animal's brain. That was the last time he'd aim for the boiler room.
A bird fired off through the trees with a loud caw just before Sasuke pulled the trigger, causing the deer to sprint away, lost in the brushes.
"Shit," Sasuke swore, lowering his rifle in discouragement. That's what he got for hesitating. It was nearing dark. Were they going to come back empty-handed?
Sasuke walked to a more deeply vegetated area, with a large open space some distance away. He rested against the tree. This seemed like as good of a place to search as any. A deer meekly made its way out into the open area, and Sasuke watched it for several seconds, finding it almost peaceful as he focused.
Silently, Sasuke moved his loaded rifle to the front of his body. He kept his feed braced on the ground so as not to rustle the dead leaves beneath his feet. He lifted the barrel, shutting one eye as he carefully aimed. His arm straight and outreached, he felt confident with the gun in his hand. Powerful and calm. His pointer finger preemptively squeezed the trigger, his palm sweating ever so slightly. He stilled his hand and exhaling softly, readying himself for the rebound. He pulled the trigger, and then there was a loud bang.
A shotgun.
Sasuke's body was blasted back against the tree, his back slamming against it. An indescribable pain in Sasuke's arm jolted through his arm to his spinal column, blinding and hot white. Sasuke gasped, reaching for his left arm and swallowing hard. His breath was coming shallow. His hand came back soaked in blood. Sasuke glanced down, his jacket's sleeve obscuring his arm. He could see his left hand hang out from the sleeve, but he couldn't feel it. Then again, it was difficult to be sure of anything. The entire limb felt like a radiating, pulsating epicenter of agony. Sasuke clenched his teeth hard, leaning against the tree for support.
"Oh my god…"
A man ran through the brush, finding Sasuke sitting there. Sasuke had been shot. It must've been this man. The blood stain was spreading over his arm now, and the crimson liquid began to run down his wrist, covering his numb left hand in blood.
The man glanced down at Sasuke's arm in shock, then looked up at Sasuke. Sasuke didn't even have the presence of mind to be angry. He was just frightened. This was bad. Very bad. That's all his mind told him. Sasuke knew that this anxiety was his body's instinctive response to heavy blood loss and trauma, but it made it no easier for Sasuke.
It was only a shot on his arm, but it had been a shotgun. They had a large spread, some of them easily capable of taking down a bear. And at the rate he was losing blood, this was quickly becoming dangerous. The bullet must have severed a particularly strong artery in just the wrong place. His heart beat erratically, and it was as if an alarm was firing off in his brain, grating and loud. "Bad. Bad. You're going to die. You're going to die. Run. Fight. YOU'RE DYING!"
Sasuke bit his lip hard. He was not going to die. Not if he could help it. Sasuke's image of this man began to blur, seeing only a head full of grey hair and a long beard. The man stood there for a moment, speechless. Sasuke's body gave more as he moved down the tree, falling aside as the stranger quickly came to his aid and led him onto the ground. The man took off his jacket, and Sasuke groaned out in pain as he tied the sleeve around Sasuke's upper arm as a tourniquet.
Gritting his teeth, Sasuke reached into his pocket for his cell phone with his uninjured arm, finding that his hand was shaking. He felt the resistance of the phone, his cold and sweaty fingers fumbling around it until he could fish it out of his pocket. He tried to swipe the phone to unlock it, but his unsteady hand was unsuccessful. He swallowed, concentrating, trying again and now succeeding. He handed the phone to the man, his jaw trembling.
"Contacts," he said weakly and breathily. "Call Itachi."
And that's when the periphery of Sasuke's vision went black. He stared off vacantly, able to focus on nothing. It seemed like the world was slipping away, and for just a moment, all of that anxiety seemed to fade. What was happening to him? The pain was dulling. If he could only just close his eyes and rest…
"Kid…" a deep and gravelly voice called, rustling Sasuke delicately. The pain shot through Sasuke's upper arm, returning his consciousness and causing him to wince. It had to be the other hunter.
"Don't you close your eyes," the voice told him, breaking. The man sounded like he was crying. "Don't make me a murderer."
The sounds of the man's sniffling echoed in Sasuke's skull, sounding distant and close all at once. His unsteady eyes looked up at the hunter's face, barely able decipher the features.
"The paramedics are on their way. Please just hang on."
"Th-thanks," Sasuke answered, shivering.
He waited, determined not to fall asleep but finding it harder by the moment. His field of vision shrunk. He stopped being able to understand what the man holding him was saying, but he knew he just couldn't fall asleep.
"Sasuke!" a familiar voice shouted out, laden with horror.
Sasuke recognized his name, recognized that voice. He squinted, and he saw Itachi far away, sprinting to him as quickly as his legs could carry him. Sasuke smiled weakly, then everything went black. For just a few more seconds, he heard Itachi's footsteps frantically approach. And then, nothing.
At the sound of the gunshot, that same alarm went off in his head. "Bad. Bad. You're going to die. Run. Run." He was going to get shot again, and this time it would kill him. He felt familiar a pang in his arm, grabbing for it subconsciously only to be reminded that it was gone four inches above the elbow. His sweaty hand balled up the empty sleeve, and he felt his body yearn to hyperventilate.
Sasuke recognized the shooter as Gaara, a student who had transferred into their school last year. Sasuke didn't share any classes with Gaara, and he hardly even knew his name. Nonetheless, why would he do this? How could this even be happening?
But he had to be calm. He had to be silent. Naruto and he were hidden behind Kakashi's station. If he were going to survive today, it would take a level head. Sasuke stared at his sleeve, which had fallen into the puddle of water. The water spread through the fabric just like the bloodstain had moved through his hunting vest.
Everyone was screaming. The two of them were the closest to him of anyone, still unseen. They were probably only seven feet away. For the love of God, Sasuke thought, please, no one look at us. He felt like he was going to vomit. He found that he was protecting what remained of his arm, some futile attempt at guarding himself.
He focused on the slow speed at which the water spread, biting his lip so hard he could taste the blood, just like the day he was shot. He looked at the blue specks on the white floor tiles, and there was a little bit of dust lodged into the place where Kakashi's station met the floor. The room smelled like rubbing alcohol. Gaara walked towards the center of the class, laughing. Another gunshot. A window, not even six feet above their head, shattered, glass flying everywhere. A large shard fell between Sasuke and Naruto, right into Sasuke's gaze, shattering once it hit the ground.
This startled Sasuke out of his daze. The sound of rubber, very quietly and very near, against the tile floor. Naruto's shoes. For the first time since Gaara had entered, Sasuke looked at Naruto. He was pressed against Kakashi's desk, glancing around the corner he hid behind. The soles of both of his shoes were against the tile as he transitioned to a runner's pose.
Sasuke's eyes widened as he realized what Naruto was doing. His stomach dropped, and he felt a chill permeate his body. Naruto glanced at Sasuke. Sasuke shook his head empathically, clearly mouthing, "NO. STOP." Naruto just shook his head. Sasuke made a thumbs down sign with his left hand, shaking his head once again and silently mouthing, "NO."
And then Naruto cast him a smile, both comforting and sad. For an instant, that look froze Sasuke's heart and lungs, and Sasuke knew that Naruto got the picture… This might be the last time they ever spoke. He was saying goodbye.
Naruto jettisoned out, lunging towards Gaara. Sasuke stared. He couldn't look away, as much as he wanted to. Gaara fired his pistol, and he heard it thud against Naruto's shoulder. But Naruto didn't stop. He kept going, tackling Gaara down to the ground. Gaara dropped the gun, the sound of metal on tile reverberating as the handgun slid across the floor, towards the door.
Gaara attempted to lunge towards the gun, but Naruto held him back with his uninjured arm. Still, it would be seconds at most until Gaara overpowered him, and Sasuke… He was the closest.
For weeks after the hunting accident, Sasuke had a hard time even talking about guns. He remembered the sensation of his hand on the grip, his finger on the trigger, and then the agony as a 10 gauge slug tore through his bicep and shattered his humerus. Naruto cried out in pain as Gaara slammed him against the wall, now running towards the gun.
When his hand had been on the trigger, clammy, Sasuke had taken his time. He had prepared himself. But this was no time to hesitate.
As Gaara ran, Naruto kicked behind Gaara's knees, causing him to stumble. Sasuke took off, sprinting with every iota of force that his body could offer. His adrenaline was coursing. For just that moment, the day he was shot wasn't even in his memory. The only thing he could think of was getting that gun. Gaara began running towards it again. His fingertips touched the handle, just as Sasuke slammed the right side of his body into Gaara, causing the gun to slip out again to Sasuke's left side.
Only a couple seconds had passed, but Sasuke knew how quickly things could happen. Now Naruto had been shot, and Sasuke was desperately grasping for this gun so that someone wouldn't get murdered today. Gaara grinned, knowing that he had an advantage now that the pistol was on Sasuke's bad side. But Sasuke jammed his shoulder against Gaara, using the unaccommodating sharpness of his shoulder joint to his advantage. He reached over with his right hand, firmly grabbing the gun.
Sasuke quickly stepped back before Gaara could take it from him. He cocked the hammer and aimed directly for Gaara's head, staring down at him with a frigid glare.
One shot, one kill.
"One move, and I'll blow your goddamned brains out."
He could hear the fan by the window. The class observed wordlessly.
"Wooah. Badass!" Naruto remarked, holding his shoulder tight.
But Sasuke wouldn't take his eyes away from Gaara, cocking his head at Naruto in response.
"Idiot."
The ambulance took Naruto before the police got Gaara. Sasuke was taken to a private room for questioning, three cops asking him for anything he knew. He explained the situation, vividly. No, he didn't have any connection to Gaara, and neither did Naruto. He was just as surprised as they were.
The gravity of what had happened didn't really hit him until his mom came to pick him up. She was the first family member he saw. She walked in a beeline for Sasuke, hugging him tightly. He could smell her favorite perfume, soft, straight black hair pressed against his cheek.
"I almost lost you again."
She held Sasuke tighter, so that Sasuke could feel her body wracked by sobs. Sasuke held the back of his mother's head in his palm, gently petting her as she cried.
"It's okay, Mom. I'm fine."
But she only held him tighter.
"At least it didn't cost me an arm this time, hm?"
She laughed, just slightly, parting from him, her eyes swollen and red with tears. She'd probably been crying long before she picked him up.
"You'll turn my hair grey, Sasuke," she joked, a couple rogue tears still falling down her cheeks.
"Then I'm doing my job," Sasuke told her with a smile.
It didn't take long for things to go back to normal at home. School was another story. He'd been popular even before he lost his arm. After the accident, somehow he became even more popular, which Sasuke equated to pity. And so he'd shut himself off. But after that display in the classroom? He could hardly walk from one class to another without getting a pat on the back.
But this was actually justified. After all, along with Naruto, he had saved the student body from a school shooting, though it was really just a matter of him being in the right place at the right time. While he wasn't exactly one for the limelight, he'd at least nod back at his classmates, or maybe even give them a smile. He knew that if Naruto were here to enjoy this, he'd milk it for all it was worth.
He didn't have Naruto's number, and like hell would he call. It wasn't like the two of them were friends, so he really had no motivation to care beyond what any other person would. Or at least this was what he told himself. He'd wait until Naruto came back to school. And then the day came, like any other. It was first period, one week later. Sasuke had gotten in a conversation with Shikamaru by the entrance door about the upcoming AP tests.
Naruto crossed the threshold, and Sasuke glanced over at him. His arm was in a sling, his uncovered hand draping downward. The instant Naruto walked through the door, everyone nearby went quiet until someone yelled.
"Holy shit, guys! It's Naruto!"
That was all it took to silence the entire building. And then someone clapped. And then someone else. Suddenly, the whole damned school was clapping, cheering his name. Naruto grinned his big idiot smile, his molars peeping through.
"Hey! There's Sasuke!" someone shouted out.
Sasuke happened to be standing just feet away. The crowd faced them both, cheering and clapping. Sasuke felt his cheeks go hot and realized that he'd just blushed. People stopped calling out Naruto's name, and the cheer grew louder and louder, for both of them now. Naruto seemed to be basking in it like a cat basks in the sunlight, smiling and waving with his whole arm.
"Break it up!" he heard Kakashi shout, the students laughing as they made their way to their respective classes. Kakashi walked towards the two of them, placing one hand on each of their shoulders.
"Good work, you two. Guess you can cooperate after all," he told them, smiling before heading back to his class.
The bells rang, and people quickly vacated. Everyone other than Naruto and Sasuke, that is. It was silent, and Naruto grinned at Sasuke.
"See? I told you I'd be back."
Sasuke smirked. Something about seeing Naruto at school again, that big smile on his face, put him at ease. They stood for just several seconds, saying nothing and going nowhere.
"Dude, Sasuke…"
"Hm?"
"Getting shot hurts like a bitch."
Sasuke issued Naruto a disbelieving glance, and then he felt himself begin to laugh, if only at the irony of it all.
"It does, doesn't it?" Sasuke chuckled.
"Maaan…"
"You got off lucky," Sasuke muttered light-heartedly, shaking his head.
Naruto frowned, leaning against his leg.
"Yeah, no lie."
He frowned again, looking at Sasuke's absent arm.
"What?"
Naruto looked like he was about to say something and then thought otherwise. Of course, that only bothered Sasuke more.
"What?" Sasuke asked again, sounding agitated this time.
"Nothing," Naruto answered, laughing nervously.
Sasuke growled, and Naruto looked like he felt a little guilty.
"I was just thinking… What if it had been worse? When you got out of the hospital, and I saw you at school…"
Sasuke gave a hard swallow. This tended to be the elephant in the room that no one really addressed, other than a very few less tactful individuals. It felt even stranger to have Naruto be the one to address it.
"I felt like someone punched me in the chest. I wished I could've found a way to prevent it, somehow."
Sasuke stared towards the ground, just barely smiling out of Naruto's view. He'd had no idea.
"Anyhow…" Naruto sighed, reaching for some books out of his locker. He quickly dropped them on the ground as he sought to catch them with his injured arm. "Ow!"
Naruto winced and held his shoulder, while Sasuke smirked. Old habits die hard.
"Better me than you."
Sasuke walked forward, quickly tidying the stack of papers and grasping the thick stack, holding it up to Naruto.
"As clumsy as you are, you'd be hopeless."
Naruto laughed, scratching the back of his head. He awkwardly reached out and tucked the papers into his body. Hopeless.
Author's Note:
I hope everyone enjoyed! I haven't written in a while due to the new job, so I'm a little rusty.
Currently, this is a complete story, as a one shot (hah, get it?). However, I'm toying with the idea of expanding it. Knowing that I'm a SasuNaru fan tells you a little about the direction it might take. I'll have to sit on this one.
Anyhow, let me know what you think.