Hey people :D So yes, I actually write real fanfiction :D The fic I uploaded before this was a JOKE, people o3o It was made out of boredom+pixie stix. Not a good mix for me D; So yes. Enough with the annoying reviews saying "IS THIS A JOKE? CUZ IT AIN'T FUNNY. WHAT ARE YOU, MAKING FUN OF US FANFIC AUTHORS? HOW DARE YOU. GO DIE."
Yes. They said it just like that. Why are you laughing.
OH and since I wrote this on my laptop, I hope it doesn't get rid of my italics... neh... anyway, enjoy :3
o0o0o
Chapter 1: Just Run Away
o0o0o
Beep, Beep, Beep!
Sasuke dashed down the hallway, a bloody, orange jacket grasped tightly into his fist.
"Out of the way!" A nurse yelled as she pushed through a crowd of gathering doctors and patients.
It felt like a dream, a really, really, bad dream. One of the kinds where you have a feeling it's a dream, but at the same time, you can't tell.
They finally made it to the end of the hall, where the only available empty office was. The doctors all quickly gathered into place, and shut the blinds on the windows.
Sasuke's eyes left the working doctors, and landed on the small, weak looking blond that was causing all of the mishap.
Blood was gushing from his head and leaking all over his body. His usually tan skin was a light pale, even lighter than Sasuke's. His small, pink lips were slightly parted, as he struggled for breath.
The raven clenched his fists, making small nail-marks on his palms.
"Sasuke-kun," One of the nurses, Shizune, interrupted his thoughts when she set a hand on his shoulder.
"You have to leave now, Sasuke-kun." She said sincerely.
Leave? He tried to ask, but nothing came out. He just stood there, dumbly, as she gently pushed him outside the door, and locked it closed.
This is a nightmare, he thought, and hugged the bright, orange jacket to his chest.
And it's all my fault.
o0o0o
"Naruto-kun!" Sakura yelled for what felt like the one-hundredth time.
She slammed the stack of Chuunin Exam forms onto his desk, causing the blond the jump and spin around.
"N-nane?" He asked with a slightly embarrassed grin.
She groaned, and shook her head, "I told you like one hundred times, Naruto! These are the Chuunin Exam entry forms! Now, you have to go through each one and sign them! Without your permission, they can't participate! Honestly, I still have no idea how somebody as dumb as you could become Hokage." She rolled her eyes, and gave him a teasing smirk. They both knew that was a lie.
Naruto laughed and rubbed the back of his head, "Gomen, Sakura-Chan. I was just… thinking."
The pink-haired ninja sighed, "Well, start thinking about this. You only have a day and a half now to sign about three hundred papers, so, get to work!"
Naruto gulped, "Three hundred…?" He mumbled mostly to himself, then grabbed a random piece from the middle of the stack.
Chuunin Exams, he thought with a small smile, remembering his first Chuunin exam. Remembering Team 7. Remembering Sasuke.
His smile faltered.
"Sasuke…" Naruto breathed, thoughts of the rogue-ninja invading his mind. It had been years since he'd last seen the raven, their last time being their fight.
He thought back to their final blow, each charging at each other with their strongest jutsus: Rasengan and Chidori. Sasuke had blasted towards him, Chidori screeching in his hand. Naruto used some of the Kyubi's chakra to deflect the blast, and thrust the Rasengan towards Sasuke's chest. In that last second, Naruto saw something in the other boy's eyes he hadn't seen in a long time: fear. It wasn't 'I'm going to die' fear, but it was 'I'm going to die before I can do something I need to' fear. And because of that, the blond had missed.
Sasuke knew he could have died, then. What he didn't know was, why? After so long, so much… And he could have ended it. Right there, all of their struggles and problems could have ended, and they could have died together, the way Sasuke always thought he'd die. But- he didn't. Naruto had missed. And after that, the blond ninja could do nothing but just stare at his old friend, tears collecting in his eyes.
And to his surprise, Sasuke stared back, tears also threatening to fall from his sad eyes.
In that small moment, Naruto truly believed everything would be ok. That small glimmer of hope in the back of his head that Sasuke would return to Konoha was brighter than it had ever been his entire life.
But as soon as it came, it left when the other boy flung his hand back, snarling angrily and breathing roughly.
He stumbled backwards, tripped over a rock and fell down, still snarling.
"Y-you…" He had started, wiping blood from his face with his sleeve.
"What's wrong with you! Why the hell did you do that!" Sasuke shouted clutching the grass. He looked like if he wasn't holding something, he'd fall apart.
"Nane?" Naruto whispered.
"WHY DIDN'T YOU KILL ME?" Sasuke screamed, slamming his eyes shut. Tears streamed down his face.
"Sasuke-"
"SHUT UP! I HATE YOU! I'VE ALWAYS HATED YOU! SO, WHY? WHY DO YOU KEEP TREATING ME LIKE A FRIEND, WHEN ALL I'VE EVER DONE IS HURT YOU! YOU COULD HAVE-"
Naruto cut him off when he wrapped his arms around the raven, trapping him in a warm hug.
Sasuke blinked, and tried to shove him off.
"N-Naruto! G-get off-"
"Shup up, Sasuke." He said in a whisper, his breath warm against the other boy's neck.
"W-what? What are you-"
"I said, shut-up." Naruto tightened his grip with the last two words, a small, yet noticeable shudder running up Sasuke's spine.
They sat there in silence for a few moments, before Naruto whispered, "I can't kill you."
Sasuke flinched.
"You're my best friend." He pulled back and smiled his famous smile. Sasuke's mouth fell open slightly, and his eyes widened.
"You… I…." Sasuke was at a loss for words. He swallowed hard, then flew back from the other boy, clenching his fists. He spun around and jumped into the trees, then ran.
And that was the last time Naruto had seen his friend.
The new Hokage was interrupted from his thoughts when Sakura pounded on his door.
"Naruto-kun! I have more paper work for you." She let herself in.
A vein popped when she saw the stack still sitting on the dobe's desk, unsigned.
"Naruto…" Sakura muttered, then punched him upside the head.
"Itai!" He shouted, rubbing the forming bump on the back of his skull.
"I TOLD YOU TO GET THIS WORK DONE! I swear, I'm starting to wonder which of us is really the Hokage." She set her hands on her hips as she scolded him.
"I'll do it I swear!" Naruto sputtered as he grabbed a piece of paper and signed it sloppily, and in the wrong place.
Sakura rolled her eyes, "Yeah yeah, Naruto."
It took Naruto a total of four hours to sign every one of the three-hundred papers. By the time he was finished, his hands were so sore that it would hurt to move them.
"Mah…. Being Hokage is hard…." He sighed to himself as he strolled down the empty street, heading towards Ichiraku.
He turned the next corner of the silent road and pulled back the familiar curtain.
"Naruto!" The old man shouted as Naruto chose a random seat.
"It's been a while. How is Hokage treating you?" Teuchi asked with a small smirk.
The younger man smiled, "Good, busy though. I had no idea it was so much work."
Teuchi faked a gasp, "Busy? Being Hokage? No!"
Naruto rolled his eyes, then chuckled suddenly.
"What?" The man asked as he turned around to make "The Usual."
"Nothing, nothing. It's just I always dreamed of having this kind of conversation with you when I was younger." Naruto laughed again, louder this time.
Teuchi smiled, "I can imagine. It's like every other word that came out of your mouth was Hokage."
"Hey, you know me. Once Naruto Uzamaki wants something, he'll stop at nothing to achieve it!" The Blond joked, mimicking the time he had come here when he was younger, a few days after the "Sasuke Incident."
They both laughed at the memory, until Teuchi suddenly hushed.
"Say, Naruto, any news on him? You know- Uchiha?" He asked in a whisper, cuffing his hand over his mouth.
Naruto blinked, then looked down, "Not recently, no."
There were a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, the camaraderie of the moment completely gone. The old man had forgotten about what his daughter, Ayame, had warned him. Whenever somebody even mentioned Sasuke's name in front of Naruto, he'd turn into a completely different person.
"Eto, Naruto-" He started, only to realize the blond had ducked out of the ramen shop, his money on the table.
Naruto ran back down the street towards his mansion, not wanting to think about his old friend any more than he already had that day. He didn't mean to be rude to Tuechi, but he honestly couldn't help it. Thinking about Sasuke for too long hurt too much.
Naruto bit his lip and pushed his legs faster, wanting nothing more than to be in his bed under the covers, away from everything.
He was running so fast he hadn't even realized he had almost ran over Ino.
"N-Naruto? What's gotten into you?" She shouted, and sighed as he ignored her and ran off.
The Hokage eventually made it to his giant mansion, whirling the doors open and bursting inside. He ignored the worried and confused looks his guards sent him, and shuffled upstairs to his room. He pulled open the big doors and let out a deep sigh, then trudged to his bed. He pulled off his orange coat (even if he was Hokage, he had argued that "It was his signature") and face planted into his mattress, letting his muscles relax and his breathing slow.
Naruto felt guilty about Ino and Teuchi. It wasn't their fault. It was his.
Why can't I just get over it, like everyone else?
He thought, and reached for the headband sitting on his nightstand. He ran his thumb over the leaf symbol imprinted over the front, then buried his face into his sheets.
Sasuke, when are you coming home?
o0o0o
"Sasuke! Sasuke, wait up will you!" Suigetsu shouted in annoyance as they jumped from tree to tree. Sasuke ignored him, and just kept running. He heard a heavy groan, before a loud thump. The raven rolled his eyes, then finally turned around.
Suigetsu was sitting on a tree branch, arms crossed and two giant bags of money on either side of him.
"What are you doing?" Sasuke asked angrily.
"Well, I'm sitting here until you tell me what the hell we're doing!" He yelled, shaking his arms above his head.
"We're running away before we get caught for stealing this money, so get up." Sasuke explained matter-of-factly, turning around.
"Is that all we're running away from?" Suigetsu muttered under his breath, preparing to stand back up. Sasuke whirled back around.
"Excuse me?" He fired at him, giving the other boy a deadly glare.
Suigetsu rolled his eyes, "I said, is that all we're running away from?"
Sasuke clenched his fists. Suigetsu was walking on broken glass, now.
He smirked, and crossed his arms, "Ooh, if looks could kill. Just admit it Sasuke, you have absolutely no idea what the fuck we're doing."
The raven looked away, but his glare didn't cease.
Suigetsu snorted, "Good enough. Now, how about you do the poor people who's money you just stole a big favor, and put the bags down."
Sasuke growled, but did what he was told.
"Good, now tell me this, what were you even planning to do with that money?" The purple-eyed boy frowned and crossed his arms.
"Burn it." Sasuke muttered, still looking away.
Suigetsu huffed, "Really. You just snuck into one of the highest guarded cities in the entire Fire Country, robbed a bank, injured a bunch of people, and actually made it out alive just to burn the money."
It wasn't a question. That's honestly what happened.
Sasuke nodded as if that was the most logical thing he'd ever heard.
Suigetsu groaned in frustration, "What are we doing, Sasuke? Why am I still here? Are you even planning on destroying Konoha anymore? Or can I just go home to my nice laboratory now?"
The raven mumbled something, and looked down.
"What was that?" Suigetsu asked in annoyance.
"I said I don't know!" Sasuke screamed, still looking down. The other boy blinked, utterly shocked. He'd never heard Sasuke use more than one tone when speaking.
In that one scream, he heard so many different emotions. In that one scream, he learned more about Sasuke than he had throughout his entire time traveling with him. Sasuke was in pain. More pain than he'd ever felt. He was torn between feelings and ideas. He wanted something, but in order to obtain that something, he had to do something he didn't want to do. And if he didn't do it, he'd be hurting something else.
Suigetsu smiled apologetically, then shook his head.
"Ok, ok. Look, Sasuke. I like you. I don't know why, but after all this time traveling and getting yelled at, I kind of have a soft spot for you. Not really, but it's there. So, I just want you to know, that like… You can tell me about anything. Alright?" He explained in an annoyed tone, but Sasuke could tell he was sincere. He rolled his eyes.
"I don't need your pity." He muttered.
"Ok, Sasuke, then what do you need? What do you want? What are you proving by doing this anymore?"
"…" Sasuke looked away, "Nothing. I'm not trying to prove anything."
"Then why not go back to Konoha?" Suigetsu shouted, getting annoyed.
"I hate Konoha!" Sasuke yelled, his stare snapping back to the other boy.
"Why? Because, like, twenty years ago some crazy shit happened? It wasn't Konoha's fault, it was those twisted leaders and you know that! So why the hell won't you just admit you want to go back but you feel guilty about Itachi!" Suigetsu screamed, the tone of his voice raising with every word.
Sasuke's eyes shot open.
He knew?
"Yeah, I know." Suigetsu sighed, reading his mind.
Sasuke frowned, "That's not true-"
"Oh stop lying! You're not fooling anyone!" The other boy shouted.
They were both quiet for a long moment, before Suigetsu spoke again.
"Just go home, Sasuke. You belong there. You're too good at heart to be a rogue ninja." He teased, a small grin taking ship on his mouth.
Sasuke swallowed, then turned back around, "Well, tragic."
Suigetsu blinked.
"Because, to Konoha, that's what I am."
The other boy let out a breath, then picked the giant bags of money back up.
Well, I thought I got through to him…
But, when Suigetsu made it back to their hide out, Sasuke wasn't there.
He was running. And this time, not away.