together, whole:


Suigetsu meets her when she's a stripper called Chidori.

He watches her take off the stilettos and rub her face. He tells her she is more beautiful and more deadly than a moonlit dagger, and she says, "Screw you." The lights make her eyes red.

He laughs, leaves her twenty dollars for an undone service.


She seeks him out two years later and tells him she quit, after she stabbed her boyfriend Kabuto.

"I need to get my life back on track and I remembered you."

Suigetsu gets her a job at his cousin's diner, Mist. She ends up quitting for a job as a mechanic. She likes to take things apart, and he admires that. They are alike - they destroy. Yet, she can also fix what's broken.

They're sitting, now, in comfortable silence and he asks, "What's your real name?"

"You can call me Sasuke," She says and pauses. "I haven't… it's been a while since anyone's called me Sasuke."

"Hi Sasuke, I'm Suigetsu." He reaches over and grabs her hand.

She lets him hold it.


the first time.


He turns up at her doorstep with a too-large smile and shifting eyes. "Hey, Sasuke, can I come in?"

"It's three in the morning," She yawns and his foot goes tap tap tap tap.

"I killed a man," Suigetsu says in a low voice, and she moves and he slips inside.

She locks the door. "Who?"

"Some bastard named Hisao."

She nods. "You need to hide?"

"Yeah. His guys will be looking for me."

"Will they come here?"

"No."

She gives a tight smile. "Okay. You're sleeping on the couch."

"But I wanna sleep with you!"

"No."


when I'm sleeping, I dream of you

when I'm awake, I dream of you still


She wakes up to find the idiot sprawled next to her.

"Suigetsu!"

"Ehh?" He blearily rubs his eyes as she pads off to the bathroom.

"Why'd you wake me, Sasuke?" He asks and she simply shrugs.

"Bitch," he says cheerfully, stealing a spare toothbrush and kissing her cheek.

She rolls her eyes and moves around him. "Where shall we go today?"

He raises an eyebrow. "I get to choose?"

She nods.

He grins, suddenly excited. "Let's go swimming."


There's blood in the water but Sasuke is phenomenal. She pulls a knife from her hip and lets out a hiss that's almost demonic. She's fast - and then it's all over and she turns to him with a scowl.

"They found you."

"Let's go," He says instead, rips his shirt to make a makeshift bandaid. "And he got your arm."

He looks at her, red lips and blood and pale skin, and thinks his Snow White doesn't need a prince.


the second time is for her.


He decides to walk her home from work. She's wearing stained jeans and an old shirt of her brother's.

"It's late," Sasuke's hand is in his. Her nails are painted black today.

"Yeah." He says. He has a feeling she's talking about something else.

Someone barrels into them and Sasuke's ripped from him.

He shoots.

He almost hits her in his fury, but her surprise has worn off and her foot sinks into the guy's body. Pushes the bullet deeper.

She walks back to him, her eyes scanning the surroundings. "Come on."

Suigetsu snatches her knife and slits the man's throat. They dump the body in the river after Sasuke mutilates his face beyond recognition.

They walk home, and Suigetsu mentions a nice little town out by the mountains.


He spends most of his time in her house.

He wakes to the sound of Sasuke laughing, shrieking, going absolutely mad in the prison of her mind.

He gives her a good hard slap and she screams at him; he shouts, "We all have our demons!"

She asks him about his.

They break out the drinks and she does a dance for him, and then he grabs her and sways with her. "Has anyone danced with you like this?"

She gives a tiny smile. "No."

Suigetsu twirls her around. "Well, you've just lost your ballroom dancing virginity, then."


They climb to the top of the mountain to watch fireworks.

"I miss my best friend." She murmurs. "Naruto loves things like this."

"I'm not your best friend?" Suigetsu teases, and her lips quirk.

"You're something entirely different to me."


there is an ocean in my heart

warmed only by your sunlight


They're questioned by the police in December.

Sasuke's fists clench when they mention her brother.

Suigetsu says easily, "You're going to believe some thugs over us?"

"Can we just ask some questions?" Good Cop asks.

They wriggle out of it with the help of a lawyer, Juugo; he's smooth and collected. When he hears Suigetsu's had unprotected sex before, he goes a little beserk. Suigetsu tells him to calm the hell down and that no, the guy did not get pregnant.

They burn their houses down in February and move south. Suigetsu dyes his hair silver and Sasuke stops spiking her hair. It curls down around her shoulders, soft as feathers.


He gets the urge to strangle a red-haired woman one night, makes the mistake of telling Sasuke this.

When she turns up dead, Sasuke's eyes flicker to him.

"It wasn't me." Suigetsu says. He desperately wants her to believe him. This time he let her go, and this time someone else got her. The woman was fated to die.

"It wasn't you," Sasuke repeats.

He shakes his head. "Please, Sasuke. You have to believe me."

She turns away. "I'm going to get some coffee."


Suigetsu shows up on her doorstep with bloody shoes.

"What?" Sasuke asks tiredly.

"Let me in," Suigetsu growls, brushing past her.

Sasuke locks the door. "What. Is it. Now. Suigetsu."

"I've been framed this time-"

"Like every time, it seems."

Suigetsu scowls. "You're the one who stabbed her ex-boyfriend."

"You're the current killer," Sasuke snaps, reaching for her purse. "How much money do you need?"

"Everything you have."

Sasuke's eyes flash and he remembers she is still very capable with knives.

"Why? Who was it?"

"Orochimaru."

"My uncle's dead?"

"Oh. Right. Yeah."

Sasuke throws fifty at him. "Get the hell out and call me as soon as you're safe."

Suigetsu nods, leans forward, and kisses her cheek. "Thanks, beautiful."


He can't stop thinking about her.


the stars are nothing like your eyes


Sasuke jumps into the taxi and screams, "Drive, drive, damn you!"

Suigetsu drives.

She's shaking, sitting right next to him and seeming worlds away.

"What's wrong?" He asks carefully. They're at a red light.

"You're back. Why?" Sasuke asks through gritted teeth.

"To see you," Suigetsu says and Sasuke groans.

"You could've gotten caught!"

"We can just go for a drive," Suigetsu shrugs, tugging his purple cap down over his hair. "You're not happy to see me?"

"No." Sasuke scowls, but she's never fazed him.

"I missed you." He says quietly. She sighs.

"And I missed you too, but you don't see me doing stupid things."

"You got in the car." Suigetsu grins, and she gives a chuckle.

"Yeah. Okay. Yeah."

Green light. They drive.


end.


a/n: this started out as three snippets on my tumblr.

lovelyspiral . tumblr . com

I kept Naruto's gender ambiguous x) I like to think Suigetsu writes Sasuke poems and they're clinging to each other in their sea of guilt and regret. It was really fun writing this, I hope you like it.