DYING – extremely short preview
By keL-rebecca
Disclaimer: As much as my blood is already composed of fangirl love cells for this series, I'm afraid I still don't have the right to own it. Boohoo.
NOTE: This is the shortest story preview in the world. It doesn't satisfy me at all reading it—it's that much of a two-sided cliffhanger. Just letting you guys know that I'm still alive and that my love for SasukexNaruto has been intensified because of the latest chapters of the manga. I'll try to post the chapters soon coz there's so much to do around here.
The sun was already at the center of the sky by the time Naruto left his one-bedroom apartment. Though he had enough money saved up for a more decent place, he chose to stay in what others called a dump, mainly because it had been his home for the longest time and home was something irreplaceable.
Unrolling the scroll he had fished out of his pocket, Naruto reviewed his lineup of missions for that day. Most of them were very simple: delivering 200 packages around Konoha in under an hour, helping to repair a small group of houses, going to the school to talk in front of a young genin class about the chuunin lifestyle, and doing some paperwork in the Konoha headquarters. All of the tasks were fine with Naruto; at least he will have to chance to go home early and eat at Ichiraku's. But instead of starting right away, as he entered the area of Konoha Park thick with trees, Naruto spotted something that interested him enough to pull the missions out of his mind—at least for a while.
Pale fingers ran through charcoal tresses as a sigh was heaved between a pair of thin red lips. A bead of sweat trickled down a slender neck to go further down a chiseled chest. Raven eyes spotted a shadow from behind.
"Not so subtle today, aren't we, dobe?"
"Teme…You never let me surprise you," Naruto jumped off the high tree branch, landing perfectly on the ground sprinkled with grass.
Sasuke smirked—his usual reaction to the orange-loving boy. "Who'd be surprised by that entrance? I bet even that punk Konohamaru would've been able to see you. Usurakontachi," The smirk widened when Naruto pouted enough to resemble a dog upon hearing the insulting name. Of course, Naruto wasn't about to be defeated.
"Darn you, Sasuke!" In a split second Naruto had tackled Sasuke, who was slightly off-guard because he was busy moving a large piece of wood (one of his tasks). Sasuke quickly countered the attack, Naruto followed it with another, and soon the two were battling for dominance. They kept rolling on the dirt, gaining mild bruises and patches of soil on their clothes, until, for some reason, Sasuke stopped struggling and allowed Naruto to win.
Naruto looked at the form under him. He was on his knees and palms, while Sasuke lay on his back with his head thrown back at a tiny angle. Both were trying to catch their breaths, but Sasuke appeared to be more tired by the way he was sweating and breathing hard. Naruto also noticed that Sasuke's cheeks had a tinge of pink, which was a rare thing to happen to the Uchiha.
"What'd you do last night to stress you out this much, Sasuke-teme?" teased Naruto, a sly grin on his face. "Didn't know you had someone,"
"I don't," said Sasuke hastily. Too hastily perhaps.
"Then what's wrong? You can usually put up a good two-hour match,"
Sasuke turned his head to the side. The blush didn't go away. "I was just thinking…" Naruto waited for him to continue. "…why after all this time, no matter how frequently I call you names…" Sasuke looked right at the blonde. "…you're still affected and end up fighting me,"
Naruto frowned and reddened at the same time. "W-what're you getting at, teme?"
"I'm saying that, I don't know what you're thinking all the time, dobe, but I feel like you're using my insults so you can have an excuse to be here with me," What struck Naruto were not Sasuke's words as they were, but those words with that expression and that tone.
The fox got off the snake.
"You're sick, Sasuke!" shouted Naruto, pointing a finger at his friend, "Why the hell would I want to be with you?"
Sasuke slowly stood up. The look on his face never changed; his eyes remained highly suggestive. "Well, don't you want to?" He asked in an amazingly innocent manner.
"Of course not!" defended Naruto. "I have better things to do than waste my time here, you know!"
"You came here on your own, dobe. I think that fact and what you just said are quite contradicting."
Naruto wanted to argue more, but he suddenly ran out of things to say. He did the only think he could do that moment: glare at Sasuke and try to melt him away. When it made no effect whatsoever, Naruto gave an irritated grunt and left, jumping from one tree to another.
In silence, Sasuke followed Naruto with his eyes until the blonde was out of sight. It was then that he removed his calm mask and resumed catching his breath, which was still short from their 'fight.' Placing his right hand over his heart, Sasuke realized something.
I can't play with that dobe anymore.
When the thought consumed him completely, his tears didn't stop falling for a time.