TITLE: BEHIND WALLS

WARNINGS: Spoilers for Sasuke's past, GEN, ANGST

DISCLAIMER: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto and I'm only borrowing his universe for fun.

SUMMARY: Sasuke gets lonely too.

WWWW

Sometimes Sasuke was tired of being alone.

Sometimes he looked at Naruto and Sakura and wished that he could drop his walls and become himself with them.

The himself he had been before Itachi had his bloody massacre. The himself who had smiled at jokes, who had played with children, who had shyly introduced himself to other Konoha kids.

Sometimes it hurt to turn away from Sakura's pleading face as she asked to sit with him for lunch. Sometimes his heart twinged when he snubbed Naruto and he saw that bright smile crack.

Sometimes his knees trembled as he turned away from them because he will never admit it but he was scared that one day he will turn back to see his older brother standing there blood-streaked while Naruto and Sakura and Kakashi-sensei lie dead on the ground.

But Sasuke no longer knew any other way. The barriers were set in stone, and it became easier and easier to walk away without hurting.

The sun fell on his last day in Konoha, and Sasuke felt nothing at all.

-FIN-