Konnichi wa!
Wah! It seems like all these Redwoods we've been seeing have affected my brain – while we were in Sequoia National Forest a couple days back, I got this one shot into my head. For kicks, I decided to write it. It actually turned out better than I expected:D
We're on the borders of Yosemite National park now, and thank God the place we're staying has free WiFi! XD
And there are so many HOT guys in this camp we're staying at! 8D
Hot guys that don't speak English! XP
They're speaking German. It seems like the entire camp has been taken over by sexy, six-pack-carrying, German-speaking hot guys. –rolls eyes- Tsk. Go figure.
Anyway, there's serious matter I must tell you all of.
There is a magnificent AU fanfic, Sasuke-centered. It's called Fire and Ice, and it is absolutely AMAZING! My writing PALES in comparison to this story – no joke! Please go read it and review. The writer said it was discontinued because she/he thought it was too out of proportion from the Naruto Canon. I read it, and reviewed for every chapter. I PMed her/him to ask if she/he could start up again, and he/she said they'd try.
You can find it in Kuyeng13's C2 – The Best AU Fanfics I Can Find – or something of that nature. You could also find it if you go to my profile and go under Author's Favorites.
Please read it you guys – it's simply AMAZING and her/his work is positively ASTOUNDING!
But, before you do, enjoy this silly oneshot:D
One Shot
Redwood Glory
The boy was crying. His sobs were deafened by a sodden pillow, but that didn't stop his best friend from hearing, and climbing up a tall pine tree to knock on the smaller child's window.
Teary-eyed, the other looked up to see the blonde looking at him through his window, eyes narrowed in concern.
Quickly, he dried up his tears and went to the window, opening it to let his friend inside.
"Did he make you cry again, Sasuke?" The blonde asked. Sasuke sniffed and nodded.
"Yes – Father is never happy with me."
Naruto sighed, but then he brightened.
"Sasuke, how much money have you saved up?" He asked. Sasuke blinked, and looked up in thought.
"About thirty dollars. Why?"
Naruto grinned.
"Bring it with you. I'm going to take you somewhere great!"
Sasuke blinked, and then grinned back at his friend, his sadness completely gone.
"Okay!"
Assisting each other, they climbed down the large pine tree and – taking Sasuke's hand – Naruto led him away from the large Uchiha estate.
Sneaking past the multiple security cameras, they crept away from the land and Naruto let Sasuke experience a day outside the estate for the first time.
"Naruto, where are you taking me?" He asked as his friend insistently tugged on his hand, leading him through the trees. Naruto turned his head to look over his shoulder at Sasuke and grinned.
"You'll see!"
They walked for hours it seemed to the young Uchiha, climbing over rocks and fallen logs and crossing cool streams and they traveled through the early morning summer air – cooler than normal for a summer.
"I want to show you something!" Naruto told Sasuke as they walked, entering a market with the building made of logs where they bought drinks to quench their thirst. "It's absolutely amazing!"
Sasuke – with that little push – bolted forward and ran with Naruto, flying over the lush landscape thick with the calls of songbirds and cries of falcons and hawks and eagles. Their hands still clasped, they ran through the forest, laughing and pulling each other along with bright smiles on their faces. Sasuke knew that his parents must have been worried, but seeing Naruto smile at him, his hand warm in the blonde's, made him – for that one day – forget his family. He played and laughed with Naruto with more energy than he ever realized he had.
After a few hours of fun, Sasuke began to wonder where Naruto was taking him – began to wonder how Naruto knew his way around a forest that looked the same wherever the small Uchiha looked.
"We're almost there!" Naruto assured him, as if sensing the smaller boy's doubt. "Just a little more!"
Sasuke – after a moment – grinned at the blonde and followed him with renewed vigor.
A few more minutes of walking, and they came upon a dense brush that blocked the eye from seeing ahead. Naruto grinned at the other.
"We're here!"
Sasuke cocked his head at Naruto, and then looked at the brush again, unable to believe that THIS was what the blonde had wanted to show him.
Naruto – seeing the other's face – laughed.
"No! Not the bush! See, we have to push it to the side!" As he spoke, he grabbed a thick branch and pulled it to the side, allowing Sasuke to pass through. The Uchiha immediately turned and assisted Naruto, letting him reach the other side of the thick brush as well. Laughing, Naruto grasped the other's hand and turned him. "Look!"
Sasuke's eyes went wide.
They were in a large clearing, but in the very center of this clearing stood something unlike anything Sasuke had ever seen!
The first thing he saw was a monstrous base – nearly fifty feet in diameter – and his eyes trailed upwards to see the blood red trunk of a huge tree, stretching upwards past the tops of the other pines and making their height seemingly shrink when compared to the huge tree in front of them. The branches at the very top of the monster seemed to scrape across the sky, and Sasuke – for many moments – couldn't speak, couldn't look away from the glorious living tower. He guessed the tree was at least four hundred feet tall!
This is the work of God. Sasuke thought numbly. It HAS to be – God lives in this tree!
"Wow…" he breathed. "Naruto… what IS this?"
Naruto grinned.
"This is one of the sacred Redwood trees. They've been around for thousands of years, and are the tallest trees in the world! This tree is at least five thousand years old!"
Sasuke's eyes were wide.
"Five thousand… that's older than this village!" He exclaimed. Naruto nodded.
Sasuke could merely look up at the tree and all its glory, but then his eyes narrowed and he turned to look at Naruto.
"Naruto."
The blonde looked from the tree to him.
"What?"
Sasuke's eyes shown.
"I want to plant a Redwood of my own! C'mon! I think I saw that shop we visited selling something like that! Hurry!"
Grinning, Naruto grabbed Sasuke's hand and led him away. Before the glorious tree vanished from sight, Sasuke turned his head and drilled it into his mind, willing himself to remember it.
They arrived at the store quickly, and a quick glance around let Sasuke find a row of small cylinders, a small, miniature Redwood inside it, barely a foot tall.
Sasuke – after a moment of surveying the thing – was disappointed.
"This little thing will grow into that big tree?" He asked the air. Naruto blinked at him and then smiled.
"Yep! It will!" He ruffled Sasuke's hair affectionately. "But remember – only after five thousand years! Everything starts out small." He smiled down at the younger boy. "But, if you give it time, it'll grow into something amazing!" He grinned again. "I guarantee it!"
Sasuke, smiling, went to the cashier and bought the small little tree.
Then the two retraced their steps back to the big tree, and – together – they planted the small seedling a few dozen feet from the massive Redwood, throwing dirt at each other playfully and laughing.
"Naruto," Sasuke said as they planted the little tree with tender care, on their knees on either side of the small plant. Naruto looked up at him, his eyes bright. Sasuke smiled. "Maybe, in a few thousand years, we can come back to this same spot! And then THIS tree will be as big as the other one! What do you think?"
Naruto blinked, and then grinned.
"Yeah! But in a few years, let's come back beforehand, so we can put our initials into the bark. In a few thousand years, we might forget which tree it is! At least, that way, we'll know it's ours."
Sasuke – after a moment of thought – nodded and smiled brightly.
"Yeah!"
A few years later, they did just that.
Five Thousand Years Later…
The village was a city now, and the Redwoods now surrounded the buildings, awed and revered by all as the most sacred, most elegant, most glorious trees alive. People flocked all over the world to see them, and the people of the city were proud of their giant Redwoods.
The oldest family in the city – the Uchiha clan – was in charge of protecting these ancient trees, and they periodically visited the giant trees with their children in order for the boys and girls to learn about the importance of these glorious lives that towered over them.
One boy – a teenager, actually – trailed away from the large group of children, his best friend in tow.
As they wandered, gazing upwards in awe at the huge trees, one massive one caught the Uchiha's eye, and he turned to it. His friend, realizing he had stopped walking, turned as well.
"What is it?" He asked. The Uchiha shook his head, and slowly – as if in a trance – walked towards the huge Redwood – one that had to be at least five thousand years old and over five hundred feet tall. It was the tallest one in the sanctuary, and the Uchiha felt small and insignificant underneath it. But – at the same time – he felt a sense of belonging, of safety – like he had been there before.
"Nothing. Look at this tree," he motioned to the massive trunk. "Have you ever seen anything like this?"
His friend looked up at the tree and then shook his head. "No – I haven't. Why? Haven't you seen this tree before?"
The Uchiha shook his head.
"No – this is my first time at the sanctuary. But I feel like I've seen this tree before." He drifted closer to the sixty-foot wide base, and out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a massive tree stump to the far side, overgrown with moss and smaller plants.
His friend grinned.
"Well, maybe you have," he laughed. The Uchiha rolled his eyes and got so close that he could see the markings on the tree. Chuckling, his friend came to his side.
The Uchiha's eyes widened. He raised a hand and set it on the tree trunk, running his fingers over the etchings that were obviously thousands of years old.
Carved into the bark was an 'S' and an 'N', and something else underneath it that had been rubbed away with age – only those two letters remained.
"Look," he breathed, caressing the letters with a featherlike touch. His friend saw too.
"Yes. I wonder where those came from. What do you suppose they mean?"
The Uchiha couldn't answer – he just knew that as soon as he saw the letters a deep sense of peace and completion had washed over him, and he couldn't stop a wide, satisfied smile from shaping his lips.
"I don't know, Naruto," he breathed softly, his eyes sparkling with a love the blonde had never seen before. "I just don't know."
The Uchiha's family had found them.
"Naruto!" The Uchiha's mother called. "Sasuke! Hurry up!"
Exchanging glances, the two turned from the tree and ran to catch up with the Uchiha's mother, but right before they turned the corner, Sasuke turned his head and took in the Redwood's glory once again, drilling it into his mind, willing himself to remember.
Laughing, the two ran to the large group, smiles on their faces.
On the magnificent tree, it seemed like a spark of fire had begun in the bark, for next to the two letters, something was carved into the soft wood, set so deep into the bark that it would last for eternity.
Sasuke and Naruto.
Best Friends Forever.
End One Shot – Redwood Glory
I think it ended very nicely:D
But once again you guys – Fire and Ice, by Undertaker of the Sith. GO READ.
Review?
Ja ne!
DDB