Author: Dark Toy
Disclaimer: Naruto Belongs to Kishimoto.
Rating: … Dunno… Mature? Something like that….
Pairings: SasuNaru, slight ItaNaru (cause I love those two )
Beta: Cepheus/StarsOfYaoi. (I love your work!!!!!!)
A/N: This goes to Cepheus/StarsOfYaoi/MasterFranny cause... I had a moment of inspiration, probably because of you... And I still want to kill you for making Naru-chan suffer in "Poisoned Lullaby", and I can't find the strength in myself to keep reading it...
And about Sacrifice of Flames... well... let my muse come home!! ToT
Title: Flowers in the Moonlight
Summary: Five years in darkness. Five years in silence, his voice breaking it from time to time. Five years of flowers blooming out of pain and tears...
……………………………………………
The door suddenly opened.
The silence was broken with the noise, and the light of a torch entered the room.
It wasn't quite a cell… it was more like a small room in a temple, dark and suffocating, and the walls were curving as to form a hexagon; long stripes of talismans were hanging from the walls, most of them forming a circle around the center, much like a curtain.
By how they were moving and swinging to invisible breeze, they looked like they were protecting the core…
Protecting instead of caging…
"Please, close the door. The light hurts my eyes…"
That voice. It sounded so small… so frail…
It wasn't desperate, or panicked, it was more like… tired.
With a single swift movement, the 'visitor' locked the door behind his back. The darkness returned, enveloping the room, and a sigh of relief was heard from the middle of the swaying stripes.
The figure realized now that the place smelled strangely like flowers. As if there was life in there… but at the same time, so much darkness was unnerving. It felt suffocating and disturbing.
"Thank you" the voice spoke again in soft tones. "I was thinking you could be one of the guards… but it has been a long time since the last time someone came here".
The stranger moved closer to the curtain, a bit unsteady, but stopped before he could open them. He was hesitating… maybe uncertain as to what he would see.
"It's good to have visitors once in a while… I'm so used to speaking to myself, but it gets kinda boring after a few months. So I started to speak to flowers, insects, and even rats" the words were followed by a clipped laugh.
A small squeak was heard, quickly recognized as a mouse's. The figure then could hear the squeak turning sharper and more desperate after a moment.
"Now Ku-chan, you are my dinner tonight. No hard feelings ok?"
The sound became more like a scream, then there was a sharp cracking sound, and the squeaking abruptly stopped. The occupant of the room was eating.
"Are you disgusted?" there was a light amusement in the other's voice. "Well let me tell you, eating rats is better than nothing… my kingdom for a cup of ramen!" whined the voice.
There was some more rustling behind the seals, shuffling and shifting. The figure outside silently moved forward, a kunai in one hand.
"Are you going to kill me?" the question held no fear, just curiosity.
A moment of hesitation…
And then the talismans and the seals fell to the floor, torn in pieces, the scribbles in black ink now useless.
"Ne Sasuke… you did always make the most spectacular appearances…"
Sasuke didn't speak, he just watched, not able to voice what he felt. Even in the darkness of the room, he simply watched.
Naruto on his own did not move from his spot on the floor, legs sprawled around him, neither did he open his eyes. He'd sensed him and his presence, but he wouldn't look at him.
"I always wondered what would happen If you were to come here," the blond teen said softly. He smiled a little, and his fingers moved on the floor, searching for something.
"Five years ago, I became a threat for Konoha. The council, knowing that they couldn't kill me… trying to find a way to control me… they told me… 'We'll execute your friends. We'll destroy everything you hold dear. You don't want that, do you? You don't want them to be treated and executed as traitors.' and I said, 'No… I'll do as you say'. And my friends went berserk…"
There was silence. And then Naruto started to laugh. Hard…
"It was so funny! All that people screaming for justice! Justice for me, can you imagine that! And then, all Konoha went insane. Everyone knew I was the Kyuubi. I was locked in here. And I was happy, because no one would be in danger anymore".
A soft sigh, barely above the silence.
"Tsunade baa–chan was kicked out, had to resign. Too old to be Hokage, they said… And I knew they did it because she grew too fond to me. Maybe they didn't do the same to the Sandaime because I was still weak back then, I can't know".
Sasuke stood still in the same spot, hearing that voice go on. Absorbing everything, every single word. Why wasn't he speaking?
'Because you are in pain… You feel pain for him, and you want to take that from him' he quietly told himself.
"Years passed. Shino would speak to me through his insects. Then I would hear Iruka-sensei screaming on the other side of the door, while he endlessly banged on it" there was a smile on his lips. "Sometimes Sakura-chan and Hinata-chan would be crying as well and Ino would be trying to calm them down… I felt good. It felt so good to know someone cared… but I never answered their calls, because it would have only made them more desperate".
Sasuke, felt his knuckles turn white of the pressure. So much rage. No one deserved this treatment… no one deserved this pain!
Especially not Naruto, above all of them.
"There was a little spider…" Naruto went on. "I called her Michiru. She told me, 'Shino-sama says that Gaara-sama is going to break a war to get you out' and I told her, 'Stop that. Tell Shino to stop Gaara. That is my wish'. 'Why? Don't you want to go out?', she asked me. 'No If that means hurting innocent people in a war… no more blood… not for me' I said".
The Blond teen looked like he had finally found what he was searching for.
There was dirt. Sasuke hadn't realised it before, but there was dirt in certain spots of the floor around Naruto. And he watched the best he could, as the boy (now a grown young man) dug a small hole there.
And still Naruto continued speaking. "There was no war, but then Michiru came again… She said, 'Uchiha-sama killed the snake and became Otokage' Now, that was a hell of a surprise teme… You, Otokage! I laughed all night along! And it was ok, at least you realized a part of the dream I could never have".
There was a flicker of light. More like flickers, several fireflies of a blood-red colour moving around Naruto's hand.
The fireflies, Sasuke then realised were Naruto's chakra in a different form, moved into the earth, and ever so slowly, a plant started to grow from there.
Then all the soil around Naruto filled with blood–red fireflies, and more plants started to sprout everywhere he could look. And yet the blond didn't move, nor open his eyes.
"Michiru never came back, and all my friends left Konohagakure" he finished.
The small fireflies disappeared, disintegrating in the air, but the plants remained.
"There was silence, and darkness. And I liked it. Because there was no pain, no sorrow, no hurtful words… I was peaceful… In the darkness I felt safe. There was no more sunlight for me. Light hurts. After so many years in darkness, the light hurts and blinds my eyes…"
Another sigh, and Sasuke felt his body tremble out of control. He felt cold.
"But I did have a visitor. One that you should know pretty well…" the blond said with a knowing smile. "Itachi came by at some point…"
Sasuke froze. He felt a little sick, but mostly, the old familiar rage came back full force.
"He came here to take me… He still wanted the Bijuu, you know. But I told him the truth –'I'm the Bijuu now. You can't take away with you what's a part of me'. And he left, but came back some time later. I'm not sure how much time has passed, I lost count, in there".
Almost sheepish.
"But the moment he came in… I knew that I would be counting on his presence a lot. He came and went, and sometimes he didn't even stay more than a minute or two…" the blond smiled fondly at the memory.
"Did you know he's a musician of some sort? A talented one, I have to admit it… Damn you Uchihas and your gift for perfection!" He laughed. Sasuke stared, hard.
"The weasel played the Nohka for me. And I started to cry from joy, 'cause I never thought that the sound of a flute could make someone remember so much… He never spoke though. He only listened to my rambling… But it was fine. It made me feel safe".
Naruto shifted a little on the spot, uncomfortably.
"If you ever fight him… I think that for the first time... I wouldn't take your part…" he quietly admitted.
Sasuke gritted his teeth, his nails digging into his skin, drawing crescents of blood.
"Even if he didn't speak, I understood him. Or at least, I tried… He really loves you Sasuke. And since he knows you wouldn't understand what he did, why he did it… he prepared the stage so that you would know what it felt like… the anger, the rage…" he was searching for the right words. "But at the same time, he asked you to kill him. He asked for you to put an end to his life… I don't really know how to explain it. It's like… He wants you to feel the same he felt back then, but at the same time, he is giving you a chance to let out all that rage…"
A pause.
"I can't even explain it! You Uchiha's are sooooooooooo fucked up!"
Silence again. Sasuke did not think about those words… he couldn't. Because If he did, he might forgot what he swore to himself.
Naruto didn't pursue the matter anymore… Perhaps he understood.
And Sasuke was starting to believe that those five years in a cage had made him grow wiser. Insanity was present as well, uncomfortably so, but… It was a different kind of madness. It was a kind that needed just time and care to heal.
It was the kind that had a cure…
"I always liked the moonlight better. The Moonlight has always been beautiful to me. It has always been cold, but it made me feel better somehow… and that was the last gift Tsunade baa–chan offered me. The moonlight…"
The blond boy made a series of hand–seals, and a faint glowing started to appear in the room.
Above them, Sasuke could see the roof disappear. And ever so slowly, the room filled with little glimpses of moonlight. Plants had grown outside the building, covering it completely.
He closed his eyes trying to get accustomed to the faint light, and when he looked again…
Naruto looked awful. Pale, frail, sick. Only a ruined robe covering his lithe frame. The tan that used to be on his skin was no longer there, replaced with a paleness similarto the Uchiha's. The blond hair had grown a little, and was smeared with dirt.
"Nice jutsu ne? The roof is still there but a little of moonlight can come in".
Around them, the plants started to grow flowers. Flowers that were like lilies, but some were bloody red, and some so white that they glowed silver…
"The flowers that bloom in the moonlight are the most beautiful ones… They are born from me. My pain, my sadness, my tears and blood… I love them. I love them because they can't leave me. You know, I always had a thing for plants…"
There was silence again, and Sasuke didn't know what to say. There was nothing he could say.
"And since I can't go out, I made myself learn some useful stuff," Naruto lifted his right hand, and one of the flowers grew in size.
"I can make plants grow, or die. This little ones became my eyes and ears outside this walls… I saw the winter coming, but I couldn't see much more… Even my flowers must die in the ice".
The blond smiled.
"I always dream about this meeting. I would tell you, 'I'm sorry. I couldn't bring you back home' and then you'd look at me, with that damn-God-forbidden-maddening smirk of yours and tell me, 'Usuratonkachi'. That's the moment I wake up and start to cry… Because it's only a dream".
The kitsune smiled sadly, almost sheepishly, at him. His eyes still closed ever since he started to speak.
"But those dreams would always make me wonder… Where is my home? Where do I belong? …I can't answer that… because I don't know anymore…"
He shook his head slowly. His face twisted in silent contemplation.
"But since I was locked here, everything has been like a dream. Even this moment… It's too good to be true. It has to be another dream that will make me cry when waking up… Because Sasuke is never going to come back…"
Naruto's voice turned quiet.
Sasuke felt rage take over him. Rage and desperation.
What had this people done to Naruto?! How dared they…!
"Why don't you disappear already?" the blond looked really puzzled.
"I'm real… Usuratonkachi".
There was a pause, and Naruto started to tremble lightly. For a moment Sasuke was afraid that he was going to collapse.
"It… It… can't be you… This… this is just a dream. This has to be just a dream!!!" the blond was hysterical, embracing himself and hiding his face in the crook of his arms.
So much time alone, living only of stories of his own making…
"This has to be just another foolish dream… so I can hope… I can hope that…"
"… that…?" the raven prodded.
"… that you might care…" was his whispered answer.
Sasuke waited a moment before moving. He had to do this right. He had to.
"Dobe, open your eyes. I'm here and I do care…" He approached the other teen slowly.
Naruto finally did as he was asked.
Cerulean eyes opened ever so slowly, the teen frowning a little trying to adjust himself to the small light. Slit pupils slowly focusing on him.
Realization dawned on the poor blond, and his eyes widened impossibly.
"This can't be happening!" he curled into a ball, shaking like a leaf.
"It is happening" one step closer
"You are not here!"
"I am here" another step.
Sasuke stood in front of the wide-eyed young man, not blinking or turning away. He had to look, and remember this scene forever.
"You can't be real!"
"I'm fucking real!" He yanked his arm roughly, finally touching him, and the other fell limp in his hold.
Sasuke could only watch the other's tear–stained face with pained eyes. Naruto's face twisted in something akin to sorrow, but he looked so lost, like he didn't understand anything that was happening to him anymore.
"You… I… I can feel…" blinking at the hand surrounding his arm. "I… Sasuke?" slowly, ever so slowly, he looked up to the raven's face.
"Naruto…" Sasuke spoke for the first time the other's name. Softly, not higher than a whisper.
But for Naruto, who hadn't heard another voice in so long, used only to the sound of his own, it was so loud and clear that it was almost like a scream.
"You… are you really here?"
"I'm here… I'm really here," the light around them dimmed.
The jutsu was starting to fade, and Sasuke could see the frantic look and the panic in the blond's eyes.
Naruto clutched his cloth, almost tearing in the process. New tears running from his eyes. Those eyes never leaving his face, haunted and haunting.
The darkness came again, and Naruto cried harder, sobbing loudly because he could no longer see.
For the first time in a long time, Sasuke held someone in a tight embrace.
He was hugging someone, willingly, holding him in his arms with care and worry, not daring to let him go.
"Sasuke…" that name became a mantra of some sort as Naruto repeated it over and over again, like he was trying to convince himself that it was real, he was there.
Sasuke was here
He was not alone… Not anymore…
"I'm here," Sasuke's voice echoed in the air again. Reassuring him, proving him he wasn't alone. Not anymore, never again.
Touches were exchanged.
Naruto needed to know he was real. Sasuke was real, the world outside was real. That he himself was real.
The raven kissed his forehead, his eyes, his cheeks, his jaw, his lips… touched his body, caressed it, kissed it, moving his fingers over the cold skin, hoping to heat it up…
And Naruto kept crying.
Out of relief, pain, sorrow… Sasuke didn't know. Maybe he cried for all those reasons and more…
Perhaps he would never know.
And perhaps it was better that way.
No words were exchanged. They both knew without doubt how hard everything was at the moment. They knew how frail reality was, so both needed the reassurance
And they surrendered to each other's embrace, holding onto the safety line they were for the other.
Time passed.
Minutes, hours… It didn't matter to them…
By the time Sasuke stepped outside, the sun was starting to rise up on the horizon, and Naruto laid asleep in his arms, curled against his chest, breathing deeply with a peaceful expression on his face.
People gathered around them, some crying, some smiling, faces Sasuke had once known, everyone crowding there to see the sleeping teen, happiness shining in everyone's eyes.
But they only spoke in whispers, not wanting to disturb the poor blond, still curled in Sasuke's embrace.
"Thank you," someone said, their voice shaky with emotion.
"Thank you," others repeated, grateful and happy.
And then a chorus of "Thank you" was heard, everyone repeating those words over and over.
Sasuke paid no heed.
His eyes were fixed solely on the person in his arms, nowhere else.
It was time to set things right… once for all.
……………………………………………
Two nights later, Sasuke came back to that prison above the Hokage Monument.
The place would be demolished. Sasuke would destroy it with his bare hands if needed. And with it, the pain that Naruto went through would disappear as well. Or at least… somewhat heal. He hoped so.
He really wasn't expecting to meet 'that' person there.
But he couldn't say he was really surprised. After all, his aniki always had the ability to appear in the most unexpected moments.
"Otouto…" The older Uchiha hadn't changed much. Older, broader shoulders, and a wise piercing look in his eyes. The Akatsuki cloak forgotten in time.
"Itachi…"
It was weird, no clashing, no cursing, no… rushing to battle.
"Naruto told me you visited him".
"So I did…"
Silence settled. Neither was willing to speak.
"I haven't forgiven you," Sasuke said, watching the building that once held the blond with a disgusted expression.
"I never expected you to…"
The younger Uchiha, walked around the place.
The air around them changed, and Itachi walked away a little.
The thunder god, Raijin, moved forward.
Chidori sparkled in the night, the air running thick and heavy, full of electricity.
On single movement, one smooth motion…
The building started to crumble, the wall blowing as the wave of power left afterwards took care of the rest.
Soon, there were only glimpses of the prison that used to be there. Flowers, memories of Naruto's presence there took over the place, covering everywhere.
Flowers that bloomed in the moonlight.
"Leave… The next time I see you, I will kill you," Sasuke stated, not looking back to his brother as he watched the last of the place crumble.
"You have matured over the time. It's good to know…" Itachi turned around.
Back to back…
Itachi walked away.
"I'll be looking forward to our next meeting otouto… Take care of Naruto-kun".
Sasuke didn't speak, but felt it as Itachi left.
"I'll always take care of him" he finally murmured in the air. But those words were to himself only.
"It's the least I can do… for everything he did for me".
He walked away, never looking back, his feet directing him to where Naruto was sleeping.
He walked away from darkness, and moved towards the light.
"Time to set things right…"
And It was time indeed.
……………………………………………
A/N: And you probably are going to kill me for putting the end there! O
Well guess what, that was my intention from the start!
Did you really think that I would explain everything? Well no, the answer is no. This way your imagination can set the scene you want. So there… Think what you like!
About the Nohka, It's a Japanese flute used in the Noh theatre. I just can picture Itachi playing that flute… Maybe it's because of the style and the meaning behind it? I'll probably never know.
Anyway! I really hope you liked this! Leave review, and maybe (JUST MAYBE) I do another shot with some time skip explaining what was left unsaid...(again MAYBE).
Thanks for reading!!!
Dark Toy