Always There
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
-!-!-!-!
"The shifts of fortune test the reliability of friends."-Licero
-!-!-!-!
The man stared at the blank wall, his own mind echoing with thoughts and theories bouncing around inside his skull. Why hadn't he come yet? Was their friendship really so fragile? Only one other person had come, Kakashi, and that was only to make sure he was okay in that strange round-about way of his and give him a good sized stack of books to help him with the inevitable boredom that was otherwise known as the hospital.
The man's thoughts were interrupted by the door sliding open. He glanced up, thinking it was a nurse or possibly Kakashi again, but was shocked to find a tall young man, only a little younger than himself, with hair woven of sunbeams and Caribbean blue eyes that wouldn't meet his own dark ones. The skin was browner than he remembered, the whiskers darker, but he was still slight and slender. How old were they now, eighteen? Nineteen? The man had lost count long ago.
"Surprised?" the voice wasn't the loud, boisterous tone he remembered, but a quiet, weary one.
"More so than I would have expected." The man replied neutrally, knowing these were dangerous waters.
"Uchiha Sasuke surprised…I never thought I'd see the day again." The blonde sat at the foot of the bed, still not meeting his eyes.
Sasuke looked at him carefully. This wasn't the bright teenager that he had last seen. This man before him seemed to have the spirit of an old man, tired and world-weary. He didn't have to ask what the old/young man meant by again. All those years ago, in that valley, he remembered his eyes widening, his emotions showing clearly on his younger face.
"Have you achieved your goal for today then, Naruto?" the name felt odd on his tongue after so long without use.
"No. My goal wasn't to irritate you, no matter how gratifying that would be," He didn't even talk like the old Naruto with the calm tone and larger words, "I needed to talk to you."
"And here I thought you'd forgotten me."
"It'd be kinda hard to do that." Naruto met his eyes for the first time, the slightest of smiles on his lips.
There was the trace of the old Naruto, the blue eyes lightening slightly. Even that slight smile was enough to make his face look years younger. Sasuke quirked an eyebrow, a signal to continue.
"You are-were my best friend. I don't know if that status still stands in your books. You can't forget someone like that."
"But can you forgive them?"
"What, for being a blind bastard and going with Orochimaru? Generally, that would be a no. But, you're the exception to just about everything, aren't you, teme?" The smile grew.
That single word was what let Sasuke knew that yes, he was forgiven, and yes, they were still best friends and that of course Naruto was going to get some way to entertain him other than reading. It's what best friends do after all.