Please note, this fic was pretty much written for melodrama and melodrama only. My goal is to make my characters as sad as possible, cliches included. So, if you came for much crying, flashbacks, and angsty sex (and probably lots of abuse), you came to the right place.
If you came for a well-developed plot... Sorry, bro. I hold no such standard :(
I came back for you. I came back for you and look at what you let happen to me.
Two days ago was the last time Naruto had a chance to see Sasuke and for these past two days without him those words rang through his head. They were louder than his alarm clock, first thing in the morning. They were heavier than the flak jacket he wears for strength training, hours at a time. They hurt like no battlefield injuy he had ever sustained in his entire lifetime because every single injury, every last one, he could always take comfort in the fact that he'd received it in an effort to bring Sasuke back.
Gotta bring Sasuke back to the village.
Gotta bring Sasuke back.
Gotta find Sasuke.
And here Naruto is, losing himself, mindlessly running the blunt tip of his pointer finger over the dull edge of his knife in the training field, dissecting and redissecting Sasuke and his words. Seconds, minutes, hours - time fades and slowly releases him, leaving him under the too cold shade from the trees above, wondering what he really thought was going to happen.
He would bring Sasuke back and then what?
Sasuke would kiss him, different than the only kiss they've ever shared when they were twelve, experimental, and confused; but the same. Naruto would want it to feel the same. Even when he was twelve years old Naruto knew he loved Sasuke.
And here he was, twenty two years old, wondering how he'd spent so many years of his life so naive. Or maybe just so carelessly blind.
He would bring Sasuke back and then what? A kiss and a happy ending?
No.
He brought Sasuke back. He found him way up north where the snow is perpetual and you can feel ice beneath your every step. Freezing, slippery feet of it. Not a place Naruto, with his blonde haired, tan skinned glory, particularily enjoyed. But he found Sasuke.
And now he sits, partially regretting it.
He found Sasuke way up north, dressed as skimpy as ever. His sword was on his back. The group of thugs he'd been carrying with him trailing along behind him. Sasuke ordered him to leave and he and Naruto argued.
Stop following me, he said.
I'll never come back with you, he said.
Fuck that village; so help me God next time I come within ten miles of it I am destroying the whole thing and you along with it, he said.
I don't miss you, he said.
He lied.
Naruto remembers crying. Lots of crying and lots of hugging and lots of apologizing and promises.
He remembers one scar, poking out of his clothing. One scar and a mile long rip in Sasuke's mentality.
Orochimaru did bad things to me, he said, Akatsuki did, too.
And Naruto tore his whole life apart, flipped it upside down. They yelled for hours, so long Naruto's throat burned. They pushed and shoved and Sasuke came back with him.
They left the cold snow for Konoha, for home, and Naruto really, genuinely thought the silliest thing. He thought it would be all too easy. He thought there would be kisses and happy endings, but instead what he got was I came back for you. I came back for you and look at what you let happen to me.
Naruto supposes, as the sun sets for the third time in his newfound life with him, that Sasuke was a little naive, too. Surely he's not that motivational a speaker.
But the stark black-purple bruises on Sasuke's perfect, pale face. The bright red gashes and blood spattered clothing, the tear in his collar - are they even letting him sleep? - it's pretty much all on Naruto. He feels it so deep in the core of his being. These past three days he has only seen Sasuke once. They only let him see Sasuke once; they're always interrogating him.
And Naruto just feels so bad. Sasuke's life is falling apart. He got two sentences out and all he did afterward was hide his face and cry. Just more fuel to the fire. Just another reason to hate this village.
What if Sasuke tries to leave as soon as they let him out, Naruto wonders.
What if they realize this and never let him out because of it?
"Naruto."
His blonde head snaps up toward the voice of an ANBU summon.
"Tsunade wants to speak to you. Be at the tower in ten minutes."
Naruto figures he'd better start walking.
"Well, thanks to you we've officially knocked Konoha's most wanted off the list." Tsunade says, light voice just a little too cheery for what Naruto considers the most solemn of events. They have his love locked up deep in this structure. He might die here and while typically an optimist, after years of searching and wanting and needing, Naruto is used to drawing worst case conclusions when it comes to his Sasuke.
"I don't want payment. I did this for me." Naruto says, slight tremor in his voice. He knows he's getting worked up just sitting here thinking about it. This whole three day situation is taking a massive toll on him. He's a wreck, physically and emotionally. After all the nights over all the years past dreaming of holding him he is here and Naruto needs him in his arms. He needs to run his hands through his hair and kiss his face and make him be okay. He needs to make sure Sasuke is okay like he never got to when they were twelve.
"Well, you should take the reward, I think. You'll probably need it for Sasuke's medical care. I'm figuring that boy has been through a lot these past couple years."
His heart stops in his chest, "Excuse me?"
"I'm going to release Sasuke to you, Naruto." Tsunade explains, rather sternly. She leans forward on her desk, hands folded. She looks at Naruto as if she's assigning him a mission and the way she explains it to him, she might as well have.
"This is not something I would do under normal circumstances." She continues, "Sasuke is a terrorist, you know that. A massive threat to our nation... But, you know, I've seen him a few times. I've been called down there for medical care. I watch some of the interrogations and any information he gives is directly brought to me. Sasuke is weak, Naruto. He is so goddamn weak I'd be surprised if he can even tap into his chakra without killing himself. I don't know if you noticed it when you brought him here, but he is not in good condition."
Naruto swallows hard. He does not remember that. He remembers everything in a blurr of emotion and fighting and he remembers Sasuke saying yes, he'll come back with him.
The Hokage sighs and rubs her temples, "Naruto, you are responsible for Sasuke's actions. He is yours to care for. He is not ever to have weapons and once I figure out some kind of efficient, long-lasting way to do it we are blocking his chakra channels for good. I am telling you right now, Naruto; this might cost you your dream of becoming Hokage. I had to practically beg the council to let you take Sasuke out of here. They would have been fine putting him to death. Most people would."
At the words, Naruto felt a sudden surge of anger, "He has never directly attacked this village."
"Doesn't matter. He had the intention to. Look, just be careful. I'm giving you this choice and I want you to go home and sleep on it and really-"
"I want to take Sasuke home." Naruto interjected.
"This could cost you your spot as Hokage. No matter what you do for the village, no matter what technique you master or how many other terrorists you bring home, there are people that are very high ranking that would never look at you the same again if you were to house, care for, and defend Sasuke Uchiha."
"I don't care. I want to take Sauske home."
Tsunade looked toward her ANBU operative that had brought him here. For a fleeting second as Naruto watches him hand her one slick silver key he wonders if he's already judging him. Maybe he'll be the very first person to start what will surely be gossip around the village within these coming forty-eight hours or so.
"Take this." Tsunade says, holding the key out, "You know where he is. Good luck."
He takes the key. He turns his back. He walks out of the office.
When Tsunade last looks at him, she looks disappointed. Naruto knows she wanted him to be Hokage after her - the sixth, it was pretty much reserved for him. No more. In this very moment, Naruto doesn't care. He's rushing down staircase after staircase, passing men in porcelain masks as he goes, knowing he's bringing Sasuke home with him without signing a single paper.
All he had to give up was one dream. To have Sasuke made two, so Naruto, being the optmist that he is, is thankful that he didn't lose two dreams tonight.
His feet his the floor of the final landing and he practically runs to Sasuke, locked up in solitary confinement in the deepest corner they could tuck him. There are no windiws, no glass. Only a heavy, stone door reinforced with seals that crawled everywhere in his line of sight.
He swings the door open. The room smells like blood and sweat and fear and the air in here is different - Naruto knows Sasuke is not the first person to be held in this room, definitely not the last. He thinks maybe he's glad he'll never be hokage.
Sasuke is sitting in the corner, legs drawn up to his chest. His head is on his knees. His hands are up to his ears. He's struggling to ignore the door opening.
I came back for you. I came back for you and look at what you let happen to me.
"Sasuke." He says. It feels unreal, saying his name like that.
Wide, black eyes look up to meet his, "Naruto? What are you even doing back here?"
It's hard for him to even find words, but he manages an, "It's okay", and he approaches the slightly trembling Uchiha.
"I shouldn't have listened to you." Sasuke says, and it hurts like a punch in the gut. He's so beautiful, covered in scars the way he is, and now that Sasuke is in next to no clothes he can see all the better.
"No," Naruto replies, crouching down next to him, "It's okay, I promise."
Sasuke shakes his head and for the first time, for the first time ever aside from the argument that brought him here, Naruto is witness to Sasuke's eyes weling up with tears and it is so much heavier this time around, "It's not okay."
"It is." The blonde protests, "I'm going to help you."
"How? You don't have any idea what my life has been like. You never have had any idea; you just do what you fucking want. Always."
"Don't say that, Sasuke."
Sasuke draws in a shaky breath and brings his hands up to his face. His breath hitches.
"Oh, Naruto. I don't understand why they didn't just slaughter me like they slaughtered the rest of my godforsaken clan."
"Don't say that."
He looks back at him and there are actual tears now, sliding ever so slowly down his cheeks to his chin. It's heartbreaking to watch and even more heartbreaking when he asks, "Why not?"
Naruto wants to touch him. He wants to fix it like normal people fix things, with happy thoughts and hugs and well wishes. But he feels like if he touches him he'll shatter. Sasuke is so beyond fragile he doesn't know how to handle it. This was never what Sasuke was like. Ever.
"I don't know what to do anymore."
Naruto extends a hand toward Sasuke's face; he can't help it. He gently wipes away tears, practically begs him, "You don't have to think about all that stuff, just come with me. Let me help you, Sasuke. I love you."
Sasuke doesn't say it back. He must have appreciated the touch, though, because he brings his knees down and he leans into Naruto until he can wrap his arms around his shoulders and be pulled forward into an embrace. He cries. He squeezes so tight Naruto both loves an hates it at the same time.
And this, Naruto feels, is inherently wrong. When Sasuke left the village he was not the kind of guy to let himself be hugged. He was not the kind of guy to cry or to vocalize his feelings in any manner. He wasn't this.
Sasuke has changed and that fact alone is terrifying.
"You're coming with me," Naruto repeats, squeezing Sasuke tighter against the brunette's weak grip on him, "I'm not letting them keep you here."
There is no way Sasuke wants to stay here, anyway. And Naruto knows now that he is the only person Sasuke has to turn to, in this entire world.
He's going to make sure Sasuke is happy.