A/N- Just a quick one-shot.
The years had left Naruto twisted. He couldn't tell the difference between left and right or up and down. The bad people were the ones he cared for, and the good people were the ones who weren't real.
The battle had been intense but surprisingly short. It had only been an issue of knocking Sasuke's legs out from under him. When he fell, he fell into Naruto, and they both wound up on the ground.
Their position was awkward. Naruto sat easily, comfortably, with one leg bent forward and the other tucked beneath himself, but Sasuke lay sprawled on his front, his chest positioned awkwardly over Naruto's bent leg and his cheek pressed to Naruto's ribs. Naruto easily reached one arm around Sasuke's neck to keep him pressed down, and his other hand slid a knife through Sasuke's back and into his heart.
Naruto thought of Haku for a moment, a boy so beautiful and young and very, very dead. Haku was strong, wasn't he? He was good, right? But it didn't matter, because he was also dead. Zabuza was dead, as well.
"You said we were friends," Naruto reminded Sasuke.
The knife slid easily through skin and muscle. The sensation wasn't foreign to Naruto. He had pierced opponents with kunai before, he knew how to tear someone open and cut through bone. And yet, it surprised Naruto when Sasuke exhaled and blood began to seep from around the knife's blade. Naruto and Sasuke had battled many times before, and they had exchanged countless blows. Although he had never fantasized about stabbing Sasuke through his back and to his heart before, Naruto realized that he expected it to alike to stabbing at a stone. Sasuke felt like stone whenever else they fought, after all.
"Isn't this what friends do?" Naruto asked.
Gaara and Naruto had once battled like he and Sasuke battled, and they were now friends, weren't they? When they met, Gaara was so mean, so cold. He had threatened to kill Naruto, and then he had tried. But just a month ago, he and Naruto met for dinner. They'd eaten a good meal and had a good time. They spoke easily and got along well. Garra was a good person, wasn't he? He was a good person, even though a strange darkness still hid behind his eyes, the shadows of bad dreams and hard forgotten memories.
Sasuke struggled. His position pinned to Naruto's legs and the awkward angle of his arms made it difficult for him to push himself away from Naruto, but he tried. Naruto let him, because the tip of the knife was almost pushing through the skin of Sasuke's chest and the man wouldn't survive the wound.
Sasuke didn't run, like Naruto thought he would. He didn't call for his team's help, even though Naruto knew Sasuke's teammates would immediately come to Sasuke's attention and assist him in any way they could. If they were resourceful enough, they might even find a way to prolong Sasuke's life long enough to find a solution to a knife through the heart. Instead of seeking such a solution, however, Sasuke instead fell to his side on the ground beside Naruto.
Sakura was his friend, Naruto remembered. As was Lee and Kiba and Hinata and a whole list of others. Naruto could count on them and care about them, and they could do the same for him. He knew this as truth and fact, but sometimes he didn't know if he could believe it. It was difficult to tell what he really knew of them and what they really knew of him. They weren't friends like Sasuke was, or even like Gaara. He loved the shinobi of Konoha deeply, and they were precious to him. But sometimes, when together they sat eating ramen or stood gathered in the missions room, chatting, Naruto's world seemed to tilt strangely, as if what stood before him wasn't real.
Maybe it was the ever-present knowledge that things could change quickly and in many ways. He had his friends, yes, but nothing in the world was permanent.
Sasuke breathed harshly beside Naruto, clutching a hand to his chest. From Naruto's angle, no wound was apparent, and it looked as if nothing was there. Naruto knew what was inside Sasuke, though, twisting at his heart and killing him.
"You did it to me, first," Naruto accused.
Naruto thought about Kakashi. The man was one of his favorites. He was one of the strongest, one of the wisest, one of the deepest. Then, Naruto thought about Tsunade. She was beautiful, he thought. But he wondered what they fought for. They fought tooth and nail, and their strength was admirable, but Naruto was confused as to how they could battle so fiercely for Konoha when they took orders from the Council. Naruto thought it was a little like himself working so hard to protect people from the Nine-Tails when the beast had been whispering in his ear for years. What was to fight for, then?
Isn't this what friends do? Naruto wondered. He'd seen many people destroy each other in many different ways. The knife in Sasuke's back was nothing new. And yet, if felt so strange.
Sasuke died quietly, lying on the ground next to Naruto. They stared at each other for a moment longer, even though Sasuke's eyes were unseeing. Sasuke had looked at Naruto like that before. He stared past Naruto even thought they sat right next to each other.
Naruto wondered if Sasuke thought they were friends. He must, though, because this was what friends did, right?
Naruto thought that maybe Sasuke hadn't called for help because he didn't know, either.
A/N- I sometimes wonder what someone would really turn out like when raised as a soldier and surrounded by conditions and situations such as those in the show. What I got was this: a bunch of people who are great at killing other people but have no real grasp on their emotions or the people around them. Thus, this also explains the disjointed style of the story. Naruto still feels many emotions, deeply, he just doesn't know how to process them and apply them to the situation.
I know it was weird and a little depressed, but I hope you still liked it!
Review, please!