Title: No Light
Rating: T
Genres: Angst, Romance
Summary: Throughout the battle, even though the one he loved was gone, he had smiled. Implied SasuNaru
The rain from early evening had left the ground damp and slick. The sky was still gray, a sign that it would rain again soon. The birds were quiet, and forest was strangely silent. The smell of wet grass mingled with the scent of blood, fox and sweat, causing the scavenger animals to come out with morbid curiosity. They did not find a dying fox but rather a smiling young man, leaning against a tree for support.
His mask, which had abstract marks similar to a demon's face, was no longer tied securely about his face. Golden blond hair fell into dark blue eyes, obscuring what little vision such dead-looking eyes could hold. The standard ANBU uniform was stained with blood, crimson and white like the tainted purity of a child. Crimson and white (tainted purity, that's it) just like him. The young man looked barely over eighteen, but the eyes– the sad blue eyes– showed more age then his lithe body ever would. A sound crossed between a laugh and a sob escaped his throat. Naruto pushed himself off the tree and stumbled forward a few steps, the mask in his hand falling to the ground.
"I think he's really gonna win this time…" he coughed, blood dribbling from the corner of his mouth. With a scowl, Naruto attempted to wipe it away only to smear even more blood across his cheek. But this blood was not his own. Subconsciously, Naruto licked his lips and tasted bitter, metallic, something else. Sasuke's blood made him feel fluttery and sick. Rustling sounded from a nearby bush and he stiffened before relaxing. Sasuke doesn't make sound, he tells himself, Sasuke is like a blade. Quiet, precise. Sasuke doesn't make mistakes. But the obsidian eyed man walks out, making as much noise as the small animals scrambling to get away. Naruto wishes he was one of them, running from Sasuke's empty eyes.
"You're a coward, Naruto." The Uchiha heir told him, his voice cold and the words rolling off his tongue lazily. Naruto managed a bloody smile and straightens himself.
"Nah, I just know when I should save a fight for another day." He replied easily. The two men stared at each other, saying nothing for a long while. Naruto shifted ever so slightly, thinking out his next movements. He needed to run, he needed to heal. There would be another chance, because Sasuke always found him when Naruto wasn't looking.
Sasuke had realized Naruto's intentions long ago and was determined to keep the blond where he was. The Uchiha launched himself forward, purposely holding back so Naruto would have a chance to dodge. As expected, Naruto jerked to the left to avoid the sword in Sasuke's hands and he flipped backwards, away from the glinting blade. It continued like that for a while, with Naruto dodging the attacks that Sasuke makes so agonizingly slow. Kunai grazed skin, swords crossed, but the only one to shed blood so far had been the steadily weakening blond. There was more blood in the grass, watery red-brown liquid that soaked sluggishly into the earth. Naruto ducked another attack, but that time he was caught by surprise. Sasuke pulled out another kunai and stabbed him in the stomach.
Naruto's mouth opened, but no sound came out. Sasuke stabbed him again in each shoulder, in his abdomen, and in his left thigh. Everything became quiet. All Naruto could hear was a type of white noise that filled his head. The blond fell backwards onto the red-brown grass, mouth still open with silent words. It hurt. It hurt very, very badly. Naruto could only register the pain, and the laughter that was bubbling up in the back of his throat. He let a giggle tear loose, and then another and another until he was laughing at his own pain, convulsing violently with each shuddery breath.
Sasuke didn't know what to make of the situation. The boy that he knew from years ago was a man, beautiful and mature. Vaguely he wondered if the kisses were still shy and clumsy, like the small experiments to see what love was like. But it was unimportant, as insignificant as the life of the Jinchuuriki lying at his feet. Love wasn't for him, nor was it for Naruto. He knows that they are both thinking that.
"You know, Sasuke, when you kissed me the last time we ran into each other…I didn't know what to make of it. My heart stopped and I felt as if my body was on fire." Naruto started talking, barely aware of what he was saying. It had to be important, though, because his head was screaming at him to stop but his mouth just kept moving.
"I thought about it for a very long time. Why did that kiss make me feel different? I figured it out eventually, when I saw Kakashi kiss Iruka." Sasuke listened intently even though his expression said that he was bored. Naruto continued.
"I love you, Sasuke. You're the best friend I've ever had, and for that I'm grateful." Sasuke hadn't realized it before, but there was something very out of place. The light in the deep blue eyes was gone, washed out and faded. Then there was the expression on Naruto's face, a look that had been there since the beginning. Throughout the battle, even though the one he loved was gone, he had smiled.
"…Dobe." Sasuke told him. Naruto just smiled and stood up, his wounds bleeding profusely. A sudden energy overcame the Missing-nin and he drew out another kunai, lashing out at the boy—the man—and found that Naruto wasn't dodging. The kunai struck the right side of Naruto's ribcage. Neither moved, neither made a sound. The smile on Naruto's face was still there.
"I love you, Sasuke." The Jinchuuriki repeated, because he liked to taste those words on his lips. With a quivering sigh, Naruto's eyes closed and he slid to the ground. Sasuke stared down at the blond with an empty, almost lost expression before lifting Naruto up and propping him against a tree. Pressing a kiss to his forehead, Sasuke stood and stared at the sky. Then he turned on his heel and left.
---♥---♥---♥---
The rain had started again when a team consisting of Neji, Lee, Kiba, Shikamaru and Choji had set out to find Naruto. The young ANBU had left days ago on a solo mission and had yet to return, causing Tsunade to worry. Thus she had dispatched a team of ANBU and Jonin to find him, and they had left soon after they were informed of assignment. The search for tracks only took a few hours because someone had left a clear trail. They assumed that it was Sasuke, because the traitor had a habit of doing things like that. But they followed trail anyway, confident that they would find Naruto soon. They did find him rather quickly, but not in the condition that they had hoped to.
They found Uzumaki Naruto's body on May 17, at 1:40 in the afternoon. That's what the report read.
When Sakura heard that Sasuke had killed Naruto, she was overcome by grief and refused to leave her apartment. Ino had to stop by and make sure that she was still alive when the others got worried. Iruka had gone into shock, and had to take an extended leave from the academy. The Ichiraku Ramen stand was closed for a long time when the owner heard that his favorite costumer would no longer be stopping by. The people who knew and actually like Naruto wore white everyday. Some wore orange.
Surprisingly, there were no celebrations. The Jinchuuriki hadn't been popular among the masses, but many knew a good shinobi when they saw one. They mourned the loss of a fighter, and no one thought of Kyuubi. Tsunade, completely devastated, drank herself into a haze of stupidity until Shizune kicked hr back into focus. She had Naruto's funeral to plan. In Suna, Subaku no Gaara heard of Naruto's death. Kankuro and Temari were surprised to see something akin to grief on the Kazekage's face, but it was replaced with feral anger. The red haired man left the village immediately after and didn't return for weeks. The people of the sand country were silent.
When Naruto died, Sasuke did too. It didn't matter that he was still out there, a missing-nin, because without Naruto he had no identity. People forgot him, and the Uchiha clan. Sakura focused all her energy on Naruto's funeral, and she patched up his body as best she could. It was her final duty to her teammate before she went to confront Sasuke.
The day of Naruto's funeral came, and many people gathered at the Hokage memorial. No one said a word as they watched Tsunade try to swallow her tears long enough to carve Naruto's name into the memorial. Gaara watched with those who were Naruto's friends. Sakura sat by Naruto's casket, holding her head in her hands. She wondered where Sasuke was, and if he was happy that his best friend was dead.
Far away from Konoha, Sasuke was burning the demon mask that Naruto wore. He watched the mask slowly become engulfed with flames before switching his gaze to the incense smoke, which fluttered upwards in soft spirals. Naruto liked Nag Champa. That was his favorite scent. Sasuke watched until the mask was only ashes and the incense was dead. The sun set on the horizon and Sasuke stood, returning to Orochimaru and the curse, to his own lowly existence.
Night reigned over the forest and it wrapped itself around Sasuke, an invisible force embracing him. He remembered the dull blue eyes, the eyes that were so full of confidence. The way they held no light. Sasuke knew that he wouldn't forget Naruto's eyes even after death.
Among the sea of darkness, I stand upon its whim for what grace must be left. The dying days of heaven, if not nature's tears, flee upon its lips for it is not the beauty of the rain that I dwell on but the sorrow of the storm that is upon me. I cry my everlasting words. –Anonymous
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I don't know what possessed me to type this. I should really be working on my other stories, because I said that I'd update Off Track at the end of February…ack. Oh well. I used the whole 'dead eyes' idea throughout this, and I have a feeling that the descriptions are rather repetitive, but I do like how this turned out.
Ah, it's snowing here. Actually, we're in the middle of a blizzard. I got let out of school early, because we had an inch of snow per hour. And now school is cancelled….so much snow… (sighs in content).