Title: Dawn
note: Obviously I like to play on subtlety ^^ All the time.
====
It was well past midnight and Sasuke had grown tired from practicing his jutsu, especially since he was using his sharingan the whole time. His new goal was to save up his chakra and still be able to use the sharingan at its maximum without triggering the curse.
Days already passed by and the battle with Gaara was still fresh in his mind. If it was the Sand genin that had plagued his mind, he wouldn't be surprised at all. He never had a decent sleep ever since he met that monstrous strength. But it wasn't Gaara that he'd been thinking about at all.
Naruto.
And that was more disturbing.
Dead-last. Scaredy-cat. Idiot. Moron. Slow. Loud. Arrogant. Careless. Naruto.
So many names he had called his teammate and in just one day, everything dissipated to thin air; suddenly replaced by this guy that had him gaping for a good amount of time. He had always been the one telling Naruto to shape up. He knew how to hit Naruto's pride to work harder and he felt good about it. He also felt good about being better, being needed, being there; much like he had wanted That Man to be there for him when he was younger.
Every time he thought of That Man, he wanted to hit something. One day. First, he had to be stronger. Sasuke loosened his fists, trying to calm down and returning to his original train of thought.
Admittedly, he still remembered that battle against Haku. He didn't see how Naruto fought, or lived through that but he relied on what Sakura had said. Haku died protecting Zabuza. That only meant that it was Kakashi who had killed Haku and not Naruto. He could never imagine Naruto being capable of killing someone like Haku.
But after that battle with Gaara…
Pins seemed to prick every nerve of his body whenever he visualized how Naruto fought Gaara. That was the first time that he had seen that side of Naruto. His hand reached up to massage his throbbing head and considered sleeping. The color of his eyes slowly shifted back to the original black when he felt something fast pass by just outside his house. Certainly his practicing had been paying off if he could be as sensitive as this by now.
Sasuke decided not to use his sharingan anymore. More of it and he wouldn't be able to wake up early in the morning. Instead, he just picked up a kunai and kept silent, slowly creeping near his window and peeking outside. There was nothing there.
He didn't relax nonetheless. Something passed by, he was sure of that. Curiosity squished whatever doubts he had about his current state of tiredness. He climbed out of his window and kept to the shadows. He tried to look for anything amiss.
Again, there was nothing. Not even a single snoring noise could be heard from his neighbors.
He chided silently that he was getting paranoid from seeing too many genins his age more powerful than him. A flash of something stopped him from climbing back in his room. His eyes squinted in the dark and tried to see what caught his attention, finally seeing a small moving object near the monument.
"Naruto…?"
Confusion immediately settled on his impassive face. He started to twitch, wondering what in the world was Naruto planning in the middle of the night.
So he followed.
Sasuke found Naruto climbing the Sandaime's sculpture. Torn between calling Naruto down or following, he picked up a rock and considered throwing it at the idiot instead. Instincts told him that if he threw something, the blond would try and stop the rock, loose footing and fall off.
"What an idiot…"
He started climbing up as well.
Sometimes he wondered who the real idiot was: Naruto, for being Naruto or him, for always following Naruto. That thought made him stop his approach and considered to return to his home and do what every normal person would at this hour, sleep.
He found Naruto settling down in a comfortable heap of lazy limbs, still unaware that there was someone else around. It seemed that there'd always be that part of Naruto that was always relaxed. Strange. How anyone could feel relaxed anywhere, especially in a village that supposedly had everyone hate you…
"Naruto, what're you doing up here?"
Surprised, Naruto turned his head but didn't show any sudden movement to guard. "Oi, Sasuke! I should ask you that."
Sasuke walked over to where Naruto sat, noticing, for the first time, the entirety of the village that was cradled underneath them. There was that familiar pang of loneliness that suddenly clamped his heart, which quickly became hatred.
"Nice view, isn't it?"
"What're you doing up here?" Sasuke found himself sitting beside Naruto and couldn't seem to remove his eyes from the village.
"I always go up here. Used to be earlier but we're rebuilding the village everyday and don't go home until it's late…then I have to eat too and then I still have to practice some jutsu…and then…"
Sasuke gave Naruto a dry look, enough for his companion to get the hint and just get to the point.
"I like it here."
"It's late. You should go home and get some sleep. We still have an early work tomorrow."
"Yea, we do." But Naruto didn't make any move of leaving. He just leaned back and used his hands for support, returning to his silent vigil over the village.
They no longer exchanged unnecessary talks after that. There just wasn't anything to talk about, or argue. The silence of the village seemed to crawl into their hearts and a small noise was a violation to this sacred peace.
Seconds turned to minutes, and minutes to hours. Sasuke no longer knew how long he had been sitting there with his equally silent companion. He wouldn't be surprised if Naruto fell asleep but somehow, he doubted it. A glance to his side proved him right. Naruto just sat there, eyes wide open and an unmistaken contentment on his face.
Maybe he should be more like Naruto; simple-minded, carefree, happy, laughing Naruto.
The more he thought about it, the more he felt small sitting next to the person he called an idiot. Their lives were different, and yet the same. Whereas people admired him for his talent, the people hated Naruto at sight. Yet, they're both alone. Things had changed now and the idiot had grown fast in the last few days they'd spent. So much that he could not believe his train of thought.
Sasuke grudgingly admired Naruto.
"Eh, Sasuke, you sleeping?"
"No. You're sleepy?"
"No."
"Sleepy-head."
"I am _not_ sleepy."
And they gave each other a testy look, finding a reason to continue that banter which eventually faded back into the previous silence.
"Ne…Sasuke, can I ask you something?"
"Yea, sure."
"Do you like Sakura-chan?"
Sasuke blinked. Did he? He had always been busy with training and getting stronger that he never really acknowledged anybody; except those stronger than him, or his equal…or someone as loud and annoying as Naruto. How could anyone ignore someone like Naruto in the first place? He wanted to whack that spiky head all of a sudden but didn't exactly know why.
But before he could think of a reply, Naruto stopped him with an excited exclamation.
"Look, look. It's almost out!"
Confused, Sasuke just followed where Naruto was pointing at. He didn't know they'd been up here for that long.
It was dawn.
The sun slowly peeked out from the horizon, outlining the dark mountains with an orange glow of fiery light. It only took a few seconds before the blanket of the previous night was lifted up by the morning rays.
"So stone-cold Sasuke can smile after all," Naruto snickered.
Sasuke whacked Naruto.
"What the hell was that for?!"
Naruto was still nursing his bump when Sasuke pulled him up, then dragged him to where they could climb down the Sandaime's head. "I'm in a good mood, don't destroy it. Let's go before we become late."
"But I want to eat ramen first."
Sasuke gave Naruto a look.
And on reflex, Naruto raised a hand to fend off whatever whack was about to come his way. His hand met nothing and he gaped at what happened next.
"Fine. We'll get ramen."
~ Fin ~
note: Obviously I like to play on subtlety ^^ All the time.
====
It was well past midnight and Sasuke had grown tired from practicing his jutsu, especially since he was using his sharingan the whole time. His new goal was to save up his chakra and still be able to use the sharingan at its maximum without triggering the curse.
Days already passed by and the battle with Gaara was still fresh in his mind. If it was the Sand genin that had plagued his mind, he wouldn't be surprised at all. He never had a decent sleep ever since he met that monstrous strength. But it wasn't Gaara that he'd been thinking about at all.
Naruto.
And that was more disturbing.
Dead-last. Scaredy-cat. Idiot. Moron. Slow. Loud. Arrogant. Careless. Naruto.
So many names he had called his teammate and in just one day, everything dissipated to thin air; suddenly replaced by this guy that had him gaping for a good amount of time. He had always been the one telling Naruto to shape up. He knew how to hit Naruto's pride to work harder and he felt good about it. He also felt good about being better, being needed, being there; much like he had wanted That Man to be there for him when he was younger.
Every time he thought of That Man, he wanted to hit something. One day. First, he had to be stronger. Sasuke loosened his fists, trying to calm down and returning to his original train of thought.
Admittedly, he still remembered that battle against Haku. He didn't see how Naruto fought, or lived through that but he relied on what Sakura had said. Haku died protecting Zabuza. That only meant that it was Kakashi who had killed Haku and not Naruto. He could never imagine Naruto being capable of killing someone like Haku.
But after that battle with Gaara…
Pins seemed to prick every nerve of his body whenever he visualized how Naruto fought Gaara. That was the first time that he had seen that side of Naruto. His hand reached up to massage his throbbing head and considered sleeping. The color of his eyes slowly shifted back to the original black when he felt something fast pass by just outside his house. Certainly his practicing had been paying off if he could be as sensitive as this by now.
Sasuke decided not to use his sharingan anymore. More of it and he wouldn't be able to wake up early in the morning. Instead, he just picked up a kunai and kept silent, slowly creeping near his window and peeking outside. There was nothing there.
He didn't relax nonetheless. Something passed by, he was sure of that. Curiosity squished whatever doubts he had about his current state of tiredness. He climbed out of his window and kept to the shadows. He tried to look for anything amiss.
Again, there was nothing. Not even a single snoring noise could be heard from his neighbors.
He chided silently that he was getting paranoid from seeing too many genins his age more powerful than him. A flash of something stopped him from climbing back in his room. His eyes squinted in the dark and tried to see what caught his attention, finally seeing a small moving object near the monument.
"Naruto…?"
Confusion immediately settled on his impassive face. He started to twitch, wondering what in the world was Naruto planning in the middle of the night.
So he followed.
Sasuke found Naruto climbing the Sandaime's sculpture. Torn between calling Naruto down or following, he picked up a rock and considered throwing it at the idiot instead. Instincts told him that if he threw something, the blond would try and stop the rock, loose footing and fall off.
"What an idiot…"
He started climbing up as well.
Sometimes he wondered who the real idiot was: Naruto, for being Naruto or him, for always following Naruto. That thought made him stop his approach and considered to return to his home and do what every normal person would at this hour, sleep.
He found Naruto settling down in a comfortable heap of lazy limbs, still unaware that there was someone else around. It seemed that there'd always be that part of Naruto that was always relaxed. Strange. How anyone could feel relaxed anywhere, especially in a village that supposedly had everyone hate you…
"Naruto, what're you doing up here?"
Surprised, Naruto turned his head but didn't show any sudden movement to guard. "Oi, Sasuke! I should ask you that."
Sasuke walked over to where Naruto sat, noticing, for the first time, the entirety of the village that was cradled underneath them. There was that familiar pang of loneliness that suddenly clamped his heart, which quickly became hatred.
"Nice view, isn't it?"
"What're you doing up here?" Sasuke found himself sitting beside Naruto and couldn't seem to remove his eyes from the village.
"I always go up here. Used to be earlier but we're rebuilding the village everyday and don't go home until it's late…then I have to eat too and then I still have to practice some jutsu…and then…"
Sasuke gave Naruto a dry look, enough for his companion to get the hint and just get to the point.
"I like it here."
"It's late. You should go home and get some sleep. We still have an early work tomorrow."
"Yea, we do." But Naruto didn't make any move of leaving. He just leaned back and used his hands for support, returning to his silent vigil over the village.
They no longer exchanged unnecessary talks after that. There just wasn't anything to talk about, or argue. The silence of the village seemed to crawl into their hearts and a small noise was a violation to this sacred peace.
Seconds turned to minutes, and minutes to hours. Sasuke no longer knew how long he had been sitting there with his equally silent companion. He wouldn't be surprised if Naruto fell asleep but somehow, he doubted it. A glance to his side proved him right. Naruto just sat there, eyes wide open and an unmistaken contentment on his face.
Maybe he should be more like Naruto; simple-minded, carefree, happy, laughing Naruto.
The more he thought about it, the more he felt small sitting next to the person he called an idiot. Their lives were different, and yet the same. Whereas people admired him for his talent, the people hated Naruto at sight. Yet, they're both alone. Things had changed now and the idiot had grown fast in the last few days they'd spent. So much that he could not believe his train of thought.
Sasuke grudgingly admired Naruto.
"Eh, Sasuke, you sleeping?"
"No. You're sleepy?"
"No."
"Sleepy-head."
"I am _not_ sleepy."
And they gave each other a testy look, finding a reason to continue that banter which eventually faded back into the previous silence.
"Ne…Sasuke, can I ask you something?"
"Yea, sure."
"Do you like Sakura-chan?"
Sasuke blinked. Did he? He had always been busy with training and getting stronger that he never really acknowledged anybody; except those stronger than him, or his equal…or someone as loud and annoying as Naruto. How could anyone ignore someone like Naruto in the first place? He wanted to whack that spiky head all of a sudden but didn't exactly know why.
But before he could think of a reply, Naruto stopped him with an excited exclamation.
"Look, look. It's almost out!"
Confused, Sasuke just followed where Naruto was pointing at. He didn't know they'd been up here for that long.
It was dawn.
The sun slowly peeked out from the horizon, outlining the dark mountains with an orange glow of fiery light. It only took a few seconds before the blanket of the previous night was lifted up by the morning rays.
"So stone-cold Sasuke can smile after all," Naruto snickered.
Sasuke whacked Naruto.
"What the hell was that for?!"
Naruto was still nursing his bump when Sasuke pulled him up, then dragged him to where they could climb down the Sandaime's head. "I'm in a good mood, don't destroy it. Let's go before we become late."
"But I want to eat ramen first."
Sasuke gave Naruto a look.
And on reflex, Naruto raised a hand to fend off whatever whack was about to come his way. His hand met nothing and he gaped at what happened next.
"Fine. We'll get ramen."
~ Fin ~