Fall to Golden
Author: Hoshiki
Disclaimer: These characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto ©. The fanfiction belongs to me.
Warning: Yaoi, if this isn't your cup of tea, please by all means, turn back. Flamers are retards, encompassing a really low IQ equivalent that that of a glass of water… less, in fact. The back button exists because Microsoft happened to realize the need for it for specific people.
Fandom: Naruto (manga-verse)
Pairing: Naruto x Sasuke (NaruSasu)
Summary: How long can you hold your breath? Gold suffocates more than water ever could—and before you know it, you've lost your world.
Note: Vignette.
PICTURE - Not supported by FF net
Picture credit to Mana Cherie ©
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Let me drown in gold
Joy, pain, sorrow forgotten
Never free again.
Fall to Golden by Hoshiki
It was fall in the Konoha again. The trees were shedding their leaves again, and they were a glorious color of gold, red, brown and tan. Berries waited to be picked, sweet from the summer sun. It was quiet, it was calm—the Konoha was at rest from the boisterous screaming of the children during the holidays now that school had begun again.
While Iruka-sensei loved fall as he could see his students again, Sasuke liked it for an altogether different reason. He liked the color and the weather, how cool it was compared to the parching summer, the pale blue sky and the smell of fallen leaves, which cracked when he trod on them. Fall in the Konoha was loveliest in the woods that kept the village hidden.
He sat under the tree, stretching out his legs and listening to the birds. It was nice to have an evening off after strenuous training and missions. Sasuke usually sat to think on evenings like these, when he could, or felt like it. It was, as mentioned before, quiet—
"Hey, Sasuke!"
Sasuke looked up to see Naruto marching up to him, grinning from ear to ear. He made no reply, no frown to show displeasure either. Sasuke just looked as he did – aloof, cold, and expressionless. He made no move to get up either, or to invite the blond to sit beside him. This was all the same, because Naruto didn't need invitations. He was king of self-invitation. He lived to be invited, whether he did it himself or not. Plopping on the ground next to Sasuke, he stretched, gave a gaping loud yawn, and popped his back muscles.
"Guess what, the ramen store's having an all-you-can-eat thingy, and the owner said I could take a friend along."
"I see."
"Isn't that great? There'll be miso ramen… and lots of it too!" Naruto licked his lips, just thinking about it made him hungry. Sasuke glanced at him and said nothing.
The two boys shared an odd friendship, rivaling and fighting but both on good terms and willing to sacrifice a good many things for each other. They were as different as ice and fire, and they had different goals. Sasuke was a quiet person and an attentive listener, who caught messages in between lines by voice patterns and gestures, and Naruto talked a lot without thinking much. To annoy him sometimes, Sasuke would correct his grammar, and Naruto would bat a hand at him, rather like a cat.
Evenings like these came along often after their first mission together, and grew frequent as time passed. It was always the same way, under the same tree, and at the same time. Sometimes Naruto never turned up, and sometimes when he did, Sasuke was not to be found.
Sasuke gave a start when Naruto flopped onto his lap, tucking his hands behind his head.
"Dobe! What are you doing?" Sasuke attempted to shove the grinning boy off.
"I wanna rest! Your legs are soft for a bastard."
"Idiot! They'll fall asleep! I won't be able to walk home that way," Sasuke poked Naruto on his head. But the blond stubbornly refused to budge.
"I'll carry you home, I promise!"
Sasuke went red, his mouth open to retort before he snapped it shut. He grunted, a sign of relent as he allowed Naruto to continue lying down on his lap like a big baby, which he did think the blond was at any rate.
"Anyway, back to the Ichiraku, I wonder if they're serious, or we'll be limited to only six bowls… I mean, you know…"
Naruto yammered on excitedly about the Ichiraku's all-you-can-eat scheme of the day, discussing important issues like bowl size, types of ramen, price per entry, cook of the day and so on. Sasuke nodded and listened, his mind wandering over the golden tops of the trees. Idly, he picked up a fallen leaf and flitted it around Naruto's face, enjoying the blond's occasional grimace as he touched the leaf onto his mouth, just for the fun of it.
"Hey, Sasuke… there may have been bugs sitting on that leaf… hey!"
Times like these were precious. Sasuke didn't know if they might come again, and secretly, he liked the companionship. Over the time span, he felt himself growing to like the blond more and more, to a state where randomly Naruto seemed to pop on and off in his thoughts. He thought about him when he ate, he thought about him while he worked. He even thought about him while he took a bath, and every night before he went to bed. Like it or not, he knew that he was falling in love, and spinning out of control, and he knew how forbidden it was, and how impossible.
"You didn't get off my lap when I asked you to," Sasuke said. "In fact, you're still lying down on my legs… heck. I can't feel them anymore, dobe."
"I thought I said I'd carry you home!"
"No way, that's embarrassing."
"How about I drag you instead?"
"Do you dare?"
"Yeah!"
"Oh, really now?"
"Yeah, really!"
"Dobe."
"Jerk."
"Dunce."
"Bastard."
Because Naruto, no matter how close they were, would never return that love. The only love he was ever capable of returning was friendship and brotherly love, and besides—
"Hey, do you think I should ask Sakura to the Ichiraku for the all-you-can-eat thing? I mean, she'd like that."
Naruto had only one person in his heart. He would never give up, even if she didn't fancy him. Sasuke stared at him, drinking in the sight, before nodding slowly. "I think, dobe, that you know what you're doing."
Naruto gave a whoop of delight. Sasuke looked away. The sun seemed to be sinking fast, and it would be dark soon. They'd have to go home. Sasuke, unlike Naruto, had begun to develop a fear of being alone in darkness after their chance meeting with Orochimaru. He shivered slightly, and braced himself to stand up, nudging the blond gently off.
"It's getting late."
"Hey, you can stand, right?"
Sasuke nodded, but before he could lift himself up, Naruto had grabbed hold of him and slung him over one shoulder. It was awkward, because Sasuke was slightly taller than Naruto. He struggled, but he couldn't get away. The blond was physically strong and had great stamina, and his grip was like an iron vice. Sasuke gave a jump when he felt his waist being squeezed suddenly, and he glared daggers at Naruto's back. "Let me down, dobe!"
"No way, nuh-uh, I said I'd be carrying you home, so there!"
Sasuke growled and tried to kick at him. At that, Naruto put him down, but stopped his movements to get away by clamping his palms down at his shoulders. "Look now, let me do you a favor, okay?" the blond said, looking serious.
Sasuke gazed into the depthless blue eyes, and drank in the gold of his hair. His skin was a wonderful golden tan… and here he was, offering a favor, with that grin on his face. The dark haired boy felt it hard to breathe, hard to swallow—he was drowning.
He has always been drowning. Since a long, long time ago.
Slowly he nodded, and allowed himself to be picked up into deceptively strong arms. The smell of pine and miso wafted round, blending in with the crisp air of the fall weather. He closed his eyes, sinking in the warmth and kindness of his best friend and love interest who only looked one way, a way towards another. It hurt, it really did, but Sasuke didn't mind that particular evening. It was after all, just one day.
And just for once, he allowed himself to drown in the gold that surrounded his half-thawed frozen heart, to fall to golden, and live to look back, not regretting the world he'd given up and lost in a moment's folly.
It would soon be winter.
END
Wednesday, 20 July 2005, 8:59 PM
Note: Hahaha. And you thought it was a happy ending. XD