Come Home
He sat on the edge of the bed, eyes staring into the carpet below, not realizing its lavender shade or the fineness of the threads. The sun streamed through the tightly closed blinds, offering what little it could to the dark room. The bed remained untouched, edges tucked into sharp, little hospital corners, the pillows without creases as if made from clay. The stand-out, maple wood closet's doors were parted enough to reveal its non existent tenants. A few hangers laid scatter on the ground, twisted as if torn from where they had previously hung, bent into oddly shaped tears as if crying for the loss of their dependants.
The boy's hair was limp and thin as if strained and tugged, his eyes narrowed weakly and curved down wards, crystallized tears visibly shaking as they travel the trembling teenager's cheek. They jump from his pointed chin, seeking freedom from the heavy, silent sobs that echoed against the unbearably barren walls that felt like nothing more than painful reminders of times and laughs once shared between the men… times of pain and pleasure, sorrow and joy. They had shared their fears and their secrets, their desires and dreams. And now, there was nothing more than the mocking memories of moments passed.
He wouldn't move, this boy… this child. The one who physically grew day to day, seeking power and vengeance while his soul continued to crave the experiences torn from his fractured childhood. He would wait, without substance nor desire. There was nothing more for him to seek as everything had been destroyed… through his inexperienced hands. And he was left to wallow in the nothingness that once was his pride and the last of the light littering his hallow world.
"Ka… kashi," he whispers with shallow breath.
"Stop it Kakashi! It tickles!" He laughs, smiling and trying to push the older man away. His begging would never be enough and honestly he was glad. Any less attention and it wouldn't seem right as the silver haired ninja laid him back against the bed, trapping his wrists and tracing his fingers up the revealed stomach. Sasuke laughs in pleasure, twisting and trying so hard to get out of his fingers.
"Sasuke," the man mutters lowly and suddenly, the world seems to stand still, all sound vanishing from the raven's pale ears as the teacher whispers like the wind, "I love you."
The fingers change… they had to have as they continue to trace up his stomach, no longer tickling but rather causing a new sense, the boy's eyes halving and he whispers his name gently, watching him for a second, catching his eyes, staring intently into the dark iris' which had seen so many lives before his own. The paled skin second to none glistening as the man's thin, experienced fingers slip beneath the mask, pulling it down softly, revealing the soft rosy lips only Sasuke's come to know as the teacher leans over the student, kissing his chest, resting against the increasing heart beat.
"I love you," he whispers again.
The voice echoes faintly and mockingly through out the room, growing softer and far more distant as time continued to move slowly. The sounds of the birds outside ceased to exist along with the laughter of children. All that remained were the memories of his voice as the boy listened with all of the strength he could muster, waiting to hear the next gift of the angels. He wanted to hear him. Sasuke, he'd imagine, I love you so much. Sasuke, he'd recite, I'll never leave you. Sasuke, he'd whisper heatedly, you're in my heart.
His own heart ached, frail and distant, crying along with the eyes, never ceasing whether asleep or awake. His fingers were laced, locking his hands, the elbows resting against his legs, shoulders raised above the head which without reason to otherwise, hung strengthless to seek more. The rest of his aching body retired their complaints, coming to the realization there would be no point in wasting their remaining life on unheard cries. He would wait… wait for him.
"I'm home, Sasuke."
"Welcome home!" The boy smiled, running up to the man, covered in drying dough and flour, staring up at him. "Did you have a good day?"
The tired man smiled, setting down the equipment he had carried to his new group of students, removing his vest and mask before taking the raven haired child's chin, lifting it and hovering in, licking a bit of the dough from his cheek and whispers. "Much better now that I'm home."
His cheek was now stained with dried salt, the layer increasing with each new fresh droplet escaping from his deteriorating body.
"Sasuke? Are you in here?"
He smiled, looking up from his homework. "I'm in here, Kakashi." The sound of footsteps came closer as the man stared through adoring eyes at the student spread across the ground.
"I made some tea. Would you like to join me?"
"Yeah!" Smiles the dark haired one, jumping to his feet and moving over, only to have his hair incased in the moonlight hand, resembling a gentle pat as his body instantly relaxed, comforted by the other's touch. A moment of familiar silence and reassurance… "I love you".
"Sasuke?" Came the voice of one other than him, streaming from the message machine several feet from the bed. "I'm coming by after work. Will you open the door this time?"
Would he open the door this time? It was not even a remote option, the Uchiha decided tiredly. Why would one open a door if they won't even bring themselves to eat or nourish themselves. It was simply not an option because he never needed someone to open the door. That door wouldn't be opened until he came home…
"We miss you Sasuke…. We're always here if you want to come hang out with us. Me and Kiba and Sakura. It'll be fun… even sensei… Iruka-sensei will be there."
The heart stiffened. There was no one but him…. There never would be.
"Please… pick up the phone."
"Please… pick up the phone, Sasuke."
He wanted to pick it up… he wanted to grab it so badly and be rewarded with the sound of his lover's enthusiastic voice. But the hands held him so tight, his skin turning to black then green beneath the hard clutches, his body screeching in pain.
"You want me to pick it up for you?" The man laughed, smirking as his arms held him closer before the shadow locked against his own, the man stepping away as Sasuke's body was forced to mimic every move, edging closer to the phone, his heart shaking in pain as his fingers clasp the narrow white machine. The button was pressed and the phone brought to his ear.
"you know what to say," the man whispered, smirking as his shadow forced the phone to practically glue itself to the raven's ear.
Through ached muffles, he could hear a soft 'Sasuke?'. It sounded pained as if through a body where the air's escaped the lungs and risen to possibly a deformed, swollen face. Shikamaru's threat had been real… and it wouldn't end with any words but these.
"Don't come home."
"Don't come home." His thin, frail voice whispered, reciting the last words Kakashi had ever heard from him. The guilt flooded him for the last time, filling his body with the sickness that had caused him so much pain from before. He wanted nothing more than for him to come home… to save him from the inanimate end that now knocked on the bedroom door.
His heart dreaded those words, knowing they were the only key to saving his life but at what cost. He longed to be beneath the man again, staring up into those eyes… those pure eyes splattered with pain but seeping with love. He sought the smell of the man's body which resembled the spice of the bark and wild grasses. He craved the gentle touches, the same ones which calmed his blood but riled his spirit. He wanted to see the lips that could rain hope or flood its opposing element. He simply craved the chance to tell Kakashi what he truly felt… love.
The phone went off again as his eyes began to close, the ringing halting after two sounds and going straight to the voice mail. "Sasuke?"
His heart stopped, eyes opening weakly, whispering, "Kakashi…"
"Please… pick up the phone, Sasuke."
The voice echoed against the walls as the boy tried to move, his corpselike body shaking beneath his efforts, bones cracking repeatidly as he tried to stand, needing to get to the phone. His legs failed beneath him, giving out as he fell to the ground, beginning to crawl desperately towards the phone.
"I'm sorry Sasuke…. I should have known better. I love you so much… please forgive me? "
"Kaka…shi," the raven cried silently, crawling to the edge of the table, trying with all his might to grab the phone and to cry to him, needing him to come home. "Kaka…. Shi!" he shivered.
"Please… pick up the phone Sasuke. I want to come home…. I want to be with you again."
His boney fingers groped for the device, unable to get a grip before finally, his arm snapped beneath the weight of his remaining body. He collapses, the phone crashing next to him, shredded to pieces from the impact as the boy's body surrenders to the fate which now kneels next to the hopeless Uchiha who whispers into the phone, his voice unheard on the other end. "Kakashi."
"Sasuke…" his voice echoes from the machine softly. That same warm voice that used to calm the storm but arouse the tide. The same voice that used to praise him for all he's done and lecture him when he forgot to feed the fish. The same voice that would groan beneath the pressure but then turn and hum him to sleep.
"Come home," he whispered weakly, death's cold fingers caressing his cheek as his eyes closed, heart falling into it's final rest, the body curled up weakly, the phone, dead in his arms.