Things Change
The moonlight reflected off her violet hair like a pale blue sash being tied to a violet dress. Her eyes were so gentle, looking into mine and my arm held her soft but firm against my body. The wind blew through our hair, rustling the grass underneath us. Hinata smiled, sending my heart flying. I couldn't help but to smile back.
"Sasuke…I love you." She said softly, placing her hand on my face. I kissed her forehead, not being able to hide this elation.
"I love you too, my sweet." I closed my eyes and kissed her sweet lips, dipping into the blissful abyss that she provided…
I walked silently through the woods with Kakashi, Sakura and Naruto. The day was calm as the birds sang with the sound of the stream in the distance. We were on a mission to find Dima. I wasn't sure who Dima was but she was important to Kakashi. He didn't say so but I could see it on his face when Naruto threatened to slow down the mission.
I could have cared less. I was only into being a ninja so I could kill my brother. All the rest of the crap was just superficial. I took a deep sigh when I looked up at the sky and wished—for the 100th time—that I had more meaning in my life.
"Whatcha lookin' at?" Sakura asked, clasping her hands tightly in from of her waist and walking beside me. I changed my gaze to look straight ahead down the forest path.
"My pointless life." I said under my breath.
"What was that?"
"Nothing." I answered quickly. She looked at me kind of funny before putting on a happy smile.
"Okay then. So, while we're on this mission to find Kakashi's girlfriend, I thought that after we found her, you and I could—"
"No thanks." I replied before she could finish the question.
I really didn't mind Sakura. She was a nice girl, but I knew that I wouldn't be able to handle anything with just the two of us. And, she knew this. However, she continuously persisted on asking me.
With my reply, she snorted stubbornly letting me know that this wasn't over, as she walked up to stand nearer to Naruto.
"Hey Sakura, after we're done with this mission, do you want to—"
"Hell no." She answered.
"Ah! Come on, please?" Naruto begged her.
"No, Naruto. You'd have to kill me first." She retorted.
I watched them argue carefully, taking in the little signs on their face. For instance, as Naruto pressed the subject, I found joy glimmer in his eyes as if he was enjoying each of her rejections. With Sakura, I could see flattery and lust hiding behind the act of irritation that she paints on her face. I laughed softly to myself as I watched them argue. They longed for each other. Naruto made it obvious but Sakura had too much pride to show that she wished for him too.
Of course, I couldn't be sure. I've never had an experience like they have so I couldn't be sure that the little signs meant what I thought they meant.
I moved my hands to my pockets and shifted my gaze to the soft soil littered with foliage beneath my feet. Each little pebble and leave I saw. I noticed a beetle crossing my path and I inconspicuously avoided the lonely little bug in order not to kill it.
Then, the trees caught my attention. Their massive structure and ancient age made me think. Think of what those trees have seen in their days. What they have experienced from bugs and animals to natural disasters such as storms and fires. Those trees that stand tall and mature in the forest have survived the worst. They live on to tell us they made it and they will survive another century or two.
Just as I thought this, I witnessed a tree crash down deep in the forest.
Perhaps that tree had lived its life of experiences. I thought as we walked on down the path.
"Hey, earth to Sasuke." Naruto exclaimed. I sighed and stepped out of the bliss of thought to listen to what the nit wit had to say.
"What?" I asked, noticing that he was now walking on my left side as Sakura walked to my right.
"What do you think Dima looks like?" I looked at him, trying to decide if he was seriously asking me this.
"She looks like your mama." I said under my breath.
"Huh?"
"I don't know, Naruto." I answered, irritated.
"I bet she looks like a fish." Sakura said. I stared at her, racking my brain for where she got that. She caught my confused gaze and quickly looked for a way to explain her reasoning.
"Well, Hokage said that she lived at a pond or something. That's why we're fallowing the river, remember?"
"Oh yeah! Maybe she's some sort of fish ninja!" Naruto spoke, saving me from words.
They continued this conversation about Dina and even Kakashi got involved. I slipped out behind them just to stay out it. I didn't wish to speak of a fish ninja.
Another hour of this and we finally reached a pond. It was beautiful, even to me. The river we had been following wrapped around and spilled over the glistening rocks toward us. The pond was a transparent blue on the surface with a deep green underneath, giving the small pond uncanny depth. The rocks surrounding the pond were shining with water that washed over them frequently. They had a tint of green as algae grew from the moisture. I barely noticed the lady ninja appear to talk to Kakashi. I was stuck in the anomaly that this particular pond was.
I stepped to the side of the water, looking deep into the green water. Deeper and deeper I explored into the green as if I thought I would find something special inside of it. Like this beauty had to come from some magical fairy or something.
Then, I did see something. My reflection in the water is what I saw. But, there was something very different about my appearance. I didn't see Sasuke, I saw Naruto staring back at me with a surprised and scared look on his face. I jumped back with a quiet gasp when I realized that my face had been frozen in the same expression. When I jumped back, I hit Naruto. I spun on my heal in surprise and tripped over a rock, toppling backward toward the water. My reflexes acted on their own and I grasped Naruto orange jumpsuit, pulling him in with me. Before I hit the water, I heard Dima cry out in distress at the sight of us falling into her pond.
I was engulfed in the cold liquid, clouding my vision and disabling my ability to breathe. I had pulled Naruto in after me so, I couldn't swim up to the surface. I couldn't even see the surface, the green in the water was much thicker than I thought so everything around me was green—except Naruto's orange outfit. I was quickly running out of air and I could feel the burn in my lungs as I swam in a random direction in which I hoped was toward the surface. When I found nothing but green, I struggled more. My lungs burned for air and I saw the green going black. I let out air, resulting in bubbles. I figured that if they saw bubbles, the rest of them could help us out. I still had Naruto in my grasp, noticing that he had already gone out cold. I knew I had to get him out. I had to…..just……had to……
My world went black, but not before a bright flash of Naruto's face.
Bright mixtures of orange and blue forming into shapes similar to foxes and cats. Nothing makes sense but it all makes sense. Trees flash among the colors, fallowed by swirling water and a deep green color fading in behind everything.
I was slowly brought back to the world by a soft nudging on my arm. I opened my eyes and the world focused slowly. Sakura was standing over me. Her eyes were annoyed but behind the irritation—thick irritation—there was glimmer of relief when my eyes opened.
"Oh, you're okay. Kakashi was starting to worry." She said, trying to hide her own relief.
I blinked a few times, trying to get my eyes to focus. I kept slipping in and out of focus. I heard Kakashi laugh. I turned my gaze to him.
"Sakura gave you mouth to mouth to revive you." I looked at her again and she looked disgusted. That confused me a bit.
"Yeah…only because he wouldn't let me do it on Sasuke." She snapped. I sat up at this comment.
"Sakura, what are you talking about?" My voice came out higher and it surprised me. "What the hell?" I looked down at myself. I was in bright orange. My hands shot up to my hair when I didn't see black fall in my peripheral. My hair was silky soft but shorter. I plucked a few strands and held them in my face with disbelief. 3 shiny blond pieces of hair lied in my hand. I looked at Sakura, then Kakashi, and then…I looked at the person next to Kakashi, lying on the ground. It was Naruto….but when I looked closer, I just about went unconscious again. Lying on the ground next to Kakashi was a boy in a blue t shirt and white shorts with black hair that spiked in the back. It was me. My mouth moved rapidly, my voice not working properly. All that came out was little chokes of air.
"What's wrong now?" Sakura asked with exaggerated aggravation. I stood up and ran to Naruto. Or…myself. I dropped to my knees besides him and shook his shoulder violently. Kakashi held me back.
"Leave him alone. He hasn't come into consciousness yet. Naruto, what's going on?" I struggled harder when he called me Naruto.
"He…I….we…..got to wake up!!" I spoke in my eerily high pitched voice.
"Why? Why does he have to wake up?" Kakashi asked, showing his concern.
"Naruto!" I cried out. I fell over on my ass when I suddenly stopped struggling against Kakashi's hold. I watched Naruto…or I or whichever open his eyes. They were my eyes. Black as pitch. He blinked a few times and looked around. His eyes rested on mine and widened. He sat up in a flash and looked me over. I watched him carefully. He looked down at his clothing and fingered his new hair just like I had.
I choked out "I got to talk to you." I grabbed his arm and glared at the other two to stay where they were. I dragged him deep into the woods and stopped on a dime to face him…to face me.
"What the fuck is going on?" I asked him, looking deep into my pitch black eyes.
"I don't know." I took a deep sigh as I heard my own voice. I tried to clear my head and the memories of the green pool and the dreams I had after falling unconscious.
"You have to live each other's lives. See what its like to live as the other before the pool's effects can be reversed." A voice came from one of the tall standing trees. Naruto and I both looked up to see Dina standing on a low branch.
"Say what now?" I asked.
"You heard me. Before the spell can be broken, you must know what its like to be the other." She repeated, gracefully hopping down in front of us. Naruto and I looked at each other and both spoke at the same time.
"Oh, no."