Notes: Sasuke ran away to kill Itachi but there's no Orochimaru, and then became an evil Uchiha in Itachi's place. So, it's a little AU. Naruto-tacchi are about 16-ish. SHONEN AI!! Last warning people. Please, this is my first fic so I would love for reviews. Give me criticism or whatever, I just need feedback!
He laughs as only Naruto can laugh, with those fox's eyes and full smile that stretches his mouth to its limit as a light, cheery sound fills the air with its brightness.
"You know, you always did say this would happen."
Another, smaller laugh that stops halfway out of his mouth. He glances down at the other, his eyes opening to reveal a sad shade of blue before he shakes his head, a tangled mass of blood-drenched sunbeams that gleam dully in the glaring light. His hand twitches automatically, wanting, but not daring, to touch the other, to feel, for just a second, what hate and revenge had turned his closest friend into.
"Sasuke…"
Naruto is no longer smiling, instead his lips have turned to a questioning frown, the type that children have when asked a question beyond their knowledge to answer. But Naruto's… His was almost as if more curious than offended, more interested in knowing the Why? instead of the How come? or the How could you?'s. He tilts his head to the side, the perfect image of mild bewilderment, fingers absentmindedly fiddling with the deep abrasions that still spill blood down his wrists and arms, results of a vicious kunai attack. She slowly notes that Kyuubi isn't doing anything to stop the blood and there's so much of it, all over his clothes and splattered across the ground, but perhaps it's for the better.
"Was it worth it?"
His eyes are closed again, but this time in irrepressible pain. Some how, his arms have found their way around his body, winding themselves slowly, as if of their own volition. His hands grip his clothes with such a tightness, almost as if he has nothing left to anchor him to the world of sanity, to keep him from drifting to the encroaching insanity. He has begun to shake now, small almost imperceptible trembles but they're there all the same and she flinches from the meaning hidden behind them. She wants to step forward, to help the one man who means everything to her, even if it's not in that way, to give him the comfort he deserves.
But she can't.
Can't move from her spot behind the kneeling Naruto and the Sasuke who's …who's…
She chokes and turns away.
Naruto pays no heed. Instead, he continues to shake, more violently this time.
"Did it make you happy? Running away to kill Itachi? Leaving everything behind just for your revenge?"
His voice rose with every word, that red hot feeling gathering to his gut where it began to simmer and bubble before finally exploding out. He's still shaking but it's out of anger now instead of sorrow, the anger of being shoved aside, the fury at being abandoned yet again, and this time by the one who meant the most to him. His eyes are glowing now, red slowly burning away at the crystal blue, agony and resentment swirling together in that endless rhythm only meant for Sasuke and Naruto.
"How could you?! Did the village mean so little to you?! That you could just abandon it like that?! Kakashi-sensei told you what happened to those who seek revenge and even then you still left!!"
His fists clench into Sasuke's clothes, nails cutting through the black cloth into his own palms spilling even more blood onto the ground, coloring the area around them a muddy red. Naruto is finally shouting, anger spiked in every word, hate and rage dripping off of his tongue, striking every nerve he possibly could.
She knows that he isn't saying what he really wants to say. Knows that in between the lines about the village and everything else, hides the truth about Sasuke and Naruto. How could you leave me? Did I really mean that little to you? Was I not worth it? Not worth anything that you had to go and leave me? She's crying now, silent tears of pain and feeling for Naruto who's shuddering and gasping now, looking, at any moment, like he's about to crack.
He looks so lost, like one caught in between adult and child, not understanding the rules of the world yet. He's squeezed his eyes shut ever so tightly and yet a few drops still leak out.
"I thought we…when you finally recovered, I thought things would return to normal."
His voice has softened, heartrending tones spiraling down to a hazy tenor of unfeeling, of a delicateness hardened with shards of pain. He looks almost peaceful now, crimson bleeding away to return back to that same sky blue but she can tell. He's too drained, of energy, of that bright life that was always and only Naruto, drained to a bitter shell of emptiness that is completely numb. Wholly and entirely frozen, both heart and soul, all the way to the point of no return.
"That we would go back to training and fighting with one another…that things would go back to the way they were before…"
Naruto is silently stroking Sasuke's face, bloodied hands that still bleed, slowly tracing the light blue veins that can be seen through Sasuke's pale white skin before moving up to play with his hair, which dully refracts Naruto's dimming inner light. He giggles in an airy fashion, a hollow act that belays the hurt deep inside, an attempt to divert her attention from the spreading cracks in his soul, but she sees them all the same.
Suddenly, he dives forward and kisses Sasuke.
A harsh clash of teeth and cold lips and bumped foreheads and crushed noses that is devoid of all feeling, empty but for the pain.
Naruto pulls back quickly, a flash of disgust whipping through his eyes before he begins to cry in earnest. Laying his forehead down on Sasuke's own, he sobs, deep, wracking moans of torment and abject misery.
"You always said it would happen…but I never thought you meant it…"
His calloused hand rises to pull at the black cloak, covering the hole that was once Sasuke's heart.
"I never thought…never wanted…"
He breaks off, tears suffocating his voice.
She can't watch any longer, the pain, his agony, it's too much.
"Naruto…" Sakura gently puts her hand on his shoulder, trying in any and every way possible, to offer all the strength she has left to give to the shattered man. His own hand rises to clasp hers in his, tightening to the point of pain but she doesn't care, she understands that she is his last vestige of strength, that if she weren't here, he would as well have killed himself.
"Come on Naruto, let's go home." She shakes him softly, knowing that to stay here any longer would only inflict more pain to Naruto. Sasuke's body…she'd burn it later.
"You need to see a doctor, look you're still bleeding." She tries again, this time squeezing his shoulder but he remains still. Panic envelopes her, she can't lose him too, not another one of her teammates, her friends, her precious people.
"Naruto!"
He turns towards her slowly, movements jerky as those of an unused toy. He looks without seeing, glazed eyes passing straight through her, before a smile makes its way on to his face, bittersweet and empty. She knows she has already lost him.
"Sorry, Sakura-chan. This is as far as I go."
She swallows, the sound reverberating in the empty glade. She knows she's crying but she smiles through it. Naruto wouldn't want his last memory of her crying.
"Okay, I understand."
"Will you stay with me though? Just until…" He stops short, the blood loss finally getting to him.
"Of course! Of course…" She grasps his hand in her, shrinking inside at the fading heat of his body, the endless blood, and the cracked smile upon his face. She gently pushes him down until he is lying next to Sasuke' corpse, his other hand touching the paler one's lightly before taking it into his own.
"Thanks…"
His head turns one last time to stare in to Sasuke's face, drinking in the moonlight skin and partially closed ebony eyes. Even in death, Sasuke is still the most beautiful thing Naruto has ever seen.
One last breath, before, "Sasuke…" and Naruto is no more.
Sakura bows her head in silence, tears flooding down her face freely now. Two of Konoha's finest ninjas, killed by one another.