No One Calling
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the many random ideas in my head.
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"He who leaves without saying goodbye comes back with no one calling him." –Anonymous
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Sheets of rain were pouring outside, lightning flashing outside, briefly illuminating the slippery streets. One person did walk those very streets, someone tall and in their late teens. The person had seemed to be walking aimlessly until, in front of an old apartment complex, he leapt up to the third story and knocked on a window.
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Naruto had getting ready for bed, the late hour not bothering him the slightest. He had just come from a mission in Snow Country and was too tired then should be considered healthy. Naruto had been about to turn out the lights when a knock on his window had him spinning and looking directly out. The blonde cautiously opened the window and was more than a little surprised to see his-best friend?- crouching in a position that suggested he wasn't moving anytime soon.
"You gonna stop gaping and let me in, dobe? It's cold out here." Sasuke asked.
No flicker of annoyance came to Naruto, only the relief that the brunette hadn't changed. Then a suspicion crept into his mind.
"Why'd you come back? Orochimaru run out of uses for you?"
Sasuke was a little surprised at his tone: it was a mix of bitterness and anger. "Is it illegal for me to want to come back?"
Naruto noticed that Sasuke deliberately didn't say the word home. "Technically yes. You are a missing-nin. What forced you to come back?"
Sasuke looked away this time, his obsidian eyes focusing on various points in the room, pretending not to notice the picture of Team 7 still sitting on the blonde's bedside table. He took in the apartment: Naruto's bed pushed up against the wall by the window, the tiny bathroom that he could see into with the door ajar, the small kitchen with cups of ramen stacked in the garbage can. Clothes littered the floor, and one small pile caught his eye in particular. It was bloodstained ivory armor, and black clothes. A white mask with red swirls making up a fox face lay on top of it. His eyes flicked to Naruto's upper left arm and the small bit of red ink that wasn't covered by the T-shirt.
"You're in ANBU?"
The sapphire eyes narrowed and Naruto growled out, "Don't avoid the question, teme!"
Again, Sasuke didn't answer, his eyes focusing on a picture by the door. It had Naruto grinning with his arms wrapped around Hinata's waist, both of them wearing fairly formal kimonos. Naruto's was orange (naturally) with navy patterns. Hinata's had lavender petals with an indigo obi. The background was of brightly colored lanterns…a festival?
"You and Hinata are dating?"
Naruto's patience ran out. He moved quicker than Sasuke thought he could and had his hand fisted in Sasuke's shirt and had him pressed against the wall, eyes angry and seeming to have more of a purplish tinge.
"Answer me, dammit!" Naruto's voice was low and dangerous, "What forced you to come back?"
Sasuke couldn't avoid it anymore. He lowered his gaze and didn't answer for a few long minutes, then finally, "Nothing forced me. I…don't really know why I came back. I just felt like I needed to," Now he looked unflinchingly at Naruto, "I swear, I'm not back for any mission or anything."
Naruto searched his dark orbs, looking for anything. It was easier than he remembered.
Sasuke suddenly noticed how much taller Naruto had gotten in all these years. He was a good half a head taller than himself. His skin was browner and something in his eyes were darker, shadows and secrets. That was what it cost to be in ANBU, Sasuke thought.
The hand that had Sasuke pinned to the wall released him, and Sasuke rubbed his collarbone where the blonde's knuckles had driven into his skin. He knew Naruto had every right to punch him, arrest him (like he was now fully capable of doing) or beating the life out of him. Surprisingly, he did none of the above.
Strong arms wrapped around Sasuke, making him tense for a minute before realizing it was just Naruto.
"I missed you, teme."