Warnings: 'Imagine you OTP' out of control, BL, OOC and some curse words.
Genre: Romance, Slice of Life, Friendship
Magnet Shipping: SasuNaruSasu
Side Pairings: SaiSaku, FugaMiko, ItaIzu;
DISCLAIMER: NARUTO does not in any form belong to me; it is a successfully owned work of art by Masashi Kishimoto and will forever remain as such.
A/N: Just a short soul mate AU fan-fiction which, I admit, I got from scrolling furiously down the net trying to find something inspirational to write about.
Then I found this little jewel.
Then I had 'imagine your OTP' moment going on there.
And then that moment turned to this. Short. Fluffy. Adorable. One shot.
...Also, presenting with this story: Uchiha Izumi, the first and only known Itachi fangirl from the canon!
Make sure to read and review, ok? And remember, flames tickle~
The first color Uchiha Sasuke opened his eyes to was something he will later in life identify as gray. Nothing but dull, dark gray. There were contours of light and dark playing with the constant gray that was his life.
Somewhere, subconsciously in his mind, the small, barely one month old, baby Sasuke knew this was wrong. He knew he should have been able to see something else, something more than this monochromatic world.
And then, on the brink of his third month, not that he would ever realize it, his world exploded in wondrous, amazing blue. He would realize, and compare, later in his life, later when he gained his right to see and feel all of the magnificent colors that this world had, that the blue yonder that made him burst into non-explainable tears of delight; that this was the closest shade of sky he could ever have.
His older brother, who was softly rocking him in his arms did not understand the baby's need for cry, but dismissed it as another child thing.
Sasuke's fast paced baby mind already dismissed and forgot both of these memories quickly, once presented with joyous faces of his family.
.
It wasn't until he was 5 years old that Sasuke learned that there were many other colors in the world, not just that single one he possessed, but he was still far from discovering which one it was. After all, every single color his mother shoved him was same; even if they carried different names.
His brother told him, amused by his little brother's annoyance about not understanding something even Itachi did, that the shade of the world he sees is the shade his soulmate has.
By the time he was 10 years old, Sasuke had a firm grip of understanding something about it; he had a soulmate, a person whose very existence was made and perfect for him, a person whose soul was tied so tightly to his own, a person who had the most brightest shade of color for his eyes.
.
Sasuke didn't known what his eye color was.
Itachi told him it was black.
Sasuke asked him how a black colored looked like.
Itachi told him it was the darkest shade of a color there was.
Sasuke asked him if his soulmate's world was black.
With a soft,sad smile on his lips, Itachi said yes.
.
Sasuke spent his whole day apologizing profusely to his invisible soulmate.
Itachi came into his room quietly, hugged his shivering form on the bed and promised Sasuke that his soulmate wouldn't be mad at Sasuke for it.
On the contrary, once they meet, both of their world will drown in dozen of colors, that their most favorite one would still be their eyes.
Sasuke dearly hoped so.
.
He asked Itachi about the reason he could see colors. Itachi smirked at him.
The next day, the Uchiha family was visited by a beautiful girl, barely a year younger than Itachi. She presented herself as Izumi Uchiha, his father long distanced niece, and proceeded to smother Sasuke with cheek pinching and noogies.
Sasuke didn't need his mothers smiling face to tell him this insufferable girl was his brother's soulmate. He could've seen it by himself by the way the two were eye swooning at each other.
.
And just like before, in the 14th year of his life, Uchiha Sasuke woke up to the world of healing and harmonized shade. Blinking bleary, he confirmed that it was indeed a different one from the single color he has seen his entire life, and panicked, he rushed to his brother's side for explanation.
After a long, excruciating painful brainstorming session, the two managed to conclude that his soulmate's eye changed color. Itachi told him not to worry about it too much, that there could be many reasons for such a change.
Sasuke went to school feeling a little bit miffed about it.
Come night time, his world tilted back to the softness and tranquility, but Sasuke was to tired to even think much about it. He went through his everyday life, switching between these two colors, until he woke up on a cold winter morning.
His vision was suddenly bright, pure and clean and Itachi told him it was the color of the snow.
Sasuke spent his whole day in the garden, touching and just being mesmerized with everything around him, while Itachi and Izumi smiled at him softly, lovingly from their cover on the balcony.
Even so, after a while, all the brightness around him was giving him headaches, and so he patiently waited for those minutes in the evening when everything will return to the bright, but deep color of stability.
.
The pure color remained with him until seasons changed and snow started melting, when Sasuke's soulmate, which Izumi concluded must be from, gave him another color to dye his world in.
Warm, sturdy and reliable were the feelings the new one invoked in him, and Sasuke enjoyed it greatly. Soon enough, it was followed by mysterious, royal hue, and warm, feminine tint, and after great research on his part, Sasuke realized his soulmate was showing him the markings of spring.
Giddy and immeasurably happy, Sasuke spent his days secretly enjoying all the new tinctures his soulmate graced him with. He even shared his findings with his one and only friend outside of his family, Juugo, who quietly congratulated him on having such a thoughtful, gentle mate.
Sasuke dearly wished he could've returned his soulmates kindness in the same turn, but was greatly afraid of asking his parents to fund this little game.
He also felt it would demean the purpose of it.
So he stayed silent and spent his days enjoying the world of sometimes light, sometimes cold, sometimes fuzzy colors.
He still couldn't name them all, but he figured that once he meets his soulmate, he would take his time to explore and really see for himself every single one of them he was gifted with.
.
Once high school rolled on, the percentages of soulmates skyrocketed so much that there were more than third of the schoolmates who had and met theirs.
There were also ones, like Sasuke, who never got to meet their significant other, and spent their days dulling looking out on the world in one single, monotone color.
Then, there were ones, unlike Sasuke, who decided to let life run it course, and fell and bonded with people who were not their fated ones. Sure, the subconscious fear they had of meeting some stranger whose eye color would rip them apart from their loved ones was there, constant, but they lived on happily with the person they chose to love.
And honestly, Sasuke thought there was nothing wrong with it. And sometimes, he entertained the thought of dating someone else, feeling someones warmth beside him; but he always pushed it away.
Call him old fashioned, but the powerful, soft hue did not deserve anything but whole of Sasuke's being and soul. No matter how much the constant switching annoyed him sometimes.
And then, like thunder from clear sky, Sasuke's vision exploded in magnitude of colors; and all it took was one look into the clearest, softest, roundest eyes Sasuke has ever seen.
Like usual, Sasuke was standing in the line in the local coffee shop he liked to visit, waiting to order his usual, with his friends Juugo, Karin and Suigetsu waiting on him in one of the booths.
He was just shy from turning 20, and all four of them were attending universities in different prefecture, so this Saturday morning they finally met up for a long overdue outing.
Sakura, the cash register lady, waved at him cheerily from the front.
"I'll be right with you Sasuke!"
He nodded at her, to notify her he understood and fished out his wallet, patiently waiting for his turn.
It's been more than a year that he started visiting this coffee shop and even though their internet was shitty, Sasuke would never give up the delicious coffee and warm atmosphere they provided for anything in the world.
He was on good terms with the owner of the establishment, seeing as how it was his uncle Obito, and it wasn't long before he became quite familiar with all of the staff; Sakura, the bipolar med student, who worked at the register, Sai, the prick who waited, Kakashi, their perverted manager who hit on anything that walked and Naruto, the goofy barista.
All five of them were very quick to pull Sasuke to their circle, even more so once they realized that Naruto, Sakura, Sai and Sasuke went to the same uni. Sasuke still remembered their first outing to the movies where Sai's crude comments threw them out of the theater and how that one time Sakura beat up a bunch of delinquents for trying to hit on Naruto.
.
Sometimes, Sasuke wondered if the two were dating. They looked good together, sometimes a little too good. Sakura was a small, feminine looking girl, with soft edges to her face giving her a more regal look, whilst Naruto was tall, with well defined, lean body and that round, baby face. They acted with so much ease around each other and had no problems getting into each others personal space on more than one occasion.
Sakura waved away his inquires about them, saying how the two were childhood friends that basically grew up like brother and sister. Naruto quaffed, telling him Sakura was his twice removed cousin and that her father would kill him if he ever looked at Sakura that way.
'Besides,' Naruto whispered to him, away from Sakura's hearing range 'The prick's her soulmate.'
Sasuke spent the rest of the afternoon watching Sai's and Sakura's interaction with each other; finding some affection and gentleness in the way she was rough housing him around.
.
Shaking his thoughts out of the clouds, Sasuke turned around the cafe and realized he was next in line.
He also noted that his world went back to that original gentle color which Sasuke decided was his favorite.
He doesn't remember when was the last time he saw it during daylight; it seemed like his soulmate liked to play around all the different color to make up for having Sasuke see the same old bright serenity.
Once Sakura sent the old lady on her way, she turned her apologetic smile to him:
"Ah Sasuke! Naruto's out in the back, so you'll have to wait a little bit for your usual Rasengan Latte." Sasuke scowled, feeling miffed about not getting his hands on Naruto's specialty hazelnut goodie after all this waiting.
"What's the idiot doing there?"
Sakura sighed, her face pulling into a guilty smile.
"Ah well, it's a long story that involves coffee beans, steam and cookies that got into his eyes for a bit. He's getting them cleaned out and should be out shortly."
Sasuke 'hn'ed softly, payed for his drink, and moved to stand at the side. It wasn't too long after that Naruto flew out from the door behind the register, rubbing his eyes.
"Damn it Sakura, you know how much money you just lost me?!" He pouted at the girl, steadily making his way to the coffee machine.
"I'll buy you ramen." She comments, rolling her eyes.
"Make it two and I'll forgive you."
Putting back his apron on, Naruto turns to face Sasuke, giving him a wide, shiny smile:
"Hey bastard! Usual?"
Sasuke barely manages to raise his head, a small simper on his mouth as a response, before his calm hue starts blending with Naruto's irises, fading away from the rest of the background and suddenly Sasuke can't breath.
His subconscious is noting and putting away for later how Naruto's skin is a healthy, tan hue, how his apron is that healing tint, how his shirt is impossibly pure, how his hair carries the marking of joy, energy and pure happiness, how Naruto's jaw is slackened, his eyebrows raised so much they're nearly touching his hairline and his eyes are comically wide...
But the only thing Sasuke sees and cares about are his eyes; and the one and only thing he wants to know is what is the name of that beautiful, tranquil and so, so bright color.
His staring is shortened with Naruto's rapid blinking followed by two teardrops from his eyes. Sasuke startles when Naruto raises his hand to wipe away at them.
"Dammit bastard, I just bought new contacts!"
Sasuke cannot hold back the quaff that breaks out of him and he is happy to find Naruto follows his example.
.
Later, much later; after the two of them sit down and actually get past all of the hungry stares they give to each other and try to get some comprehensible words in between, Naruto will bring Sasuke back to his home to meet his ecstatic parents and show off his prized collection of contact lenses which will make Sasuke's eye bulge out. Sasuke will roll his eyes, thump the shy Naruto on the head and proceed to smother him with the strongest hug he thought he was impossible of giving.
"Thank you for making my world colorful even when you weren't there."
Color and their emotions:
Blue- Safety, tranquility, serenity, softness, power, trustworthy, inviting, refreshing, free, reliable, somber;
Black- Powerful, sophisticated, edgy, elegant;
Gray- Neutral, formal, gloomy;
Green- Healing, harmonized, stable;
White- Purity, clean, bright;
Brown- Warmness, solidity, sturdiness, reliable;
Purple- Royal, mysterious, romantic;
Pink- Feminine, warm, young;
Yellow- Joy, energy, happiness, power, friendly, warning;