ItaNaru Oneshot
Mainly Shonen Ai, so beware the wrath of boy love! (No yaoi, sorry guys!)
Disclaimer: As much as I would like to, I don't own Naruto or any of the characters within it, belonging to Masashi Kishimoto.
Un-Beta-ed so expect to see mistakes.
A/N: It's a funny story to what made the one shot. I'm sure you guys have all read a story that was inspired after a song, maybe a different manga series or somewhat of that manner! If you have, then you should be familiar with what I am doing! It was about a month ago when I was IMing my friend Lynette and she had been showing me all of these sad videos to where I was crying at most of them! I ended up falling in love with one of the songs (and music video!) and I thought it was just too adorable not to be made into a fanfic! For the life of me, I cannot tell you the name of the video nor the artist because as much as I've looked high and low, I can't find any information on the song! Bummer, right? Anyways, it revolves around the whole music video and I think you'll recognize it quite quickly!
Thanks for reading! ^_^
To Uchiha Itachi, it was just a regular Friday night. He had gotten off work but he knew in the back of his mind, he still had so much paperwork to do that would probably last him the weekend. He sighed, wondering how he was going to explain to Naruto, his blonde joy of a boyfriend he had been dating for three years now. He had a meeting with an important client on Sunday of all days to be working with all the paperwork needed in that time and as much as he would have liked to avoid the matter completely or pass it on to Kisame's liable hands, he knew it was a responsibility that only he could fulfill. He would either be up all night and partially of Saturday morning, probably sleeping in for most of the day or he could be with Naruto all night, have to wake up early Saturday and finish the paperwork. The second one sounded so much more appeasing because it was a Friday night and truth be told, Naruto was the hottest thing underneath him. He debated on his way to his home where he knew he would meet up with Naruto sooner or later. His eyes darted to the dashboard, the red light flashing it was almost ten and he was barely on his way home from work. In just a couple of minutes, he pulled up to the apartment complex that they both had picked out a mere two years ago.
He paused outside his apartment door, bracing himself for what waited inside. His hand hesitantly rose up to the doorknob, turning the knob and gently pushing the door, the creak of the opening echoing across the half empty apartment, blending in with the sound of the hissing coming from the kitchen along with delicious aromas. Usually the blonde was lazy about cooking for himself, knowing that Itachi would be late coming home every day so he ate take out most of the times. Itachi questioned why he would be making himself dinner if he knew he was home late. Speaking of late, why was he even cooking at this ungodly hour?
"Itachi, is that you?" His voice chirped, making the weasel grin slightly. "Yes, I'm home." His voice crescendoed into the kitchen, causing Naruto to do the same. He turned around excitedly, biting on his lips and grinning even wider when he saw the "Heartless Prince" leaning by the doorway. "You're home early." He smirked, causing the small smile on Itachi's lips to gracefully fall into a frown, his eyes wanting to be hidden away from Naruto's. He shrugged off work, looking from under his lashes the blonde's attempt. He caught him yawning a couple of times and his stomach roared out of hunger, showing that he had gone out of his way to have dinner with Itachi. He smiled gently at this though, his dark eyes turning back to Naruto standing at the stove, giving his attention to the stir fry he was cooking. He raven moved over towards him, wrapping his arms around the blonde and placing his chin on the turret of golden blonde hair. "I may not be able to go to bed with you tonight," He breathed out carefully and even, making the man beneath his arms suddenly go rigid with attention and alarm. "I have paperwork to finish up and they pulled me in for a meeting on Sunday." He explained carefully, Naruto breaking out of his embrace to turn around and face him with an expression of unnecessary concern and pain.
"All night? You're going to burn yourself out. Why don't you wait until tomorrow and I'll give you day to work tomorrow." Naruto frowned, his brows pulling together and his bottom lip curling into a pout. "No, it's better if I get it all done tonight so we have the day for ourselves tomorrow." He shook his head with a small smile, his hands cupping the blonde's whiskered cheeks. "Don't worry. Let's just eat and you can go to bed." He kissed his partner on the forehead, his words soothing him although not doing the trick of assuring him that his boyfriend would be alright. He knew as much as an Uchiha he was and how flawless the carriers of the last name were, he was still human.
The flickered off the switch to the stove and poured in stir fry into two bowls, handing Itachi one with a pairs of chopsticks in his hands, handing one over to Itachi as both of them bowed their head in silence, murmuring a whispered "Thank you", and silently eating their food. The awkward stillness stayed between the two for quite a while until Naruto had been the first one to finish his food, seeing as how it was almost eleven and he had barley eaten dinner, which was a bit out of the norm for him. "Itachi," He hesitated before leaving the kitchen, holding onto the molding around the door. His dark eyes flickered up at him, murmuring a soft, "Hmm?" Naruto smiled sadly, "Come to bed when you really need to, please." The last word made him wince internally, not wanting him to go off in such a mood. He nodded his head with a smile as Naruto headed off into the bedroom alone.
Itachi sighed, grabbing out his briefcase and unloading the paperwork, looking at the mound of paperwork with a sign, snatching his pen and began filling out the first line.
***
It had been around five in the morning when Itachi heard stirring inside the bedroom, no doubt Naruto probably just rolling around in his sleep. His eyes quickly shuffled from the hallway to the paper in front of him. He was almost done, just needed about twenty pages more to read and sign over before he could head off to bed with Naruto. His eyes were ready to clamp down shut and filled with sleep. He had gone through the desperate attempt of drinking three cups of coffee, although the caffeine in them had yet to take effect. He couldn't put his head down now. He was almost there. He was going to cross the finish line in time before…before… 'What the hell was I saying right now?' With those thoughts, his head crashed on the kitchen table, his eyes closed without the slightest intention of them opening again in six to eight hours, hell even more.
About two hours later, Naruto stirred once more in the room, his hands searching the empty bed for Itachi, finding nothing but pillows in his absence. He pried one eye open as the alarm clock read seven twenty three, causing the blonde to sigh as he jumped up from bed, making his way around the dark bedroom, wincing as the bright light from the kitchen laminated from the cracks of the door. His eyes adjusted slowly but surely as he kept walking down the hallway, finding Itachi sleeping soundly at the kitchen table. He smiled at the sight, returning to the bedroom and finding a blanket to drape over Itachi. He turned off the light, feeling as if he should move Itachi from his spot but it god knows how long he had been sleeping, so it would have been better to leave him there and let him sleep a few more hours before he had to get back to work on the forums he obviously hadn't finished. Naruto plopped down on the couch, wanting to be as close to Itachi as possible, closing his eyes and gently drifting off into sleep once more.
***
Itachi cracked open his eyes, finding he had fallen asleep on the table. He got up quickly, the blanket draped over him falling to the floor, catching his attention, his eyes suddenly shooting around the room for Naruto. He got up and searched around the house, finding nothing but a note instead of the man himself.
"Itachi,
Went over with Neji and Gaara. Be back later!
Don't over work yourself
-Naruto
Ps, I love you!"
Itachi groaned, looking over at the clock revealing it was eleven. He shook his head, wondering how he let himself slip so easily. He scurried through the paperwork once more, determined to finish it by the time Naruto had gotten home. He furiously eyed over word for word, his signature and other information being filled in at various spots until he had finally gotten down to a few more pages…
It was around five when Naruto had returned, finding his boyfriend still hovering over the table with a pen in his unruly hair now and the paperwork looking as if it was almost finished. He smiled, making his way over to the table and wrapping his arms around the weasel from behind, finding that it had made him flinch. "Itachi?" He frowned, letting go of him and looking down at his partner, wearing a frustrated expression. "Come on Tachi, take a little break." He smiled encouragingly, the raven pushing his arms away. "I'm almost done." He growled, angry at himself for not being able to finish earlier. Why was this taking so god-damn long?
"Tachi,"
"Just…leave me alone for right now." His hands pushed away those of Naruto's, taking the blonde by surprise and his body knocking over a small vase with a single sunflower held within it. He sighed in response, turning around and leaving out the door. Itachi stopped for a moment, jerking up his head from the paperwork, hearing the slam of the door enter his eardrums and taking in his current actions. He moaned, grabbing his head. He sighed as he got up off the chair and ran to chase after him, walking out into the dawn. He saw the blonde bob of hair moving quickly, his feet only quickening the pace to run after him. Naruto turned around slightly, hearing his name being called by Itachi, his eyes catching hold of the Uchiha running after him, only turning back around with a small tear caught in the corner of his eye. He kept walking out into the street, turning around once more as he heard his name being screamed out painfully. He looked at the Uchiha with sad eyes, watching his expression as it changed into shock as sudden noises piled into his head and the once quiet mind of his had suddenly turned chaotic and rampaged with car horns; his head turning to the car that was coming straight at him.
"NARUTO!" He screamed out to the blonde as the car came hurling towards him. He ran quicker than his legs would let him, causing him to tumble down on the floor, watching his lover get hit suddenly, his body being throwing up into the air and over the car, the vehicle speeding away as quickly as possible as if the crash had never happened. He stumbled to get up, running over to his body, holding his head up and carrying him out of the street and onto the sidewalk, checking for a pulse quickly. "Naruto, Naruto stay with me." His voice pleaded, the body staying in place with no response. "Naruto, please…" He begged, the blonde staying perfectly still in his arms. "Someone, call 911!" The voices all scurried above him, ambulance horns heard only moments later. He buried his head onto the blonde's chest, holding him in his arms, wishing it was all taken away and he was back here. If only he had sped up or not even pushed him away, they would still be there in the apartment. They would be talking about Naruto's day and what he had done, watching him smile brightly and laugh along with Itachi. He could already picture that grin of his…
"Sir, please, we need the body. We need to rush him over to the hospital." The men pried Naruto out of his arms as he sat there helplessly for once in his life. He looked as the blonde head of hair was carried over to a stretcher and he drove away on the ambulance, people stubbornly giving him air and forcing him to try to breathe. He felt a small rain drop hit his head, making him look up as rain suddenly came sprinkling down. He sat there and looked up at the rain, sending down tear drops that masqueraded with the water that fell from the sky, almost as if it were mourning the loss of the blonde itself had he been the sun.
He got up slowly, walking shakily into his apartment, falling straight to the floor as soon as he entered using the door for support. With his head in his hands, he tried to convince himself that Naruto would be alright and that tomorrow, the hospital would call and tell him that Naruto had survived; that they had managed to bring him back once more. As much as he was an Uchiha, the human side that Naruto had brought out in him wanted to break out freely and cry, throw a tantrum and do everything else an Uchiha wouldn't be caught dead doing. His heart felt like cracking and breaking suddenly, as if the happy part of him had died away and a smile was nowhere near soon, probably even inexistent now. He got up slowly, walking over to the bedroom, as if he was going to find the blonde mess of hair beneath the covers, flipping them over to find his favorite orange shirt in place of his body. Grabbing his shirt hopelessly, he sat down gently on the bed, pulling his face to the shirt, trying to pick up the familiar smell it had to it. "If I had another day like this, what would I do?" He murmured gently, one more tear slowly falling down his alabaster cheek, the silence overtaking the rest of the house after those words.
***
Itachi suddenly jerked up from the bed, hearing a quick rap on the door that had managed to wake up him from a sleep he had put himself into. He faced down at what he was holding in his hand: Naruto's shirt. The door opened and closed while he was lost within his thoughts, hearing a voice that made his eyes widen. "Itachi, are you home yet?"
'Is this some kind of cruel joke?' He wondered, getting up off the bed carefully with the orange rag in his hand. He came face to face in the middle of the hallway with the blonde fingering through the paperwork that was neatly stacked on the upright table. The vase he had even knocked over was upright and the flower within it still standing strong. 'Didn't I make a mess?'
"Ah, you are home." He spoke warmly with a smile. Itachi stood there motionlessly, waiting for him to disappear or fade away or even for someone to pull off a mask. Naruto walked towards him, wrapping his arms around the weasel and buried his head in his chest. "I missed you today." He chuckled gently. He slowly wrapped his arms around the blonde, feeling the warmth from his body eradicate the coolness of his. He placed his cheek on the blonde ruffle of hair, sighing as he smiled. It was odd, and it surely wasn't a dream from what he could tell of so far. He wasn't quite sure of what was going on but he would take advantage of it to its fullest if it meant getting back Naruto. "What day is it today, Naruto?" He questioned in a quiet voice, allowing his hand to run through his hair. "It's Friday." He laughed.
"Did you already eat?" He asked as if he were trying to relive the day over again and suddenly remembering Naruto's persistence to stay up and eat with him, feeling the blonde shaking his head no in response. "What do you feel like eating? I'll cook today." He smiled softly, Naruto lifting his head up in surprise to look at Itachi. "You're cooking? What's the occasion?" He joked, a bit surprised as Itachi cupped his cheeks within his hand, bringing his face closer until their lips touched to kiss, the blissful feeling rushing over both of them. "No occasion." He grinned, Naruto doing the same. "I feel like stir fry, what about you?" His blue eyes looked up at the dark ones as their forehead pressed together. "Stir fry sounds good. Go get showered and I'll have it ready when you come out." He smiled, their lips pressing together once more. 'I've got to act normal is all. It was probably all just a nightmare of mine…'
"I'll stay out here with you and help." Naruto smiled, pulling his sleeves up and going over to the sink to wash his hands. The two stood there chopping up vegetables and cooking the food while they talked about their day, Itachi listening to the blonde carefully with a smile. Once the food was done, they sat down and ate while the conversation continued. Itachi's eyes glanced over at the paperwork on the other side of the table, making Naruto do the same. "Do you need to finish those tonight?" He asked, nodding over to the papers. The raven shook his head no with a grin. "I can get up early and finish them tomorrow." Naruto shrugged his shoulders with a chuckle, pulling the raven's hand and dragging him into bed a bit earlier than they had both anticipated, although a couple more hours couldn't hurt. They changed quickly, both of them falling onto their sides of the bed, Naruto's on the left and Itachi's on the right.
"Good night, Tachi." He murmured, closing his eyes against his pillow. Itachi paused for a moment, shaking his head and wrapping his arms around the blonde, murmuring, "I love you," to the shell of his ear, kissing his head. Naruto grabbed his hand and placed it within his, their fingers entwining as Naruto replied, "I love you too."
The moment the precious blonde had fallen asleep in his arms, he slipped out of his grip, moving out into the living room and pacing around the dark for a moment, trying to recapture his thoughts and from the afternoon, wondering where this had all happened and how it managed to turn out this way, not that he wasn't happy or grateful at the least. He sighed for a moment, the worries of tomorrow kicking him and afraid that if he left Naruto alone for too long, he would disappear once more from his life. He threw himself on the couch, kicking around in confusion until his foot at hit something hollow from under the couch. He raised his eyebrows with interest, bending over to the floor and retrieving the instrument from below the couch. He examined it, running his fingers through the strings and plucking them for a moment, the tune being gentle and soft so it wouldn't wake Naruto. A small smile danced on his lips, his hands weaving around the neck of the instrument, grabbing a couple of other instruments from the desk in the living room and heading outside to the patio where he shut the glass doors, continuing his handiwork quietly in order not to wake Naruto.
***
Even though he had Naruto in his arms for the night –or a good portion of it-, he couldn't sleep. He wanted to stay there in bed and hold on to him until the morning came, afraid he would disappear the moment he left his arms. The weasel had tried to come up with different explanations within his head of how something like that ever happened, or even if it was all just a dream…no, a nightmare. He was startled every time the blonde stirred in his sleep, only to murmur something incoherently and then fall back into a sleep. Itachi hadn't gotten a chance to see if the paperwork had even been touched or close to finished while they were eating, which worried him a bit, but his mind went back to focusing on the person in his arms.
It was around eight when the blonde blinked open his eyes, a bit stunned that Itachi had managed to hold onto him all night long, which was quickly replaced with a smile as he turned over in his arms to face Itachi, kissing his neck as he murmured, "Good morning." Itachi smiled gently, something he wouldn't have guessed he would be doing, but then again the reason had disappeared. "Good morning." He responded, placing his lips over the crown of Naruto's head. Naruto had been right first of all, it was much better sleeping there on with him rather than on the table, pulling his hair out at five in the morning.
"Ah, you didn't go finish up your work?" He inquired, the thoughts from yesterday returning into his mind. Itachi shook his head, worrying the blonde a bit. "I'll go somewhere with Gaara today or someone so you can have the apartment to yourself today." He rubbed his eyes, snuggling up to the raven's bare chest. "No, it's alright. Let's go somewhere today." He twisted the words around, making the blonde frown even more. "But-"
"No buts." He placed his finger over his lips, replacing his finger with his lips. "Just you and me today; I can't remember the last time we had a day to yourselves." He chuckled. "We've been busy." Naruto snorted the obvious excuse. "Let's just do something today, for us. Unless you're busy," He his teasing smirk made the blonde turn around to face his lover with a grin planted on his face, the one that he wished would never fade away the way it had yesterday unexpectedly. "I'm never too busy for you." He laughed, making Itachi sigh in defeat as he got up to get showered and dressed, Naruto following his lead and making breakfast shortly after the raven had finished with his shower. He had everything ready on the table, the weasel waiting patiently at the table for Naruto to finish his shower so they could eat together, taking the blonde by surprise as he exited the shower. "Itachi, you can eat without me." He frowned at his action, wondering what had brought it up suddenly. "I'll wait for you so we can eat together." He shook his head calmly, making the blonde smile crookedly.
He met Itachi out in the dining room soon enough with clothes that seemed all too well on him. His blonde hair was still a bit damp from the shower, but it would soon dry up and spike up in its usual place. He was wearing Itachi's favorite deep red colored button down shirt that was loosely buttoned on the top, revealing a bit of his toned muscles. The raven raised his eyebrows at what he saw, both of them bowing their head and saying their grace while digging into their meal afterwards. He couldn't keep his eyes off the blonde sitting right beside him through their meal, making him blush slightly every time he caught him staring as if he were a young teenage girl infatuated with her crush all over again. "Why are you looking at me so much?" He laughed through his question, not wanting to sound ungrateful or even pestered by the thought of it.
"I'm in love with you all over again." He breathed out, his smoldering eyes running up and down over him once more, making his blonde blush furiously this time. Naruto laughed off the red from his face, leaning in to give him a quick kiss on the forehead, taking his empty bowl to the sink as well as his own. He quickly washed the dishes and before he knew it, they were out and about on the street. It was a couple of yards into the walk before Naruto frowned, remembering that Itachi hadn't specified where they were head off to. His giant blue, questioning eyes looked up, his mouth open to ask a question when Itachi smiled down at him, meeting his gaze and his hand slipping into the blonde's, their fingers entwining. He grinned to himself, looking back down at his hand and back to the floor, knowing that the silence was good enough for now.
After a few blocks, Itachi spun around with a smile planted on his face. "Sorry, but this is the part where I need to blindfold you." Naruto laughed in response, nodding his head understandingly and allowing his alabaster fingers to slip out of his and caress his cheek, gentle kisses being laid down at the back of his neck and cheek before he wrapped the thick material over his eyes, the sun not even visible through the dark cloth. Naruto reached out as if to walk forward, Itachi quickly catching up with him, his hands slipping into his once more, making both of them grin this time. "Trust me." He whispered in a low voice, the blonde nodding his head yes once more. "I already do."
Itachi lead him through a small dirt paved road, yet to be untouched by the evil doings of cement and the rest of the land resting besides on a small farm home on the side, looking as if they had stepped through a time portal or something of the kind, the land seeming so peacefully quiet and serene; the kind you couldn't find in a city. He smiled gently at the flowers that surrounding the fields up ahead, making him only more anxious and trying to hurry his steps with Naruto's hands in his, leading him up to the flowers that shone just as brightly as his hair and his smile. Lead the blonde straight into the middle of the field, letting go of his hands suddenly and making Naruto panic slightly. "I-Itachi?" He asked uncertainly, his hands suddenly reaching out and feeling the flowers surrounding him. His hands ran up the thick stem first, his eyebrows knitting with uncertainty at first, then a smile spreading warmly on his lips and a small laugh coming out from his throat. His fingers went to the petals, amazed at how tall the flowers were and how soft they felt. "Can I take off the blind fold now?" He asked with a laugh in his voice, the weasel sneaking up behind him and his fingers lacing through the blindfold and releasing him from the darkness he had confined him to and the brightness of the flowers and the sun causing him to squint his eyes at first, smiling even wider when what he had thought was confirmed. He chuckled, the small laughter turning loud and heard through the field of sunflowers, making him grasp his head with question to if it was a dream or not. "You remembered." He smiled brightly, running over to the raven and snatching him up in his arms tightly, his face pressed against his chest snugly. "You have to promise me something." Naruto murmured into his shirt, the pale hands going to his hair and running through the golden tresses as if it were cashmere. "Hmm?" He asked with a gentle voice, his interest quirked. "You have to race me." He giggled, suddenly letting to and running away from the raven, looking behind his shoulder and laughing at the sight of Itachi fumbling through the maze of flowers to catch up to him.
Naruto had managed to keep up his pace and run quickly through the field, avoiding Itachi and hiding every so often when he found a tree and some empty patches of grasses. Itachi finally caught up with Naruto, walking out of the patch and finding him fingering petals to a smaller flower growing and yet to make it to the height of its ancestors. He chortled at the sight and walked over towards him, bending down with him to admire the small plant. "You know, I don't think I've seen a small one for the longest time. Not since I was a kid." He laughed, a quick memory flashing through his head, making the weasel curious to what he was thinking of. "Let's plant some." He suggested, making Naruto smile with his eyes closed, trying to picture Itachi tending to something diligently such as a plant. "I like that. Do you want to grow some? They would look so good out in the patio." He started thinking where he would put them exactly, Itachi's laugher interrupting his thoughts. "The patio sounds nice. It'll be pleasant to have some flowers in the spring at the apartment." He smiled at the thought. Naruto reached out for his hand, running his thumb in circles in his palm. "Let's do it then."
Naruto stood up suddenly, Itachi doing the same and the two of them running around the field together this time, looking for sunflower seeds that were falling off the flowers to plant, grabbing them by the handfuls and placing them inside a handkerchief Itachi had in his pocket. Naruto held the full and tied cloth in his hands gingerly with Itachi walking behind him, both of them quite a bit tired from the day, yet not quite ready for the day to end yet. To the blonde, the day had been all but a dream, his lover never showing him this side of him for a while now. He sighed, wishing he had brought a camera if he had known they were going to be somewhere as magical as the sunflower field, or even somewhere memorable with Itachi. He shook the thought off, determined to get every aspect and detail of the day crammed into his memory in place of his forgotten and neglected camera.
Itachi lead them back to the car, stopping off at a small store where they had gardening tools such as the pots and soil they were going to use. Both of them walked through the aisles together, hand in hand with the small cloth in Naruto's free hand while Itachi held the small grocery carrier and knocked in all the items the blonde had pointed to with his finger. "Now the really hard question is: do we want them hanging off the railing or do we want them in a pot?" Naruto frowned, his lower lip puckering out in a cute manner. "I think the railing would be nice, don't you?" The raven asked, the blonde slowly nodding his head yes and grabbing six of the pots, smiling to himself and wondering what the spring would bring for him. "Ready to check out or did we forget something?" Itachi asked, his eyes watching Naruto as he shook his head no and they proceeded to the check-out lane.
It hadn't taken them that long, although it had seemed that way when they had stepped out of the store, rain pouring down in a moderate fashion. "Geez, it got rainy fast." Naruto grumbled, amusing Itachi and making him smirk. He took off his coat, throwing it over the blonde head and causing him to look up at his partner in shock. "What about you?" he questioned, worried that he would catch a cold. "I'll be fine." He laughed, shaking his head and his eyes wandering down to his watch. It had been about this time yesterday with the whole incident…
He felt the figure beside him jump, pulling on his sleeve excitedly. "Itachi, look! There's one that's barley growing!" He grinned, letting go of the raven's shirt and running towards the flower on the other side of the street. His eyes widened slightly in confusion, time slowing down just a bit to where his motions were faster than what they normally were. His eyes caught hold of the car driving on the same lane Naruto was heading towards. Dear god...
He dropped the shopping bags right there on the sidewalk, running towards the blonde at a pace he strained to reach, his eyes darting furiously between the street and the car that was trying to race against him and Naruto until the blonde seemed reachable. His legs tried desperately to keep up with his arms, but at the last moment, failing him all too suddenly. With a last leap before he fell to the asphalt, his hands landed on Naruto's back, pushing him with all the strength his muscles would lend him to the sidewalk, the blonde landing safely where the small sunflower was. "Ita-" He began, rubbing his head, his eyes widening as he realized what was going on.
Itachi smiled sadly to the blonde, his arms still outreached towards him.
"I lov-"
The sentence was choked off by the car suddenly jerking his body to the side and rolling right over him at first, then through him at the second set of tires.
'At least I managed to save him for all it's worth.'
The pale body laid on the street helplessly, a state an Uchiha was never in. His dark, moody eyes were open with a glaze over them, as if he were still regretting not being able to finish his words to Naruto. The blonde sat there in silence for a moment with his sapphire eyes wide open, his mouth finally opening to let out a curdling cry that was heard on and on to the people of the streets and in the shops all around, everyone peeking out at the sobbing blonde, who was pounding at the concrete furiously and crying out a name with the rain, the rain falling on his face to hide the tears that were pouring out expeditiously, his face in such a strain.
"Hey, hey kid! Stop it, you're hands are bleeding!" A man called out to him, Naruto paying no mind and continued to trashing against the sidewalk, sobbing loudly for Itachi to come back, come back for him. "Finish what you started, goddamn it! Come back and plant the damn flowers with me! You need to be here for the spring!" He crawled over to the street, tripping several times along the way. "Tachi, talk to me. Say something, goddamn it!" He cried out to the body, his hands reaching for his face. His eyes widened as the ambulance men grabbed him by his arms and hauled him upwards, Naruto kicking and screaming in protest to be with the weasel. "No! Don't make me leave him alone! Don't!!" He whimpered. "He'll wake up! Let me be with him, please!" He screamed, the men strapping him down in the ambulance and making him sit down.
"We'll let you see him again, but you need to calm down. Just take a breath, okay?" Naruto did as he was told time after and after until he was calm and was strolled to the hospital and his hands were bandaged up. Sasuke went to pick him up from the hospital and drove him home, both of them silent and holding their words in the car. Slowly but surely, he felt his heart crack. It wasn't spontaneous or as quick as he had seen portrayed through the television or in books and stories, although it seemed as if an offhand artist was chiseling through his way to the core of his heart, taking his time to get there. The cracks spread slowly as if it were a disease eating him up with the time being ripe. He held in his tears and anything else from Sasuke's eyes. They stopped outside his apartment, Naruto ready to jump out of the car before familiar pale hands stopped him. He looked up at Sasuke, his eyes filled with worry. "Are you going to be alright for tonight? You don't want to stay over at my place?" He asked, his eyes almost begging him to go with him back home so he could watch over him. He knew Itachi wouldn't want his "precious blonde" alone.
Naruto shook his head and gave a small, sad smile, jumping out of the car and running up the stairs, swinging open the door, half hoping it was all a prank and he would be wrapped in those strong arms once more. He looked around the apartment, running in and out of all the rooms, finding nothing left of him there but his clothes. His eyes fell to couch, finding the bag that was full of their shopping supplies for the sunflowers and the handkerchief lying there innocently. He walked across the room, dropping to his knees and grabbing the cloth, hugging it tightly in his arms and laying on the floor, rocking himself back and forth against the rug, just waiting for the footsteps invade the quiet of the raindrops pattering against the windows.
He got up suddenly, slowly walking towards the open door to close it, knowing it was all just a cruel twist of fate for this to all happen. He flicked on a switch to the lamp, hating to b in complete darkness, his eyes widening when he saw a small CD with Naruto's name written elegantly across in a sticky note…with Itachi's penmanship. He snatched the CD, his eyes devouring around the case and trying to see if he had left anything else but the CD inside. He looked around for the old radio they had bought when they had first moved in, plugging it into the wall and popping it open, feeding the CD ROM in and pressing play, his heart nearly breaking even more as he heard the gentle voice at the beginning of the tap speaking.
"Naruto, if I haven't told you enough, I apologize, but know that you will always mean more to me that you will ever know. I love you so very much that sometimes I don't know how to express it to you. Don't cry anymore; you know how I say you look older when you cry often. Listen to this when you feel lonely, or you need to hear me, but I hope that you don't use it as much as I think you will. Play me in the spring when the flowers have bloomed and the patio looks beautiful with the sunflowers in bloom. I wrote this song specifically for you and as a reminder me and a reminder that I'll be with you wherever you choose to go." The voice suddenly stopped speaking, only to be replaced with a gentle tune of a violin. The melody swayed the blonde to tears once more, sniffling through the whole song, the end coming too soon even though it had been seven minutes long without the introduction at the beginning. He remembered when Itachi had played for him at the beginning of their relationship and how he had stopped suddenly because his work. The time had been taken away and he had believe the instrument to be long gone, just like the musical inspiration its' owner had lost. "Think of me where you are and wherever you go, and I'll be close behind you. Don't let me pull you down though and always go forward, even if you think I'm not there. I always am, Naruto. Before you go to bed, wonder to yourself for me and try to answer truthfully: If you had another day like this, what would you do?" The voice sounded sad suddenly, his voice chopped off with the recorder stopping. The blonde sat there for a moment, trying to come up with an answer to the question.
***
Culmination:
The birds were chirping happily outside the window and attempting to sing along to the violin Naruto was playing carefully. He tried to mimic the song on the CD that he had put away long ago in a box full of his keepsakes such as Tsunade's necklace, Jiraya's book that he had given to his father and passed down to him and a couple of knick knacks he, Sasuke and Sakura had collected when they were kids. It had been a while since he had played the tape as frequent as he had at first, then started to respect Itachi's wishes and hid it away to where only he knew where it was. He was proud to announce that it had only been a couple of months since the death, although he felt he was coping quiet well with it for the most part. The CD had been hidden away for four months now and whenever he needed to hear the voice again to help him sleep at night, he would pull it out from under his night stand and play it continuously until he was able to sleep again. The sunflowers he had planted and tended to for the longest time were fully in bloom and flaunting their golden petals to the watchers on his patio, the sweet melody of the violin that had belonged to Itachi mixing in with their intoxicating smell. It was even perfect weather to be sitting out and playing your instrument or just to be admiring the city from a view; the only thing missing there was Itachi to help him bask in the flowers.
Naruto placed down the violin on the table, sighing and looking at the plants, wondering if Itachi was with him right there, watching the flowers bloom so vividly and hearing him play as well as he was. Even though he had died quite a while ago, Naruto had left the extra chair in its place as if nothing had happened and he had a reason for the seat. "I finally have an answer for you," He smiled, whispering to the wind and hoping it would carry his words to Itachi wherever he was. "I wouldn't change the day." He shook his head with certainty, a small tear rolling down his cheek. "If you had another day like this, what would you do, hmm?" He asked with a small smile to the wind, the breeze blowing in the answer quickly that Naruto hadn't heard. 'I would be with you,' the words seemed to form through the different pitches of the wind, invisible to Naruto although quite there and seeming as if they had been whispered by the man Itachi himself. You could hear the smile in the words as they wrapped around the blonde in a swift breeze, repeating itself over and over again, deaf to the human ears and murmuring through the leaves and petals of the sunflowers. 'I would spend it with you, everyday and any day,'
Alright, I'll admit I was crying writing the whole thing which is why it took me a bit longer than a month to write this thing down (My mother kept giving me weird looks every time it looked like I was choking up at the computer screen .). I hope you guys enjoyed it and you can expect another one shot coming up somewhere soon along the way! ^_^
Are you ready?
Get steady…
And…
REVIEW!
