Decipher
Chapter One
Author: Atthla
Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto Masashi-sensei. I only play around with his characters.
Pairings: The main pairing is NaruSasu but there are hints of Kakashi/Genma and a few others I will disclose later in the story, including straight ones. The story will focus on NaruSasu, however. Take the pairing exactly in that order, although I don't think there's much difference vice versa. They're both boys anyway, and each has dominating personality the other cannot easily conquer. There is a reason why I put Sasuke on bottom though. Anyway, don't like, don't read.
Warnings: I'll just make a list to get this easier.
1. Contains male/male relationships. See Pairings list.
2. Sasuke is a manipulative bastard in this story. Living with Orochimaru for a few years will do that to anyone, but really, our Uchiha is just more complicated than he lets on. I'm only saying that for any Sasuke-fan who cannot bear to see him in a darker light than he already is, I advise you not to read this fic.
3. There are SPOILERS up to the newest chapter, which for me is chapter 332 of the manga. This includes the death of certain someone. Beyond that chapter, I'm afraid this fic will go AU. After all, I don't know what Kishimoto-sensei has in mind.
4. OOC-ness may be expected since this is my first attempt in this fandom.
5. Beware of some cursing since everybody is older in this fic. Naruto is 17 going on 18, so that means the beginning of this fic happens more or less two years after chapter 332 (the most recent I've read).
For this chapter, there are some blood and weirdness. Un-beta-ed, by the way.
Summary: Naruto has a visitor one late of night and that's how everything starts to change.
The air was cold.
Which was unusual. Uzumaki Naruto, roused by the slow grasp of awareness, grumbled in his mid-sleep and tried to pull his blanket higher up to his chin. The next thing his cloudy mind reported to him, however, was the stanch obstinacy his limbs showed to ignore his wish. The cold whispers of the night wind soon sobered his mind a little and with growing irritation, Naruto forced his eyelids to make way for his sight.
Darkness still reigned in the room as well as outside, and from the partly open window by his bed he could see the pale moon hanging low on the starless sky. It made him wonder if he had, by any chance, forgotten to close the window before hitting the sack earlier. Maybe, he was dead tired, recently coming back from a two-week mission yesterday afternoon and preparing for the old hag's birthday party afterwards, although he seemed to remember shutting the blinds. Which were obviously pulled up right now. That was why he could see the moon. The glass window was also ajar, leaving a medium-sized gap for every kind of wind to drift into his room.
That explained the temperature, but not why his body refused to move. Surely it was impossible that his extremities were half-frozen by the cold, wasn't it?
Not that it was that big of a deal. Sometimes, when he was too exhausted from continuous missions or overexerted practices topped with short of sleeps, he would find it difficult to get up from the bed. That fact aside, it should be easy to restore his strength to a level which permitted him to get to his feet, shut the window, and slump back to the bed afterward. All he had to do was focusing his chakra to his limbs to lend his muscles some power they currently lacked. It was so simple.
Only this time, it didn't work.
Something was definitely wrong.
Drawing a slow inhale, Naruto exercised more concentration, then tried and tried again until the corner of his eyes caught a shadow just next to him, which told him that he was not alone.
Blue eyes quickly darted to the where the shadow was and Naruto could hear his heart thundering in his chest once he noticed that there was someone, clad in pure black, standing by his bed. The dismal light endowed by the moon was not enough for him to see the face clearly, but still allowed him to distinguish the long robe of sinister black his uninvited intruder wore from the natural darkness of his room. There was a dangerous, menacing air he certainly couldn't ignore surrounding the stranger, pressuring his chest heavily and convincing him that this man – or woman – was not here to give him a little friendly visit.
Just perfect. Here he was, a jounin, reckless enough to let his guard down so much that a stranger actually managed to slip into his room unnoticed, and now in an obvious predicament since he was completely immobile. Unless this was a sick joke from his co-workers, it would need a miracle for him to survive the night. Those who held grudge against him were not few and he knew it.
His motionless visitor now lifted a pale white hand in a motion so slow that it was almost inhuman. Naruto grew frantic and attempted more tries, each more desperate than the last, but still no part of his body assented to budge. Far above panicking, he could only watch in horror as the hand hovered above him for the longest second before withdrawing and ascending to its owner's face. A quiet tug pulled the hood over this stranger's head and Naruto felt his heart stopping.
The face was still indistinguishable in this darkness but he would never mistake the pair of red eyes for anyone else's.
For a while, his visitor did not move as those peculiar blood-tinted orbs stared at him impassively. Then, slowly he bent down to the bed, face closing in until Naruto was able to distinguish it clearly. Pallid bloodless skin, contrast in the company of crimson eyes and long raven hair which framed sculpted features with firm outlines. This person was him, undoubtedly.
Naruto had no choice but to wait as the intruder stopped at mere inches from his face, close enough for him to recognize the comma-shaped jewels, now three of them bathing in the dormant sea of red. A smile – if it indeed could be described as one – he was certain should never grace a human's face quirked the visitor's mouth, conceited and threatening in the field of shadows. Naruto stared, as if spellbound, long strands of black hair tickling his cheeks.
Then a voice, one he knew so well once and still remembered until this very moment, breached the eerie silence with a tone he had been dreading would come from this exact person.
"Afraid, aren't you?"
It was like a nightmare coming true. Naruto felt his chest constricting painfully, with anger, sadness, and – even though he loathed admitting this – unmistakable fear. His night visitor had not moved, only the peculiar smile widening as seconds ticked by slowly, each more condescending than before.
A low, guttural sound that might be chuckles ascended amidst other sounds of the night and left him empty, emptier than his friendless childhood. Like that moment two years ago and another almost five years back.
"Dobe."
For a moment, everything else but his heartbeat seemed to have faded into silence. His eyes widened angrily, more out of habit than anything, and he opened his mouth only to find two fingers plunging into it, pressing down his tongue. Naruto would choke if he could, blood rushing before his ears in rapid flows, but the visitor only smirked, trailing saliva-slicked fingers down his lips and jaw and further still. He felt his insides shiver at the touch and suddenly there was a sharp sting at the base of his neck.
For all he knew, it might be the tip of a kunai digging into his throat.
The next thing he knew, those fingers were inside his mouth again, smearing a salty tang he recognized almost instantly. Still in the middle of processing that information, he could only watch as the two fingers and what remained of his blood then disappeared into the other man's mouth.
If he was scared before, he was positively horrified now.
"This," the low voice drawled again in the silence, accentuating the word with another sting at his neck, "is your promise."
Naruto stared as his visitor licked more blood off slender fingers, red eyes never leaving his. At the far back of his mind, he could almost see the Fifth Hokage receiving a report that one of her jounins had died from blood loss. Despite being restrained by a jutsu, he suppressed a shudder and almost scowled when his former teammate smirked again, as if reading his thought.
"Not yet," he said, the faintest hint of amusement lacing his voice despite his narrowing eyes.
Naruto would have said why – or what the fuck you're blabbering about – if he could speak.
"Come to me first."
He blinked once.
And his guest had gone at the end of that blink.
Again, it felt like his heart had completely stopped. He looked around frantically, half-wishing that his guest was still hiding at some dark corner of his room but knowing all along that the chance had once more flew out of his grasp. The jutsu was leaving him like tendrils caressing his cold sweaty skin and yet he still could not move. Desperate, he tried again and again, wanting nothing more than to jump out of the window and chase his former teammate until he could shake that pale body and howl why, what the fuck, how dare you.
Sasuke was there, not a phantom from his dream, not a bunshin, not an imagination. The real, alive, breathing, running-away Sasuke.
In his room. And he could not move.
Naruto was angry, angrier than he had ever been at his helplessness. He had trained for years and Sasuke still could waltz into his room and make threats like that.
Come to me first.
He gritted his teeth – or tried to – waves of anger roaring in his veins. Oh yes. That was exactly what he would do. He would go after Sasuke and come to him. Traps and caution could all go to hell. He would get the bastard back.
It took him a while to realize that his eyes had moistened, warmth overflowing at the brim. It took him a while to realize that the pain in his chest had entirely something else lay beneath, only its surface glazed by fury. It took him a while to realize that it was the sharper edge of relief.
It took him a while to realize that five years had passed and Sasuke was still alive.
End Chapter 1
Notes: I cannot bring myself to translate 'dobe'. I just can't. It's what Sasuke calls Naruto and I intend to keep it that way. That aside, I'd love to hear your comments. Review?
P.S.: Is there anyone who knows whether Izumo and Kotetsu are jounins or chuunins?
