SasuNaru, Itachi's presence implied. Warnings: Blood, violence, main character death, the usual.
Naruto came to help Sasuke fight Itachi...
Steeped
by vernajast
sasuke x naruto
itachi
you make it hard to breathe,
it's as if i'm suffocating.
and when you're next to me,
i can feel your heartbeat through my skin.
(stabbing westward)
"Usuratonkachi."
"Te-me."
Something wet slips over my hand, intimate and slick and warm. It pools inside loosely curled fingers, drawing a shiver down my spine despite the absolute control I exert over my body.
"Sasu...ke..." Just because there are tears in his eyes, it doesn't mean I'll stop.
He asked for this.
"S-Sa..." He's so weak, trembling, but I won't let that deter me from my goal. "...su...ke..."
He wanted to help.
Too silent and too still-he should never be either of those things, really, he shouldn't, so wake up, idiot!--his eyes have closed and only then do I pull away. My hand slips out of his chest, but liquid suction clings to it, as if he still can't let me go, and I cannot stand it. I fall to my hands and knees, get sick all over the ground and it pools and mingles with his blood already soaking into rich earth. For what seems like forever, I hang my head and let numbness wash over me.
It's only then that I notice the burning tightness behind my eyes. It radiates across my face, settles into my teeth and bones, slips into my joints, and the words solidify inside my throat: Mangekyou Sharingan.
"There's only one way you're gonna...beat that bastard...t-tebayo..." Naruto staggered to his feet, took a jarring step forward, and landed wedged against Sasuke's side. Blood smeared across the Uchiha's pale cheek when coated fingers reached up to touch it. "Sasuke...kill me."
Sasuke wanted to ask why. He wanted to yell and throw a tantrum in the face of his brother by birth and his true brother. In the end, he simply nodded, meeting Naruto's eyes and letting him lean on him just a bit more.
It was the last time, so the arm around Naruto's waist tightened into a stiff hug, and then, Sasuke pulled him closer and pressed his palm over his heart. "Dobe."
"Bastard."
[ .end ]