Title: I Don't Think I can be Home Tonight

Author: DnKS-giRLs

Rating: PG

Pairing: SasuNaru

Disclaimers: bweh... teh usual not ours 'n no profit... clear? Good...

Warning: it's a death-fic… meaning there will be some characters die in this fic… can you understand that? Good… we're all cool now… and of course it's yaoi…

His ragged breathing sounded terribly loud in the darkness that he hoped would give protection to his broken body. Just a little longer, he thought bitterly as more blood poured down from the critical gash he had on his side. He closed his eyes and stared upward, to the dark sky without any star apparent on it, just a little longer.

He did not know why his mission suddenly turned out to be this bad. For a moment, he was just walking with his two companions with a lord he could not even remember the name. It was such a simple mission; they even had enough time to chatter during their journey. Their mission only stated that they should escort the lord to his home and was hoped to reach the place before midnight. The lord only said it was family problem, when he was asked of why he deemed such protection. Family problem, he said, but surely his so-called family problem was a very big and bloody one.

He cursed as he felt movement on his left side. Preparing himself, he launched his body forward and knocked at least three men who had been hiding among the bushes. He knew that his act had made his position well known by the enemy thus he had to move forward. No matter how tired and painful his body was, he knew this was his only hope to survive, or at least, to prolong his life. He almost had no energy left. He had lost too much blood and he could not even able to perform any jutsu at the time being, just leaning on his abilities in hand-in-hand combat. It was a miracle that he could pull through for that long, or maybe it was purely his luck.

Somewhere from within the deep shadow of the forest, he could hear a scream. He could not say for sure if it came from his companion or the enemy. He found himself cursing in his mind. He knew that they were more than enough to fall into the category of excellent nin, but what could three exhausted people do against a troop of more than fifty skilled assassins? Pray, he thought with a sour smirk, maybe that was the only thing left for them. Or maybe he could curse the lord to be damned for seven generations for giving them this mission without telling them that the so-called family problem was involving him fucking that certain lady came from a noble family from the neighbouring country. A noble and powerful ninja family nonetheless, and that not-so-lovely unison had brought a single child that now was dead due to his own dad assassinated him, and now that family hunted that certain person down. They had killed the lord, but somehow found it was fun to kill the three people escorting the man. Their way of thinking was simple, kill everyone. And since he fell into their description of 'everyone', it was just highly acceptable that now he was deep in a battle defending himself.

"Shit," he mumbled into nothingness. People said that you would get irrational in the verge of your death. Was he anywhere near the verge of his own death, then?

"I can't die here," he whispered. Another man came to attack him but he quickly brought him down with a quick stab to his chest. The man fell limp to the ground but at the final moment he managed to draw a single needle and thrust deep into his thigh.

He groaned as new pain was added into his already-battered body. If he could, he would scream and go rabid just to show how angry he was, but he knew he could not do that. Still, that did not mean his anger had subsided. Oh, yes, he was angry. He was angry at the fact of him being drawn out from his warm and comfortable room just to be the target of some crazy assassins. He was angry at the fact that he had to leave his lover just to fight with death in that dark forest. He was angry at the fact that he might be not able to keep his promise which he had said to his lover who had seen his leave with bright blue eyes and a smile of sunshine.

He had promised him, amidst the bed sheets and under the faint light of dawn. He had promised that blue-eyed angel he held in his arms so dear that time. He had promised him as he stared at the other's smiling face without knowing that he might never be able to see it again.

"Ne, Sasuke…" he heard the sound in his mind, unwillingly repeating the event that took place that time just before he began the mission. His blue-eyed angel stared at him with his smile ever present on his face. "Can't you hand your mission over to someone else and stay with me today?"

He remembered how he sighed and said, "I wish I could."

Yes, he wished he could. And now that he recalled the event in his mind, he was more than wishing that he could have just handed the mission to someone else. It was not that he was a coward or what. He knew that death might take him anytime anywhere. But why must now…

Why must now, he thought, why must now that he had his important promise to fulfil to his most important person.

"You will be back by Saturday, right?" he heard that sound again in his mind, the voice of his lover who was ready to wave him goodbye before he started his mission some days before. He remembered he nodded and kissed the other goodbye. He remembered how the other laughed and launched his body to his arms.

"Naruto, not now," he remembered he warned the other. Oh, if he had known that he might not have the other in his embrace ever again, would he say 'no' that time?

"Be back safely, okay, and we will celebrate our third anniversary that day," Naruto said. "Promise me you will."

He had promised him. That time he did not know what the promise would mean. He never had any thought of any way which would make him unable to fulfil his promise. The idea of being death while carrying his mission never once crossed his mind. How stupid he was.

He had tried to keep his promise. Even in his current condition, he kept walking forward. Just a little longer, he thought as he moved his feet forward. A little longer and he would see those eyes so blue like the summer sky and the smile as bright as sunshine. A little longer and he would be back into his lover's arms in their warm and comfortable room. A little longer and he would keep his promise to him.

He groaned as gravity took a better care of him. Falling to the ground, he noticed several footsteps coming closer. He readied himself, holding his body in the stance for fighting. He knew that his condition was nowhere near fine, but he would never surrender without any fight. He knew that his hope to survive was slim but he tried to banish that small voice of rationality from the back of his head. Moving to his feet, he let irrational thoughts run in his mind.

Damn it, he smirked sadly, it seemed that he was indeed going to die. What a shame it was, to die in that dark forest alone just because of some fucked up lord and his co-called family problem. Gone was his hope to die honourably in the line of duty when he carried some important mission for his country. It was true that an Uchiha Sasuke had never considered about death before, but, he thought as he spat some blood to the ground, this was the last way he wanted for him to die.

"Fine then you jerks, bring it on!" he said to the darkness, minding not that he was being totally irrational. The darkness gave his reply with more than ten people coming from their hiding place with their weapons aimed directly at him. He smirked at the sight but his face was slowly raised upward to the sky for a while.

"Sorry, Naruto," he whispered. "I don't think I can be home tonight…"

He laughed a little though he did not know what was so funny before he launched forward and involved himself in his last battle. No matter how stubborn he was, how big his luck was, or how he denied it, he knew that he could no longer survive, not with his wounds and those assassins keep coming toward him. For the last time before the finishing blow was planted on his chest, he managed to look upward to the starless sky. He hoped to see darkness but darkness was not the one he found there. He saw a pair of beautiful blue eyes in the colour of summer sky and a smile as bright as sunshine.

Then he smiled and he saw no more.

- the end -

(A/N: okay… this is a bit of messed-up fic for you guys… errrm… review? Anything is fine, you know, but please, if you want to throw some vegs, why you don't throw some FRESH ones instead of some rotten ones… that way you can save us from being starved to death… oh, wait…. If we starve to death, then we don't have to finish those paper works and our lecturers will not able to yell at us for not finishing our job… hmm… and we can put the blame on you… right! Okay, then, dear… throw them! But of course, a nice review is always better…)