Pairing(s): ItaNaru
Prompt: One. For Ushi.
It was only the one time.
Naruto had been doing a simple practice match, a spar with one of the advanced students. He never bothered to dodge, he always charged towards his opponent, no matter what, because that was his way. His opponents usually fell back into defensive stances against his onslaught of attacks, and he would win by outright force or by outrageous luck. This time, his luck was against him.
It was just one blow.
It was a blow that slipped through his non-existent defenses, and hit just at the right spot to instantly knock him unconscious. He went down immediately, and didn't wake up that day. He didn't wake the day after that either. Eventually the days blended into a flow of never ending time, and all that could be done was to wait.
It took one month.
His voice was rusty from use, but he made a sound, and thus he woke from his coma. It didn't feel like much time had passed, it didn't feel like he had a good rest. He felt sickly, which was strange for someone who had spent most of his life training. He didn't know where he was, didn't know how he had gotten there, didn't even know his name at that moment- but there was one thing in his mind.
There was only one person he wanted to see, and he was there.
Itachi was there, like he had been for every day since he was admitted to the hospital. He had frozen in disbelief at the sound of his lover's voice, and he had only watched in stunned silence as finally, his eyes met with the blue gaze he had not seen for thirty long days. He lost track of time then, and though it seemed like the minutes ticked by like hours, they no longer did so with cruel claws that dug into his being.
One second passed.
They clutched at each other's hands, grips tightening and fingers interlocking. Itachi cried, and Naruto cried too, not knowing why but only knowing that he had missed his most important person so very much, though surely it had been only one moment. They simply basked in each other's presence, held together by the feeling of the other's hand. If there had been another person in the room, they would hardly have noticed, for there was only one person who mattered to each of them.
They were one again.