near the border
by Nilladriel
Written for hanakage for the SasuNaru/NaruSasu Winter Exchange on Livejournal.
xxx
Sasuke stares at the mission brief in his hand. It's simple, and unimportant enough to trust to a traitor.
It's not the mission he minds. It's who he's going with.
"I refuse," he says.
"Long-term missions establish trust," Kakashi says.
Sasuke doesn't flinch. His fingers tighten, and the paper in his hands wrinkles. He meets Kakashi's single, unassuming eye. "Bullshit."
Kakashi smiles. "Even so, you can't refuse."
It has been half a year. Everything is different. Sakura stands taller than he remembers, and spends her free time researching comas and chakra deprivation. Kakashi's new robes look heavy with unwanted duty.
Naruto watches him with unreadable eyes, as if waiting for him to leave again.
"Fine," Sasuke says. He crumples the paper. The edges are sharp against his palm.
xxx
xxx
xxx
The day they leave, Sasuke stands on top of a building and looks out at a village he will not miss.
Konoha glistens under the shy morning sun: last night brought three inches of rain, and the roof is slippery under Sasuke's feet. Edges bleed slightly into each other, indistinct.
There's a light thud as Naruto lands nearby. Sasuke turns his head. Naruto doesn't look at him. He's focusing on Konoha, as if he wants to burn the image of it into his mind: The narrow dirt streets and the wider roads, the patchwork buildings, the hospital where Sakura practically lives.
Sasuke gives him exactly five minutes. Then he kicks Naruto's shin.
"Let's go."
xxx
Naruto scuffs the ground. All it gets him is mud beneath his toes. He hops onto his other foot and tries to shake out his dirty sandal.
"He couldn't think of something better than bodyguard duty?" Naruto grumbles, mostly to his feet. Sometimes Sasuke thinks Naruto's forgotten how to look him in the eye. It's disconcerting.
"It's Kakashi," he says.
Naruto grunts.
The road ahead is crooked and mostly made of mud and water, with brave little patches of drier ground. Sasuke can already feel the monotony of travel settling into his bones, and it's barely been thirty minutes.
"Let's race."
Sasuke snorts.
"I mean it," Naruto says, and then: "That's cheating!" because Sasuke is already meters ahead.
The constant challenges, the bickering, the fights: it's a too-easy pattern to slip into. It's also the only one they really know. Sasuke isn't surprised when Naruto catches up, and then flashes him the finger as he rushes by.
Sasuke takes to the trees, where it's easier to find purchase. After a moment, Naruto follows.
Sasuke thinks Kakashi is wrong. It's not trust that they're missing. Not exactly.
xxx
It takes them just two days to reach the town of Uji. Lee would be proud. The lady at the inn gives them a horrified look as they stumble in, covered in muck from head to toe.
"Don't worry," Naruto tells her. "It's just mud."
This doesn't reassure her at all. Sasuke fumbles for his wallet before she has the sense to kick them out.
In their room, Naruto dumps his bag in the corner and then rubs his palm against his black pants. He looks odd without his habitual orange clothes. The flak jacket gives him a false sense of uniformity.
"I'm getting this crap off me," Naruto says. Sasuke looks at him. He has a smear of dirt across his cheek.
Naruto shakes his head and says, "Right," as if to make up for Sasuke not replying. When he unzips the flak jacket, Sasuke looks away, but only so he can concentrate on getting his own clothes off.
They're early. Tomorrow they will meet the client they'll be accompanying across the Land of Fire for the next few months. Sasuke looks at his mud-clogged sandals and wonders if they'll manage to look presentable, at least.
"I'm going," Naruto says, and the door slides shut. It's safe to look up. Sasuke stares hard at the clothes scattered on the floor.
This might be more difficult than he realized.
xxx
Uji sits just inside Fire's borders. Its location makes it familiar to both trade and war. The buildings are square and boxy, built by people who expect it all to be burned down again.
They meet their client outside a stall off the main road. Hajime is a fat, serious man. Despite the weight, his face is all hard edges. When Sasuke and Naruto introduce themselves, it's immediately clear that he is unimpressed.
"I didn't expect children," he says.
Naruto bristles. Sasuke stops himself from elbowing the dumbass in the ribs; it would only prove Hajime right. He replies, perhaps colder than necessary: "You asked for capable bodyguards."
"Did I?" Hajime's tone is disgusted. "Well, I'm stuck with you. You're to keep me and my belongings safe at all costs. That's all."
He turns away. The donkey is acting up. Sasuke belatedly gives in and digs his elbow, hard, into Naruto.
Hajime has a right to be disappointed: they're both still clearly teenagers. Except that 'disappointment' seems the wrong word for Hajime's reaction. "Something's wrong."
Naruto throws him a startled glance. He's rubbing his side, as if Sasuke could have hurt him.
"Yeah," he says. Then he looks at the wagon currently at rest. It's covered with cloth. His voice drops. "He is a teacher, right?"
Sasuke agrees. But then, neither of them are civilians. Their views on education definitely don't represent the norm. "I didn't think teachers usually needed to hire bodyguards."
Naruto rolls his eyes. "Do teachers even get enough to pay for high-level bodyguards?"
Sasuke nods, but Naruto is already walking away. As soon as he steps behind the wagon, out of sight, the donkey calms down. Hajime mutters a sharp word and jerks his head up. It is Sasuke who receives his narrow-eyed suspicion.
Sasuke keeps his own expression cool. The suspicion goes both ways.
xxx
Outside of the bigger and wealthier towns, regular schooling is rare. Hajime travels from village to village, teaching children arithmetic and literacy in exchange for food and lodging.
Naruto is right. Hajime shouldn't be able to afford bodyguards.
The wagon rattles on treaded wheels. The noise is aggravating in the quiet, and Hajime trudges beside his donkey with a sour look on his face.
Naruto is trailing a few feet behind the wagon. Whenever he comes too near, the donkey protests. Thus it is Sasuke who has to stay by their client. Neither of them speak.
Sasuke doesn't feel like a bodyguard; he feels like an unwanted escort.
The slow travel leaves him restless. Their surroundings are profoundly uninteresting, and unevenly lit by the dappled sunlight. It's also far too silent, and not because of the lack of conversation.
Hajime has noticed, too. He gestures to the trees around them, indicating the lack of activity. "Why does your partner scare away the animals?"
"Animals are better at sensing danger," Sasuke replies. It's not a phenomenon he's unused to: Juugo could keep the forest quiet, as well. He just didn't expect Naruto to do the same.
Hajime grunts. Sasuke keeps his eyes ahead and reminds himself that the boredom is a sign the mission is going well.
At night, they make camp. Hajime takes bedding and dried meat from the wagon. Naruto takes out instant ramen from his pack, and Sasuke rolls his eyes. He leaves to find wood. It takes him longer than it would in a drier season; the damp forces him to dig, looking for crevices protected from the rain.
When he hears Naruto's indignant yells, Sasuke isn't surprised.
He takes his time. Naruto's temper isn't his responsibility. When he returns, Naruto is quiet again, and Hajime is sneering back at him.
Sasuke steps around them to start the fire.
Anger flushes Naruto's cheeks, and turns his eyes brittle-hard. Sasuke pulls his mind back to the fire. He's paying attention to exactly the wrong details.
"I hope I'm wrong, then," Hajime says.
"You are." Naruto's gaze cuts to Sasuke. "He--we'll prove you wrong."
Sasuke wonders what he interrupted. Dinner is awkward; Naruto sits hunched, and the crackling of the fire against the wind is the only conversation.
Afterwards, he stands, and then frowns. Sasuke takes pity and offers an excuse. "You could secure the perimeter."
"Yeah." Naruto tugs at his headband, distracted. "Yeah, okay."
As soon as he leaves, Sasuke turns to their client, who looks completely unconcerned.
"The mission brief gave the following details: You are a traveling teacher who asked for protection because of the trouble borderlands usually have, and because you have some rare books--antiques--in your collection."
Hajime affects interest. He takes out a cigarette. "Go on."
"I don't like lies," Sasuke tells him. "Why did you really hire us?"
Hajime exhales smoke through his nostrils. "You really are a child," he says. "Let go of your pride, and tell your friend to do the same. You were hired. The why doesn't matter."
"It does," Sasuke says. "Misinformation is dangerous."
Hajime gives him the exact sneer he gave Naruto. "I paid a lot of money to ensure I got the best. I don't know why, but someone thinks you're it. Now why don't you see if your friend is done throwing a tantrum?"
It's a clear dismissal. Sasuke's eyes narrow, but he can't force information from a shut clam.
xxx
Naruto hasn't wandered far. He's sitting on an exposed stump, digging clumps of dirt out from his sandals. The dark of the night forces Sasuke to activate the Sharingan, and it makes Naruto glow. It takes him a few moments to remember why he came.
The kunai tells Sasuke that Naruto would rather be releasing stress a different way. But fighting on a mission is impossible.
"You shouldn't have lost your temper."
Naruto digs the kunai in deeper than he should. He dislodges a pebble. "He called you a traitor."
"I am a traitor."
Naruto says, "Shut up," in a strangely quiet tone. Sasuke's eyes narrow. He can't think of a retort. He's not unfamiliar to arguing with Naruto. All they've done since his return is bicker.
But this isn't bickering.
Naruto runs his finger over the blade. He hasn't once looked up. Sasuke came to--scold him, maybe, because Hajime, damn the man, is right. But he's also wrong. They're not the only ones who can't see past their pride.
Sasuke finally says, "You still shouldn't have lost it, even if he--"
"He shouldn't have insulted you, then. He has no fucking idea what he's talking about."
"That doesn't--"
Naruto abruptly stands up. He slides the kunai back into his pouch. "You don't get it, do you?" he snaps, and meets Sasuke's eyes.
"I'm going to make sure the ass hasn't choked on his food, or something," Naruto says, brushing past.
Sasuke stays for a minute longer, somehow rooted into place by Naruto's gaze. He wonders what the hell he said wrong.
xxx
They reach the first hamlet almost by accident. The ground drops away, and they see it: a pair of wooden structures crowded in by trees and vegetation, and then a vast clearing where a girl feeds chickens with a clear lack of enthusiasm even Sasuke can see, despite the distance.
Hajime gives Sasuke the reins. "The two of you can lead the wagon the long way round. The ground's too steep, and I want to introduce myself before the sun sets."
Sasuke acquiesces wordlessly. He watches Hajime hurry down the slope, towards the hamlet.
He eyes the donkey. It eyes him back, but obeys him when he turns and tugs the reins.
He gives it fifteen seconds, and then raises his hand to gesture Naruto over. The donkey lifts its head and clamps its tail when the blond appears.
"Hajime has gone ahead," Sasuke says. "He wants us to take the wagon the long way round. You should follow him."
Naruto scratches his neck. "Okay?"
"Make sure," Sasuke adds, "that he doesn't notice you."
Naruto doesn't reply, but the donkey's ears tense. Finally, he nods. "I don't like it," he says, but he's already turning away. "See you at the village."
Sasuke looks at the donkey. It looks back, like it wants to ask what he's doing with someone so alarming. "I don't know," Sasuke tells it, and puts a hand on it to calm it down.
xxx
When Sasuke finally completes the uneven, meandering route the wagon forced him to take, night has fallen. Their client greets him with a stony face and tells him they will be here for two weeks.
He is introduced to a chubby-faced woman, who has invited them to stay with her in her two-room home. They are crowded in with a family of seven.
Sasuke tries to look polite and tells her he would rather sleep outside.
She looks at his headband, not his eyes, when she says, "Of course."
Sasuke declines her offer of a blanket, and steps outside with a sleeping roll. He thinks it will rain again soon--the clouds are heavy enough that the night is starless--so he chooses a spot on the porch, and doesn't jump when someone touches his shoulder.
His nerves sing. It's only Naruto. Sasuke hisses, "What?"
"He's looking for someone," Naruto says. He doesn't let go. "I couldn't see inside, but after he introduced himself I think he pulled out a picture."
Naruto's hand is warm. Sasuke doesn't dislodge it. "Why keep that from us?"
"Don't know," Naruto says. "And, Sasuke... do we really have to find out?"
"Yes," Sasuke says.
Naruto sits down. The wood creaks. Their knees brush, and when Sasuke presses their shoulders together, Naruto doesn't move away.
"Fine. But not by sneaking around," Naruto says. "Whatever he's keeping quiet about, it'll come up eventually."
Sasuke frowns. He stares out into the night; he can't see anything, but he can hear a frog's call, and the constant, high chattering of crickets.
Naruto nudges him. "Oi, are you listening to me, bastard?"
Sasuke resists the urge to shove back. "Remember Wave? Tazuna?"
Naruto stills. Sasuke shouldn't have brought up the subject. But then Naruto says, "Exactly," in a careful tone. "That turned out alright eventually. Besides, Hajime doesn't act like someone in danger."
No, he doesn't. More, he acts like someone resentful of the protection Sasuke and Naruto represent, as if he hadn't wanted bodyguards, but--
What? Something else.
"I can hear you thinking from all the way over here," Naruto complains. "Stop it."
"Jealous I can think?" Sasuke says, and thankfully doesn't yelp when Naruto punches him, hard.
xxx
The days blend together. Sasuke spends most of it standing guard and wondering when it will stop raining. Naruto learns how to weave roofs and plays ninja with the children, who all adore him, and ignores the narrow-eyed glares of suspicious adults with the ease of long practice.
Hajime is different when he teaches: less harsh, more forgiving. His condescension transforms into wisdom. From his corner of the room, Sasuke wonders at the difference.
Then, quite suddenly, they are leaving. The people of the hamlet gather to see them off. One boy cries. Naruto cries, too. Sasuke stands to the side and pretends he doesn't know the idiot.
Hajime secures the water-proof cloth covering his wagon.
They head west, slipping back into the routine of travel. Sasuke touches the metal symbol on his forehead and wishes it didn't bind him so easily to duty.
He looks ahead, to the incoming months full of exactly nothing, and wonders if he's wrong. If Hajime is just paranoid and rich, not suspicious; if Kakashi really just wants to fuck them over; if he shouldn't have agreed to this.
He didn't come back for this.
Naruto appears, bag bouncing on one arm as he struggles to shut it. The children gave him too many gifts. "That donkey should just get used to me already, I'm sick of--what? What's that look for, bastard?"
"Nothing," Sasuke says.
xxx
At the second village, Hajime again sets them to busywork so he can ask his questions in private. This time, Sasuke doesn't ask Naruto to spy, although he wishes Hajime would come up with better excuses to keep them away.
Mostly, he's resentful that he has to do laundry.
"Maybe it's 'cause we stink," Naruto says. He's not washing. He's too delighted at the existence of the river. It hasn't rained in three days, and the sun has been unbearable. So have the mosquitoes.
Sasuke takes off his sandals and rolls up his pants.
"Just jump in," Naruto says, watching him.
Sasuke snorts. Naruto grabs the collar of his jacket, but the grip is poor, and when Sasuke steps back, Naruto falls with a curse. He lands on his knees, slips in the river bed, and nearly gets a face-full of water.
It's funny. Sasuke smirks.
Naruto glares. When he sees Sasuke's face, the expression abruptly drops away.
"... What?" Sasuke says.
"Wow. That's the first time I've seen you smile since...." Naruto frowns. "What's with that face?"
Sasuke stares down dumbly. He feels like he should respond.
Naruto sits up. The water makes his shirt ripple, defining his arms and chest. He rubs at his forehead, but it only makes his hair stick up in a style messier than Sasuke's. The sunlight suits him.
Sasuke can't help it. "The first time since--what?"
"Since you left," Naruto says, dropping his gaze to somewhere around Sasuke's knees.
"You're an idiot," Sasuke manages.
"Yeah? You're a bastard. I have mud in my pants," Naruto adds, and glances up. Sasuke moves back, but not fast enough: in the next second, the water and the sky have switched places.
He comes up spluttering. The soil shifts like mercury under his hands and feet, refusing him purchase, and Naruto is laughing at him.
xxx
When they come back, completely drenched, Hajime shakes his head in disgust.
"We're leaving," he says.
Naruto squints. "How come you have a black eye?"
Hajime is holding a crumpled photo in his hands. "I asked the wrong questions," he says, but he sounds pleased.
Sasuke hears a muffled yelp; a child at a window has seen him. She spots him, and ducks immediately out of sight. Sasuke frowns.
Hajime gives him a tight smile. "Did you actually do the laundry?"
Naruto wrings out the bottom of his shirt. "Nah," he replies. Without his flak jacket, he looks much less intimidating.
"Hm," Hajime says.
xxx
A week passes. Sasuke almost believes there are no more settlements to find. Hajime constantly backtracks. They go in circles. Finally, they abandon the map altogether, and simply walk.
When they see the single building, almost overrun by greenery, Naruto whoops. He rushes forward, slings an arm around Hajime and Sasuke's shoulders.
Hajime jerks away, as if burned by acid. Naruto drops his hand as if he didn't notice. "People!" he says. "Finally!"
To Sasuke, the building looks abandoned, but he can't trust his eyesight. The day is darkening. Hajime hurries forward. Eagerness softens the lines carved into his face.
"There is someone here," Hajime calls back. "For maintenance. This must be a post." Naruto and Sasuke walk forward. It's a boy, dark-eyed and dark-haired. When he sees them, he pales.
"Don't come closer!" he says, and Sasuke realizes he doesn't see them at all. All the boy sees are their headbands. To him, they symbolize destruction.
Which is why Hajime made them stay away during introductions. But if ninja are so hated here, why hire them at all?
Naruto raises his palms. "It's okay," he says. "We're just--"
But the boy is gone. For a civilian, he is fast. It's regretful that it is terror that gives him such speed.
Hajime says, "He's heading north."
North means the true borderlands: a zone of scarred territory that belongs to Fire only in the maps of politicians. Sasuke isn't even sure they have permission to take him there. If two men of Konoha are found so near Earth Country....
Hajime knows this. Sasuke meets his gaze and sees challenge. But there's maybe a hint of desperation, as well.
"Fine," Sasuke says. "It must be important."
Naruto doesn't seem to realize what it means to go north. Or he doesn't care. "Are there even people living up there?" he asks, doubtful.
Hajime's expression tightens. He looks only at where the boy stood, and doesn't answer.
xxx
They know they are close when they find trees that have been stripped bar, and little paths worn into the ground by feet. Once, they spend an hour carefully dislodging the wagon from a small ditch some ninja must have once dug, to hide.
Sasuke senses someone's killer intent, somewhere in the trees.
He turns around once. His eyes tell him nothing, and neither do his ears. But Naruto has sensed it, too: when he glances to his right, he sees the blond has straightened. He's sniffing the air like it might tell him something.
Sasuke takes the reins from Hajime. They painstakingly backtrack, until the tingling sense of danger fades.
It happens again the next day. This time, Naruto catches a scent. Hajime looks at him with different eyes.
They move back again, and try a different route forward. It doesn't work.
"We can't get closer," Sasuke says at last. "They must know we're here. We'll draw too much attention."
Hajime lightly scratches the donkey. It's not calming down. "I know," he replies. "That's why I hired you."
Sasuke takes a deep breath. He says, "I see."
"They're coming." Naruto puts one hand on his weapons pouch. His eyes flicker towards Hajime, but they're still blue, and he isn't angry.
Sasuke isn't, either. He's been used in worse ways.
"Yesterday must have been the scouts," Naruto says. "These guys--"
The world explodes with dust and soil--Earth jutsu, they are too close to the border--Sasuke tackles Hajime to the ground and clamps a sleeve over his nose. A half-dozen of Naruto's clones burst enthusiastically into being.
Sasuke jumps up. His kunai slices through the donkey's harness. The blade draws blood, but at least the dumb animal can run away. Sasuke won't miss it.
He steps in front of Hajime. His Sharingan gives the world crystal-clear detail.
The man in front of him is dressed in tattered clothes and worn armor. He looks tired, not angry. "What business do two men of Konoha have here?"
"We're on a mission," Naruto says. He is not looking at the man, but at his companions. He doesn't look especially eager.
"Really? What kind of mission would bring an Uchiha to the borderlands?"
"Sure," Naruto mutters. "Ignore me."
Sasuke does. "We're here as bodyguards," Sasuke says, and indicates Hajime behind him. "We--didn't mean to draw alarm."
Except that Hajime had.
The man registers Hajime for the first time. Shock explodes onto his face.
He says, "Father," and Sasuke thinks: Ah.
Naruto looks back and forth between them. "You're kidding me," he says, and then: "Well, maybe you have the same nose."
"When," Hajime says, "did you become what you hated?"
The man flushes. "You don't understand! How else are we supposed to defend against--them--"
A clone steps back, to avoid a face full of kunai. Its expression exactly reflects Naruto's: utter bewilderment.
"There are other ways," Hajime says.
"No." The man's eyes are like heated stone. "You're wrong, I had to learn, I had to fight--I will never regret what I did."
"I see," Hajime says. He is using the same gentle tone he used with the children of the first village, but there is something brittle underneath it. "I shouldn't have looked for you after all."
"No," his son says. "And you shouldn't have brought these with you."
Sasuke raises his eyebrow at being so addressed.
On some unknown signal, his companions move. Sasuke catches Hajime's frozen expression and feels the slightest touch of sympathy: Hajime's son radiates a pure killer intent.
"I won't forgive you for coming here," he hisses. Sasuke deflects the kunai meant to take out his eyes. It is a distraction: the man forms seals with a speed that suggests formal training. The ground shakes.
Shit. Impossible to find proper footing, so Sasuke doesn't try. He blows fire through the ring formed with his fingers. It cleaves a path through the dust in the air, but misses its target. Hajime and his men are completely unaffected by the spasming ground--but how--
There must be a pattern to it. "Naruto!" he calls, and gestures: Hajime's son is his target.
Naruto nods. He does not call the Rasengan to his hand, and his eyes, though red, remain calm.
Sasuke throws himself to the right to avoid a line of shuriken. He raises his hands to form the seals for another fireball, but staggers. The ground is too erratic under his feet.
Hajime's son sees his mistake and rushes in for the kill. He roars as he approaches. His fist is a boulder.
Sasuke smirks.
He smashes through the boulder with lighting. His other hand strikes--grips the man's throat. All he has to do is tighten his fingers, and he can crush cartilage and tissue.
Hajime's son knows this. When their eyes meet, Sasuke sees he is already resigned.
"No," Sasuke tells him. "Traitors don't always have to die."
His Sharingan swirls.
Hajime's son jerks. He snaps his gaze away from Sasuke's, but it is too late. The Sharingan makes him stagger, and then crumbles: the ground stops shaking. Sasuke catches the man's wrist before he can fall to the ground. Underneath his thumb, he feels the man's pulse.
One by one, the clones dissipate. Naruto didn't kill his opponents, either.
Hajime is getting slowly to his feet. When he sees his son, dangling limp from Sasuke's vice-grip, his face hardens.
Sasuke's upper lip twists. "He's alive," he reassures his client. "I wasn't about to let the past few months go to waste."
Hajime's mask shatters. Sasuke turns away, pretending he doesn't see tears on the man's round cheeks.
xxx
"He hates ninja," Hajime explains, looking down at the man propped against the trees. "We all do."
"But he's a--"
Sasuke steps on Naruto's foot. "Bait? That's all we were?" he says. He wonders who the hell screens the missions Konoha receives.
"Yes," Hajime says, completely unapologetic. "It wasn't enough to know he was in the area. I had to know he would come to me."
Sasuke wonders at the history his words hold. There are untold years, full of hurt and blood. "Did he betray you?"
"Yes," Hajime says. "Or I betrayed him."
They fall silent.
"We should go," Naruto says suddenly. "Me and Sasuke, I mean. You're done with us, and if"--Naruto trails off, and winces--"when Kakashi finds out we've been this far north, he's going to skin us."
Hajime doesn't reply.
Naruto shoves his hands into his pockets. "You're a good teacher," he says. "There are other ways, right? You can show him that."
Hajime looks up. Sasuke feels like he is considering them for the first time, as if he sees them more than just tools of destruction.
"Yes," he says. "... Yes. Perhaps." He stares down at his son again. "Thank you. I was right to hire you."
Naruto opens his mouth, closes it. Sasuke doesn't feel like there is anything more to say. This journey has been too long, and now it is over. It will be better if they are not here when Hajime's son awakes.
So they leave, just like that.
xxx
xxx
xxx
When they leave Uji, it is raining again.
"You're fucking kidding me," Naruto says, glaring up at the sky and then flinching back when a raindrop hits his eye. "I just had a bath last night!"
"We can run in the trees," Sasuke says, "to avoid the mud."
"But it's less fun racing that way," Naruto says. It's a given that they will be competing all the way back to Konoha. They're rivals.
And Sasuke is sick of traveling at that damn donkey's pace.
"Worried you'll slip in the mud?" Sasuke murmurs.
"Yes." Naruto is utterly shameless. "When we were at that river, it got into my boxers--hey! You're cheating again!"
Sasuke manages to leave him behind for exactly three seconds. Then Naruto catches up, but this time, he doesn't try to bypass Sasuke. They are just running, side by side, while the wind and rain slaps against their forehead and cheeks.
Then Naruto throws Sasuke a grin, and he jumps from the branches to the ground. Mud explodes when he lands, half-skidding.
Sasuke stays in the trees, tracking Naruto's movement with sure eyes. Then he, too, jumps.
"--You bast--"
Naruto twists awkwardly under Sasuke's weight. Sasuke lands on his hands and knees, breathless, while Naruto stares up at him.
It takes him a moment to realize he's laughing.
"Fuck," Naruto says, watching him. He shakes his head, but there's a grin tugging at his lips, pulling them apart to reveal teeth that are slightly too sharp. "What was that for, you bastard?"
Sasuke shrugs, the movement awkward because of his position.
Naruto slowly loses his smile. Sasuke drops his head, breathing in the smell of him.
Naruto says, "Sasuke," in a tone that is half-question.
Sasuke pulls back. In a few days, they will be back in Konoha. He doesn't miss it, but Naruto does. All he has is--this, and the mud and the rain. It's cold and wet, but Naruto is warm underneath him.
Naruto reaches up with a tentative hand. He has that look in his eyes again.
"I'm not," Sasuke says, "going anywhere." He turns his face into Naruto's palm, lips tracing a streak of mud. The texture is wet-rough against his skin, and Naruto shudders.
"I'd chase after you anyway," Naruto says. He undoes the zipper of Sasuke's flak jacket, curls his fingers around Sasuke's neck.
Sasuke sits up to drop his jacket and his pack. Below him, Naruto struggles out of the straps of his own pack.
Then Naruto pulls him down, down, and their lips meet awkwardly, slipping against tongue and teeth. Sasuke closes his eyes. His senses catch every detail: the droplets against the back of his neck, Naruto's hand entwined in his, the faint taste of rations against Naruto's tongue. The rain has lightened to a misty drizzle, and the contrast between that gentle cold and the heat between them is--
Someone makes an embarrassing, urgent sound. Sasuke hopes it isn't him. He feels hot metal coiling in his stomach, drops to his elbows--yes--
The slippery friction their wet pants gives is both exactly enough and torturous. Naruto says, "Wait, hold on--"
He shifts up, pressing a hand against Sasuke's chest so that he echoes the movement. Sasuke likes the look on his face: concentrated, nostrils flared, red tingeing his cheeks and eyes.
Then Naruto is shoving their pants down, freeing their erections, and Sasuke's vision loses focus.
Sasuke drops to the ground as they move together. Naruto's hot breath hits his neck, and a palm presses against his hip, makes a slow burn across his skin as it slips under the material of his shirt.
"Turn over," Naruto says.
Sasuke takes a deep breath. "Not here," he says, but Naruto is shaking his head.
"I know, but just--"
Sasuke gets on his hands and knees, drops his face onto his elbows. They are getting mud everywhere. Later, that will be important.
Naruto's weight on him is solid, as real and there as he has always been. Sasuke feels him slip between his thighs, and he presses his legs together obligingly.
Then it's nothing but movement, the feel of Naruto's hand on him, the slap of flash against flesh and the sussurations of the wind and rain.
Sasuke bites his arm as he comes, tasting dirt and fabric against his tongue.
Above him, Naruto tenses, grips Sasuke's hip hard enough to bruise. Then he collapses, formless. Sasuke tolerates his dead weight for exactly five seconds before he rolls out from underneath.
"It's stopped raining," he realizes. He can see patches of sky through the foliage, looking bluer than it has in months.
"Yeah," Naruto agrees. When he looks at Sasuke, his eyes are clear. "I guess it has."