Don't ask why I keep writing this way…I'm not even sure. Sisco says I need to do some humor or if I wanna stay with the angst I need to put some horror in it. I told her I don't know how. Sad to say. Of course there are those who like the fact that my stories aren't all sunshine and roses, myself included and a special shout-out to Kemper an anonymous reviewer who likes my emo/angst…
Too Late
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ring
ring
A dazed blonde head lifted off the pillow, his eyes landing on the dark haired girl beside him. "Hmm?"
ring
Tired blue eyes turned toward the only thing blocking some of the sound, the bedroom door, before he sighed and threw back the covers.
ring
A slim hand reached out for him as he started to leave the bed and pale eyes opened to stare at him questioningly.
ring
"It's nothing, babe, just the phone. Go back to sleep," he whispered, smoothing her hair away from her face. She smiled before closing her eyes again.
ring
The floor was cold beneath his feet but he'd lost count of the times the phone had rung so he tried to hurry across the room. He shut the door softly, Hinata was tired and she still had to get up in the morning.
ring
He was still half way across the room from the phone and he was starting to get a bad feeling about this. Who would be calling so late?
ring
His hand was on the receiver and he took a fortifying breath before he picked it up. "Hello," he asked, his words coming out with a breathy quality.
He shook his head derisively before clearing his throat and trying again. "Hello?"
It was a few seconds before a quiet voice came over the line, "Hello."
Naruto felt his heart speed up at the sound of that voice. His mouth went dry before he could think of what he needed to say. He swallowed twice before he found his voice again.
"Sasuke?" The silence that followed his question was all the answer he needed. He waited for a sound, anything to let him know what might be wrong. As always, the silence was too much for him, "Are you okay? Is something wrong?"
"How was your mission," the quiet voice asked instead, effectively changing the subject.
"It, uh, it was good. Came back in one piece, though a little worse for wear. I actually just got in a little over an hour ago. So, um, how have you been since I left," he asked. Naruto didn't know why he bothered asking, Sasuke never offered information that personal.
"How's Hinata," the soft voice asked again.
"Oh, she's great! She has to work tomorrow so I felt bad waking her up when I got in but it's been three months, I figured she'd want to be woken up," here Naruto trailed off, unsure how to continue. He knew what he wanted to say, knew he wanted to ask if Sasuke had missed him, but he couldn't bring himself to form the words. So, instead he followed the previous line of questioning.
"So how are things with Sakura?" He wasn't sure he'd even get an answer but if he did, and it was good, maybe this would all be worth it.
"She's fine," Sasuke replied, sounding as uninterested as if he'd just told Naruto the sky was blue. "She's pregnant," he finished, now sounding like he would if he had told Naruto that the sky was as blue as his eyes.
Naruto stopped breathing and sat heavily on the nearby coffee table. He suddenly found himself wishing that Sasuke had been talking about his eyes.
"Hey, well that's good news, isn't it?" He tried to sound happy but he was afraid Sasuke would hear the tears in his voice. He cleared his throat. "I'm happy for you…"
The silence that followed his admission confirmed his fears that Sasuke would know he wasn't really happy.
"So what about missions and stuff? With a baby on the way you'll need plenty of money," he held the phone between his shoulder and head as his eyes fell on the silver band wrapped around the third finger on his left hand. Naruto suppressed a sigh as he twisted it around on his finger.
There was a soft sigh on the other end of the line and Naruto had a feeling he was about to learn the reason for Sasuke's call. It was another few seconds before Sasuke sighed again. The sinking feeling in the pit of Naruto's stomach was back.
"Sasuke, are you crying," Naruto asked, holding his breath, trying to listen carefully, before the sound came again. "Sasuke, baby, what's wrong? Are you okay?" He could hear the urgency creeping into his voice and took a long slow breath. Hinata wouldn't be happy to wake up to him on the phone with Sasuke. He wasn't entirely sure why she was so threatened by Sasuke; no one even knew that they had ever been together, but every time he was around the Uchiha, his sweet girl turned into the hard woman her father wanted her to be. Maybe if she'd married Sasuke instead of him she would be the head of the Hyuuga clan instead of Hanabi.
"Sasuke, you have to tell me what's wrong, or else I can't help," Naruto pleaded, his voice sounding strained even in his own ears.
"I dreamt about you," was what Sasuke finally uttered and it made Naruto grin.
"Really," he asked, sounding more excited than he meant to. Sasuke sighed again.
"We had a family."
"Well, that's not surprising. You're going to have one again soon," Naruto replied, unsure why the dream had bothered Sasuke so much.
"No, "we", me and you. We had a family. And we were happy."
Naruto's breath caught in his throat again. "Happy," he croaked. "We were happy once," he whispered scornfully. Silence followed and he laughed lightly. "You know, it's funny that you called. I was dreaming about you too. Only we weren't happy. Well, I wasn't. I had a hand shoved through my chest." He laughed again, only this time it wasn't really funny.
"Naruto…" Sasuke's voiced held a small note of warning and maybe a little shame. It had been a long time since Naruto had heard his name from Sasuke's lips. He loved it.
"Does, does Sakura know you're talking to me? Will she be mad?" Naruto was always good at diversions, especially when it was really important, like now. This was not a conversation they needed to be having now. It was one they usually avoided at all costs, so it surprised him that Sasuke had brought it up.
"No, I, uh, I waited till she went to sleep. She doesn't know I'm talking to you."
Naruto laughed again. "Figures. What did I do to get on Sakura's shit list? Shit," he sighed, looking out the window at the starless sky. "Have you told her anything?"
"Of course not," Sasuke defended, sounding mildly insulted. "I'm not an idiot, dobe."
"Funny," growled Naruto. "So what's the problem? You need to go back to sleep and I have a mission report to do tomorrow, so if that's it…" He felt bad being so abrupt with Sasuke but if they went on for much longer they would dissolve into "what ifs" and "I wish". It was the reason they'd stopped drinking together and Naruto couldn't stand going back to bed with Hinata after playing the "if only" game with Sasuke.
"I'm sorry, but I have to go now. Okay?"
"Naruto, I, uh…"
"I know," he answered, lips stretching into what would have been a familiar grin but there was no one there to see it.
"Me too."
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sigh That was so sad…to me anyway. Does everyone know what was left unsaid? Most likely, eh?? I almost feel sorry for them, well I do. Let me know what you think.