The rain fell hard, a stubborn rain that seemed in ache to wash away the blood and sobs of the land. The world howling in abandon as thunder roared about the tiny apartment complex, shrouded in darkness, the electricity long since giving out.
The atmosphere, however, was not one of sadness, but of melancholy, a bittersweetness akin to poetry. So the tanned boy with unruly blonde locks paid it no mind, in face, it felt quite in place that the Earth would be crying.
Sasuke was leaving again...
Naruto had felt it pulsating in the hospital walls, as the two of them healed from the damage they had inflicted to one anothers body, out of hate, out of indescribale passion and love, it hurt to dwell upon.
Another roar of thunder and said blonde looked at the only other occupant in the small room that was brimming with a silence, that was both comforting and telling, each knowing what the others soul was aching to spill, but such feelings have no name.
His onxy hair so black there were hues of midnight blue when the flashes of lightning scattered a brief array on his porcelain skin.
A face angels weep over, such beauty in those features, and such rage, it was a concept that reared the idea there must be a higher power, for this perfection was surely made of Gods.
Naruto smiled shyly at him, not feeling shy of his presence, no, that was the magic of it, rather, it was the words caught on his tongue.
Sasuke eyes the look with both adoration and certain exasperation.
"Naruto…I understand wh…., I will not ever harm this village nor the tailed beasts, for you. But realize this is for you alone, but you cannot ask me to stay here…I will not and …."
He looked away, throat constricting, why was this so hard? He had rehearsed, imagined how this would be but looking into the expected dread in those blue eyes threatened his will, like it always did when he was near Naruto.
"Sasuke…." Naruto gulped. "Sasuke, I… I'm so sorry." Teary eyed and honest, Naruto looked at his best friend, blue eyes fixated on inky black.
"I was so selfish, selfish for you to be near me, I wanted you to be safe and I knew no one…" A golden skinned hand, ran its fingers in frustration through his scalp. "I knew no one would since Itachi... would …."
Love you as I do...so unconditionally, so madly and above all others...
The words did not come out, they felt insufficient almost. For the devotion was maddening and it was not just love. It was friendship, loyalty, heart wrenching feelings that made him weak and strong, euphoric, safe, like he had a home everywhere he went because this boy…had melted himself into his soul.
The rain outside continued, another soft song of thunder encompassing them, the darkened room filled with the occasional array of lights from the bolts weaving down into the sky.
Sasuke raised an eyebrow at Naruto's unfinished declaration, not so much that he was curious of what he was to say, but in a childish antic to urge the other to toughen up and be pure.
Naruto laughed at the look but turned away, still part of him angered, to be honest, his soul was being shattered.
Sasuke was leaving again. Again. And this time, Naruto would let him.
Abruptly, the raven hair stood gracefully, a movement of form that would have ballerinas envious, but behind it was something even greater, a lethal grace.
Naruto, whom had been leaning his back against his twin bed, looked up at Sasuke, whose delicate, slim fingers reached out to him.
Naruto, thinking the boy was helping him to his feet, took the pale hand in his own, that same spark soaring into every nerve like static. Beautiful, terrfying, lovely….
However, Naruto was surprised that once his toes had planted their place on the hard floor, Sasuke did not relinquish his grip.
Another cry of thunder and Sasuke drew nearer, causing Naruto to catch his breath.
Getting the idea, as the raven invited Naruto to lean his chest against the others, guiding him with one arm into his embrace.
The rain did the crying for them, it seemed nature had concocted a moment of such emotion, the two boys could not very much speak it, but it was intimately shared, and it somehow broke and melded the heart at once.
Sharing these delicate stares, hurt, But in a way that meant the world to them. It hurt because it was love, and love hurt because love exists side by side with loss, with intangible fear of loss, love was painful and insufficient.
Naruto's left arm snaked across Sasuke's back to rest at the crook of is neck, and cheek to cheek they swayed to the sound of pouring rain.
It was too gentle to be clumsy, though neither had ever danced, they had much practice in melding their bodies to form in a sync that took even those utmost skilled ninja to perfect, it was something that occurred because their bones, their very essence knew one another and so the solemn dance went about smooth and dangerously close enough that each boy thought about forsaking their dreams to just be here, to be with one another and lock themselves apart from the rest of the world.
It seared within them a pain they had never tasted. Not because it was more tragic but because neither had ever intended to fall in love and that particular sense of being tied and bound was a loss that neither had ever thought they would experience.
It felt so good to be near one another, both eager for more, for it all, to completely possess and devour one another entirely so that they may merge completely.
A whiskered cheek caressed Sasuke's high cheekbone, lovingly, a smile playing on their lips.
"Sasuke…" Naruto whispered, gently, no one ever spoke his name quite like that and it sent chills up his spine and he almost hated it, he hated being so quick to be effected by this ….idiot.
A tan hand cupped his face and Naruto stared into him deeply, as if to etch this feeling into the others very being.
"I'm…..sorry, I … You know… but I gotta say it.. ya know? I ….I'm just sorry. I understand and even if I will always wish that you would stay here just like you wish I would leave…"
Sasuke smirked at his flustered nature,
"Don't you laugh at me, bastard." he pouted, but a glint of humor shown in his eyes.
Sasuke was smart, he knew that Naruto would never walk away from Iruka, his team, his friends, his home. Something he had fought his entire life for, something the child on the swing within him still needed.
Who was Sasuke to be angry?…
He would often ponder, that for different, yet strikingly similar reasons was the very fact Sasuke could not stay and Naruto could not leave, Sasuke knew, but both had seen it in one anothers soul, however in love, however madly in love… These ideals were concrete.
"I would have asked you to come with me…." Sasuke murmured, almost as if it were a prayer "But it makes much more sense for you to remain here."
Naruto's face, mere inches from his own could feel the sigh that ghosted from his pink lips.
If Sasuke were to beg, Naruto would surely accompany him to every facet and crevice of this earth, but he was an Uchiha, above all, he was Sasuke and that was not something he was made to do.
"So…Would that mean you would not come back?" Naruto said, timid, hopeful….
Bodies touching, feet swaying, the rain, relentless making tunes among the glass.
"It would mean you and I…." Yes, Sasuke wanted to say…..Yes I would not live here again…. but instead he made clear the nature of what was to become of them...
"We would never be more than this."
That was all. That was all that was whisked across Naruto's face to know that - he could bear his heart out again and again, this boy was not coming back and he could not ever ask that of him again.
Left foot, right foot, hands roaming onto one another's skin, leaving trails of goosebumps.
Naruto's fingertips grazed across a cheekbone, Sasuke's arm gripping tighter and closer to the small of the others back, feeling one anothers heart beat through the thin fabric of their pajamas.
"In you, Naurto, an honest smile will always arise in me, this….." Sasuke said, reaching for a tan strong hand to intertwine fingers and place it across his heart. "This, this is yours…and yours alone."
Tightening his hold, Naruto shut his eyes as fallen streaks of tears stain at his whiskered cheeks, he wanted to beg for him to hold on, to not let go….
"As all of me is yours." Naruto, sighed with a sunshine grin.
They continued to sway to the beat of the rain, the music of the thunder, as they gripped closely, sharing breath, as lips grazed onto each other.