Summary: At the gates of Konoha, a life or death battle begins. Sasuke's moment of vengeance has come. But will he really go through with it? Or does he find out there's something more important than vengeance?
Warnings: Hmm, I guess I should say there are manga spoilers, even if this is a bit AU. Also, if you didn't notice from the summary, this is SasuNaru yaoi. And FYI, this will be in three sections, separated by the good ol line break.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, nor do I own I'd Come For You by Nickelback - but you can hear the new song on YouTube...it rocks!
a/n: Think of this as an early Christmas present. I bought the new Nickelback dvd when it came out Tuesday, listened to it on my way home from work. When I heard this song, an entire story was immediately created in my head. It's a first person Sasuke-centric p.o.v. I typically hate writing in 1st person, but I'm making an exception…Thank Nickelback for it.
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I'll Come For You
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'thoughts'
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I flipped through pages as fast as I could with my sharingan. Madara had been unobtrusively steering me away from Itachi's room for months, his excuse being that he wanted me focused on the present and future, not the past. For the longest time I had agreed. Until now. Lately I've been feeling something wasn't right. I've started having just a sliver of doubt.
Just one more moment
That's all that's needed
So I walked to clear my head. And the slow deliberate steps led me here, to Itachi's room. I had no clue what I was seeking from the visit, but I began to look through his things and eventually came upon a journal. I wondered why in the world Itachi would keep a journal, but maybe it was his way to stay somewhat sane amongst the rest of the Akatsuki.
The more I read, the more I was convinced of what I knew I had to do. It was time....Thank you, aniki.
Like wounded soldiers
In need of healing
The battle lines have been drawn on both sides of the gates of Konoha. I stood on one side with every other member of Akatsuki. On the other side stood every leaf shinobi, including you...Naruto.
Your eyes seek out mine and I stare into pools of blue like we are the only two people there. I can feel your emotions from where I stand. Taking a deep calming breath, I disappear from my spot and reappear in front of you.
Time to be honest
This time I'm pleading
You ask one thing.
"Why?"
Azure eyes gaze fiercely into mine. In them I can see everything - the disappointment, the anger, the sadness, the betrayal.
"This place is responsible for the slaughter of my clan, they lied to me and the lies killed my brother. They need to be punished. I will do whatever it takes, even if I have to go through you dobe."
"But by joining them?!" you yell. I see a flicker of red in those baby blues, due to the kyuubi fed anger. Those angry eyes narrow on me and I stand waiting for a tongue lashing I know I probably deserve.
Please don't dwell on it
Cause I didn't mean it
"I won't allow you to destroy Konoha. I'll do whatever it takes, even if I have to kill you teme."
I've never seen you look so serious. You would keep to those words, I knew. I hope maybe one day you'll be willing to forgive me for deceiving you so badly.
With a sigh, I nod. "So be it."
I returned to Madara's side and prepared for attack.
I can't believe I said
I'd lay our love on the ground
At some unknown signal both sides surged.
Battles rage all around me. But even as I fight, it's half hearted. The person I most want to fight, just for the hell of it, isn't anywhere near me. Instead, you're holding your own fighting Pein. All 7 of them. I can't help but roll my eyes at the idea that you still use shadow clones.
Watching you in battle takes me back to the moment I first broke your heart. And maybe broke my own in the process.
"Why do you go this far for me?"
"For me it's one of the first bonds I ever made...That's why I must stop you!"
Come...Naruto. Then I will break that bond!"
I should have killed you then.
I meant to.
I couldn't.
But it doesn't matter cause
I've made it up, forgive me now
No matter how much it hurts, I keep glancing your way. That familiar look of determination is on your face. But underneath it all, I can still see how upset you are with me. I had committed the ultimate betrayal. 'I'm sorry dobe.'
I smirked though when I saw one of the Peins get eliminated. My, you really have grown. Right now I'm too busy battling Gai's team to pay enough attention to how you're doing.
I refuse to say that I'm worried.
I always have lived in denial when it comes to you. Just like I kept saying that there were no bonds between you and I. That the bonds were broken. That I didn't need anyone. That I could kill you whenever I wanted on a whim.
I'm such a liar. Even to myself.
And every day I spend away
My soul's inside out
Every single waking moment and every single night I slept, my thoughts revolved around blonde hair, blue eyes, and a foxy grin. It was the only bit of light in my darkness and maybe – like the journal was Itachi's sanity –the visions of you that haunted me each day and night was my means to stay sane.
Why did I feel like a piece of me was gone the moment I left you behind that day at the valley?
And why did I feel like a piece of me died when I saw your devastated face three years later...that day at the snake's lair?
And why is my heart pounding right now as I watch you continue to battle on, even as you tire?
Damn Usuratonkachi! What have you done to me?
Gotta be some way
That I can make it up
Casualties littered both sides. Pein, Madara and I are the only Akatsuki still standing. Zetsu, Kisame, Suigetsu and Konan had been killed, Karin had no more chakra to give to fighting, so she sat back and watched. Juugo had been incapacitated by that replacement of Kakashi's and the hokage had done something that made him pass out.
I really hope she can help him. He deserves a chance to live in peace.
I just saw you falter and I bite my lip harshly to stop a gasp that I just know somehow Madara would hear and then he would know that I care more than I let on. You've been spreading clones all over the place trying to help your friends. You care so much for this place...for these people, but even you, with your inhuman amount of chakra, can only do so much.
However, no matter how much I might want to, I can't interfere. Not yet.
Pein is finally dead, but it has taken its toll. I can see that you're wavering. Madara's taunting you, I can tell by his swagger. You chance a glance at me and I forcibly will away the sudden jolt of guilt I feel when our eyes meet. It hurts, but I look away.
I feel it before I see the menacing red chakra envelop you. The powerful glare sent into Madara's direction almost makes a shiver of fear go up my spine. Madara, however, grins like a maniac at the feel of that dark power. I've decided he's either a fool, or insane. Maybe both. His hand moves into the prearranged signal and I finally move forward at his beckoning.
"Now." He tells me.
To you now, some how
By now you'd know that...
My eyes spin into the sharingan and before you can turn your eyes away, you're caught. I'm standing before the cage of the Kyuubi and although I know you're next to me, I can't look at you. I don't have the courage, because I know what I would see in your eyes. I stretch out my hand and push back the demon.
"Why...S-Sasuke..." Your voice is so sad, so resigned, so quiet.
I swallow the non-existent lump in my throat, but my voice still only comes out as a whisper.
"Dobe...forgive me."
I'd come for you
No one but you
Yes I'd come for you
But only if you told me to
The moment I'm out of your head, I see the glint of the sword out of the corner of my eye. It plunges toward you and I shift a foot to the right...hardly a second before impact.
I stand tall, even as my stomach burns in unending pain and the blood flows to stain my clothes. Madara's eyes narrow angrily. I know he's pissed off, but I don't care. I know this is the right thing.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" he growls.
I smirk weakly at my only other living relative, the one probably most responsible for the murder of the clan, and I know he'll die today. I have confidence in you, Naruto. You always did have the uncanny ability to make the impossible happen in an impossible situation. I know you'll do it again. You just need a good reason.
"What I must."
And then my knees buckled.
I'd fight for you
I'd lie, it's true
Give my life for you
You know I'd always come for you
"S-Sasuke...t-teme..."
I look up into your eyes, the eyes of my savior. Blue eyes shimmer with unshed tears. With a frown I reach a shaky hand up and wipe a stray that leaked out. You shouldn't cry for someone as undeserving as me.
"Dobe."
"Why?"
I can't help but chuckle at the irony. Déjà vu.
"I don't know...My body just moved on its own."
I watch a tremulous smile spread over your face. You remembered too. If nothing else, at least I can be happy I got to see you smile again.
"Teme."
My eyes blur and I feel the darkness creeping in. I'm not ready yet. I still have to tell you...
"Naruto...I'm sorry..." 'for everything'
And then I knew no more.
I was blindfolded
But now I'm seeing
It wasn't until two weeks later that I opened my eyes. I was strapped down, of course. In the flurry of days following my awakening, I found out the outcome of the battle.
Just as I thought you would, you defeated him. But it was how you did it that left me stunned. I heard you went into a rage and manifested all nine tails of the kyuubi…and controlled the power. And the reason? Itachi was looking out for both of us. His bit of chakra that was flowing through your pathways minimized the effects. The leader of Akatsuki was so badly destroyed, the assigned ninja were hard pressed to find anything left of him.
I wished that for a moment Itachi was alive so I could thank him.
I'd been so foolish. I blindly followed Itachi's words and I became exactly what my brother said he wanted. But now I know it wasn't what he wanted at all. And I regret to say that I ended up being the only one who truly betrayed my village.
And yes, I'm still suffering the punishment. My chakra has been blocked. I spent a year in prison. I'm now in the middle of a year of house arrest. And then I will be a ninja of the leaf again, probationary of course, but I won't be able to take the chuunin exams again for at least a year.
But right now, I could care less.
It took way too much time, but I could finally see what had been right in front of me all along.
My mind was closing
Now I'm believing
For so long, I thought I had to be alone, to be an avenger. I believed that bonds were useless and only led to heartache. So I hardened my heart and refused to let anyone in.
How a knuckleheaded dead last like you breached those walls, I still don't have a clue. But as you sat there in the hospital while I recovered, as you visited me in prison almost daily, as you spent every day in my house as one of my personal guards, I finally believed...
Just maybe, I could be happy.
I finally know just what it means
To let someone in
Now here I am, presenting myself naked to you. Body, mind, and soul.
And deep down under my stoic Uchiha skin, I'm afraid.
I'm so afraid of baring myself to you. Of letting you know who I really am. I'm not good enough for you. I'm nowhere near perfect. I'm scarred...physically and mentally. I will forever be tainted. But not you...You're an angel, innocent, unblemished – at least you are in my mind.
But maybe it doesn't matter because as our eyes meet, you smile...a genuine one...the one you reserve only for me. And it washes away my fears, cleanses my sins, and makes me whole.
I smile back.
And when I feel your lips brush against mine, I feel a tingle that moves from the top of my head to the tips of my toes and I shudder. You show me so easily that I am – and always will be – your most precious person.
And when your fingers brush tentatively over my skin, I close my eyes at the electricity thrumming through my veins, proving to me that I'm truly alive and that only you can make me feel.
And when I finally give in to my desires and caress your tanned skin, lick every hard plane and crevice, touch you on the inside, I know I've finally come home.
To see the side of me
That no one does, or ever will
You bring out a side of me no one knows about. Hell, I hardly know about it. But then you do something that makes me smile, that makes me laugh out loud, and it shocks me.
Like right now, you're asleep next to me after probably the most precious moment of my life and I can't stop myself from brushing an errant strand of your blond hair out of your face. Nor can I stop my own smile from appearing as I pull the sheet up over both of us and wrap my arms around you.
As the moonlight streams through our - not my, our - bedroom window, the only thought that comes to mind is how beautiful you are.
And as I pull you closer to me, I hear you mumble and snuggle into me. I feel a bit warmer and my heart pounds at my thoughts. Because the only thing I can do at this point, with my emotions flowing the way they are, is to whisper in your ear what my heart is telling me to.
If anyone in this village could see me or hear me now, they'd probably die of shock at how much of a softie you've turned me into.
But they'll never know. It's only reserved for you.
So if you're ever lost and
Find yourself all alone
Considering there's nothing else to do under house arrest but talk, read, watch tv or play games, we've done it all. But this day we've decided to talk.
And boy did you talk.
You tell me things I never knew about you. I never really understood before how much you were hated, how much you still are. I never understood what it was like not to have ever had a family. I never knew how close you came to death because of the villagers' hatred. I never knew how much you wanted to end it all so many times, even tried a few.
One thing I do understand, though, is the feeling of being lost and alone.
And it was at that moment I finally understood it all. My whole life, my goal, my ambition revolved around avenging my family. For a while I've been wondering what I wanted to do with my life besides be a shinobi again. Now I know.
I have a new ambition in life…To take care of you.
I'd search forever
Just to bring you home,
Here and now
This I vow
By now you'd know that
It is my own promise of a lifetime.
I will never let you be alone again. And if you ever left...or if you left this world behind before me, I would search heaven, earth and hell to find you and bring you home to me.
It's only right.
I know for a fact that you would do the same for me. Already had.
I'd come for you
No one but you
Yes I'd come for you
But only if you told me to
A year and a half later, we took the chuunin exams together. I still can't believe you would wait for me for so long. It was a constant argument too.
"Dobe, you really don't have to do this. I'll be able to take it next year. Go get your exams over with."
"You can't make me teme."
"Why? This is only going to make it harder for you."
"Psh...I don't care about that anymore. If it happens, it will. If not, I'll be happy as long as I have you with me. But you are the only person I'm willing to take the exams with. I've waited this long. What's one more year?"
"Che...dobe..."
I knew you were lying...You did care. But you were always stubborn. I knew I wouldn't change your mind.
Six months after that we passed the jounin exams and then both of us joined anbu. Although protocol said we couldn't be on the same team, the hokage made an exception. It's amazing how much pull you have with her.
I'd fight for you
I'd lie, it's true
Give my life for you
You know I'd always come for you
You know I'd always come for you
The council is full of idiots. Who else do they think would qualify for the hokage position besides you? You have no idea how pissed I am right now because you're asleep.
You cried yourself to sleep again while I was downstairs reading. You didn't think I'd notice did you? You've only cried two other times in the last year and both of them had to do with those pricks who think you can't be hokage because of a silly demon that's not going anywhere. I clench my fist so hard I leave half moons in my palms. If you weren't asleep I'd punch something.
Damn council. I should've gotten rid of the controlling elders who ran the council before I almost got myself killed by Madara.
But this time I'm done taking it lying down. Hell knows I'd do anything for you and my blood is boiling now and I'm itching for a fight. I kiss your temple lightly and get up, leaving a note.
I have a rebellion to plan.
No matter what gets in my way
First I met with the rookie nine and Team Gai, along with Kakashi, Iruka, Yamato, Kurenai, and I even included Sai. We all agreed it was time to show the fools on the council just what Naruto meant to this place.
The small group became larger as word got out. Members of anbu, Konohamaru's team, even the minority of villagers who had always considered Naruto a hero as the Yondaime had asked joined our ranks.
As long as there's still life in me
I faced down Tsunade, who didn't want me to make waves. Her way wasn't working and I was tired of you coming home miserable. I finally gave her an ultimatum...she allowed us to meet with the council or I would take you and leave and make sure no one would ever find us.
We got our meeting.
No matter what, remember
You had no idea what we were doing. So when we dragged you with us to the council chambers, you weren't too happy with any of us. In fact, you used all kind of colorful language to show your dislike for our decision making ability.
I pushed you down into a seat next to Tsunade while we presented our case.
You were loyal.
You saved Konoha countless times.
You were solely responsible for the alliance with Sand, due to your relationship with Gaara.
Because of you Tsunade came home.
Without you, Neji would still resent the Hyuuga clan, Hinata would still be weak and timid.
If not for you, Konoha would've lost all of Team 10 and Kakashi.
Without you, there would be no Konoha, for Akatsuki would have won AND gotten the Kyuubi.
And because of you, the last lost Uchiha came home.
What else was there to be said?
You know I'll always come for you
By the time we were done, the council looked downright ashamed – except for three – I'm thinking of poisoning their next meal.
And you looked downright flabbergasted that we had so boldly defended you. I don't know why? You've always been there for all of us during good and bad. Why wouldn't we fight for you?
We were all kicked out of the chambers while the council had their discussion. Everyone gave you pats on the back, hugs and kisses, an occasional mussing of the spikes as they spoke their well wishes.
No matter what gets in my way
Now it's just you and me here waiting. This damn bench is too hard, but we sit here anyway. It's either that or the floor.
You're so tense and I tell you so.
"What do you expect teme? I feel like their deciding my fate in there."
I chuckle and wrap my arm around your hunched shoulders, pulling you back so you're leaning against my side. Whatever happens, at least I feel better knowing I tried to do something and everyone got to say their piece.
As long as there's still life in me
"Sasuke?"
"Hn."
"...Thank you for this."
Normally, if we were at home, I would have kissed you. I never showed much of myself in public. But this time, I couldn't help myself. I take your chin in my hand and kiss you softly. It's brief, but sweet, and god...you've turned me into such a sentimental fool. I roll my eyes.
No matter what, remember
"Hey dobe?"
"Yeah?"
"Just remember that if you do become Hokage, I'll still be able to kick your ass."
Your glare is unmistakable. And I love it.
"TEME!"
You know I'll always come for you
Tsunade comes out and waves you inside. I let go of you, even though we've both gotten comfortable in this position. My eyes stay on you as you rise, nervously twisting the hem of your shirt in your fingers in that habitual way.
You follow her, but just before you cross the threshold, you turn your head to look at me.
"You coming?"
I smirk and rise to follow you, my hands stuffed in my pockets. You already knew the answer before you asked…
I'd crawl across this world for you
Do anything you want me to
No matter what, remember
You know I'll always come for you
You know I'll always come for you
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And that's a wrap...hope you enjoyed the angtsy/sweet/fluffy fic. Please review? Thank you in advance for reading :)
And now back to writing the stuff I'm supposed to be writing XD
