Warnings: Slight OOC-ness, Character Death, Slight Angst, Slight Shounen-Ai (you can interpret it as strong friendship if you wanna)
I don't own the manga/anime Naruto (Masashi Kishimoto), the song "Norwegian Wood" (the Beatles), or the poem "The Dream Keeper" (Langston Hughes).
Note: I know Sasuke is really OOC. It's for a reason that he's acting weird, which you will read at the end. Also, while this story starts with a bit of humor, it drops into angst suddenly near the end.
Norwegian Wood
Everyone noticed Sasuke was acting weird. He was distracted: staring into space, raking his fingers through raven hair, taking a few minutes to answer anyone who attempted to talk to him.
The elders were concerned. They thought that after six months back in the village he would have settled down again. For a while, it had seemed true. But as the months went by he grew more and more agitated, even colder (if that was possible) than usual.
Sasuke's fanclub, which was still running strong even after his absence, was concerned. They held a meeting to determine how best to figure out what was wrong with their "precious Sasuke." They decided the best course of action was to ask him outright what was up. But then, Sasuke-kun didn't actually talk to any of them.
So…what to do?
The fanclub finally agreed to ask Naruto to do it for them. He was, they grudgingly admitted, the closest person to their idol. The elders of the village caught wind of their plan and supported it whole-heartedly. They wanted to make sure Sasuke wasn't planning to run away again.
So this was how Naruto found himself in front of the Uchiha estate, with its eerily quiet mansions and deserted, sprawling grounds. It was a little depressing. Not only because, compared to this place, his tiny apartment was not even worthy to be considered minuscule. Not only that but because he hadn't really comprehended the idea that Sasuke lived here alone, constantly reminded of the family that had once inhabited the now-empty rooms.
He shook his head vigorously. He would not be brought down by this! He was an optimist! But how had he gotten suckered into this, anyway? He thought back and vaguely remembered Sakura promising to buy him ramen if he would just do her one "teensy weensy little favor."
Ah well. He should have known Sasuke would be involved in the favor. Sakura was part of the guy's fanclub, right? At least he was getting ramen out of the deal. Besides, he'd been worried about his friend, too.
He pushed the wrought-iron gate open. Predictably, it creaked menacingly and loudly. Just like in a horror movie.
Well, Nat though, looking around, the place certainly looks like a horror movie set. The mansion loomed in front of him, shrouded in mist that always seemed to linger there sadly, no matter the weather in the rest of the village. No wonder he's such an emo.
Undaunted, the blonde man strode forward confidently. He walked down the path and up to the residence of Uchiha Sasuke. He stepped onto the porch and paused, allowing his hand to ghost over the brass knocker.
He and Sasuke had a…interesting friendship. They had never spent the night at each other's house (really---Sasuke's mansion and Naruto's apartment), never confided deep secrets to each other, and yet they both considered the other to be their best friend.
Naruto wondered about that. Was he really so pathetic that he ended up with Sasuke the Ice Prince as a best friend? He wasn't even sure why they were friends. Sure, they had been on the same team once, but then, so had Sakura, and he didn't seem too attached to her. In fact, he seemed flat-out annoyed by her.
So what drew them together? Was it the fact that they had both had crappy childhoods? Or maybe just the "Opposites Attract" theory. Really, there hadn't been any noticeable affection in their friendship. They had covered it up by starting an intense rivalry. He supposed it was their equivalent of a game. Ah yes, those had been the days. While others might think their idea of a "game" was a bit odd, he didn't mind, because he knew that grunt of approval Sasuke gave him was as close to a sign of affection as the stoic man could give.
But now…
He still ran into Sasuke occasionally, but their friendship—and their rivalry—was long gone. After Naruto had forcefully brought Sasuke back to the village the second time, they had even started to avoid each other.
And it was lonely. Sure, he had other friends, but none like Sasuke. Hell, nobody was like Sasuke. Even if they had never really shared too much with each other, he knew that if he ever actually wanted to talk, Sasuke would listen. Or at least he would have. Back then.
He didn't know what to expect from him anymore. Who knew how much he had changed since he'd left?
Naruto blinked rapidly and realized he'd been standing on the porch for at least five minutes.
He tightened his grip on the knocker and tapped it against the door twice. He swore he could feel an echo reverberate in his chest and around the grounds. As the sound faded, there was a moment of silence, then he heard a quiet shuffling on the other side of the door.
It opened…and for the first time in six months, the two men looked each other in the eye.
Naruto saw in Sasuke's obsidian eyes a reflection of the emotions that were in his: fear, hope, anger, and happiness. Then the Uchiha seemed to collect himself, hiding his emotions again behind his usual mask. Just like he always did. The blonde's mouth twitched upward at the familiarity of it.
Sasuke must have noticed, because one eyebrow arched delicately.
"Something amusing you?" he asked. Naruto fought the urge to grin as he heard the other's voice.
"Nope, nothing," he replied, in a voice that practically flaunted the lie in his statement. As he spoke his smile widened. In spite of that infamous Uchiha mask, he could tell his friend—his friend—was happy to see him.
"Dobe…"
"Teme," Naruto shot back immediately.
"…do you want to come in?"
"Um, sure," Naruto said after a pause. Sasuke moved back to let him step over the threshold. He looked around briefly—the furniture was draped in white sheets, it was dusty, dark, and dismal—and snorted.
"Hn?"
"Nice place ya got here," Naruto commented sarcastically.
"Thanks," the other replied, just as sarcastically. "I don't get that a lot."
"Is that because your place looks like shit or because you never invite people over?"
"Both." Sasuke started walking towards the back of the mansion, Naruto following.
"Well I suppose even if you did invite people over, they'd still think this place was…filthy!" Naruto paused in one hallway that contained the grand staircase to the upper floors, tilted his head back, and shouted the last word upwards.
It echoed back to them eerily.
"That's kinda cool, though," he said.
Sasuke shook his head.
They went into the kitchen, which was clean, and Sasuke grabbed a bottle of wine and two glasses. Then they retreated upstairs to his bedroom.
On the way up the stairs, Naruto listened to Sasuke explain the state of the house, relishing the sound of his voice. One finger trailed over the dust on the railing.
"I don't really bother cleaning anymore," he said. "This place is too big, and I only use a few rooms: my bedroom, the bathroom, the kitchen, the study…Those are the only ones I clean."
They reached the landing, walked down the hallway, and stopped in front of the last door. Naruto opened it since Sasuke's hands were full.
Sasuke's bedroom was different than downstairs. It was actually clean, for one thing. The bed was simple, with black sheets and a dark blue comforter. One corner was crammed with square tables in a variety of sizes, which Naruto thought was kind of weird (even for Sasuke); another held a wooden desk, which looked unused. A dark blue rug lay over the center of the floor. An uncurtained window was in the wall opposite the bed. The last corner was taken up by a small tabletop shrine, where two candles were burning and a picture of the Uchiha family was displayed.
Sasuke set the glasses down on the desk and set to work opening the bottle of wine. Naruto bowed respectfully towards the shrine and knelt to examine the picture. Itachi must not have been there when the picture was taken, and he suspected that was one of the reasons this particular one had been chosen. It was just Sasuke and his parents, sitting next to a lake, looking out over the water.
"You look happy," Naruto murmured, looking at the smiling younger version of his friend.
"Un," the raven assented, holding a glass filled with dark crimson liquid out to him. Naruto stood to take it, glancing around the room again. Sasuke must have seen his gaze linger on the tables, because he started to explain.
"I've been sorting through some of the furniture," he told him. "They were taking up too much space, so I'm getting rid of them. There are only so many tables I can use, anyway."
"And you decided to sort through tables…in your room?"
Sasuke shrugged.
"I tried to do it downstairs, but it was really dusty and I started sneezing."
As Naruto stood silently, absorbing the fact that the Uchiha had allergies (he didn't know why, but he'd never pictured the other as even being able to have allergies), Sasuke spoke again, with a distant look in his eyes.
"Those tables are all made of the same kind of wood…It's imported from Norway…My father insisted. Practically the whole house is made of that wood."
"Why did he insist?" Naruto asked quietly.
Sasuke blinked a few times, as if coming out of a trance. Then he shrugged.
"Probably to show how rich he was," was his answer.
"Oh."
Both men crossed to the window and looked out. The same lake from the picture shone silver in the moonlight, stretching out over the vast lawn behind the house. The blonde kitsune noticed a sheet of paper taped to the wall beside the window when it fluttered and crackled a tiny bit as a cool night breeze blew across the grass and the water and up through the opening.
Scrawled in unusually messy handwriting—for Sasuke, anyway—was a poem that he recognized from somewhere as one by Langston Hughes.
I loved my friend.
He went away from me.
There's nothing more to say.
The poem ends,
Sad as it began---
I loved my friend.
For some reason it hurt him to see it there. But…Sasuke couldn't mean him, right? He was the one who had left.
"So," Sasuke said after a while. He looked over at Naruto, who gazed curiously back, head titled slightly. "Like my room?"
Naruto grinned, momentary discomfort gone.
"It's better than your living room, at least."
Sasuke gave one of his half-smiles and moved away from the window.
"Wanna sit down somewhere?" he asked.
Naruto thought that was a bit of a weird question, seeing as there were no chairs in the room, not even at the desk.
He sat down on the rug, sipping vacantly at the wine. Sasuke left the room for a few minutes, then cam back and plopped down behind him so they were sitting back-to-back, leaning against each other.
"Why'd you come here, anyway?" the Uchiha asked quietly.
Naruto rolled hi eyes.
"Your fan club is concerned," he answered.
Sasuke choked into his drink.
"Kami…" he muttered.
"I was worried about you, too, a little," Naruto said after a pause. Sasuke's head shifted a tiny bit, rubbing against the back of his.
Even though Sasuke was a year older than him, twenty-two, they were about the same height. He'd always promised that one day he'd be taller than his pale friend, but now he was kind of glad that when they sat like this, their heads leaned against each other's; gold and raven locks mixing, intertwining…
"Why?"
"You seemed distant."
"I always am."
"More than usual."
"Hn."
"…Well?"
"Well what?"
Naruto sighed. He doubted Sasuke would tell him what was wrong.
"Nevermind. But…you'd tell me if something was wrong?"
"Of course, dobe."
"You'd better, teme!"
It was easy to fall into old banter again.
"So you can tell my--" he grimaced, "fanclub-- that I'm fine." A pause. "But in the meantime, can you—" he went silent.
"Can I what?"
"Can…will you stay here tonight. I—" he swallowed, looking nervous, "don't want to be alone when I wake up."
Naruto remembered thinking that Sasuke must be lonely here each day after his family had been killed. Guess he'd been right.
"Sure," he finally answered.
Sasuke actually sighed in relief.
"But don't expect me to sleep on the floor."
"Hmph. 'Course not." Sasuke shifted around some more at the sudden lull in conversation. Naruto broke it by asking the question that'd been bothering him.
"Ne, Sasuke?"
"Hm?"
"Why is that poem up there?"
"…You saw that?"
"Yeah."
"Hn. It's there because I like it."
"Why do you like it?"
"Do you ever run out of questions?"
"Rarely."
"Well then…I guess I like it because…it's like a reminder." Naruto bristled at this, without knowing why.
"Of what?"
"That's another question, dobe."
"One you're avoiding!"
Sasuke made an annoyed sound in the back of his throat.
"It's there to remind me I have a reason to stay here."
Naruto's mouth formed an "oh."
"I…always planned on coming back you know."
The kitsune listened silently.
"You'd come to try and bring me back. We'd always end up fighting, then. But I was happy to see you. Because you reminded me that once I was powerful enough, I would go. And I was always afraid you'd stop coming. And then I wouldn't have a reason to go back." Sasuke delivered this short speech haltingly, which was unsurprising to Naruto. This was probably the first time he'd been so open with anyone since his family was still alive.
"I noticed that," he said. "You always insisted that you wouldn't come back, not that you'd never come back. So I guess that…gave me hope."
"A small thing to base hopes off of."
"Well I had to hope." An edge of anger seeped into Naruto's voice. "It's better than what you had, your fears."
Now it was Sasuke's turn to be silent."
"Did you really think I'd give up on you?" Naruto asked suddenly.
"I don't know."
"Well I wouldn't have! Not only was your decision stupid but you hurt people! Sakura, Kakashi, Iruka…me! You hurt us to become more powerful! How selfish can you get!?" Naruto threw back the glass of wine and jerked his sleeve across his mouth to wipe up the spare droplets.
He was about to slam the empty glass down on the floor, but thought better of it and put it down gently.
Sasuke said nothing. He picked up the glass and got up, moving over to the desk. He stood there.
"I wouldn't give up, Naruto muttered. "Because you would have made another stupid decision. It would have hurt them even more. It would've hurt me more. It would have hurt you. I was trying to save all of us from that."
"I didn't need saving."
"Yes you did. From Orochimaru. From yourself. You call me an idiot? Ha."
Both went silent.
After a moment, Sasuke brought the glass, refilled, back to the blonde. He handed it to him wordlessly. Instead of sitting back down, he stood, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. Perhaps, Naruto thought wryly, to better shoulder the awkward tension that pressed down on them after his outburst.
He 'hmm'ed, took a sip from the new glass, and sighed.
"Sorry 'bout that," he apologized.
Sasuke looked down at him, surprised, tearing his gaze away from the crack in the plaster ceiling he'd been examining.
"Shouldn't have said that," Naruto murmured.
"Yes, you should have," Sasuke snapped. "Stop apologizing."
Naruto's eyebrows rose.
"What do you want me to do then?"
"Forgive me."
The bluntness of this request startled the kitsune.
"I'm sorry."
Sorry.
Naruto closed his eyes and let the word wash over him. So the Uchiha had a conscience after all.
Sasuke waited silently for his answer, eyes glued to his feet. Naruto thought of the trouble he must have gone through to get himself to say those two words. He almost smiled at the thought. Uchiha pride.
Naruto reached over and tugged on the other's hand, pulling him down to sit beside him.
Sasuke finally looked at him.
"Not immediately," the blonde said quietly. "I will, but it'll take some time."
By way of thanks, Sasuke gave him a smile. A real smile. A small one, but still there.
He had to smile back.
"One thing, though."
"Hn?"
"You have to promise you won't leave again."
Blue eyes bored into obsidian.
"I promise."
This time, Naruto didn't just smile, he grinned.
"Thanks."
Sasuke shrugged as if to say "No problem."
Silence.
"So…anything interesting happen while I was gone?"
"Well, ya know. Without you here being a stick in the mud, things were a lot more exciting…"
Naruto woke up in the bathtub.
Ugh. What a hangover. And why was he in here?
He closed his eyes against the blinding light streaming through the small bathroom window.
Okay, think back. What had happened last night?
Instantly, an image of Sasuke laughing came to mind.
Woah! How had that happened? Sasuke never laughed.
Remember more…Ah! The memory came back to him in a flash.
Simon slumped against his shoulder.
"What time did you get here, dobe?" he asked.
"'Bout nine-thirty. Why?" Naruto slurred.
"It's two in the morning, now, and we've been drinking since you got here."
Naruto stared down at his wine glass.
"Yeah, and?"
"Hn." Sasuke took the glass away and got up, walking unsteadily towards the desk, where he set down the glasses next to the two empty bottles. He leaned heavily against the wood.
"We are going to be in hell when we wake up," he murmured. His lips formed into another half-smile, as if the comment amused him somehow.
"Well, luckily, I don't have to work early tomorrow. How 'bout you?"
"Hm?"
"Will you be gone when I wake up?"
Sasuke seemed startled by the question and stared at him for a moment.
Then he laughed. It was a short, quiet laugh.
"I think I will be, yeah. I have to get to work very early."
"Oh."
There was quiet while Naruto digested this. Then he realized Sasuke had fallen asleep standing up.
With a sigh, Naruto got up, draped one of his friend's arms over his shoulder and carried him over to the bed. He put him down gently, without waking him, then went out into the hallway in search of a bathroom. He found one two doors down and relieved himself before crawling into the bathtub to sleep.
Dang…he'd been tired enough to actually fall asleep in the tub? That wine must've really had an effect on him. He felt fine now, though, except for a few aching limbs (the tub was hard and cold—not a very comfy place to sleep). One benefit of having a demon fox inside of you: very brief hangovers. Sasuke would probably feel like his head was being crushed by fan girls, wherever he was. Hadn't he mentioned he had to go to work early?
Stiffly, Naruto climbed out of the tub and stretched, wincing as several joints popped. As he left the bathroom he tried to remember if the bedroom had been one door down or two. He thought he'd left his jacket on the floor in there.
He opened the door, and knew immediately this wasn't the right room. He guessed it was a study; there were shelves of books and a desk covered with papers. His eyes came to rest on an envelope that had been placed carefully on top of the messy piles of notes.
It had his name on it.
He slowly crossed the room to the desk, trembling without knowing why.
His name was written in the clear, precise script that was Sasuke's handwriting. He flipped it open—Sasuke hadn't bothered to seal it—and pulled out a note. As he read, he could feel his stomach starting to heave.
Naruto,
Do you remember our first day on Kakashi's team? I said that my goals in life were to kill a certain man, and to revive my clan. At the time that was true, but while I was away, those goals changed. I still wanted to kill Itachi, of course, but continuing the Uchiha line became less and less important until it was overshadowed by another goal altogether: to gain your forgiveness.
After my brother was dead, I felt I had nothing to live for, except for you. In my mind, earning your forgiveness was like a final test. If you could ever possibly forgive me, that would prove that human beings always have a small amount of kindness. That maybe I could have that virtue, too. Then maybe I could have a chance of resting peacefully. I started associating your forgiveness with a chance at heaven, even for people like me.
Right now, poison is running through my bloodstream. When I left you alone in my bedroom briefly, I put it into my drink. It's one of Itachi's concoctions, created specifically to be slow-acting and allow motor functions up until the last minute. He would take it before he left on an important mission, just in case he was captured. He believed it was better to die then be used against his own village, his idea of an honorable death. When he got back from his missions, he would take the antidote. I don't have one. The poison usually kills over the course of a week. With the amount I've taken, I have maybe half an hour left.
I got up to write this after you fell asleep. I hope you find it. I hope you're not too mad at me. But you said you would eventually forgive me, and I'll hold you to that. It's part of your nindo, isn't it? I can die content that one day you won't hold any anger or hatred towards me.
Sasuke
One more line had been added, in what looked like an afterthought.
I really am sorry.
Naruto looked up from the note, feeling sluggish. Was this a dream? Was this really happening? He saw an empty glass vial, stopper pulled out, lying among the mess of papers. He stared at it for a moment.
The note and envelope fell from his limp fingers. He turned to the side and puked. He wiped his mouth on the back of his hand.
"Damn!" he muttered, running out of the room. He wrenched open the door to Sasuke's room and stumbled in, stopping beside the bed.
The Uchiha's face was even paler than usual, and tinged blue. He wasn't breathing.
Naruto felt like he was being ripped apart. His fingers were itching to grab Sasuke by the shoulders and shake him until he woke up, even as his mind told him that it wouldn't work, his best friend would never wake up. And his heart…his heart…
Shakily, one arm lifted up, fingers clutching at his chest. His heart felt like it was being stabbed and ripped apart at the same time.
His mouth parted slightly, and a cry of anguish tore through. He choked on his own voice for a minute. The next cry that came out was one of rage.
"You—you!" he screamed, pointing at the motionless body.
"How could you?! How could you do this to me?! You promised! You promised you wouldn't leave me again!" Spittle flew from his mouth and clung to his lips. He harshly brushed it away.
"You bastard…" he muttered. "Couldn't you have stayed alive for me?" He couldn't bear looking at Sasuke anymore. Instead he addressed the rug.
"Aren't your friends something to live for?" his voice was already hoarse from the sheer force behind his screams
His head snapped up and his gaze locked on the piece of paper attached to the wall. He went over and snatched it, crumpling it in his hand. He finally managed to look at Sasuke again. The man's eyes were closed, his expression was calm.
"No." Naruto whispered. His voice became sharper. "You can't die content!" He spat the last word, quoting it from the note. "Not when I'm miserable! Not after what you've done!"
One of the candles from the corner shrine was still alight. He held the paper ball to it until a flame started to consume it. Carefully, so as not to accidentally blow it out, he carried it over to the congregation of tables and set it down onto the wood, waiting until fire started flickering along the tabletops and smoke and heat made the room stifling.
He turned towards the bed.
"If you break your promises, I'll break mine," he said to the corpse. "I'll never forgive you, Sasuke…" He said his best friend's name for the last time.
"Burn in Hell!" he shrieked.
And he left, crying.
Kakashi found him on the roof of an apartment building just as the sun started to go down.
"Naruto," he murmured.
Naruto continued to stare blankly into space. He gave no indication of having heard him.
"Naruto, the Uchiha mansion has burned down. We think Sasuke was still inside it."
The blonde turned to look at his former teacher.
Kakashi nearly reeled back in shock.
Naruto's eyes had paled until they held only a hint of their original color. Such a pale blue that reminded him of ice or frosted glass…
And the pain that his eyes conveyed, it made him feel as though someone had broken that ice or that glass into shards and plunged them into his heart.
"You already knew, didn't you?" the older man whispered.
Without a sound, Naruto turned away and walked to the edge of the roof, eyes trained on a trailing plume of black smoke coming from the Uchiha estate.
He murmured softly, "I loved my friend, he went away from me…" And then he stepped off the edge of the building, into the embrace of the concrete fourteen stories below.
I once had a girl
Or should I say
She once had me?
She showed me her room
Isn't it good?
Norwegian Wood
She asked me to stay
And she told me to sit anywhere.
Well I looked around
And I noticed there wasn't a chair
I sat on the rug
Biding my time
Drinking her wine
We talked until two
And then she said
It's time fore bed
She told me she worked in the morning
And started to laugh
I told her I didn't
And crawled off to sleep in the bath
And when I awoke
I was alone
This bird had flown
So I lit a fire
Isn't it good?
Norwegian Wood
END
(A/N: Norwegian Wood really is a beautiful song you guys. You should listen to it.)