Here's another one-shot for you all.
It's written after the newest chapter, but even if you're watching the anime up-to-date you can read and understand. So bring some tissues, and enjoy.
P.S- I don't own Naruto or any of the characters or anything, blah blah blah.
Please please review; I'm curious.
What it means to love someone.
"Sasuke!"
The wind was blowing way too harshly for the December months of Konoha, my arms held up in a defensive stance in front of me as I tried to keep my eyes open. Frantically I tried to look through them, hoping to catch any sort of glance of him. My shadow clone's memories came flashing back to me just as the rain started, heaven's tears beginning to pour down just as hard as the wind.
He's leaving again! This time I won't let him get away for sure!
Not caring about the dirt and minerals attempting to ruin my vision I sprinted off, dashing up onto a tree branch and taking off in the direction my clone had gone. After a few minutes of running in silence I decided to call out again.
"Sasuke!"
I saw a clearing ahead of me, my clothes soaking wet by this point. Ignoring the chills running down back I pushed harder, the wind causing my eyes to burn.
'My dream is to surpass all the hokages before me!'
Sasuke...
'I will be the best ninja there ever was! Watch me, dattebayo!'
The tree branch crumbled under my forced, surprising me and almost causing me to get off of my course. I caught onto the part of the branch still intact, pulling myself up before dashing off again and keeping my goal clear.
'Lets head forward...As Team 7!'
I jumped down onto the clearing, the entire area where hard rock had broken up, all the trees surrounding it burnt to crisps. I rolled into my landing to avoid any harsher injuries on my knees and looked around, calling out to him once more. Lightning roared from further in the clearing, past a rocky hill. I took off in aim to find him.
No matter what you want, the lightning is yours. You control it and it reacts to you. It will always help me find you.
I jumped over the hill, the pain in my side increasingly making me weary. After fighting for almost two and a half days straight, my body was really complaining. My clothes were charred and my skin had various cuts and burns. Kurama was currently trying to rest from all of the work we've been doing together, my wounds not healing at any accelerated pace as of now. Madara had not only killed more than a quarter of ninja population, he left half of it wounded, a few thousand disabled and everyone pained in some way. Kaguya only worsened our situation, further disabling him and I.
The sky grew gray, thunder rumbling all around.
I've gotta hurry, push!
I jumped from the cliff into a dirt area, Sasuke spotting me and taking off on more.
"Oh no you don't!" I summoned four shadow clones who immediately took off and began to hold him with thread. I was no longer the little boy I was when I first started to chase after him. I now knew that even if it hurt him, which involved inevitable pain, I would bring him back. I knew there could not be such a thing as no blood when it came between us. The thread latched onto his wrist and pulled him back again his running force, blood sprouting lightly from them. I ran over to join them and, slowing to a walk once they had him tied, dismissed them.
He refused to turn around and look at me, my heart thumping loudly in my ears.
I stopped a few feet away from him, staring at the back of his head for a little bit.
"I'm not going to hurt you, Sasuke."
I saw the muscles in his back and shoulders tense and took two steps towards him. Even though he was bound to the ground the clouds roared with fury, lightning striking in the distance. I took another step.
"Stay away from me." His voice was deep and razor sharp, my heart pumping extra loud. It always did when we fought and he took on that tone; the one where he was having to push himself.
I waited for another minute before stepping closer, the gap between us very minimal now. "I'm warning you..." I felt my palms begin to sweat, the lightning strikes getting closer and Sasuke's body almost shaking from his tenseness.
"Out of all the people..." Step. "You should know that I..." Step. "Will never try..." I reached my arm out and rest it on his shoulder. "To hurt you." My instincts told me to jump back and I listened to them, thankful when his weakest form of Susano'o shielded him, ripping him free from my cheap bond as well.
He turned around wobbly to face me, his head down and his left hand reaching for his sword.
The panic of fight coming to me I stepped back again. "I'm not like the others Sasuke!" I called out, hoping to free him from whatever state he was in. He unsheathed his sword slowly, holding it straight up to the sky and creating a dark whirlpool-like swirl above him. My senses kicking into panic mode caused me to get in my fighting stance, my muscles begging me to stop, and watch him carefully.
His sword.
I threw some kunai that had thread attached to the ends, wrapping around the sword and successfully flinging it far into the ocean behind him. I reminded myself to be careful, as there was a cliff behind him. I heard him click his tongue and stand up straight. He turned his head up towards me, and my arms began to fall from defending my face at the sight.
Whenever I had fought Sasuke in the past, no matter when it was, he had this look in his eyes. Even when I could tell that he had seen too much to contain any innocence, he had a slight spark of hope. I noticed that no matter what was in them before we fought, our clashes brought that spark to him. I'm sure I look the same in his eyes. Now, his eyes had darkened from gaining his ultimate mangekyou and the rinnegan and there was nothing but an emotion I had never seen in him before; something that looked a lot like defeat.
Like how I used to look.
My heart tore in two and I desperately wanted to look away, but I couldn't move from his gaze. I prayed he would feel my discomfort and look away himself, and I could tell I had a look of knowing and surprise on my face. He lifted his hand up to the sky and began to bring the lightning closer.
"Don't give me that look when I'll be the victor."
I felt my eyes burn and tears begin to form slowly, his words like stabs of betrayal to me. "Sasuke...why?"
He didn't say anything, just kept staring at me with that same look. It began to drizzle, and as the sky got darker I found it harder to breathe properly. "I finally got you to come back, to be a part of the team again. You don't need to fight anymore, it's all over. We can go home now, together. We can rule together. You can finally relax, you don't have to run and hide anymore; I won't let you."
He let out a manic laugh, one I found had a little less bite than it normally did. "I can never go home, Naruto. I don't have a home."
I scoffed, the rain beginning to come down harder. "Konoha is your home! It's our home!"
"There is no Konoha anymore! Madara destroyed it, don't you remember? Even if we rebuild it the United Nations won't stand for independence like before, and many of them have a big issue with me being in power, or even on their land. Don't you remember what happened? The riots that just occurred before I left? Half of the country wants me dead while the other believe I should rule. The same goes to you." He looked down after his speech, his mangekyou fading and it's glow no longer a light for me to look for. He had a definite point, but any logic seemed to fade during my fights with him.
"Sasuke, we're both exhausted. Let's just go and sleep and discuss this in the morning." He chuckled to himself, the lightning flashing around him dangerous close to me.
"There can only be one, Naruto."
As soon as he finished the lightning flashed and he jumped forward, my arms protecting me by instinct and signaling the start of a fight. Arms and legs thrashed out in a continuous cycle, block after hit and hit after block. Neither of us were getting anywhere, this hand-to-hand combat simply getting his frustration out and wasting our energy. I knew I had to do something to change pace, as even though I had such extensive stamina I was reaching my limits. I let his hand grab my wrist and as he tried to flip me I turned myself to be rest my palm on his foot, successfully kicking his jaw. His hands pushed me away from him harshly and my body rolled on it's side to land. I picked myself up quickly, just in time to dodge his punch and let my knuckles collide with his face.
This isn't right.
He let it happen and then ducked down in order to land a jab to my abdomen. I grunted slightly and kicked him in his side, effectively forcing him backwards.
He's not resisting. He's barely trying.
"Sasuke," I paused, standing and staring at him as he stood back up. "Don't make me knock this sense into you." He stared at me, his eyes flashing from the reflection of the lightning.
Kurama, I need you for a sec. Help me punch some sense into him.
He didn't answer, and I defended myself as I waited for an answer.
Kurama, please!
He grabbed my wrist and flipped me over, my back hitting the rock beneath me harshly and his body settling on top of me to hold me down. We stared at one another for a while, his eyes dead and my chest aching at the sight of it. He wrapped his hand around my neck, the pressure real but not deadly.
"Sasuke," I choked out, voice cracking and throat raw from the yelling over the past few days.
Kurama, answer me god damnit!
What do you want kit? I'm tryin' to sleep.
The said raven only continued to stare at me, or more like past me, as he maintained the hold.
I need help with Sasuke; he has to snap out of it!
"Sasuke please…" I wrapped my hand around his, softly attempting to pull it off. "It's over,"
He frowned and tightened his grip, the effect immediate.
"What's over, Naruto? My pain, suffering?" I felt my eyes burn with the threat of watering. "You're the one who has it all; the power of a god, the comrades willing to kill themselves for you, the senseis and superiors willing to bow down for you! What do I have, huh? Tell me that Naruto, what do I fucking have!" He slammed my head against the pavement, in which I saw stars for, seeming to realize his error and letting go of me. I regained my breath before sitting up, staring at his back.
"You have a team, a family, a ho-"
"A family?" I gulped as he turned, his rinnegan shining. "Are you being serious right now?"
"I'm your family; Konoha is your family."
He scoffed. "That's like saying Sakura is your sister. You guys aren't genetically related. You have no idea what a family is like, to live in it everyday until someone murders your entire heritage. And you know what the best part of it is?" I looked at the ground, his words already reaching me. "The fact that I'm truly the last one of them; truly alone."
I slowly stood, heading over to him.
"Am I not enough for you, Sasuke?" He stiffened, the boisterous attitude of mine replaced with sorrow and wear. "Am I, just one person, one friend, not good enough to be considered your family? Your home? Because I don't have a family, I don't legitimately have a home, a girlfriend, someone to return to; they're all dead too. Every one I ever called my family is dead, Sasuke; everyone but you."
"You still have the entirety of the villages left to call your home."
"And so do you!" My anger was showing, Kurama taking interest. Sasuke turned around to meet my eyes. "You just saved everyone, every single person out there would not even be alive if you didn't help them!"
"They still had you without me!" His mangekyou went haywire for a split second, his famous black flames surrounding us in a ring.
No no no…
"You don't even know what it was like coming back! Seeing all their faces, faces filled with disgust and hate, prejudice towards me; all because I decided that my brother's dead was not to be in vain. You are strong enough to rule alone!"
"Sage gave us the power of his sons! Not me; us! I am the sun, you are the moon; we are two sides of the coin, Sasuke!" When he merely looked down with his saddened eyes I chuckled sarcastically. "I won't even rule. Kakashi can gla-"
"And then what? What happens to poor convict-murderer Uchiha Sasuke? What happens when those damn elders wake back up with guilt and still blame me for their corruptions? You... I could've stayed if you hadn't stopped me!"
"Killing innocent people will only result in more hatred!"
"They were not innocent!" His flames grew stronger, the rain flooding the land around us. I couldn't deny his words and only felt the nails in my heart dig deeper.
We began to fight with our new powers, not much left in us but the weight of the conversation fueling our fatigue just enough. No words were exchanged as boulders, fire, wind and water were all thrown about. Sasuke had more in him left than I did, yet his attacks were still weaker than mine, something definitely off about him.
What's wrong with you, Sasuke?
Kurama chuckled.
What's wrong is that the poor boy has been mentally ill since he was just a child. Always having to show-out yet being outshined by his prodigal brother, being ignored by your father in the mix, then having everything stripped away from you by a betrayal from the person you love most. Throwing the rest of your friends and even your own home away in order to gain enough power to kill the one you thought took everything away from you and then realizing it was the wrong person. To top it off, you kill the people who did it when your brother comes back and leaves his will invested in someone you've tried to kill before and attempting to finish his wishes while suffering through hateful judgement of everyone else. You're too ignorant for your own good, kit. Sasuke has never know what love really is, has never had to feel it for long; he doesn't know how to be good. All he knows is suffering and hate and pain, and he of all people don't like change. That is what's wrong with him.
At the sudden intrusion of the demon I halted for a second, just long enough for his spear to go through my shoulder and pin me against the side of the mountain. He came over to me, forming another spear and getting prepared to throw when my survival instincts kicked in. I began gathering my nature energy quickly and attempted to free from the spear without luck.
"There can only be…" I panicked, my nature energy pushing the spear out of me and into the man in front of me, a violent cough racking through him as it went through the middle of his chest, his body collapsing onto me a second later. I stood still, the action not going through to my head yet.
When it did my eyes widened to unbelievable lengths, his body slumping down onto the ground and mine following his. I laid him on his back and called out to Kurama, who was present but ignoring my summons. "Sas-"
"One…" He didn't let me finish my sentence before he finished his, blood draping his pale skin and dripping from him mouth. I felt the tears welled in my eyes and my body begin to shake.
"Oh my god...Sasuke...Sasuke! I'm s-so...I didn't…" I was attempting to rip his clothes to place around his wound, the spear still stuck in him. I quickly snapped in off, leaving the rest in him for fear of even the slightest chance of making things worse. "Sakura! Kakashi!" I yelled out into the distance hurriedly, applying pressure to his chest.
"There can only be...one."
His words rang over and over in my head, my body shaking tremendously. I looked over at him, his eyes staring up at me. They weren't dead, but they weren't alive; they were faint. I put my arm under his head to help elevate him, resting it in my lap. "Sasuke...Sasuke why…"
He smirked, as best as he could, and I felt a tear threaten escape as his flames grew weaker. "There's only...one hokage...in Konoha…" I cursed loudly, calling out to the rest of my team and letting a tear fall.
"God damn you...god damn you Sasuke…"
There was a bit of silence as we communicated in ways without words.
My whole life as a ninja flashed before me, every moment filled with some association to Sasuke. The Valley of the End, Orochimaru's Hideout, the battlefield…
"Sasuke hurry up and heal…" He didn't say anything in response to that, his breaths getting more labored by the second.
"I guess our roles...are switched...from that time…" His reference to our fight at the Valley racked a sore spot in me, a particularly harsh pain striking within me. "I'm sorry…"
"You better be sorry, damnit!" I placed my forehead against his, our blood mixing though and the rain only intensifying my tears. "You're my best friend, my teammate; my home." It wasn't until I went to wipe my eyes when I noticed that he was crying too. Softly, but evident.
"You'll be...great...you're the legacy...my brother wanted...that he tried to instill…" He coughed violently, the flames barely visible now. "I can't believe...I lost to a...scaredy cat like...you…"
His body went still, his coughs eventually stopping and his flames going out. I shook him endlessly, pulling my head away to look at his lifeless body. I shook my head, sobs wracking from within me. "No…no…" I put my hand to his throat, no pulse to find. I put my head in my hands before letting them fall dead next to me. "No!"
I felt Kurama's presence disappear, in good timing so that I wouldn't turn into a monstrous rage, Kakashi and Sakura's presences in the background somewhere far.
They were too late...they were all too late…
I sobbed hard and loud, my body shaking uncontrollably and falling on top of Sasuke's lifeless one.
"Come back…" My voice barely audible by now. "Stop fooling around now…Just wake up already…"
Kakashi and Sakura approached slowly, Sakura stopping about fifty yards away when she spotted the sight before her, tears being pulled from within her. Not like Naruto's, not anything like his for he cried the hardest, but definitely flowing. Kakashi stood still, his heart aching at the mess before him. Never had he ever witnessed something so unfortunate as this.
His usually happy, positive, blonde ball-of-energy, draped over his other student, lifeless, his body wracking from tears and sounds that could make you cry alone emitting from him. He stepped a bit closer, cautious to keep out of their bubble, hearing the blonde's statements.
"Just wake up already... we've got to go home soon...Sasuke…"
He seemed to repeat his name over and over countless times, Sakura turning around as it seems she couldn't take looking anymore, an unknown amount of time passing between the three. He walked over to his student, placing a hand on his shoulder and trying to urge him away from his long-gone friend. "It's time, Naruto." Said blonde seemed oblivious to his words, a few more nudges not moving him a bit. The sensei sighed heavily, his heart tearing in two as he began to forcefully pry him away from the other. Naruto screamed, clawing to the other's body as if it would somehow bring him back to him.
"Stop it! Stop!"
"Naruto, we have to go home."
"He is my home! I can't leave him! I will never leave him!" Kakashi pulled him off of the other, Naruto fighting back weakly. He restrained him as he tried to pick him up, Naruto acting as dead weight to stay down. "Leave me here alongside him! I want to be buried here, next to him!"
Kakashi felt a lump form in his throat at those words, the possibility of those words coming out of his blonde student never seeming possible. As he looked at the tanner's face, the brilliant ocean blues now a dead, dull almost-gray blue, he understood. "We have to help the rest of the village, Naruto. Everyone is waiting."
"Everyone but...Sasuke…" He said the name almost as if it were taboo, sobs emitting from him once more at the mention of it.
"Naruto, get up." He forced him to stand, looking over at the pinkette in search of some help but with her eyes filled with worry as they had he thought better. Kakashi began to walk towards the exit of the clearing, Naruto turning his head back to look at Sasuke; his Sasuke.
"Why…" Kakashi forced himself to look straight ahead as he picked up the collapsed blonde, holding him almost bridal-style. "Why…"
As the elder went back to everyone else, a broken blonde in his arms and a clone behind them carrying his dead team member, everyone froze and got down on their knees. They bowed their heads respectfully, Naruto practically falling out of the gray-haired man's arms and stumbling towards his dead partner, getting down on his hands and knees to bow like the rest.
"See, Sasuke...home."
What it means to love someone.
I hope this wasn't too sad...But I hope it was good.
Let me know what you thought, I'd love to hear. Thanks for reading!