Eyes and Lies
Disclaimer: I'm not getting paid for this, although I sincerely wish I was, hence I don't own.
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"Common sense is seeing things as they are and doing things that ought to be done."-Harrit Beecher Stowe
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There's a little truth to every 'Just kidding.'
Sasuke watched Naruto's eyes carefully. His face was laughing, but his eyes were sharp as he looked back at the brunette. They were telling him to give Sakura a break, it was her birthday. She wasn't doing anything wrong, simply giving him a hug after he came back from a long mission. Naruto had called him a bastard again, but people disregarded it after so many years and the ones that were closer to them knew that it was usually said with affection lacing it. That was how Sasuke knew he wasn't kidding these days, when those familiar eyes would turn the sharpest of cobalt.
It wasn't that he didn't trust her, he did, it was simply that he just didn't like people touching him. Naruto, on the fact that he had been touching him and hugging him for years, was the only one that could get away with it. And even then, the blonde knew that Sasuke wasn't one for too much contact and tried to lay off some.
There's a little curiosity to every 'Just wondering'.
Naruto let the excuse slide, as he often did. Sasuke would often ask random questions, seemingly meaningless, but Naruto would always see that flicker in the obsidian eyes that told him different. Sasuke had always been able to keep his expressions off his face, but he could never quite keep it out of his eyes.
This time it had been if he had seen anything interesting at the festival in town, as Sasuke had been kept inside for a mission report. He had said that he saw a black panther that had seemed incredibly realistic save for the size. It could fit in the palm of your hand, but it was intricately detailed and carved of wood.
The next day, Naruto had gotten home sleepily from a quick C rank mission to a small village to see the same panther on the table in front of where he would always hang his jacket and he smiled.
There's a little knowledge to every 'I don't know'.
"Why'd you come back?"
Sasuke looked at his-were they even best friends anymore?-comrade. He couldn't answer with words, for no words could describe the crippling silence and the heavy air that permeated the air in Oto. The terrible screams that he heard and the chilling effects of blank eyes still haunted his nightmares. Sasuke focused on whorls on the kitchen table, before looking back up at Naruto and simply answering, "I don't know."
Naruto read it in the seemingly bottomless orbs, the pain and the strong desire to not talk about it, so he just nodded and said, "Fair enough."
There's a little emotion to every 'I don't care.'
Naruto saw it, the small trembling of Sasuke's pale hands and the disturbed look in his eyes. This happened a lot after his ANBU missions. He would seem so strong, but there were little signs that gave him away. The blonde watched him as Sasuke sat on the windowsill, hair still damp from the shower, legs pulled up to his chest with his arms resting on his knees with his gaze focused on the pounding rain.
Naruto came closer, not saying word and wrapped his arms around his best friend, knowing that he needed to know that somebody was there. Sasuke didn't reply, but the trembling slowly stopped and his eyes became the calm pools that were so familiar to Naruto.