Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, and I don't wish to. Seriously, it's troublesome.

ii. you can play on broken strings

Naruto noticed time had stopped because he was still alive. And, you see, he wasn't supposed to be alive, because there was a huge, fast train there to break his head in various bloody pieces. He didn't even know his eyes were already open because said train's lights were so strong and so near that his vision was unutilized.

So, he blinked and felt Kiba's hands still grabbing his sweatshirt like his life depended on it. (Which actually did). Not really thinking about it, the boy just pulled his best friend up with all the strength he could.

Surprisingly enough, it was easy. Really easy, like pull an empty box. Thus, Naruto ended up falling over the people gathered behind him, but nobody screamed and there was no sound of trains or whatever.

Breathing heavy and trying not to panic, the blond blinked many times, trying to get rid of the colorful spots dancing over his abused eyes (he was sure he had seen the "Hollow Sincerity" among the pink dots). It took a while, but he could finally open them again and stare at the ceiling of the station.

Then, he sat up and looked around.

"Holly shit."

If he thought the soundlessness was strange, the vision impact was even more chocking. Nobody moved – every person inside that station was staying still like a photograph. The policeman that had tried to save the dog was there, his mouth open like he was screaming something. The woman who had tried to stop Naruto from crossing the yellow light was still holding his collar. The Oto Gakuen students were still talking calmly, not yet aware of the commotion on the other side, their elegant stances paralyzed like perfect marble statues.

No. One of them wasn't unaware of it. He was staring at Naruto with those black orbs.

Naruto blinked again and pried his hands from Kiba's frozen grip so he could rub his eyes. The pressure hurt a little, so the boy blinked again and again, making Sasuke's figure appear and disappear many times. And for a second…

For a second, he saw something very red and felt a pulling sensation, calling him towards the other side of the station.

"What are you doing, idiot?"

Forget the red thing and the pulling, what the hell?

"Doing, wha--? Wait, wait, wait, you're not… Whatever?"

Uchiha Sasuke was not staring like a statue. He was really staring. As if to prove that, the brunet walked away from his frozen friends and made a hand movement indicating the whole train station.

"As you can see, there's only you and I moving and conscious in this place. I'm not doing this, so it's you."

What kind of logic was that? No, that wasn't important!

"Wait, man, look. You're inside a place where everyone is still like a pool in the winter. A normal person would be panicking, looking for help or thinking this was a fucking hallucination. And your conclusion is that I am the fucking responsible for this?"

Passing his right hand through his hair, the Uchiha sighed. "I suppose this is the first time you remember doing this?"

Naruto just stared, speechless.

"If that's the case, then I'll make something clear. Yes, you are the one doing this, and if you keep it, this place will blow up. You have to stop."

Unbelievable. Some unknown, scary phenomenon happens and the guy acts like it was a daily thing. Naruto wanted to scream.

"Are you nuts? There's no way I'm doing anything!" he really screamed, breathy.

"Shut up and listen. Your adrenalin triggered the current situation. You have to calm down and let it go."

Crazy! Naruto wanted to scream more, to argue, to convince himself this was a dream happening during Japanese Class, but… But there was this strange red pulling, and it was whispering around his ears.

If it was a dream, maybe that was his subconscious trying to teach him a way out of that illusion.

Closing his eyes again, the boy breathed in. He hadn't noticed he was panting, and tried to inspire slowly, concentrating on the air filling his lungs. That was an exercise taught by his nurses to prevent anxiousness or stress.

In. Out.

In. Out.

In—

Before Naruto could open his eyes again, he felt the strong wind announcing the train had passed. People gathered around he and Kiba, who was trembling, and everybody started to talk at the same time.

When he could finally look at the other side of the platform, when the train stopped and opened its doors, the elegant uniforms were gone – as was Uchiha Sasuke.

--

The only thing a human being can be sure about his life is that it is going to end sooner or later. Naruto was certain that, in his case, his life would end real soon.

"I only asked you to go home early. No expensive gifts, no good grades; just go home early. And what do I get instead? A policeman calling home to tell my brainless grandson is at the Police Station!"

Tsunade looked absolutely furious, with her arms crossed above her titanic breasts. Her grandkid cringed and thought about the unfairness of it all. "But, 'baa-chan! I told you, already!"

Those words fueled the woman's anger, and she started to shake Naruto's head by his years. Around them, the cops passed by, trying to ignore the obvious display of violence.

"Yes, you told me! Everybody told me that you got in front of a train to save a dog!"

"Hey, I got there to save a friend who was saving the dog, don't mistake—"

" Shut it, brat. If you keep talking and she will maul you in the train's place", Jiraya interrupted his grandson, leaning his back against the wall beside the chair where Naruto was sitting. The boy pouted, but stopped talking. When it came to Tsunade's anger, Jiraya was the expert. It was just wise to hear his tips.

She kept groaning and biting her nails for some minutes, looking seriously threatening. Nothing could prepare Naruto for her sudden hug, so he was crushed by her strong arms while her breasts suffocated him. "Damned brat! You don't have any idea, do you? Almost dying, again! I'm not getting any younger; we'll not take it well if you… If you…!"

She was always like that, Naruto remembered; hiding her fear with anger and violence. Feeling suddenly tired, the boy leaned in the embrace and sighed.

"I'm sorry, grandma. I had to help him". His voice was small and apologetic, but he did not regret his actions.

"Silence! Stop talking and let me punish you like this. Damn brat."

He nodded slowly, feeling sleepy.

"I was going to die, wasn't I? If time hadn't stopped". His whisper almost went unnoticed, but Tsunade heard it, and her body tensed instantly.

"What did you say, Naruto?"

"The train. It was going to hit us, but time stopped". He yawned, not aware of what he was saying. If he had been totally awake, Naruto would never talk about that kind of hallucination, but now, he was feeling safe. "Everybody stopped, like a picture. Sasuke said I was doing it."

"… Sasuke, you say?"

Bright blue eyes clouded with fatigue before the eyelids fell over then slowly. "Yeah… The guy from that other school… The one with black eyes. He was really…", yawing again, Naruto forgot he was talking, forgot he was awake, "Really a bastard."

Before Tsunade could ask anything else, his breath evened and he was profoundly asleep. She exchanged a fierce look with Jiraya and eased her embrace.

"It seemed like he doesn't remember him", the white haired man mused, scratching his chin. "Maybe it was coincidence."

"I didn't know the Uchiha was back in town", she hissed, accommodating her blond charge in her lap.

"He probably never left. We sure didn't look for him these past months". Jiraya sat beside Tsunade and watched her pet Naruto's spiky hair. "This would happen sooner or later, you know."

She laughed.

"What would? This incident or Sasuke?"

Jiraya smirked. "Both. You know as well as I do that it's futile to fight against it. Sasuke is an idiot for trying to run away from it, and Naruto is even worse, going around searching for him."

Getting up, the man walked to stay in front of the boy and watched him for a moment before crouching to lift his body. Tsunade helped to put Naruto's form against his grandfather's back and threw his limp arms over Jiraya's shoulders.

When the teen was secured in his piggyback position, the trio started to make their way out the station.

"That's not the problem right now, baka. What worries me it's the fact he did something big, this time. No fast healing injuries, no abnormal strength; time lapse is not a thing someone can forget easily. He won't tell anybody because he will think he's going crazy, but…"

"I know, he'll go after answers". Jiraya smirked again. "I'll leave that to Sasuke. He did nothing to take care of Naruto since the whole problem began".

Laughing ironically, Tsunade walked slowly toward their car, jiggling the keys.

"Actually, he did the thing he's good at, which is to stay away. It helped, somehow."

"If he had stayed with Naruto since the beginning, there wouldn't be any need to 'help'."

Tsunade didn't have any retort to that.