Theme: #17 - "Afterglow"
Warnings: None.
Sasuke can't remember the last time he had been to the dock. Three years, four years? Maybe more.
It's evening, around the same time that he'd usually visit the lake. The sun would be setting, casting an eerie orange glow upon the water. He'd look down into the abyss that was once blue and see his reflection, dyed red from the coasting sun.
Sometimes he'd had a small pile of stones next to him. He'd try his hand at rock skipping, but he'd never get far. One or two small jumps before they'd plop back into the water and sink into the bottom, with all the other small stones tossed in by other lonely boys.
Tonight Sasuke walks there with his hand tucked into a small pouch filled with flat stones, alone, as always. He's out of his ninja gear, his headband and weapons tucked away in a box at home. Tonight he's going out as a civilian, not a warrior. He's going out as a teenager, a boy, a child.
He's not prepared to taste blood tonight.
He's almost there when he sees his spot occupied by another. He frowns, eyebrows knotting with agitation. Perhaps tonight he'll have to go to another spot, or he'll have to go home. This boy is obviously not leaving, and it appears that maybe, just maybe--
--wait.
He squints and notices the familiar orange jumpsuit, blending in with the orange lake behind him. The yellow hair has dimmed in with the shadows of the setting light, but the glint of the metal headband is all too familiar.
It's Naruto.
Sasuke's brows relax and he continues to walk along the dirt path, scuffing his feet on the ground loudly in hopes of catching the blonde's attention.
It works because suddenly he finds blue eyes staring at him from the wooden planks. The eyes sudden narrow, and then they are scowling at him.
It's like déjà vu, and so Sasuke makes a face of his own. He widens his eyes and makes a disgusted expression with his mouth, sticking his tongue out just barely.
Naruto whips his head away, and Sasuke does the same, stomping off back for home. He takes a moment to turn his head and peer over his shoulder at the boy.
Naruto is smiling, blue eyes watching him beneath blond bangs.
Sasuke quickly looks away, and smiles despite himself.
He keeps walking, hand tucked into that pouch with his hot fingers clenched around a cool, flat stone.