Chapter 4

Naruto really was the number one surprising ninja. He did not enter the room with a big bang pronouncing that he had managed to bring the bastard back (which he technically did not since it was Sakura and Kakashi whom had nearly broken his damn bones) nor did he start off with an angst drilled opening.

It was almost like an everyday occurrence. Naruto simply opened the door and stood there looking as he always did (but he had changed, he looked…sadder) and simply, without fanfare, he stepped back into Sasuke's life.

Sasuke watched him from the corner of his narrowed eyes, following his movements warily. The blond was taller now than he had been since he had last seen him (him standing tall and looking down at Naruto's pained face as Orochimaru smirked beside him), his hair almost shaggy and longer, falling past his shoulder. Sasuke felt a maddening urge to laugh, his thought filled with irony as he realize exactly whom the hairstyle could have nearly resembled (a long dead pervert and a forgotten but beloved Hokage) if not for the simply fact that Naruto had tied the back of his longer hair in a small ponytail, giving him an almost feminine look. Azure eyes looked wearier and tired stared back at him. His baby fat had all but melted off him and he no longer looked like a pubescent boy Sasuke had once known. The whiskers around his cheeks were more prominent now, almost like someone had taken a calligraphy brush and carelessly woven the scars onto his face, giving him an almost feral look (Kyuubi, Kyuubi).

Sasuke was slightly irked to note that Naruto almost reached his tall frame. He had been taller than the other boy before and even though he knew it was petty, he hoped that he would still be taller than Naruto.

Naruto, dressed in a surprisingly somber black shirt and pants, entered the room, his footsteps barely audible (just like how a good ninja should be). The click of the door was loud compared to the footsteps. Sasuke stopped his kata and gave up the pretense of focusing, choosing to watch his childhood teammate (a friend from so long ago, when he had still been learning to breathe in loneliness) choose to sit on the only chair the room was provided with.

The silence stretched and yawned as Naruto watched Sasuke watch Naruto.

"Sasuke," the husky voice broke out, nearly startling Sasuke with the smoothness of the tone. Where had the high pitched annoying near scream voice gone to?

"You're back."

"Hn," Sasuke snorted in contempt (Who came back? More like was dragged back by persistent demons from the past).

A small smile bloomed onto Naruto's tired face (and suddenly, he looked like the shadow of the boy he had once been).

"Still the same damn bastard I see. Glad to see the pole up your ass is still lodged there. Some things never change, do they?" Naruto snorted, grinning more widely now, almost looking fondly at Sasuke.

Sasuke did not deign to answer at all. Instead, Sasuke gracefully sat on his bed, his pose strangely relaxed, his feet tucked under his thigh.

Some things would always remain the same. The fact that he was a bastard and Naruto a dobe would always remain the same just as his eyes would always be colored with tinges of bleeding red from his ruined eyes and that Naruto's eyes would always reflect the open sky on the brightest day.

"I'm sure you did not come here to simply gawp at me, dobe," Sasuke cut into the small meaningless chit chat he was sure that Naruto would delve into. Naruto simply looked at him, grin fading slightly as he contemplated Sasuke's words. He gave a small nod.

"Stay with me, Sasuke."

And Sasuke was strangely unsurprised by how inappropriate the words were. He felt like laughing at the words that Naruto had uttered. What sort of question was that? No, not even a question, what sort of statement was that?!

"I need you with me, Sasuke."

Strange how Naruto was uttering words he would have choked on when he was younger. He would have run naked through the streets of Konoha than say those four words ever in his lifetime and here he was, looking unlike himself and so somber uttering those words. Sasuke wondered if he was dead.

"Only you can give me what I need at this critical time."

A little bit of brains? A little bit of anger? A whole lot of bitter betrayal and a lifetime of regrets?

"I need power."

And Sasuke felt his world unravel slowly as the words sank in. He felt like…he was not sure what it would feel like to cry. He had long ago since stopped crying. He supposed he felt like he wanted to open his mouth and let out all the sour grief pour out at how the world was changing, how Naruto was changing. The one person who had never sought power even when he could have had the world at his feet was finally succumbing to the sweet siren called power.

"I need anger."

Mine was not up for sale. You always were too forgiving, Naruto.

"I need resolve."

And on a day long ago, you promised to be a ninja with his own nindo, never to end up like Zabuza or Haku.

"And why should I help you?" Sasuke broke in, looking intently at Naruto, eyes narrowed into slits.