Frailty
A SasuNaru Fanfic
By We Are DesCom
Jessa-kun: Whew…Chapter Seven at last…Kawahi…you finally found the time!
Kawahi: Thank god my finals are over…And Christmas is over too…(dies)
Schatzi: KAWA!!! (pulls out a fan and fans Kawahi) You can do it! Call an ambulance! Get him to a hospital!
Jessa-kun: (sweatdrop) Ookayyy…Oh well…
Disclaimer: DesCom does not own Naruto. No matter how desperately we want to, that is just not possible…However, if we did own Naruto, SasuNaru would be damn canon.
Jessa-kun: Gawd, that Disclaimer pwnz me…hehe
Note: We changed this to Rated M because…well, we aren't spoiling anything…Sorry.
OoO FRAILTY OoO
Rain poured down the village of Konoha. The water fell heavily and in thick sheets. No one dared to leave the safety of their homes. It was only afternoon, but the thick gray clouds gathered above the village made it appear like night.
Sasuke looked out the window, momentarily taking his attention away from the papers in front of him. Two weeks had already passed since the incident with Naruto, and he had never taken the blonde out of his house ever since. He himself refused to leave the house unless necessary. He learned to be careful when it comes to Naruto. Whenever he left the house, he assigned his students to guard the blonde, just in case.
Thankfully, nothing bad occurred during the past weeks. In fact, things were somehow returning to normal. The Hokage had started to give him papers to finish, in return for his team's temporary exemption from missions. The assignments were easy enough for him and did not give him much trouble, fortunately. Aside from that, Naruto's wounds were completely healed. He was also showing signs of progress, only he had developed a fear of leaving the house or Sasuke's side. He managed to learn to trust Sasuke's students, though, and felt at ease with them.
"Sasuke-san?" He heard the blonde's footsteps as he approached him. He let Naruto sit down beside him and peek at his reports. "So many papers…"
"The Godaime gave me these as an assignment. My team has to make up for our lack of missions."
"So Rei-chan, Kawa-kun and Zi-kun are also doing assignments?"
Sasuke gathered his reports and carefully arranged them. "Yes, but they're doing errands, not reports."
"I see…Can I help, Sasuke-san?"
He shook his head. "These reports are…difficult to understand. Also, I'm the only one who's allowed to do them." He put the papers aside to make more room for the two of them. The floor was not exactly the best place to sit, but at least the carpet made it comfortable. Sasuke took the blanket he had prepared beside him and wrapped it around Naruto. "You should have stayed inside the room. It's a lot warmer there."
"I was worried about Sasuke-san." The Kyuubi vessel snuggled closer to his guardian. "You have been working really hard. Rei-chan told me that if someone works too hard, he will get exhausted, and then he will get sick. I don't want Sasuke-san to get sick."
"Don't worry. I don't get sick that easily." Sasuke patted the other's shoulders to assure him. "You shouldn't worry about me too much. You should be worried about yourself."
Naruto just nodded in reply. "Ne, Sasuke-san, do you mind if I stay with you? Until it stops raining?"
"Why? Is something wrong?"
"N-no…It's just that…I'm afraid."
"Of the rain?"
The blonde nodded meekly. "I looked for you because I was afraid. The room was too dark…"
The Uchiha smirked and got a long wooden case from under the couch behind them. "I'll help you calm down then."
Naruto watched curiously as his guardian took off the lid of the case and set it aside. "What is inside, Sasuke-san?" He received no reply. Sasuke pulled out what the case contained: an old wooden flute. "Is…is that yours?"
He nodded. "It's an old gift from my father. He carved it himself and taught me how to use it. When I was a kid, I used to play it whenever I felt afraid." He brought the flute's mouthpiece to his lips and closed his eyes. As Naruto watched, he began to play.
The blonde was speechless. Even though the sound of rain drowned out every sound, the music Sasuke played still managed to stand out. It, the music, was angelic. Naruto felt the room around him dissolve. All he could focus on was Sasuke and the music. "Amazing," he whispered.
Sasuke finished playing and settled his flute down. "Well? I hope you were calmed down by that."
"You…Sasuke-san was amazing!" There it was again, Sasuke noted, the small spark in the smaller male's eyes—the one Sasuke rarely saw ever since that day. "It was beautiful! Your music…"
The Uchiha felt his heart swell with genuine pride at the blonde's words. He tried not to show too much amusement though. An Uchiha will always be an Uchiha. "Really? That's good, because I haven't played in such a long time." He placed the flute back in its case and put the lid back on. "I thought it sounded bad."
"That's not true!" The blonde brought his face closer to the other's, placing his hands on his knees. "Sasuke-san shouldn't put himself down because you are really good!"
The brunette felt heat crawl up his face at their position. He turned away from Naruto. He had a feeling that his face was already red. "Ah, if that's the case, then…" It was difficult to stay calm in such a position, even for him."
Sasuke, for the first time in years, felt embarrassed.
Fortunately, the blonde pulled away after hearing his words. "You are really good, Sasuke-san," he repeated with a slightly less excited voice, probably to show that his words were sincere.
"Thanks…"
A streak of lightning suddenly flashed across the sky, soon followed by a loud roar of thunder. Naruto gave out a frightened yell and embraced Sasuke, his whole body shaking. The blanket fell from his shoulders to his waist, gathering into a small heap.
"Naruto…?"
"I'm afraid! P-please don't leave me, Sasuke-san!" Tears flowed down Naruto's face as he held on to Sasuke. The taller of the two gathered the confused jinchuuriki into his arms and draped the blanket over Naruto like a cloak, pulling it over the blonde's head.
"Just hold on to me, okay? Don't look outside. Just listen to my voice." He placed several kisses on Naruto's forehead to calm him down. He brushed away the tears staining the other's cheeks. I'm here, Naruto."
"Sasuke-san…"
Another streak of lightning. Another roar of thunder. Naruto gasped and trembled even more. Sasuke placed him on his lap and rubbed his shoulder. That was when Naruto began to calm down. Lightning and thunder appeared again, but Naruto did not get startled anymore. Sasuke felt a sense of relief as the blonde relaxed against him.
"So this is why you came looking for me."
"Y-yes…I was afraid and…"
"Shh…It's alright. Just focus on blocking out the noise."
"O-okay…"
Sasuke wanted to reach for his flute again and play it, just to calm Naruto. However, with his hands full, he decided not to. Instead, he began whispering things to the blonde. He replied with a small voice, barely audible because of the raging storm. At least, Sasuke thought, he managed to take Naruto's attention away from the lightning and thunder.
"I don't want to see you cry again." It was more of a command than a request, but Sasuke did not care. He did not want to see Naruto crying. There was something in the jinchuuriki's teary face that made Sasuke's chest tighten. "I want…I want to see your smile." Naruto nodded and sniffed.
"As long as Sasuke-san is with me…"
Sasuke tilted Naruto's face up and drew closer to him. The latter stared at him curiously, completely oblivious to what the other was doing. Sasuke leaned down and then placed a kiss on Naruto's cheek, just below his eye, tasting the saltiness left by his tears.
"Sasuke-san?"
The ANBU captain pulled back. "N-nothing…It was nothing…"
Naruto stared at him for a few moments before lying against the leaner frame. He did not seem to mind Sasuke's earlier gesture, and was completely unbothered by it.
Unlike Sasuke.
The Uchiha heir's thoughts were a mess. He had just kissed Naruto, and I was definitely not in a friendly way. He felt his heart beating slightly faster than normal, and once again, he felt heat rising to his face.
I'm…I'm falling…for Naruto…?
It was obvious, to Sasuke at least, that things will never be the same.
OoO Wakas OoO
Jessa-kun: OO
Kawahi: A little shorter than usual, but at least we got it posted.
Schatzi: I don't think that's the reason why she's like that.
Kawahi: Whaddaya mean?
Schatzi: She got several private e-mails about how our fics murdered Naruto's character.
Jessa-kun: (sniffle) (sniffle) Is he THAT OOC? (sniffle)
Kawahi: I dunno…
Jessa-kun: WAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
Schatzi: Well, technically, Naruto will not act like himself. After all, he lost his memory. About Sasuke…I guess Naruto's change affected him too.
Jessa-kun: But…but…
Kawahi: Calm down, Jess…I think it's okay…(sweatdrop)
Jessa-kun: (wails again)
Schatzi: You suck, Kawa.
Kawahi: (sweatdrop) You're mean. Oh well… I just have to go start typing Yoru no Kasumi's next chapter…
