Just Come Here

Part 2

Chapter 8

He kneeled beside the body of the man that he had been chasing after all this time. The sleeping form of his best friend. His rival. His long distanced companion.

His blue eyes regarded that pale skin. Those pink scars where kunai and blades had cut the man. That slender waist he had had underneath him only a few hours ago in the shade of the trees. That ink black hair and that pink mouth that had tasted him. Those strong calloused hands that had thread themselves in his yellow hair, the thin boney fingers entangling themselves in the strands as he had heard a moan leave his rival's lips.

He sighed. Sasuke was beautiful. He had always known that though, even back when he thought that he had hated him. The hate was only a fleeting contemplation though, he could never ever hate his best friend no matter what.

He had been angry for a long time after he had left. So angry as not to let himself say that name. Too angry to admit that the boy had left because it's what could bring him the power to stop the person that he hated the most. That he hadn't walked away from their village without a good enough reason. That the man had only tried to kill him that day at that last valley in order to gain something, that it hadn't been only for the sake of trying to break that bond that they had once shared.

Still shared. He knew it still existed, he felt it. He had felt it the day he had seen the dark haired shinobi standing above the rubble at the snake hideout that they had found. The way the man stared at him with those glorious and beautiful deep grey eyes. He knew now that the grey was really a black. The way that prideful mouth had whispered across the skin of his neck.

He had felt it the day they had run into each other. The way he knew the man had been crouched low to the ground to observe them, to watch him. The way his rival had allowed him to push him against a tree. To feel that pale face in the palms of his tan hands. The way those captivating eyes had never left his. The way that body had shaken with small trembles the first time he had pressed their lips together in a cautious attempt to figure out if that bond was still present.

He had felt it only moments ago in the way he had been followed and tracked. Lured and handled with more care than he was used to. The way his mouth had been tasted and explored. The way that body had brought the oxygen in with large breaths at the anxiety and nerves of being beneath him. The way that mouth had opened up and allowed the sounds to fall out like coins to the earth as he had pinned the man and had pushed his hips into him. The way those pale ones had pushed back against him.

Yes, the bond was still there, only a bit different than before. It didn't matter, he had been right all this time.

He had told Jiraya that he was happy being a fool if it meant saving his best friend. His first friend. His only friend for the longest time. He had told the old man that he would get through to Sasuke. That he would convince his rival to listen to him. To obey him in some way. He didn't want to confine the pale man, only guide him in the right direction. He could never do anything more.

He had told the Tsunade that it wasn't a waste of time to run after the man. That he would eventually catch up to him and make it all better somehow.

It wasn't all better. Not yet. Maybe not ever. But it was a start.

Sasuke seemed stable. Coherent. He seemed to finally listen to his words.

The time before the last that he had seen him, Sasuke had been a mess. Even being the optimistic person that he was, he had to admit that. He had seen him only briefly, only for a few minutes, but long enough to see that something wasn't quite right with his best friend.

His rival had just lost his brother, the man that he had lost him to in the first place for the sake of. He had lost his brother and it seemed like he had lost his mind as well.

While the battle had raged on, he had stood on the sidelines with his team and Sasuke's, Itachi's too. He had paced back and forth, feeling useless. Feeling unreliable. He had wanted to help his friend. Had wanted to ask them both to reconsider the fight. But he couldn't and so he only had the choice to wait.

When it was over, he had rushed ahead of everyone as he always did, and saw him for the first time in a long time.

Sasuke stood with his back leaning against a crumbled depilated wall, those beautiful eyes focused on his fallen brother. He could tell something was wrong. They showed madness. The madness of loss. The madness of unrequited guilt and regret. Of loneliness. Of sadness. Of love. And of longing.

He stood stunned, too afraid to call out. Too afraid to let him get away. He had observed that still beaten and battered frame for several seconds before he had worked up the nerve.

He had said his name, that syllabled name, like an unforgettable tune in his head. The man hadn't turned to look or acknowledge him, as if he hadn't heard him. As if he had forgotten where he was. Had forgotten that he was running away from him after all this time.

He had called that name out again and had taken a step closer. He remembered wanting to wrap his arms around him in a hug and pull him closer into his own body. But the man had just stood there, never moving those eyes.

And then those graceful hands had come up to hold that head of black hair in them. Cradling and willing the pain or insanity to go away, he couldn't tell which. He had watched his rival fall to his knees and press his forehead into the dirt at his brother's head, his skin becoming covered in that precious Uchiha blood.

He wanted to reach out. To pick the man up and hold him against him. To place a hand on that bent back and rub small circles on it to try to calm him. But he knew that he couldn't. Knew that it was too dangerous.

The man was wild now. Not the swift collected boy he used to know. This man was the same, but less tamed. Less moral than he had been before.

He wouldn't touch him, but he took another step forward in the broken remains of what were walls and building structure. He remembered how the rocks had felt under his shoes, their sharp edges poking him through their soles.

And then the moment had gotten away from him as the red headed girl had called out to his former teammate, her voice sharp and loud through the air. It had been enough to pull his friend out of whatever trance he had been stuck in and the man rose without ever taking a glance in his direction. He watched the man's back disappear out of sight for the millionth and second time.

He hadn't tried to run after the man until the rest of his team had caught up. He was too afraid that in that Sasuke's fragility in the moment would have allowed him to catch up to the man finally.

And what then? The majority of his training had been centered on the goal to catch up to Sasuke and beg him to come home. Convince him and then become friends again. But he had known all along that it wouldn't be that easy.

And then what? His best friend had just lost his beloved traitor of a brother. Had just lost the thing he had been training for his entire life. His purpose. His reason for living. As much as he wanted Sasuke to return with him, he knew that it wasn't the time for it. Sasuke hated his brother, but he knew that in that look of madness he had seen in his friend, that the man had loved his brother more than hated him. It wouldn't be right for him to dismiss his loss and jump straight into his planned convincing.

So he had let him get away. Had watched that back fade out of view. Had watched his greatest rival disappear into the trees. He had still run, but he hadn't run as fast as he could have.

He had let him get away the other night too. The night that they had kissed for their first-their second official time. He had felt ecstatic when he had seen his best friend rise from where the sound of the twig had made as it broke. He had been surprised and thrilled.

He had been even happier when Sasuke had let him win the brawl of some sort that they were having. That he had let him press him against that tree. Had let him get close enough to smell that earthy yet sweet masculine sort of scent. Had let him touch that silky hair and push his lips against that usually defiant mouth.

He hadn't planned on kissing him. He hadn't ever really thought of it before, only once briefly after their first accidental kiss in the classroom.

He hadn't ever planned on becoming so intimate with Sasuke before. He hadn't ever expected it. He knew that their bond existed and was strong, but he still didn't understand what defined it. What type of bond it was.

After that second kiss happened, his mind had buzzed with the possibilities of what it could mean. Of what Sasuke could have meant to him all this time. What Sasuke could have wanted from him.

And then he had realized almost suddenly, but not completely right away, that he had wanted that for a long time. He had wanted to be close to someone since he could remember, but he was able to clearly see now that that person was Sasuke and could only ever be Sasuke.

He thought that he had been in love with Sakura for a long time, but after his mouth had tasted Sasuke, he knew that it was different kind. He had a crush on Sakura. Thought she was pretty. Sexy. Delicate. But it was different with Sasuke. With Sasuke, it was a painful tenderness. An aching beauty.

He had always known that Sasuke wasn't perfect, he had even told the man so many times when they were children. But even so, he had always thought the world of Sasuke. Sasuke was really bad sometimes, but it was only because he had made bad decisions for himself.

Yes, he had always thought the world of Sasuke. No matter what the man did, he couldn't bring himself to be angry with his rival anymore.

He decided that he had known for a very long time that he had always loved Sasuke, deep underneath it all. Underneath the rivalry. The teamwork. The petty fights and arguments. Underneath the preserved perception that friendship was the only thing that he wanted from his best friend.

He knew now, after such a long time, that he was in love with Sasuke. It wasn't anywhere near a perfect love. It was a broken and stitched kind of love, but it was his love and he knew that he couldn't ever go back to pretending that everything was innocent again.

He knew now that after he had had a taste of his best friend, he wouldn't ever be able to forget the way the man had felt on his tongue. The way he had felt as he held him in his arms before he fainted.

He took a deep breath.

He hadn't meant to pin Sasuke the way he had a few hours ago either. He never planned any of that. Emotion over took him at the sight of that elegant face looking back at him, those eyes daring him to follow after. To chase as he had always done, this time begging to be caught.

Then after they were on the ground with that body beneath his, he couldn't help but try to hold the man there. He couldn't help but not to want to let go.

He had known, truly realized, that he was in love a few days before, but even he knew that love could be an entirely different thing from lust or sexual attraction.

He was naïve, but he hadn't expected himself to become aroused at the feeling of Sasuke beneath him. At that hot breath pouring out into the air between them. At the sight of those pink lips moving, almost tempting him to bite into the soft flesh. He hadn't expected himself to feel the way he did when Sasuke's hardened member had pushed into him without warning.

He had taken a deep breath and allowed his body to react and before he had a chance to realize, he had been thrusting enthusiastically against his rival.

It had felt good, he could never tell himself otherwise. It had felt better than anything before it. He had been to brothels before with his master. Had felt himself in the hands of beautiful voluptuous women. Had tasted them. Had never entered their bodies, but had felt their mouths around him. But none of that could have ever compared to the way he had felt as he was on top of Sasuke.

He didn't think that it was the actual act. Thrusting against someone fully clothed is a lot less satisfying than being brought to completion in someone's warm and wet mouth, but it was amazing because it was Sasuke that he was doing it with.

Everything had always been about Sasuke. Before the man had left the village, fighting and bickering with Sasuke was the main event of everyday. Training to outdo Sasuke. Training to become stronger than Sasuke. Training to catch up to Sasuke. Training to save Sasuke. Doing anything to make Sasuke acknowledge him, even just a little. It was all for Sasuke.

Now that he understood it had been love all this time, it made things easier for him to accept. To accept why he was driven almost to the brink of madness over the thought of Sasuke losing his body to Orochimaru. To understand why he had chased after his best friend like an unbreakable obsession.

He took another deep breath and dismissed the thoughts away. He lifted a hand full of rough callouses from the kneecap it had been resting on and reached for the side of his rival's face.

"Sasuke," he called softly into the air.

He looked up at the stars and determined that they would be something nice for Sasuke to see when he woke up.

His tan fingertips traced that sharp jawline, leaving smeared fingerprints on the porcelain skin that he had always thought was gorgeous, even when they were children trying as hard as possible to hate each other.

"Wake up, Teme," he told the man as he watched Sasuke shift and stir from the sound of his voice.