AN-Sorry for being late... exams and Chemistry being a bitch!
Disclaimer: God is in everything which means God is in me, and as God owns everything so I own everything... Including Naruto! HAHAHHAHA... A=B, B=C so A=C simple logic!
Keeping Up With An Uchiha
After the incident on my balcony, my presence in the trainings of Team 7 became a must; just like the presence of a certain Uchiha in my room, almost every evening till late night.
Sitting side by side, me and Sasuke spent all those evenings in my balcony on the same spot where we discovered our friendship; sitting in the same way with our shoulders touching, his supporting mine.
Some nights we would talk about everything and anything, others we'd just watch the stars in comfortable silence; the latter being more usual than the former because the Uchiha was anything but a talker.
Before meeting him, I used to think you need to talk to show emotions, words were important to express yourself. I didn't know you could be friends with so less said and so much conveyed through silence; the Uchiha way of bonding I titled it.
And I was really thankful for it because being an introvert, keeping up conversations was not my strongest point and awkward pauses were the only thing I knew. But while being with Sasuke, the pauses between the conversations felt more welcomed than ever before.
And for someone like me who escaped company like plague just because of awkward conversational pauses and no idea of what to talk about, his Uchiha way was a blessing straight from heaven!
Never in my life I ever found anyone else with whom the need to speak vanished like with Sasuke; and for that I knew I would always be in his debt.
Maybe that was the reason why I let him force me into things I didn't want to do.
Like the first two days after our chat at my balcony, I let him drag my anti-social ass to training ground 3 at 5 in the morning even though I didn't want to go at all; and add to it the fact that I was never a morning person.
But after those two days of witnessing the wrath of the Uchiha, I myself stopped being reluctant, realizing it was high time to save my dignity; well whatever of it was left after being carried through Konoha like a sack of potatoes, coiled with ninja wire.
That whole incident taught me one thing though 'Uchiha Sasuke doesn't know how to request; you either do what he says, or you will be forced to do it with horrible consequences'.
Yup, he didn't learn to take no as an answer, and surprisingly I wasn't surprised.
My reason for not visiting his trainings was still that I was afraid I would disturb team 7, but Kakashi sensei ensured me that my presence was actually helping; in the usual Kakashi way obviously!
"Mah, mah Ned-chan, don't find excuses to be unsociable; we don't really mind your presence you see, you're really helping in the motivation department after all." He said with his eye-smile, like he was the most sociable person in Konoha, roaming around inviting people to parties.
For some unthinkable reason he still called me Ned-chan; even after my request to them all to call me just Ned.
The newly developing cunning part of my brain believed, it gave him glee to do things people find embarrassing or irritating; sadist after all!
Still I liked the man; don't know why but I always felt comfortable and relaxed around him. And keeping in mind that he was a famous assassin who might have killed more people than the breaths I was able to take in my whole lifetime, I just couldn't understand my gut feeling; maybe in a world basically made up of assassins, the lack of choice was a reason.
Well according to him, Naruto; ever the spotlight lover, was working harder than ever before in his trainings just to show me how better he was than Sasuke; which was improving his Taijutsu more than the entire Academy years combined.
"The boy seeks acknowledgement Ned-chan, and your small compliments encourage him a lot." he said to me once, when we both were sitting under a tree watching the three genin spar.
Sakura, according to him was doing better because she was trying to show me (and Sasuke) how amazing she was; which was futile because even if she wasn't anywhere near the boys in Taijutsu, she still was a kunoichi, and hence had the ability to kick my ass straight to Suna.
Sasuke's improvement though was a different case. According to Kakashi sensei; he was improving because both Naruto and Sakura were improving, causing him to push harder to win every time; which was good for his ego.
"He needs to learn the value of other people around him." Sensei said while flipping a page of his book. 'The people also need to see him more than just his brain, clan and face.' I thought looking at a dozen Naruto clones getting grilled by Sasuke's fireball jutsu.
Now, I had read a lot about ninjutsu, chakra and all the ninja magic from the books and from Iruka sensei's lessons; but reading and listening is one thing, seeing physics get slaughtered in front of your own eyes is another.
The first time I saw Naruto do Shadow clone jutsu and Sasuke breath out fire; let me tell you, I lost many other things than just science that day.
My awestruck, unintelligibly-muttering form freaked Naruto so much, he slowly slipped away from me and said nervously rubbing his head "…..ne sensei…. I think we broke her…"
I even scared Sasuke and Sakura when I suddenly jumped up and demanded Sasuke to open his mouth; checking thoroughly for fire glands or some other scientific thing to justify my world's knowledge.
I found none, but the look on Sakura's face after that was worth all the loss of my knowledge.
The said girl still refused to believe that I wasn't romantically interested in Sasuke; always declaring how I'm planning and plotting to steal her Sasuke-kun.
"It's impossible for someone to not like Sasuke-kun, he is just so cool and amazing! I know what you're trying to do… so let me tell you that you are not going to win; you like Ino-pig will lose because Sasuke-kun likes me! He likes girls with long hair and beautiful eyes and slim figure, none of which you have so back off and stop plotting in silence because you'll lose! HUH!" she announced, flipping her hair on my face; leaving me with three males who blinked back owlishly at me in response.
Now one, I wasn't planning or plotting anything; in between trying to survive and find a place in a new world, I didn't really had time to conspire against fan girls. That also for a boy who was my first FRIEND ever!
Two, my hair were growing at such an abnormal rate that if I would have wanted to, I'd have surpassed not only Sakura but even Rapunzel twice or thrice ever since I came into this world, but instead I kept it short; because managing long hairs was a mess and no boy was worth it.
Three, I was not fat; in fact I had the correct BMI for any average girl my age according to WHO standards; it wasn't my fault that kunoichi in this world were super fit and had different health standards than civilians.
And fourth, I didn't know what 'Ino-pig' was in the slang of this world, but I was sure I wasn't a boar or pig even if I wasn't pretty.
And that was the place where Sakura crossed the line; I was a very patient person for sure but still I was an eleven year old, there was a limit to my tolerance of idiocy like every other child.
I wasn't angry, just frustrated by repeating the same thing again and again and again, so I gave up on making her see the truth and hoped that someday God will give her sense.
It took her a lot more than just a few months to get over my lack of interest for Sasuke, my presence in her team and my overall existence in general; it took time but eventually we figured our bond out. Not the strongest of the bonds but a bond indeed.
But till that time I enjoyed her irritation and efforts to find my non-existent hidden motives, as much as I could; not mature, but as I said I was just a child and 'when life gives you free entertainment, why refuse?' was my thought.
When I told Sasuke about it, his response was "Hn" which was a typical Sasuke reply for everyone, but I knew better.
As my acquaintance with the boy increased I realized that that one sound from his larynx could actually have thousands of meanings in 'Sasuke-vocabulary', and understanding the difference between them was an art that came with experience; or in Naruto's case, gut-instincts.
In the beginning it was very difficult to understand when he was getting irritated, when mildly interested and when taunting; but as the time I spent with the Uchiha increased, I realized it was all a game of eyes.
In addition to being his most powerful advantage as a Uchiha, eyes were a very important means of expression for Sasuke; and his monosyllabic responses started to mean so much more when I understood this small thing.
The changes in the shade of coal-black when he would visit me, when he trained, when he tried to ignore his fan girls, when he taunted Naruto; I never knew there were so many shades of BLACK.
One of the softest shades I ever caught in his eyes was when he first discovered my singing; better to say humming one evening.
Now, I was never a singer; bathroom, kitchen or any other room included. I was an introvert and raising my voice to sing was calling for too much attention that made me uncomfortable. Also the fact that I always thought people would judge me from lyrics, try to figure me out and make mistake was another reason.
But here in this world no one understood English or Hindi; no one was going to judge my life and my personality from my song choices, and no one here really had time in between all the major ninja things to listen to my quite humming. That and this world was doing weird things to me; apart from the abnormal hair-growth-spurt.
And that was the reason why, I, out of my character was singing a 50 year old Hindi song while arranging books and scrolls around my room. And that was how Sasuke found me when he decided to visit early that evening; and being the damned ninja he was, decided to stay hidden in the balcony to listen.
Once I finished my job of rearranging my scrolls did I stop singing and jumped abruptly when a certain Uchiha appeared casually on my balcony, asking "What was the meaning of that song?"
Now, I wasn't the only one who was analyzing other's nature. Sasuke was a very sharp boy and like I did with him, he also figured me out eventually.
He knew I was loved poetic and feeling filled things, quotes and dramatic words; and hence easily guessed that even my song choice might have something or other that would be meaningful.
I placed a hand over my chest to calm my nerves and waved the other towards the balcony as I answered his question, making my way towards our usual spot.
"'Lag ja gale, ki phir ye hasin raat ho na ho; shayad phir iss janam me mulakat ho na ho'….. It roughly translates into 'Embrace me, for who knows a night like this will ever come again or not; for who knows if we'll ever meet again in this life or not….' a very old song that I never acknowledged back home, but now it seems to hold so much meaning; as I understand the uncertainty of life." I said.
I then turned to look at the boy sitting next to me, and thought if something like that happen again how I'd miss him and everyone else here, my first friend and my second world.
The fear of the prospect hit my heart like a ton of bricks, making me blurt out even before my shy-introvert self could take over. "You know you're my first friend ever Sasuke? Like, both worlds included…" completely irrelevant, but still somehow the lines seemed to fit perfectly in that moment, in that mood.
I saw his eyes widen slightly and wondered if he was surprised by the fact that I was a loner, or by the fact that I called him a friend instead of love-interest or something.
Although it was clear between us that what we shared was friendship, still it was the first time I TOLD him that I saw him as my friend and not just some acquaintance.
The said boy remained silent for a long time after which he spoke, pausing a lot between sentences; his awkward way when discussing sensitive matters.
"…In a way it's mutual… Before, I never really bothered about people other than… family… and later… everything just… I never really found anyone else with whom I could connect, until you appeared out of your world... We share kind of the same story, the same pain…. So yes… I think its mutual Ned." He finished.
I looked at him with wide eyes as he closed his eyes feeling the cool breeze pass by; it was unexpected. From the emotionally stunted complex driven Uchiha, I was really not expecting this.
I would have lived contented without this; I knew Sasuke wasn't an emotion-expresser and the mere fact that he visited and talked with me showed that he took me as a friend; but still he expressed it. And even though he didn't exactly say the word friend, but the meaning was apparent; and for him to even do this, it was more than enough for me.
And like some unsaid agreement, after that revelation mine and Sasuke's friendship warmed up. Till then we shared the same pain, and understanding; it was a serious kind of friendship, but after that day it became more light and hearty, like two children's friendship should be.
I would tease him, irritate him and bore him with my knowledge about random things, and in return he would taunt me, confide in me and force me into things like always; just like friends should.
But we still shared the pain and understanding, still spent evenings once in a while sitting in silence, remembering the ones we had lost and why we were living.
During those times I tried a lot to change his mind, to lessen his pain and convince him that revenge isn't everything, that he doesn't need hatred to get strong; and maybe I did convince him a bit, but it was not enough to make him totally come out of his craze for power or his hatred for his brother.
I tried but couldn't change the Uchiha's mind so I kind of gave up; I didn't stop telling him what according to me was wrong or right, but I never forced him into things; after all it was his life, he held the right to choose.
It was hard to see my first friend, the first person who ever bothered to befriend me, to slowly destroy himself with hatred, and I couldn't do much; it hurt, still I never gave up supporting him and showing him what was wrong.
Keeping up with the Uchiha was hard; what with all the patience and acceptance of his ways, but our friendship was worth all; and I was ready to give my everything to preserve it.
AN- I've changed the summary. Please tell me what you think of it :))
SO I've developed this complex where I believe that I'm a very bad writer, this story doesn't seem as nicely written in a better language as it should have been... :(
Please tell me where I can improve and about the problems in my writing! I hope Sasuke is in character.
On another note, the song mentioned is an actual old Bollywood song from the era when Bollywood songs were meaningful, poetic and good..
Well Thankyou for reading... Special thank you for people who have Fav., Followed or Reviewed this story! :))