Title: "Lunar, Solar"

Author: Shaitanah

Rating: R (overall)

Timeline: 1 month after the Itachi/Sasuke fight

Summary: "…because Sasuke would be the moon, Naruto would be the sun, and during an eclipse..." Sasuke remembers the month that changed everything and led him back to Naruto; Team Kakashi sets out to save the world; Madara begins his act. Sasuke/Naruto Please R&R!

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto Masashi. Story title from Pablo Neruda's Drunk With Pines. Lyrics from Have You Got It In You? by Imogen Heap.

A/N: No matter how much I love Kishi's latest developments, the plot of this story basically disregards Madara's background. He's pretty much still a really bad guy here, and this is where I begin an active use of Tobito theory. Hope you like it, guys! Thank you once again for your wonderful reviews!

Chapter 12

The Lost Month

All at once, not a whisper, nor word.
Then all at once…
Let me have it all, let me have a battle on,
Easy target,
Look, can we just… just get it over with.

Madara sweeps his gloved hand over the youngish scarred face. The roughness of the scars stings even through the tight-fitting material.

"Say, Zetsu, what do you think makes us weaker?"

The white half dismisses the question promptly.

"How would I know?"

The black half is not so hasty. "Weakness is a rather abstract concept. It depends on what you mean by it."

"Bonds," Madara says. Zetsu wonders if the man has even heard him. "Bonds," he repeats confidently, "make us weaker. You might think you are getting strong by protecting someone you love. Love is the most powerful force that drives you, and you're willing to do anything for that person. You'd go as far as to the edge of the earth. But in the end, even the closest and the most loyal friend betrays you."

Zetsu cocks his head, the fly-trap leaves rustling quietly. The black half snorts. Madara's remaining eye flares with angry red glint.

"That is why you should cut the bonds as soon as they are no longer needed."

'Like I did.' He knows that his brother would have had his eyes, had his own begun to fade earlier. He knows this because his brother and him were exactly the same. And he knows that Hashirama ('Shodai,' he cuts himself off furiously, for that name no longer holds any meaning to him, but it still echoes with the same brutal pain as years before) was about to do the same thing.

"Don't wait to be betrayed. Don't be the victim to someone else's treachery. Be the betrayer. Hit hard and fast, as painfully as you can. Only this way you will keep your sanity."

That is questionable, Zetsu decides.

"Does this conversation have a point?" he wonders brusquely.

Madara brushes his fingers through his hair and remembers how it used to be long, full of knots from the wind, how the bangs would obscure his visions, and how the First with his sleek straight hair would laugh when Madara brushed them off irritably.

"Do you remember what I asked you years ago when my spirit was first reawakened in this ruined body? 'Why do I keep dreaming of Hatake Kakashi?' Do you remember what your answer was?"

"His was the last face Uchiha Obito saw before he died," Zetsu repeats word for word. "It'll pass."

A dismal smile crosses Madara's lips. Zetsu is not so easily intimidated (besides, the man does owe him a little something), yet a lump comes up to his mouth.

"Then tell me, Zetsu," Madara demands in a voice muffled with rage, "why do I still dream of Hatake Kakashi?"

Peeking sheepishly from behind the dense clouds, pallid morning sun spilt a few rays over the sleeping campsite. A nimble golden speck slid teasingly over Sakura's face. Her eyes fluttered open. She dreamt she was at home in her own bed, and the dream kept her warm. As soon as it was gone, she started growing cold. She wrapped her cloak tighter around her body and yawned. It took her a few minutes to recall where she was.

When she did, she rolled to her side rapidly and released a slow breath of relief. Both of them were here, safe and sound and so dear to her. She smiled. She thought that maybe Sasuke-kun was too unjust to himself; he was a good person regardless of what he might have done. For a second she found it hard to breathe: the feeling of strange, bittersweet affection filled her to the brim.

She pulled Naruto's cloak up to his chin: it was still cold. She leaned into him and brushed a lock of hair, rather long, tousled and very yellow, off his forehead. And then she crawled around to take a seat next to Sasuke. He looked younger and more innocent, sleeping soundly like this. Acting on some irresistible impulse, she bent down and kissed him gently on the forehead. Sasuke opened his eyes.

Their eyes connected, and for a moment Sakura thought he would kill her. His gaze was heavy, but blank. She whispered an anxious "Sorry," and when he didn't respond, she got up hastily, took a step back and tripped and fell on the ground.

The youth sat up, his eyes never leaving her glowing face.

"Careful."

He held out his hand to help her take a more comfortable position. Sakura chuckled at her clumsiness.

"Sakura, whose clothes are these?" Sasuke asked suddenly.

"Captain Yamato brought spare sets of clothes for all of us. Why?"

Sasuke frowned. "I'd prefer something of my own. I don't want to be indebted to him."

She wouldn't understand, he thought. It was too much of a humiliation for him to wear these featureless things when he had even had Sound attire branded with Uchiha fans.

"Oh yes, one set of clothes leads to a lifetime debt!" Sakura snorted.

Sasuke's face darkened. "Tsch." He glanced briefly at Naruto and added: "You'll wake him up."

"Huh? Don't you know Naruto at all? The only thing that can wake him up now is the smell of ramen!"

"I… I'm not sure I do. I have fallen out of habit."

He wondered if he had ever had this habit. How did it happen that he knew so little about what Naruto truly was, yet valued him as his closest friend?

He lay back and set to watching Sakura as she sat by their side, soft wind playing in her hair. Some time later Naruto started tossing and turning. Sakura kicked him playfully with her foot. He awoke with a start, blinked his huge eyes full of surprise, and a lenient grin spread slowly over his face.

"Meh, I had such a weird dream! Like I was late for practice and Ero-sennin set a huge toad on me."

Sasuke kept quiet, looking somewhere past him. Sakura's laughter cut the thickening silence.

"I'll go get us something to eat," she said.

"Yeah, don't let Chouji have all the snacks!"

When she left, Sasuke suddenly longed for her return. He never noticed how much peace Sakura actually brought into their communication. Even when she had been that annoying wide-eyed girl hopelessly in love with him, she was needed. Because with Naruto…

…with Naruto there was no peace. There was the whirlwind of emotions, pulse beating in their throats, desire, ache, tears swelling somewhere in their chests and rising up to splash from their eyes… Sasuke hated it. When Naruto was alive, it made him suffer; but even Naruto's death couldn't cut all the bonds. No matter what he did, Naruto remained.

"You didn't run away," Naruto said suddenly. "I half-expected you to."

"No… I didn't."

Naruto smoothed down his clothes briskly. "I'm glad you didn't. Boy, this sounds stupid. But, Sasuke… Thanks."

Uchiha clenched his teeth and dismissed the conversation with a non-committal grunt.

About an hour later Team Kakashi in its reformed state stood before the others, undergoing the kind of a parting ceremony. Sasuke kept his distance, unwilling to get mixed into the process: they were Naruto's friends, not his, and he wanted nothing of them.

Now that it was settled that they would go together, he felt strange numbness. What if Itachi was right? What if what he did made him unworthy of bearing the name Uchiha? Sasuke glanced at the crowd wistfully. Sakura was hugging Ino. Kakashi conversed with Yamato in a low voice, giving him directions of some kind. Sai looked up at him all of a sudden and smiled. Sasuke turned away.

"You know what," Shikamaru's quiet voice rang in his ears all of a sudden. Sasuke's back went rigid. "After everything we've been through because of you, you just stay alive, okay?"

Sasuke lifted his head abruptly. Shikamaru was looking at him with sharp, attentive eyes. Then he walked back to his team, and Sasuke exhaled a soft, barely audible word after him:

"Yeah…"

When they finally were leaving, Naruto raised his fist in the air and shouted: "Let's go!" and outran the team immediately, energy, craving for action, boiling inside him. He looked back, his cerulean eyes sparkling joyously. The sun was already high upon the skyline, and its soft lemon glow poured over Naruto, turning him into a bouncy speck of gold.

Deep inside Sasuke felt envious.

What did they all want from him? He couldn't be as happy and carefree as Naruto was. He couldn't adjust in a blink of an eye. He noticed occasionally the looks that Sakura flashed him and the way Kakashi's eye would follow him, and, enraged, he quickened the pace until he was way ahead of all of them, even Naruto.

'It'd be curious to see you try,' the thought came; Sasuke knew exactly who it belonged to.

Behind him, Kakashi performed Kuchiyose no Jutsu, and the pack of his dogs sprang in different sides, preparing to pick up the trail. So it began.

In the evening when the team made camp on the edge of a beautiful flower meadow, Sasuke found himself engulfed in memories of the turning point in his life when he had willingly decided to reconcile with Naruto. That month had determined everything. Sasuke should have known Naruto wouldn't give up on him so easily.

A soft smirk, unnoticed even by him, touched his lips.

He dove out of the dizzying whirlpool of darkness like a fish thrown out of the water, and lay gasping for air for a few minutes. A hand pressed roughly on his shoulder, urging him to stay in bed. He couldn't remember how he got there. His vision adjusted slowly; all kinds of sensations washed over him all at once. Pain zigzagged through his emaciated body; his voice came out in a rasping whisper:

"Where is Itachi?"

"Hold still," someone admonished.

Straining his eyes, he recognized Suigetsu. The Mist nin stuck his sleek bluish hair behind his ears carelessly; a huge watercolour purple bruise adorned his right cheekbone, and his left arm was plastered. Sasuke never knew Suigetsu could require bandaging.

"Itachi's dead," said Karin, a hint of confusion in her voice. Sasuke frowned. "We found you in the ruined hideout. You were barely alive."

Her words slowly settled in his mind. Itachi was no more. A mere memory now that the battle of a lifetime was over. Sasuke should have felt happy, but he didn't.

"Get out," he whispered commandingly to his teammates. When none of them complied, he repeated harshly: "Get the fuck out!"

They left. Sasuke collapsed on the bed; heavy, silent, suffocating weeping shook his body.

Several days passed in the same fashion. He lay in bed, staring blankly at the walls of a small hotel room around him, and occasionally fell into deep sleep, even more tiring than being awake. He didn't feel sick, but neither did he feel healthy. His body seemed to have conserved all the pain he'd been through, and it slowly poisoned him.

Then he began seeing nightmares. He rarely remembered them in the morning, but the feelings lingered even when he was awake.

"It's been a week like this," Suigetsu said once. Alarmed by Sasuke's unusual condition, Team Hebi held the kind of a conference when they thought he was asleep. "He doesn't talk, he barely eats, he's acting like a madman! He's become vulnerable. He's useless like this."

"Are you questioning his sanity?" Karin asked suspiciously.

"Unlike some, I'm not blinded by mindless admiration! What if he never gets back to normal? We can't babysit him forever."

At that moment Sasuke pushed the thin sliding door open and entered the room. Hebi fell silent, looking at him expectantly. A pale shadow of his usual cool, sarcastic smirk touched his lips.

"Talking about me behind my back? That's nice. Keep it coming, and I might finally get annoyed by you."

"How are you feeling?" Karin asked. Her false bravado amused him.

"Well enough to set out on a new mission. I only asked you to come with me to look for Itachi. However, I find that your aid might still come useful. So are you with me?"

Juugo answered, "Yes," promptly. Suigetsu tapped on the shiny surface of the Head Cleaver's blade with his nails and smiled toothily. Sasuke took that as an agreement.

"I did have some business of my own," Karin said, flipping her flaming hair over her shoulder flirtatiously. "But I can postpone it. Count me in."

Days on the road, endless and featureless, passed as one. They asked him only once where they were going. "There's someone else I need to visit before we go after Madara," he replied, and there were no more questions. When they finally arrived to the point of destination, Suigetsu gave a mildly surprised whistle and Karin mumbled, taken aback:

"But that's…"

Sasuke surveyed the dusty yellowish bands of streets laid out in the valley before them and whispered grimly:

"Konoha."

Konoha it was. He hadn't seen it in three years. Not much had changed: it was still the same noisy place, so vibrant it hurt to look at it, covered in verdure all over. The first night Sasuke didn't dare leave the hotel room. Konoha was a few kilometres away, brimming with energy. He wondered how many teams were at home now. He wondered if he was at home.

He had to be. Juugo's birds told him that. And the next day Sasuke took a walk down to his native village and found Uzumaki Naruto at the training ground by the river. Sixteen shirtless Narutos, sweating and panting, were practicing what seemed to be some advanced form of the Rasengan. Sasuke narrowed his eyes. For a moment Naruto's gasps came too loud and thundered in his ears and made him sick. He wanted to cover his ears and never hear this amazingly strong sound again.

The clones suddenly vanished. Naruto began slanting forward. For a moment Sasuke could see nothing but his messed up golden hair. Kakashi's hand squeezed his shoulder gently and supported him.

"He-ey," Naruto whispered in a quiet breathless voice.

"You shouldn't work yourself so hard," Kakashi chastised him in a soft fatherly manner.

Sasuke frowned. Naruto looked completely exhausted. He was about to leave, having decided he had seen enough, when Naruto suddenly lifted his head and said:

"I'm fine. I don't have any more time to waste. With each passing day he might be getting farther and farther from me. I must get stronger and make him see me." There was such fierce determination in his eyes, such burning passion… Sasuke wondered if he had ever deserved such devotion. Naruto licked his chapped lips and forced himself to hold his balance. "You'll see, Kakashi-sensei! Sasuke will return and he will see how strong I am now! I'll prove him that I am to be reckoned with. I'll make him want to stay, believe it!"

Sasuke smirked bitterly. Oh yes, Naruto would go to the edge of the world, should he ask him. 'It's settled then,' he decided on the way back to the hotel. 'Tomorrow night.' Tomorrow he would have his bait and his ultimate weapon against Uchiha Madara.

But before that… before that the night descended softly over the land that lay asnooze in its bedding of foliage and dust. Sasuke sat on the bed by the open window and stared up at the stars. The stars above Konoha always seemed brighter. The stars above Oto had been… duller. The stars on the road were just different.

One storey above him someone was playing a flute. Sibilant, dreamy music flowed through the air. Sasuke lowered his chin upon his hands resting on the window-sill and peered into the spongy darkness seeping with silvery starlight. Juugo's quiet voice disturbed him a few minutes later.

"How old are you, Sasuke?" the man asked irresolutely.

Uchiha cast a long misty glance at him. "Sixteen. Why?"

"Just so," said Juugo and exited the room without further ado.

Sasuke resumed his pointless affair. The music died down before flickering back to life in a lingering violin-like melody, and a gentle female voice struck up a soothing, unpretentious song. Sasuke closed his eyes. Why had Juugo asked his age? It seemed to him it was the first time that Juugo had showed curiosity about something.

The night slowly melted into a smoky scarlet morning. Sasuke had no sleep. In the end he rose from his post by the window, slipped his traveling cloak on and headed to the village. And there he found himself standing by the unremarkable grey door, waiting, waiting, and waiting, suddenly unable to knock…

Sasuke snapped out of his thoughtfulness to see Naruto squatting beside him. The blond's forehead was creased as if he was trying hard to understand something (and obviously mental work was not Naruto's strong side). He looked Sasuke in the face, leaning in so close it almost felt annoying, and asked enigmatically:

"Why so glum?"

Giving it more thought than the matter clearly deserved, Sasuke finally pushed him away. Naruto dropped on his backside and whined: "Heeeey! I'm just curious."

"That's what bothers me."

He rose and entered the swaying pool of flowers, sweeping his open palm over the half-open buds. Fuzzy stamens tickled his skin. 'Naruto… Just leave, leave, leave, damn you!'

"Y'know," Naruto remarked moodily, "I couldn't but notice you've been awfully quiet all day. I almost miss Team Hebi. It seemed a lot easier when we traveled with them."

"What is it, Naruto?" Sasuke interrupted unkindly. "Small talk? I'm not much of a man for it. Go bug somebody else."

Naruto stared at him numbly. Anger built up slowly inside him.

"You're such a selfish jerk, you know that? What is your problem again? What the fuck is your problem?"

Sasuke gave no reply. He wouldn't indulge this clueless, nosey, immature brat with any confessions.

"When will you get your head out of the fucking rain cloud and stop thinking you're the most miserable person in the world!?" Naruto fumed. His anger was tangible; it rolled over Sasuke like a crimson wave, leaving a chasm of hopelessness as it passed. "What is wrong with you? Why can't I reach you? Just fucking admit it: life can be normal! You were happy last night with me and Sakura-chan. I saw your eyes; you felt safe!"

Sasuke released a slow hissing breath. He wished Naruto would stop yelling, but the blond just kept throwing those hideous and painfully obvious insults at him. 'This won't work,' he thought wearily. 'No matter what, it won't work the way you want it to, Naruto.' He spun around and glared at his opponent with dark unblinking eyes.

"Would you please stop acting like you know all about me?"

Naruto wavered. Sasuke's deadpan voice left no room for arguments. And suddenly Sasuke was in front of him, the heat of his breath steaming over Naruto's skin and sending shivers down his spine.

"Jerk," Naruto mouthed; his flagging rage left a strange taste in his mouth.

Dim moonlight fell onto Sasuke's face. Naruto's heart skipped a beat. Now, now that Sasuke was finally here, he seemed to be even farther away. 'I can't afford to lose you…' Naruto thought furiously. 'Not when you're this close.'

"You don't know me," whispered Sasuke.

"I want to."

Seconds wore on.

Sasuke licked his lips. A sweep of the tongue, the movement he barely even registered. Naruto drilled him with a stubborn look.

"Just leave me alone, okay?" Sasuke exhaled.

A hand brushed his forearm lightly.

"Never."

Just how could one single word sound so arduous, so significant, so crucial?

That bloody night was so cold. Naruto kept watch, sitting by a lonesome tree on the outskirt of the meadow. Kakashi and Sakura slept by the fire, so close that sometimes, watching the sparks swarming around them, he feared they would hit their blankets.

From the corner of his eye he saw Sasuke get out of his bedroll and walk slowly up to him. Naruto didn't spare him a glance. He had already made his point. Fine, Naruto thought he could live with that. They both wouldn't go back on their word.

Sasuke squatted beside him and whispered: "I don't want to lose you either. All of you." Please… A sidelong glance at the sleeping teammates. Naruto tensed.

"Then why..?"

Sasuke pressed a finger against his lips. "I don't know how… I just can't… You know that about me." He leaned into him and rubbed his cheek against Naruto's cheek and closed his eyes.

Sasuke's skin felt cold. Naruto wrapped his arms around Sasuke's shoulders. Drunk on the faint smell of pollen that got smeared over the youth's palms, he didn't move and simply let Sasuke stay this close to him, their cheeks pressed together. Unaware of the fact, they were thinking very similar things.

Forget. Rebuild, restore, recreate something they used to have before. Start over. Naruto would have loved to carry Sasuke's burden only to see him smile, to hear him laugh like he'd never heard him laugh before. Sasuke would have loved to lift the weight of the world from Naruto's shoulders because Naruto just squandered too much time on things and people that didn't deserve it.

Like him.

Sasuke caught Naruto's earlobe between his lips gently and flicked his tongue over it. Grazed his cheek with his lips. Nipped at the weather-worn skin and smiled briefly against it. Naruto's mouth curved into a trembling smile.

He hadn't thought about it before. Hadn't thought it would be possible. But perhaps this was the language Sasuke understood better than words.

Naruto shifted his weight. He ran his hand over Sasuke's back uncertainly, pulling him closer. Standing on his knees, Sasuke put his hand on Naruto's lap and let him move his tongue smoothly along his neck. The blond's fingers crept beneath the crisp collar of the Chuunin shirt. Naruto buried his face on Sasuke's shoulder and laughed quietly. The reason was obvious: it was just too tender, too caring, almost uncertain in spite of that 'night that never happened' that had already happened, in spite of the way they had always treated each other.

Maybe they did know this language better. After all, each of them had always been more of a physical being.

Their breath hot, faltering, they wondered how much longer they could bear to play this game.

Sasuke raised his head and flicked his tongue over Naruto's lips, parting them. His tongue skimmed over Naruto's tongue, tasting of some sour sweetness that Naruto couldn't grasp. Their tongues continued their sensual dance, lips barely brushing, bodies barely moving. An ardent moan escaped Naruto's mouth. He clenched his fist, short, ragged nails digging into his palm. They were not alone, and the last thing he wanted was to wake Kakashi or Sakura-chan up.

His eyelids felt heavy. Sasuke positioned himself between Naruto's legs, their bodies mere inches apart, the rough material of Naruto's trousers warm beneath his hand. He stayed immobile and looked past him, savouring the last sparks of that strange sensation.

Naruto shifted and buried his lips in his hair for a split second. He quivered because of the fleeting taste of campfire ashes at the back of his tongue.

Sasuke got up then and slowly stumped back to his bedroll. The deafening sound of his own heartbeat, steady and powerful, vaguely reminiscent of the feelings that bled through his veins like molten lava, lulled him to sleep almost momentarily.

Greyish clouds, smeared in a thin layer over the sky, cast sparse shadows over the whispering forest. Kakashi left the campsite before dawn and set out to examine the nearby forest that stood like a dense wall on the edge of the meadow, stark black against the clearing sky.

Kakashi was concerned about Pakkun's absence. None of his dogs had returned yet. Uneasiness that had woken Kakashi up in the first place, didn't seem to dispel as he went deeper into the forest.

The image of their pursued enemy popped into his mind. Some unintentional, unconditional desire to rip the mask off the face of that jester drove him forth. He still hesitated, even somewhat feared to discover that the body that had once belonged to his friend was now held by the enemy.

It could be any Uchiha, really. Soul transferring jutsu were a rarity, yet nothing unheard of. Sixteen years ago (or whenever) there were still many members of that family alive. Madara could have chosen anyone. Yet something told Kakashi he shouldn't dismiss the thought of Obito being alive too glibly.

He effortlessly willed Obito's face back to life in his memory. Roundish, soft-featured, not exactly handsome unlike those of his kinsmen, but attractive in its own flippant way, animated with an impudent lively grin. Deep onyx eyes. Dark hair, ridiculously sticking up. ('You're one to talk!' Obito would laugh.)

Kakashi couldn't recall when he first had this wild guess. Perhaps after the unfortunate encounter with Tobi when the Leaf squad had been pursuing Sasuke. Tobi knew him. Tobi had tried to tell him something. Tobi had said Kakashi's eye belonged to him. Honestly, Kakashi was not a slow thinker. He didn't need any more hints. Tension increased; he was about to ask Hokage-sama to let him go on a mission after that strange Akatsuki when she expressed a sudden wish to see him first. She had invited him to her office and announced that Naruto had gone missing. Upon learning of Sasuke's involvement in the matter Kakashi kept his mouth shut, though he was secretly happy about having a pretext to meet 'Uchiha Madara' again.

A sudden movement in the thicket snapped Kakashi's attention back to the present. This time he was ready. He spotted the chakra movement and had little doubt who it pertained to. The Akatsuki wasn't trying his best to hide anyway.

"Sharingan no Kakashi," a slightly muffled voice came. The masked man stepped out from behind a tree. "You're the last person I expected to find on my tail. Alone, too. Should I be flattered, White Fang Junior?"

Unwound, Kakashi scanned the area, appraising the situation and calculating his chances. The man's voice was laced with venom, but he sounded tired. Perhaps, the strain on his broken Sharingan had been too much.

"You talk too much," Kakashi stated coolly.

"Ah yes, a privilege of the mighty."

"Or a weakness of the opinionated."

They lunged at each other, perfectly synchronous, their fists connecting in the lowest form of taijutsu as if none of them really wanted to hurt each other. They diverged; Kakashi made a catlike leap and stuck with chakra to the tree trunk. Madara ended up opposite him, his Sharingan boiling with flares of red. Kakashi stared at him, both eyes open.

Suddenly Madara relaxed his shoulders and huffed in a mellow voice:

"Oh, by the way. Obito says hi."