A/N: 3 words: WRITERS BLOCK SUCKS! Please don't kill me. I'm very sorry, i don't think this chapter is up to scratch in terms of detail, but OOTA has hit a wall and i wanted to post SOMETHING before i went insane through guilt. Basically for a few weeks/months/years *shot* I had no motivation to put finger to keyboard, but goddammit i WILL finish this story! You deserve it as reviewers :) And a BIIIIIIIIG thank you to my beta- NonConformingAngel, you've been a great support ;) And of course, a thank you to all the reviewers so far. Now on with the show before you strangle me for monologuing XD
"Come out Naruto."
"NO!"
"Look - either you come out, or I come in."
"Just because you can walk through a locked door, doesn't mean you SHOULD, bastard!"
Sasuke sighed, but stayed on his own side of the bathroom door out of human decency. Once Naruto had woken from his little...dream, he had sprinted to the bathroom, and, in panic, had locked himself in, refusing to come out.
"You can't run away from what just happened you know." Sasuke murmured to the blond, trying unsuccessfully to lace his thoughts with a comforting feeling that would reassure him. It didn't work.
"I can try..."came the sulky reply, the stubborn response sounding muffled from beyond the wooden door. In reply, the raven let a spike of anger shoot through Naruto's mind and was rewarded by a satisfying yelp.
"Fail me now and we could all go to hell in a handcart. Open the door."
"Why should I?"
"Because we need to go to the afterlife and get this mess sorted out!"
Silence echoed.
"So, we're going to go to the afterlife, I'm gonna be reassigned a soul mate, and then you're going to get your white wings and leave." Naruto stated bitterly "You're not making a very good case for yourself Sasuke. I won't do it." The Uchiha sighed mentally, knowing that to convince the blond to do his bidding, Naruto needed a little encouragement.
"What are you so scared of?"
"Excuse me?" Naruto squeaked, peeking out through the keyhole of the bathroom door.
"Is it because you enjoyed it?" Sasuke asked, sending a smirk into the blond's soul. In reply, Naruto flung open the door in indignation and anger, and glared into the air beyond him, a blush evident.
"I did not!"
"Is that why you're blushing?"
"Teme!"
"Your answer to everything, as usual..."
"Look- I didn't enjoy it... You just caught me by surprise!"
"And let me guess- you were thinking of Sakura the whole time right?"
"Damn right!"
"Like hell." Sasuke spat back. "That vision was strong enough for all the spirits in the afterlife to take a sneak peek. You were thinking of making love to me Naruto- we're soul mates now- accept it."
"I- I-" For once, the blond was completely lost for words, simply unable to think of a case for his argument.
"Naruto..." The Uchiha's inner voice was softer this time "I know it's hard, but I need you to do this for me." The blond's ocean eyes deepened in colour until the inner iris appeared midnight blue- it was a sign Naruto had come to a decision.
"O.K."
"O.K.?" Sasuke echoed warily.
"I'm not doing it for you." Naruto muttered defensively, crossing his arms "And I'm not doing it because of what just happened either. For once- I'm doing something for myself." Inside his mind, the blond felt Sasuke's curiosity, and, dare he say it, bewilderment, but in true Uchiha style- he remained silent.
"Then hold tight..." the raven ordered gruffly.
"What are you going to do?"
"You, Naruto, are going astral travelling."
There was an uneasy pause, and when the blond next spoke, he sounded apprehensive.
"Correct me if I'm wrong Sasuke... But isn't that where your soul is ripped out of your body?"
"Correct."
"Oh. Joy!"
All it took was a single blink and Naruto's lifeless body crumpled to the floor.
"Damn that is ROUGH!" the jinchuuriki whined, massaging his head and mussing up his already wild golden spikes. Who knew axing your soul from your body could be so painful?
"Welcome to purgatory, baka." Naruto turned round, hearing the deep tone his best-friend-turned-unwanted lover's voice, and felt his heart stop. He could see Sasuke. Every inch of Sasuke. Those dark, dark eyes and alabaster skin glared at him across the expanse of endless darkness. There was no sky, no ground, just an endless inky sea of nothingness.
"Sasuke... You...This place..."
"Is Purgatory." The Uchiha finished, approaching Naruto. "I spent four years here." Naruto's eyes widened in horror.
"I'd go mad if I had to spend more than two minutes here!"
"I bet you would..." Sasuke muttered, looking upwards expectantly.
'Hurry upItachi! The one time I actually need you here, and you're nowhere to be seen!'
"So what happens now?"
"We wait for Itachi to sort this mess out." Naruto 'tsked' at Sasuke's response and crossed his arms.
"Still relying on your brother..." The young Uchiha's sensitive ghostly hearing picked up the comment, and he turned to frown at the blond disapprovingly.
"Do you have a problem with that?"
"No, not at all..." Naruto stated airily, shrugging his shoulders. "I'm just slightly confused... We aretalking about the same brother who you went all: 'Sasuke the Avenger' for, right?" Sasuke looked at Naruto coldly.
"Yes."
"The murderer of the Uchiha clan?" The raven haired spirit's mouth thinned into a line.
"Yes." He ground out.
"What- and suddenly you're his partner in crime?" Naruto scathed, one eyebrow raised. "I don't get you Sasuke. You hated him so much in life- and yet now you're happy to be best friends?" The blond knew he was pushing the other boy to the limits of his patience, but he wasn't prepared to lose Sasuke a second time. Naruto would make his point, no matter what the consequences.
"You've said it yourself Naruto- this place is as bad as Hell, maybe even worse for all I know. Itachi has been punished enough, we both have. It was in both our interests to work together to get out of here...to an extent at least."
"So, you've just magically forgotten he killed the Uchiha clan?"
"Don't you dare-"
"Did he ever tell you why he left you alive, Sasuke? And I don't mean the: 'To test my capacity' bullshit."
The boy's patience snapped.
"Is this going somewhere?" Sasuke spat, squaring up to Naruto, feeling satisfied he still had a half-inch height advantage. The blond narrowed his blue eyes, leaned forward, and whispered huskily into the others ear.
"I could make you stay Sa-su-ke... I could tell you things you wouldn't believe..."
Before the young spirit could recover from the unnerving sound of having his name whispered so sultrily, he found his vision blocked by an older version of himself who was standing in front of him, one arm outstretched towards Naruto and sharingan eyes fixated on sapphires.
"Be quiet Naruto, or I'll use the mangekyou." Itachi ordered silkily. Sasuke started moving towards his brother, with the intention of subduing him, but only a single word made him freeze in his tracks.
"Stop." The tone was something Sasuke rarely heard his brother use. It was his: 'don't fuck with me if you want to live' voice, and the younger Uchiha automatically knew that something ugly was going to happen if they didn't obey Itachi's orders.
"I know what you're doing Naruto." Itachi stated emotionlessly, his sharingan still preventing Naruto from speaking. "You think that by feeding Sasuke a bunch of lies you'll be able to turn his emotions against him, turn him into a ghost and trap him with you on Earth." The blond would've ground his teeth together, but the paralysis stopped him from doing so. Itachi tilted his head. "Don't do something so stupid."
"Itachi-" came a quiet voice.
"Stay out of this Sasuke." The elder Uchiha replied evenly, still keeping his gaze firmly fixed on Naruto. "You don't need to hear this."
"Yes I do!" Sasuke protested. "He was talking about the Uchiha massacre- if he knows something; I have a right to hear!"
"And you will Sasuke, once I've sorted this baka out."
"I don't want you to: 'sort him out', I want to hear what he's got to say!" Itachi sighed and turned his head a few millimetres in the young spirit's direction.
"Sasuke... If you never trust me again, trust me now." He stated solemnly. "Whatever Naruto says about the Uchiha clan is a lie, and if you believe it, you will be trapped as a ghost forever. He's only doing it to stop you leaving; he's not going to give you any worthwhile information."
"No. Naruto wouldn't do that..." Sasuke protested stubbornly. "He's not selfish, he's not... like me."
"Sasuke- you're an Uchiha. You're smart. What's the one emotion Naruto will always act upon?"
"..." The raven looked down uncomfortably; feeling unease and a creeping sense of doubt steal upon him.
"That's right. Love." Naruto closed his eyes in embarrassment, not willing to watch Sasuke's reaction to what Itachi was about to say. The elder Uchiha gave the blond a pitying look. "What use is kindness, and selflessness, if it means you can't save the person you love most?" Raising his hand in a fluid motion, the jutsu was released, sending Naruto's spasming body sprawling in the opposite direction. Sasuke studied the helpless figure carefully, keeping his stoic mask tightly in place to suppress his surprise at hearing the 'L' word.
"Is that true Naruto? Were you going to lie to keep me here?"
"You're my best friend!" Naruto growled, shakily getting to his feet. "I didn't want you to leave, I wanted to stop you by any means necessary."
"And what were you going to say?" Sasuke asked, narrowing his eyes. Itachi and Naruto shared a 'look', silently sending messages across to each other.
'I've waited long enough for him Itachi.'
"But if you tell him the truth about the Uchiha massacre, about Konoha's involvement, you'll condemn him, not just for your lifetime... Forever. When you die, you'll leave him behind. And you'll never get him back".
"Naruto!" Sasuke urged "What were you going to say?!" Naruto clenched his fists.
"Itachi..." In Itachi's onyx eyes he saw fear. Fear, and pleading.
'I ruined his life. Don't ruin his death Naruto.'
"Itachi.... he...."
"What?!"
"He loved you!" Naruto yelled finally. Itachi closed his eyes in despair, knowing that as soon as Naruto revealed the truth about his orders as an Anbu Black Op and double agent, Sasuke would be consumed by revenge. He would be instantly reduced to a ghost. "He loved you." Naruto repeated, voice cracking. "Beyond his capacity to kill... He killed the whole of the Uchiha clan to test his strength, but when it came to you, Sasuke, he loved you too much. He let you go, not because he wanted you to test him, because he couldn't bear to kill you." Itachi opened his eyes. That was it? Naruto wasn't going to reveal all? He wasn't going to tell Sasuke that the Uchiha were killed on Konoha's orders? Itachi studied Naruto, mouth slightly open, feeling an age old emotion flood his soul- respect. The teen's fists were clenched and tears ran down his whiskered cheeks. His heart and soul was being torn apart by this choice. The most wonderful and terrible choice. To protect Sasuke's heart, Naruto was committing the most selfless act of all- he was sacrificing his own love.
'Thank you Naruto...' Itachi smiled. 'You did the right thing... Even though it means Sasuke will be with you only in death, you chose to do the right thing by him...'
Sasuke, after recovering from the revelation, stared at Naruto in confusion. "That was it? You really think that's enough to turn me into a ghost? Becoming a ghost involves hatred, and passion. A desire to avenge or claim something you couldn't in life... That wasn't nearly enough.... Why are you crying?" Naruto said nothing. "You said you would tell me things couldn't believe, things that would make me stay... if that was it, you disappoint me."
"I won't tell you..." Naruto hissed under his breath, voice deathly quiet. "Because I love you."
Sasuke froze, his mask shattered.
"I won't tell you anything... Because I love you more than Itachi ever did." The raven swallowed, as Naruto wiped his eyes, anger, determination, and triumph shining through the veil of tears. "I love you as more of a brother than he ever did, Sasuke. More than a brother even." The Uchiha blinked, feeling a strange pull around his midriff as a mild feeling of sickness set in. "Now tell me you can just walk away from this life without feeling an inch of guilt." Itachi stepped back, mildly impressed by the blond's actions. This was something he had not foreseen. Instead of divulging the painful information that he had originally intended to reveal to Sasuke, Naruto had given him a truth that was equally as powerful, and even more destructive. It was a clever strategy that would play Sasuke's emotions and pull his heartstrings. Although it was not enough to turn him into a ghost, it was enough to get his attention, and maybe even... Change his mind.
The raven stepped forward mechanically, Itachi melting away into the background as a mere nuisance.
"Do you mean that?" He asked, leaning forward to look Naruto in the eyes. The blond squared his jaw and glared back at him.
"You said we shouldn't run away. We both felt it..." He trailed off anxiously, testing the word out on his tongue "Soul mates, you said..."
"It's not meant to be like this..." Sasuke murmured to himself. "A dead soul should never be made the soul mate of a living one... I thought you didn't want this, that's why I... That's why I brought you here, to fix it..."
"You want me to change soul mates..." Naruto stated shrewdly "You want to pass me off to someone else... Like an obligation. Is that all I am to you Sasuke? An Obligation?" (1)
"No!" The Uchiha protested. "It was more than that, for me it... It was only ever you.... Just you... My only..."
"Your only what?" Naruto pressed, glaring at the raven.
"You know as well as I do what I mean."
"But you can't say it."
"Neither can you!"
"Then it's settled... We won't say it."
"But what are we going to do about it?"
"How should I know?! You're the expert here!"
"I'm the spirit that got caught in the middle of this madness; I don't know how to fix this!"
"I do." Sasuke and Naruto's heads snapped round at Itachi's words.
"You know?" They chorused. Itachi nodded.
"Think about it you two- What is a soul mate?" They looked at him, puzzled and Itachi sighed. "It's a single being, split into two halves. Therefore, theoretically, both souls can exist harmoniously, for instance- inside one body." The raven and blond exchanged knowing looks.
"You mean-"
"We could-"
"Merge?"
"Yes." Itachi nodded. "Naruto's body is a healthy specimen, capable of providing for both of you, so as long as it doesn't reject your soul, Sasuke, you could live inside him. All Naruto needs to do is allow you access." The blond titled his head suspiciously.
"What do you mean- 'as long as I don't reject Sasuke's soul'?" The elder Uchiha looked down uncomfortably.
"You must understand that at the beginning of time, when soul mates were split, they were meant to exist in separate vessels, purely for the sake of emotional convenience, or else the two halves' conflicting viewpoints would argue with themselves constantly. As two beings, one half could find solace from the other and have time to themselves. Although the two souls can easily be recombined, there's no guarantee the chosen body would be able to cope with the extra information a second soul would bring- twice the neural messages, twice the adrenaline, twice the difficulties. In such cases it is not unusual for a vessel to reject the second soul."
"And what happens then?"
"The invading soul would... Cease to exist." Sasuke stood a little straighter, confusion evident in his eyes.
"But the very nature of a soul is that it cannot be destroyed."
"But it canbe damaged beyond repair." Itachi corrected. "Think of it as, being on life support, but being brain dead. Your soul would still technically 'exist' but your conscious wouldn't function, you wouldn't be able to sense anything, you would be...nothing."
Sasuke gulped.
"And... You expect me to-"
"It's a risk, Sasuke." The elder Uchiha agreed gravely. "A very substantial risk in fact, but one that is, perhaps, worthwhile, if it means making the one you belong with happy." Naruto shook his head and attempted to grab Sasuke's arm, but was disappointed to find his hand slip through the raven's translucent form.
"Dead souls cannot be touched by the living." Sasuke muttered, a faraway look in his smoky eyes.
"Don't do it!" Naruto warned. "You'll be destroyed, and I'll lose you for good! I'd rather die, I'll kill myself- that way we can be together and there won't be any risks-"
"Don't be stupid!" Sasuke snarled "Suicide gives you a one way ticket to Hell. Besides, you have things to live for Naruto- before long Konoha will need a new Hokage."
"I told you, unless I save you, I'm not worthyof the title Hokage!"
"Then let me save myself!" Sasuke retorted, glaring at Naruto angrily. Itachi blinked. Was Sasuke...agreeing?
"You'd do that for me?" Naruto asked quietly.
"Yes."
"You could die."
"I know... but I'm willing to risk it." Itachi stepped forward and put a hand on his brother's shoulder.
"Are you sure Sasuke? This is your last chance to refuse."
'He's not wavering...'
"I think..." Sasuke began carefully "That after everything I've done, it only seems right that I give something back..." Itachi smiled proudly, and pulled his brother into a one armed hug.
"Congratulations Sasuke."
"What?" The younger Uchiha asked confusedly "What are you talking about? How do I make the transfer?"
"There isn't one." Itachi replied smirking. "You just passed His test."
"What?" Sasuke repeated.
"You just earned your white wings."
"WHAT?!"
A/N: It was getting too long, so I ended it here. Everything gets explained next chapter, so fear not :D Besides, you get a happy ending AND a lime :P
(1)- Cue 'OH's' of realisation of where the title came from XD