Sorry, no rant here. I'm sick, I'm tired, smoking's slowly killing me (yet I'm addicted, so don't bug me about that) and I was originally going to type up this chapter on another occasion. Since sleeping didn't work, I came back to this. God fuck it! It's fucking cold here!
I Bleed Black
Chapter Thirty Six
When Sasuke came to, he realized that he was tucked into his bed. The nightmares that had happened had been fierce, but they had dulled out to a more dream-like stage at the end. He couldn't believe he had broken down like that, the memories returning to him. Slowly, the Uchiha looked at the clock on the side of his bed.
He had been out of it for nearly six hours.
Sighing, Sasuke pushed his blankets back and swung his feet over the side of the bed. He stretched his back before standing up.
Walking into the living room, the brunette was surprised to find that Naruto wasn't around. His eyes glanced to the clock again. It was early afternoon, so Naruto had probably gone to classes to pick up work for both of them. He should be back soon if that was the case. Assuming that this was true, Sasuke sat himself in front of the TV and decided to watch cartoon reruns until his boyfriend returned.
He didn't have to wait very long for an interruption.
A half hour after he had awoken, there was a thud against the front door of the dorm room. Sasuke was confused as to why something had slammed against the door and figured that he should investigate.
The Uchiha walked over to the door and pulled it open. A heavy weight sank into him. Sasuke was surprised at this and was about to push whatever-it-was away from him when the stench of blood reached his nostrils. Taking a better look at the beaten figure, he realized that the person (as it was a person) was Uzumaki Naruto.
"Naruto?" he let out, gasping at the beaten sight of the one he loved most. "Hold on." Grabbing Naruto's arm, he pulled it over his shoulder and grabbed onto the blonde's waist. Supporting Naruto's weight as best he could, Sasuke staggered over to the couch and lay the blonde down on it.
Judging by the slight movement of the boy's hands and head, Naruto was still conscious. "Naruto?" Sasuke whispered.
"Sas…Sasuke?" Naruto asked, his eyes opened halfway. Try as he might, he couldn't summon the strength to open them all the way.
"Naruto… who did this to you?" Sasuke demanded to know from his boyfriend. "Was it Akatsuki?"
Naruto flinched at the name of the mafia group that was after him. He shook his head, even though it pained him. He couldn't tell Sasuke what had happened and why his body was covered in slashes of a knife. He couldn't tell the Uchiha. Sasuke would just blame himself and get depressed.
Naruto didn't like it when Sasuke was depressed. Maybe he should tell his boyfriend who had been doing this to him…. But no, such things would only lead them to disaster. Naruto didn't want to lose Sasuke again.
While these thoughts rebounded off his head, the boy lost consciousness, one hand still clasped onto Sasuke's.
Sasuke stared down at his beloved. Why was Naruto hiding this from him? Even though it had been about three hours since Naruto had fallen asleep, the Uchiha had not moved much. He felt as though he needed to watch over the boy.
Thinking of Naruto made him mind wander. Somehow, it settled on the presentation that Naruto had had to do only last week in Creative Writing class.
Uzumaki Naruto stood in the front of the classroom. He was unsure as to which part of his project he was more embarrassed about: the painting or the poem. The covered canvas lay in the center of the front.
Naruto's palms were sweaty and he could feel himself shaking slightly. Slowly, he raised his cerulean blue eyes to the class, his hand clenching tighter onto the poem.
"Um… my partner was Uchiha Sasuke," he told them. Even though he wasn't very confident, his voice did not betray his uncertainty. "The portrait I made of him was something I hadn't planned on doing. However, I hoped that I was able to paint the Sasuke I see without a façade of his name to hide behind. Anyways, I might as well let all of you see it now, neh?"
Naruto took the corners of the canvas and gently lifted it off from his oil painting. He had put several hours into this piece of work the night before, but he hadn't even shown Sasuke the portrait. He wasn't sure how everyone else would feel about this painting, just as he wasn't sure how Sasuke would feel.
The entire class stared at the painting.
It's background was one of night, with stars twinkling in the sky. However, the moon was part of Sasuke's head, its reflection showing a smile from the normally stoic boy. The picture only showed the top half of Sasuke and the landscape was only a cloak that the boy wore. The eye that was not covered by the crescent moon was a void of black, mixed with just the barest hint of gold. It made it so that you could be trapped within that lone, brooding eye.
Not a sound could be heard from anywhere in the classroom. No one had moved, as they all became entangled in the void that was hidden in the painting. The students' (and teachers') breaths had stilled.
How could someone paint something like this? That was all that anyone wondered as they sat there, realizing that the make of this beauty was the obnoxious blonde idiot that they once ignored.
The irony was almost perfect.
The only thing that made that irony even more perfect was the poem that Naruto had written for this picture.
The blonde cleared his throat before reading aloud the words that were connected with the picture.
Smoldering softly in the skies
A void reflected in your eyes
A face I see whenever I dream
An angel for me, so it seems
Cloaked in darkness and in night
You are the moonshine – you are my light
Staring down at me from above
I talk to you about pains and love
Pale features, soft as snow
Are you everything? I don't know
Sometimes you speak in riddles and rhyme
Sometimes what you say takes a very long time
I saw you first as someone to hate
But you are my best friend as of late
I don't know how you can be so strong
Nor how your sanity stayed with you this long
You are my moon, I admire you
I wonder if you care for me too
Your gaze is so icy, so full of black
It's full of the feelings you pretend to lack
I'm brought down and trapped within your gaze
Trapped and lost in its misty haze
Maybe I'll never tell you
All the things you do
To make me laugh and make me smile
Remind me how you've been there all the while
If you want to know how much I care
Then stand up, my moon, and come over here
The class was astonished. What was going on, many of them wondered. Sasuke stared at Naruto from where he sat. The blue gaze he loved so much was zeroed in on him.
Somehow, he knew what the blonde was asking of him. He stood up, walking slowly down to the front of the classroom.
"What are you-?" Iruka began, but Kakashi put a hand on his shoulder. Iruka turned, staring at his colleague. Slowly, Kakashi shook his head. Slightly disgruntled, the creative writing teacher nodded, staying silent and watching the boys.
By now, Sasuke stood in front of the blonde. Their peers were confused and so they stayed silent, watching with wide eyes in order to not miss whatever was happening next.
"Are you sure about me doing this?" Sasuke asked, his voice barely above a whisper. He looked directly into those sea-blue eyes.
"Well, I wouldn't want to disappoint the audience," Naruto replied coyly.
Sasuke grinned easily. The sight made nearly every female in the room swoon. The Uchiha leaned over and entrapped his boyfriend's lips with his own. Both heard gasps of surprise from everyone, but neither cared for them.
Sasuke's hand moved to Naruto's cheek as they both slid their eyes shut. Sasuke revels in the taste of his lover and didn't care if a few people would hate him for this. So, he happily continued to kiss his boyfriend.
Sasuke sighed happily at the memory. However, his happiness soon dissipated, as the blonde on the couch lay unmoving, as though dead.
Kyuubi-kun's Korner!
Sorry for the shortness, but yeah… its cold, I'm sick, I'm hurt, I can barely see straight, I'm tired, I should quit smoking (but I'm not), etc. So blah! Moving on… there's absolutely nothing else I want to say.
Oh wait. The poem is entitled… "Dream of my Moon"