Fragile

Like crystal, like smoke,

A delicate thing without a voice.

.

It's a baby, it's her soul.

Scarecrow, beloved, what have you done?

You have condemned us all.

A feeble thing that dissipated with the faintest of touches, crumbling down as dust whenever he approached. The remains floated in the wind, shining through the darkness, only to rain down again, forming the same figure, again, forcing him to move towards it, again.

He had no right to cry over it, he had no right to feel anything for it, he had lost its name somewhere in the back of his mind, therefore, calling for it was impossible, the only feeling that remained was the desire to reach. The figure had no face, it was a shadow against the empty background, a petite form with no distinguishable features, yet it was the key to it all.

If he could remember, if the pages hadn't been snatched, if he was able to speak to it... She was lost, so was him. They were both deep under miseries beyond their control, and still, he was responsible. How much he hated her.

He stretched his finger as to… –but the figure crumbled again before his eyes, his hand trembled when it fell to his side, unsuccessful. He will soon wake, once more, with no solved puzzle. He turned, and then the figure rained and stood before him again. He sighed, and moved forward.

Kushina's hair was plastered on her sweaty face, she moaned her fever out, her chest moving in slow motions. She was in pain. Naruto sat at her side, the mattress sank under his weight. Night has been unkind to her, she often tried to relieve her heat by uncovering herself, but the cold was unforgiving to the sick ones, if the chilly night closed her claws on her, it would be fatal.

A chill ran down his spine at the thought of losing her, and he reached out to clean her face out of instinct, her hair fell to the sides of her face now, right onto the pillow. Naruto sighed and watched his swollen ankle, its size hasn't changed much, it probably had to do with the fact that he couldn't stay still for long. Sasuke hadn't come to visit him, it wasn't unusual but Naruto longed for his company, Sakura was taking care of Tsunade's patients down in the basement, and he didn't see her often either.

He glanced at his mother again, his eyes now sadder, and saw her eyelids slightly parted, was she sleeping still? Or was she awake? Naruto chose not to move, not to speak, he kept watching her, a small smile made its way to his lips. "Minato…" she whispered, and his smile disappeared, "Minato is that you? L-love…"

She tried to stretch her arm towards him, and Naruto grasped her hand in between his. He raised it and slowly and carefully put her palm on his face, "no, mom, it's me." He breathed while she touched one of the scars on his cheek, her thumb soft against one of his worst defects. "It's me." He repeated, his blue eyes never leaving her face.

She sighed and sank back into the mattress, Naruto let go of her hand and watched while it fell on the bed, "Minato…" she whispered again, and closed her eyes fully, going back to the dream realm once more.

Naruto was quiet for a while longer, his eyes somewhere between her bed and the floor, her mother cared for him, he knew as much, but he also knew that she lost her heart sometime before his birth, when his father ventured to the forest and abandoned them both. Kushina still waited, still hoped, Naruto grew hearing wonderful things about the man, but he cared not for him. At some point, Naruto understood that his mother could never really love him completely because, without Minato, there was no Kushina.

When younger, Naruto never thought of himself to be luckier than Sasuke, despite the older boy telling him as much, was it really better to resent a father who he never knew than losing him? In the wake of watching his mother withering away, he understood that –perhaps, he had been unfair with the comparison.

He stood slowly, his injured leg complaining at the movement with a short, sharp pulse. His ankle was covered in bandages up to his calf and two wooden sticks were tied on each side of his leg, preventing much movement. He thought the device to be an exaggeration, but Tsunade told him that if he was stupid enough to keep moving despite his injury, then no measures would be excessive enough. Naruto knew that it was more an excuse to prevent him from going out to look for Sasuke, but he decided not to push his luck with the older woman.

He glanced at his mother once more, whose condition did nothing but deteriorate with the passing of days, perhaps it was right and fair that she confused him with his father, as much as it hurt to think that, in agony, it was he in whom she sought comfort. This was his fault, but whether he was thinking of himself or Minato, Naruto wasn't sure.

Outside, the clouds poured, Naruto thought it fair for them to weep.

In the silence of his room he stayed, two more days passed and he had yet to muster the courage to return to his mother's room. Her smell was awful, but the guilt was worse. His leg still ached, a week was enough to subdue some of the pain, but the device attached to it still troubled him. In these seven days, Sasuke had still to make himself known, it wasn't weird, it was often Naruto the one who looked for him, but his ankle prevented him from moving much. He resented Tsunade because there was nothing he wanted more than to run, this place had the brightness of gloom, the warmth of winter, his body ached to feel the breeze of freedom.

Suddenly, a tap on his window, the noise was all it took for Naruto to brighten, he glanced at the filthy glass and –sure enough, there he was: Sasuke was perched on the small veranda, his brows knitted in a small scowl. Rain still fell, the gray sky continued to be unforgiving after two days of this weather, but the night was not near yet. Sasuke was drenched, and even in his current state, he still was imposing, Naruto limped towards the window.

He smirked, behind the glass, Sasuke's scowl deepened, he contemplated not opening just to irk him, but Sasuke visiting him was so rare… "Well, well, well," he teased while opening the window –it made a humiliating rusty sound that ruined his glory, "look who the storm brought."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and lightly pushed him to the side, Naruto stumbled a little, not able to fully support his weight with the device attached to him, and Sasuke's hand grabbed him forcefully from his wrist to stabilize him.

"Rude," Naruto complained and reclaimed his arm, bringing it close to his chest. Sasuke moved inside the room while tapping his boots to the floor, leaving a trail of water in his path, he turned to look at him but did not speak. They watched each other, but quickly enough Sasuke's eyes glanced at the ceiling, then at Naruto's bed, and when they returned to him, they settled there.

The older boy licked his lips and brought a hand to his face, locks of black hair were glued on his pale skin, and with a quick motion he brushed them away, his long fingers moved easily in between the damp strands. "Not better, I see."

"What gave you the impression?" Naruto snorted, tapping one of the sticks on his leg with the nail of his index, it got no reaction from Sasuke, who merely released an exhale from his nose, he was straightened to his full height, his face glinting with the water drops. "Here," Naruto breathed, limping towards the pile of clothes in the corner of his room. He took the woolen sweater, a beige piece of cloth that had known better days, and tossed it to his friend, "bring it later."

Sasuke eyed the offering with his lips in a thin line, looking at it like it personally offended him, Naruto furrowed his eyebrows, displeased. Were his clothes that unworthy and disgusting to be used by the mighty Uchiha? The black eyes of his companion suddenly moved from the sweater towards Naruto's face, blinking when noticing the anger on Naruto's expression. Without uttering a word, Sasuke untied his cape, revealing his uncovered neck and soaked vest and sweatshirt.

Naruto gave him enough privacy to change, averting his eyes, but he did not relax his features. When Sasuke was done changing, he sighed soundly, and Naruto returned his attention to him. Sasuke rolled his eyes and sat on the bed.

Neither of them spoke for a while. Naruto wanted to stay angry, furthermore, he wanted Sasuke to acknowledge his anger, but the older boy never entertained his desires, it was unnerving. "Sakura is here, you know." He finally said, just to get a reaction, he wanted to stay standing, but his ankle started to pulsate uncomfortably, so he moved again, and sat in his bed, far from his friend.

"Well… she lives here." Sasuke shrugged, his pants were soaked wet, but Naruto decided not to offer another garment, he contained the primal urge to tell Sasuke to stand: he was soaking his sheets, Naruto decided that would be enough charity on his part.

At the thought of Sakura, Naruto glanced at the door, Sasuke had been silent enough for someone to notice his presence, and he was sure she missed him deeply, "should I call her?" He did not avert his eyes from the door purposefully, Sasuke turned his face towards him.

"Not yet." He replied, calmly, running his fingers through his hair once more, Sasuke wasn't trembling, not quite, but Naruto noticed the goosebumps on the skin of his neck. Sasuke dropped his eyes to his bandaged leg and pursed his lips, his cheeks became a faint pink while he pinched the sheets under him.

Naruto attempted to smile, and for a short moment it worked, but when Sasuke looked up again, the smile faltered –slightly, almost imperceptibly, it was almost impossible for him to pretend in the face of eyes like his, who seemed to see it all; but Naruto, in retaliation, knew enough of Sasuke to envision his next words. "Please don't…" he swallowed and moved a little bit further away, pressing his palms against his eyes, he could feel his lashes against his skin.

Sasuke allowed him his silence, but Naruto didn't have to see him as to know the pity washing over his face, for a few breaths he stayed in the security and warmth of darkness, his palms kept pressing his eyelids; if a tear escaped its confinement, then Sasuke was kind enough not to mention it, and Naruto was stubborn enough to ignore it. When he finally emerged, hands dropping to his thighs, Sasuke was watching the window behind him, nothing on his countenance acknowledged the intimacy of the moment.

"What have you been doing?" He still hadn't had it in him to meet Sasuke's eyes, his cheeks burned with shame for his weakness, but his voice came out whole enough, without cracks to give away the desperation he felt to change the subject.

His companion did not seem eager to look at him either, his gaze watched the world behind the window –the glass was so dirty it was a wonder something could be seen at all. In the ceiling, the sound of rain resounded and echoed through the room, "been busy." Was the nonchalant response. Naruto saw the way his Adam apple moved when he swallowed.

Silence again, Naruto hated when they were quiet, he always looked to fill the space with something, and more often than not it was with the sound of his own voice. Sasuke didn't seem to mind when there were no words exchanged between them, Naruto was sure he even preferred it to be that way, after all, most of his nightmares were filled with screams, but Naruto couldn't handle having anything to hold onto, so he babbled. Sasuke allowed him that at least.

It was Sasuke who broke the spell, surprisingly enough, Naruto was sure he did it out of kindness, "it's going to be fine," his voice carried so many things unspoken between them, Naruto was sure that there, somewhere, there was an apology. But he wasn't sure what for.

"You didn't say she," Naruto finally glanced up, Sasuke's eyes also moved towards him, they both looked at each other without blinking, a fight of wills.

Sasuke did not move exactly, but his hand twitched as if wanting to reach, there was no sorrow in his voice, but it didn't lack kindness either. "You will be fine."

Naruto paused, then smiled to reassure his friend, but he couldn't help the tear that fell, because Naruto was all heart, had always been, and now, it had been shattered. On the other side of the house, inside the darkness of her room, Kushina still slept. "We fought," he swallowed, "before she…"

He didn't finish, Sasuke nodded, he knew –or figured as much, Tsunade had made the situation perfectly clear the following morning when they returned. The wolf didn't seem like much of an accomplishment now, even when it had given them a nice warm meal for all of them –even the sick ones Naruto didn't dare to visit. How many of them still lived, he didn't care to know.

There was a question he wanted to ask, desperately, but he was so scared, so afraid of the answer that he sealed his lips, he bit his tongue and tasted blood, Sasuke was still watching him, so he was forced to swallow his emotions. "You should go to Sakura," he glanced at the window, as expected, he could see almost nothing but gray.

No reply came, not in words at least, there was a shift in the mattress when Sasuke stood, painfully silent, painfully complacent. Naruto was both thankful and bothered. He could see his friend's reflection in the window and was able to notice how Sasuke turned and opened the door –secrecy be damned, Sasuke glanced over his shoulder at him, his brows going up as if he wanted to speak, but then he moved again, and whatever he had to say died in his throat.

Naruto didn't glance back.