A/N: And I'm back to write some more... Don't worry about my other story, "His Personal Attendant"! It's still going on, I just wanted to write something else for now to, ya know, perhaps shift away from HPA just for awhile. Anyways!
Naruto: Why?! Why do I have to-
Sasuke: -effectively shuts Naruto up by kissing him-
Oh yes, this one-shot carries manga spoilers of chapter 380 onwards...I guess. xD Anyways, it's bound to happen some day! So... yeah, enjoy!
Cami: Yayyyyy more gay sex! It's a nice temporary replacement for a boyfriend... o.o er, uhh, DON'T DO DRUGS KIDS!! Oo
Me: Thanks Cami for the beta, but not for the strange comments. -.-
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Just Like the Rain
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Sasuke awoke in the morning as sunlight filled the room.
Bright. Very bright…
He squinted his eyes as he looked around the room. Oh yes, he was back in Konoha, back in his own home and resting peacefully. His duties as a ninja in Konoha were resumed, through a lot of persuasion from Tsunade to the elders. He rubbed his eyes a little, as he looked at the photo on his bedside. Team Seven's group photo, Sasuke recalled. He picked it up and smiled a little. Old times were fun, now it was different. He was an ANBU captain, a deadly one at that. Everyone who fought him was crushed pathetically like an ant; all of them feared his red eyed gaze that pierced through that mask. Enemies daren't breathe under his intensive glare, while others, before dying, would ask, "What are you?"
All these years he had earned enough credit to pay off the 'debt' that he owed the country, by going on missions and 'redeeming' himself through those activities. Indeed, he was doing very well, and was slowly promoted to a Chuunin, then a Jounin, then slowly ANBU captain. He was proud of his own accomplishments himself. People of Konoha were happy that the sole survivor of the Uchiha massacre hadn't gone mad after all, and supported his, although sudden, appearance back to the country.
And upon remembering his promise to visit Naruto today, Sasuke rose from bed quickly and went for a short shower, a small breakfast, and left the Uchiha estate.
As he walked the streets, people smiled at him and some even said, "Good morning, Sasuke-kun!"
He would just nod and smile a little and continue his way to the flower shop, "Yamanaka's Flower Shop".
"Ah! Morning Sasuke-kun! Buying flowers again?" Ino greeted at the counter with a smile.
"Yeah, your flowers are always so fresh," Sasuke commented as he looked at the different types of flowers, wondering which ones he should buy.
"Oh, thank you! Hmm, I wonder, what would you like today? Perhaps daffodils? They just came early this morning!" Ino said as she walked to Sasuke's side.
"Sure," he said as he picked up one to take in its scent. Indeed, it was refreshing.
Ino quickly wrapped up a small bouquet of it and handed it to Sasuke.
"You'd better hurry, Naruto wouldn't like you to be late! Oh! And tell him I said hi, I can't leave today, I've got lots of work to do." Ino smiled apologetically.
"Don't worry about it, he'll understand, I'll be sure to tell him the messege. Thanks for the flowers," Sasuke said as he nodded and walked out of the shop, heading over to Ichiraku's.
"Teyuchi-san!"
"Oh, Sasuke! You're here today for Naruto's ramen?" Teyuchi smiled as he prepared someone's bowl of ramen.
"Yeah, he'd be really happy if he got one today. Perhaps, miso chasiew ramen would be good?"
"No problem! One miso chasiew ramen coming up, with extra chasiew right? I know that boy likes it a lot!" Teyuchi was fast in whipping up the bowl of ramen and considered it as a take-away. "You don't want one for yourself too, Sasuke?"
"No, I'm fine. I'm not really a fan of ramen myself," Sasuke smiled as he walked out of the store.
On the way, he met Sakura, who just returned from a mission of her own.
"Hey Sasuke-kun!" Sakura smiled and continued, "Oh, going to visit Naruto?"
"Yeah, are you coming?"
"Perhaps, but maybe a little bit later. I'm dying to see him! Because of these irritating missions, I can hardly do anything about seeing him, and you too. Expect me there after lunch time?"
"Sure, I'll be there for as long as I can anyway. I am free of missions today," Sasuke said.
Sakura waved and walked away, hurrying home.
Sasuke continued walking on, till he reached a big field of grass. A breeze ruffled his hair as he spotted Naruto, he smiled and walked toward him.
"Hey, dobe. I've brought your favorite ramen," Sasuke smiled and sat down.
Silence. There was no response. He set down the ramen and flowers as he sat down to stare at Naruto's smiling face. He brought his hand up to caress it, it just felt oddly flat.
"It's been five years Naruto, five years ever since you left us. Things have been the same, it's always boring. Without you around, it's kinda irritating too," Sasuke smiled bitterly at Naruto's picture, on his tombstone.
"Eat up Naruto, the ramen is getting cold," Sasuke said as he pushed the bowl of ramen closer to the tombstone.
There was just silence answering him.
The breeze continued to blow and flow smoothly through his hair. He felt something rolling down his face.
Was it raining?
No. It felt hot.
It had been five years since he cried.
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"MOVE THE FUCK OUT OF MY WAY YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT!"
Sasuke heard the blond dobe's voice and silently cursed as he got distracted. Itachi delivered a punch right at Sasuke's face, and he flew back hitting the wall.
The younger Uchiha snarled at he struggled to get up. The older one just sneered at his younger brother, and said, "You are still weak Sasuke. Really, I was expecting something much more from you. In this state, you'll never be able to kill me. You'll never be able to surpass me. You didn't kill your best friend like I told you to. Why leave him in such agony? Why-"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Sasuke shouted as he gathered up his strength to attack his brother again. It's no good, I'm going to die at this rate. This can't this drag on anymore. It'll only kill me, and if the dobe does reach this place before the rest of them, it would be even more difficult to deal with Itachi with interference and all that. He thought, his eyebrows furrowed.
Sasuke continued to deliver kicks and punches towards Itachi as he tried to think up something to end this quickly. After all, it was either him or his brother dead. Does it matter to him now?
Suddenly, he thought of Naruto's grin at him. He remembered that Naruto said those words, "You bastard! I'll never give you up! I'll bring you back, even if it means to break all your bones in your body!"
Sorry Naruto, but it's the end today. It's either me or Itachi.
Sasuke then pulled back and formed a couple of seals to summon a snake, a snake which was full of venom, venom that would instantly kill one even if it was just a scratch from its fangs. I only have little chakra left, and if this still fails, I'm going to have to either retreat, or die... he thought, his pose still defensive.
Itachi was watching his brother all along, wondering what was going through that pathetic little mind of his. Attempting to read him, he unfortunately couldn't tell anything since Sasuke had recollected himself and calmed down a lot considerably.
"You asked me what I saw with those eyes of mine, and I told you I saw you dead, Itachi. Indeed, I can still picture you, sprawled out of the floor with blood pooling around you..." Sasuke laughed a cold, humorless laugh. A laugh that sent chills down anyone's spine, but for Itachi, he was unaffected. He just thought his little brother had gone a bit insane.
The snake made a sudden movement, and almost made Itachi flinch, but realized it only wanted to curl itself around Sasuke's outstretched hand. Itachi saw that Sasuke was trying to distract him a lot, in any way possible so that even the slightest movement would startle him. He then would be quite unstable and unable to fight in such a situation.
Sasuke's eyes finally opened, showing nothing but a maniacal smirk behind those red eyes. And that was not just it.
His Mangekyou was activated. Itachi's eyes widened a little at that and thought he should probably attack and observe his little brother as well.
Sasuke was totally calm, entirely calm to the point that he was barely breathing.
"And you shall die today Itachi, under my hands," Sasuke's anger returned full force.
And they fought. The snake reached out to bite Itachi countless of times, but was never successful, not even a graze on Itachi's skin. The older Uchiha's sharingan was definitely more formidable compared to Sasuke's as he was hit a few times by his older brother. This didn't put Sasuke off as he continued to deliver punches and kicks towards the older Uchiha. The younger Uchiha was growing irritated again, that he was not able to end this quickly. He could feel the Kyuubi container getting closer by every second. Naruto's chakra was just so apparent.
NOW! Sasuke's mind screamed at he delivered a punch right at Itachi's stomach and Itachi had barely moved back as the snake just grazed his skin.
Itachi silently cursed as he flew back, his arm bleeding slightly and he could feel the poison entering his blood and into the veins, the capillaries. It was spreading fast. It was not easy to get an antidote for this either. He knew he would die, but he still had some strength left.
The Akatsuki member got up slowly, though with much difficulty, and walked towards his younger brother.
"You... have done well little brother. Now, not only am I going to die, but you are going with me as well!" He drew his hidden dagger and aimed it at Sasuke's heart and threw it.
What happened in the next second seemed like an eternity.
Naruto had gotten in front of Sasuke to take the blow, right over his heart, too. The blond fell back and onto Sasuke, who seemed too shocked to react to this.
"Ha... Haha! What idiocy, really, that's... what they say eh? L-Love? Love for another? I'll tell... you. The dagger, that... dagger is poisoned, too... But, you might... not be able to... save him... Hah..." Itachi's body jerked a few times as he spat some blood out and went limp. No sign of life from him could be detected.
Now Itachi was gone. But Sasuke wasn't happy at all. That wasn't how he felt, though he thought in the first place that was how he should feel. He vaguely remembered that he heard the line "Revenge was sweet." from himself, when he was thinking of Itachi dying. But now, it felt completely different. He felt empty. He looked down at the body in front of him and realized Naruto was still breathing. However, the breathing was low, and slow, as if he was about to get to sleep.
"No... No, Naruto... Talk to me! Answer me, damn it!" Sasuke started to panic. What if Naruto wouldn't wake up? What if Naruto died? What if...
"Y-Yeah...?" The voice and heartbeat was weak, but it was still there!
"You DOBE! Why the fuck did you take that blow for me? It's... it's not fair!" Sasuke really didn't know what he was talking about anymore.
"What's... not fair eh? Heh... I didn't want to see... see you coming to me, in... pain and... begging Sakura-chan to... to treat you..." Naruto was growing weaker by the second and Sasuke knew it.
"Teme... you're supposed to... return to the village with... with me and, and the whole team coming... after you... You'd... you'd better go back, or I'll... I'll kill you..." Naruto rasped. He was finding it difficult to breathe.
"Shut up dobe... Where's Sakura? Where's the rest?" Sasuke feared the worst. Sasuke was going delirious, and he knew it himself. His eyes frantically searched for any sign of a pink-haired kunoichi. He just didn't know what to do.
"I... I came ahead first... you know, I haven't really been held... by you in so... so long... Hey, Sasuke... it's... it's cold..."
Sasuke hugged Naruto even tighter and whispered, "Shut up Naruto... Just... just shut up..."
He wished that the one in this condition was him instead.
Finally, he saw the pink haired girl coming up, with the group following closely behind.
"SAKURA! NARUTO'S-"
"Sasuke... promise me... you'll... you'll return yeah? You'll... listen to me..."
He looked into those blue, innocent eyes and nodded furiously. He saw Sakura rush over to Naruto and pulled Naruto from Sasuke's grasp and immediately began to try and stop the bleeding. But Sasuke held on to Naruto's hand tightly, not wanting to lose hope in the blond. He knew the blond was strong. He knew the blond loved him like he did, too. Both of them still had a long road to walk on, together with each other. Just like any other fairy tale ending, happily ever after.
Just then he saw Naruto's last radiant smile and felt the blond's hand going limp.
"No... NO! BLODDY HELL! WAKE UP NARUTO! FUCK IT ALL! JUST WAKE UP NOW! IT'S NOT A BLOODY JOKE! COME ON! I PROMISE YOU! I'LL GO BACK TO KONOHA NOW! WE'RE GOING TO LIVE A LIFE OF HAPPINESS, OF WHATEVER YOU WANT! RAMEN EVERYDAY! JUST... Just... just wake... wake up..." Sasuke but all screamed. He grew softer and softer by the second.
Sakura looked at him, tears already flowing down her cheeks as her bottom lip trembled. She shook her head slightly.
It hit him hard.
His best friend, his only love and light of life had just gone. Where he was gone to, he had no idea. He was gone forever, and will never come back. He yearned to see that smile again, that blond bouncy ball always irritating the hell out of everyone but yet so lovable at the same time. He wanted to hear the blond's antics that made everyone laugh. He had missed it so much during his times with Orochimaru and at the Sound. Now that he realized it all, it was too late. He could never see that smile ever again, never to hear that feminine voice that the blond possessed, the usual pout he had, the refreshing laughter and most importantly, the cerulean colored eyes that always held so much life and love for him.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Sasuke yelled.
Sakura cried harder and covered her face with her hands.
Hinata broke down.
Kiba looked away, but was unable to contain his emotions.
Shino bowed his head.
Sai just closed his eyes and frowned.
Captain Yamato furrowed his eyebrows and looked downcast.
Kakashi just looked numbly at Naruto's limp body.
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The sky was growing darker and darker by the second.
Sasuke had recalled, he carried Naruto back to Konoha himself. He didn't feel good at all. He felt like he was going to die; he felt like it was the end of life itself. He had been walking for days, without much rest, and he didn't let go of Naruto's body even until the end. When they wanted to bury him he didn't let go.
Tsunade had gone up to him and punched him repeatedly, while shouting all that she wanted to say, "HE. WANTS. TO. REST. AND. TAKE. A. BREAK! LEAVE. HIM. BE!" Afterthat, he was admitted to the hospital for sometime.
As he thought of how painful it was, and never wanting to suffer from Tsunade's wrath again, he heard footsteps approaching behind him.
"Sasuke-kun..." Sakura had come to visit Naruto as well. She bought the same kind of flowers too; daffodils.
"It's been five years, hasn't it Naruto? Eh... I miss you so much... I... I just wish that... that you'd be back now..." Sakura had suddenly been reduced to sobs. She just couldn't control herself anymore. She cried every day and night for Naruto, for the loss of a brother so close to her. She regretted not being able to spend more time with him, not being able to do some things for him...
Just like Sasuke, who regretted his actions for leaving the village and coming back again to mourn in his Uchiha estate.
Then, it began to rain.
Sakura had pulled out an umbrella to shelter the Uchiha, but the raven just picked up the bowl of ramen and sheltered it as well.
"Funny isn't it? It's as if the heavens are crying for Naruto too..." Sasuke said as he allowed tears to continually stream down his face.
"Sasuke-kun..."
"The person dying should've been me... The person who got stabbed should've been me. Not Naruto... definitely not him. He was such a kind person, never did anything wrong in his life except harmless pranks, otherwise he was always willing to help, always willing to give whatever he could to make others happy, always smiling... Always..."
Sasuke couldn't stop. Just like the rain.
He broke down.
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A/N: Okay... I cried. I admit I cried. Okay, perhaps it's just the scenes playing in my head that made me cry, BUT STILL! XD I do hope it meets everyone's expectations about the degree of detail and sadness in this story...
Itachi: Hey, I'm not THAT sadistic am I?
Me: Who says you aren't?!
Sasuke: Oh well, leave your reviews please. Bloody hell, and I don't CRY!
Naruto: Awww... so sweet. –kisses Sasuke's cheeks-
Cami: This story kind of confused me... Well, once you get further into it, it makes more sense, so it's cool like that, in a sense... It reminds me of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (except the movie is better) oo
Omg, that is one of my favoritest movies evarrrr! GO WATCH IT, NO KIDDING, IT'S AWESOME. :DD -end rant-
Me: I'm still glad my dear, that you enjoyed it! But I'm waiting for other people's comments…XD