Disclaimer: Sasuke would be tied to my bedpost right now if he was truly mine.
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He was falling.
Strands of dark hair flew in slow motion through the air as he fell, obscuring his blurred vision. Vaguely, he could hear a voice screaming at him. Warm hands caught him before he reached the hard ground, lowering him onto a soft lap.
"SASUKE!"
A scream mixed with terror, rage, misery. Dark eyes blinked slowly as his vision swam and moved out of focus. He opened his mouth to speak, only to feel thick blood gushing up his throat, filling his mouth with its metallic taste. His voice sounded harsh and grating to his ears, so unlike his usual passiveness. "That man…"
The hands holding him tightened as though giving a message that its owner would be there, shielding him, protecting him. But the darkness was closing in. The darkness was closing in…the glazed eyes blinked again, attempting to restore his once perfect sight. He tried to speak again, swearing even in his near-death state at his fragility.
"I didn't want to die…" he choked as a new gush of blood flowed up his throat, "…until I killed my brother…"
Again, the hands squeezed him once, acknowledging his ambition, his goal, his only purpose for living. With the small gesture, he felt his heart swelling with a strange emotion. A lost emotion he thought he would never find again: joy. Joy that someone actually cared, joy that someone actually wanted him to stay. On an impulse, he raised his hand towards the other's face, noticing with a spark of anger that it trembled like the legs of a new-born fawn. His eyes roamed the pale face, as he breathed out his last words.
"You…don't die."
A jerk of surprise; was that surprise? He assumed it was, for they had been rivals since the very beginning. Rivals. His strength ebbed away, leaving his arm to drop back heavily onto the ground.
Rivals. Friends can be rivals too, can't they?
How strange, he had meant to say that, yet he heard nothing. The darkness must have swallowed his voice, must have descended upon him…the darkness…
*
"Sasuke! Sasuke, hurry, or you'll be late for school!"
The same dark eyes opened slowly. Surely he had misunderstood. Why would there be school in hell?
A sharp slap on his chest caused him to rear up to shock, before his vision returned to him with startling speed. Not to mention the bright light above him…throwing his arms up, he shielded his eyes from it.
"Honestly, how many times do I have to call you?"
That voice… His heart raced within his chest, every beat echoing in his mind.
"Sasuke, is something wrong?"
No. It cannot be.
The voice softened with warmth and care. "Are you feeling sick today, Sa-chan?"
Tears pricked the corners of his eyes as an incredible amount of fury rose in him. This was an illusion. A fucking illusion. How dare this bastard have his mother call him by his nickname. HOW DARE HE.
"Get away from me!" he roared, leaping off the bed, tears streaming down his face.
He instantly regretted his decision of uncovering his arms from his eyes. His eyes remained transfixed on his, no, the image of his long-dead mother standing before him, a worried and almost hurt expression reflected in her tender brown eyes.
"Sa-chan…" she whispered, arms outstretched, "Tell me what's wrong. Please."
No…
Terrified, the genin did the only action his bewildered mind could think of on the spur of the moment.
He ran.
*
Voices came from nowhere, bombarding him, destroying him.
"Run little brother…I knew you would. You always were a coward."
"FOOL! You know not what it means to be an Uchiha! You know not the power…"
"You, I will allow to live. For we are brothers, are we not? We are brothers… "
"Ahh, you hate me I see. Kill me then. Seek me out and kill me. I can see it in your eyes…your thirst for blood. Little killer…you're just like me…"
No, no I'm not a killer…I'm not like you…I'm not…
*
"I'm not like you!"
His last yell rose to the rafters. All heads turned to him, eyes widened in curiosity, some with concerned.
"Are you feeling all right, Sasuke?"
He lifted his head, eyes popping slightly, a vein throbbing in his temple. His former sensei, Iruka, stood at the front of the familiar classroom, a pointer in hand. Pictures of hand gestures for different techniques were displayed on the white screen.
"I cannot…I thought-" he muttered incomprehensibly, his brain still registering what had happened.
Why am I back in the classroom?
"Poor Sasuke-kun!" a girl chimed up, her voice dripping with honey, "I'm sure he was training so hard last night that he's exhausted now!"
Who? Ino?
"Is that true, Sasuke?" Iruka asked gently.
"I…suppose."
"Would you like to go to the sick bay and lie down for a while?"
"I…"
"Run little brother…I knew you would. You always were a coward."
Fuck you, asshole.
"I'm fine," he said firmly, his hands gripping the edges of the table so hard that his knuckles turned white.
Iruka stared at him. "Are you sure?"
"Yes," he confirmed decisively.
A voice whispered into his ear, causing him to jump, startled. "Oi, Sasuke, what's up with you?"
He turned to face his speaker, the initial shock returning to him with the force of a tidal wave. His rival was sitting next to him, with actual worry etched across his features. "Naruto," he hissed, "My life is none of your business."
"Aw, don't give me that crap. You're missing Itachi again, aren't you?" the cheeky boy snorted, then laid a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, he'll be back soon."
Impossible.
His voice cracked, as his fear returned to him, his blood chilling at the very thought. "How did you know about Itachi?"
His rival blinked and laughed. "Are you crazy, you told me yourself, he's your brother."
"I…I never…"
"Mou, Naruto, stop bothering my boyfriend."
A slender arm snaked round his waist, snapping him out of his reverie long enough to gaze upon the face of the girl who spoke. Dread spread through his system.
"Sakura," he said, shaking, "Your eyes…"
She blinked. "What about them?"
"They…they look like…"
"FOOL! You know not what it means to be an Uchiha! You know not the power…"
"Oh, they're contacts you know. Aren't they great? Maroon with black-Sasuke-kun?"
He gasped suddenly, shoving the surprised girl away from him. "Sasuke-kun?" she cried out, worried with his behaviour.
A sharp rap on the desk. "Sasuke, Sakura," the sensei said sternly. "Do keep your private lives between yourselves."
He then spent the remainder of the lesson with his head bowed, his hands clutching both sides as he quivered with terror. The anxious words of his two good friends were lost on him as he rocked back and forth in his seat, trying to rid the haunting voice ringing in his ears…
"Kill me then. Seek me out and kill me."
*
"You survive only by the fuel driven from pure hatred. Fool that you are, you will be consumed by it. So hate me, little brother. Hate me."
"Hate me…"
*
Pain.
A weight.
Something was resting on his chest.
Something…someone…was crying.
Am I finally…dead?
No, the pain was real.
His eyes cracked open slightly, enough to allow a stream of light to filter in.
Pink hair. A soft voice filled with desperation sobbed his name.
Sakura.
"Sakura," he murmured, "You're heavy."
The head lifted to reveal the worn and tired face of his teammate. Her eyes widened. Blinking slowly, he noticed a haggard-looking Tazuna standing beside them in the mist. I'm back, he decided as the delighted Sakura threw her arms round his neck, succeeding only in driving the needles further into his aching body.
Do you hear that Itachi?
Uchiha Sasuke is back from the dead. Not because of power, not because of the blood of Uchiha that runs in my veins…
He glanced down at the laughing Sakura, her tears soaking up his bloodied shirt.
But because I have something you never had; something that has given me a broader reason to survive, more so than mere hatred.
"Naruto!" his happy teammate waved to the boy standing a distance away from them. "Sasuke-kun is alive!"
Said blond genin whipped his head back, a slow smile spreading across his face.
Friends.
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Yes, it's sappy. It's odd that while I was writing the first part of this, it occurred to me that it sounded very SasuNaru. Hn. But honestly though, it's meant to be purely based on the theme of friendship! ^-^ It's my first Naruto fic, so please review and keep me happy! *mew* Thanks for reading, minna!