3 : Sasuke
By: Kokoro Kakera HP ^^
Disclaimer: Naruto, (Manga, anime, products, etc.), belongs to Kishimoto Masashi
Author's Notes:
Horror of horrors, it's Sasuke of all people I have to write about. It's easy to flub up his character -(don't worry, I will)- but I promise that I'll do it in a way that doesn't make people go screaming around the bend about how scarily OOC he is. I hope.
Bunshin no Jutsu - clones
"Where were you today, Naruto?" Naruto stopped frowning after hearing his name, realizing that Sasuke wasn't asking him lightheartedly. "Well?" Sasuke waited for an answer, impatience gnawing at his insides. He didn't show it though. Naruto would probably get the wrong idea if he did.
"I was ...um, that is..."
"You got into trouble, didn't you?" The jerk of surprise Naruto's body made when he said it confirmed his question. The fact that his eyes had closed and slitted into his trademark 'fox-eyes' while he had fumbled for an answer had also given him away.
Being around Naruto so much and so long had made him notice certain things about him. Like how he hid a lot of how he really felt by acting stupid. Hid a lot of how he thought by distracting people to different aspects of his actions while he fought, talked or performed simple tasks. Closing his eyes was to maneuver away any doubts people had of him when it came to his previous actions.
It also hid how lonely he was.
Possibly, one of the most lonely people in the world. Except, Naruto didn't know how truly hurt he was, because until now, he'd never known what it meant to be loved and cared for by friends. 'And it only gets worse...' Having found happiness, Naruto was essentially taught the depth of his pain each day as he experienced it more and more.
Naruto was reaching a breaking point, and the only thing Sasuke wasn't sure of was when it would occur. As his mentality matured, the naive personality of his that told him to just absorb the joy of living like he did and forget his compounding emotional agony, would fall away. He would soon realize that his mindset would only leave him with little scraps of contentment, the rest having been eaten away by all the shit he thought he threw away.
Did he know too much?
"But I..." He trailed off and quieted. "Ya, I did..."
"What the hell did you do?" Startled, Naruto looked up, meeting Sasuke's eyes. Sasuke kept his expression even.
'It's not out of pity, or because I want to laugh at you, so just say what you need to.'
"I got an eyeful."
Naruto grinned.
No, he didn't know enough. Not hardly enough to help someone else. How could he though? Just knowing what was wrong with a person didn't mean you knew how to help them. He couldn't help himself.
Help what?
'The damned insecurity.'
Something that shouldn't even exist in him.
'Itachi will die by my hand.'
And then what? If he finally did kill his brother, what was left for him to do? The reason he tried so hard to stay alive in the first place was so that he could seek revenge against him. What... would be his reason to live after that?
"So it was really Konohamaru's and Moegi's faults!" Naruto announced loudly.
"You should have been able to get out of there faster. Or at least used Bunshin no Jutsu."
"But you see..." Naruto couldn't keep the shameless grin off his face. "Because of the angle, and the way they were stepping on me-"
"Too much information." There was a small moment of silence, which predictably, was broken by Naruto not long after it'd started.
"You know Sasuke... before... if I did the same thing, I'd just get beaten up and thrown out. The women wouldn't scold me or even talk to me. This... is an improvement, isn't it?" It took Sasuke a few seconds to digest all of the information he had just received and then formulate an appropriate answer.
"Improvement?"
"They... don't act like they don't want to come near me anymore." Sasuke stared at Naruto quietly for a moment - any longer would have made him uncomfortable and speak up again about something stupid to cover up any comments he might have made that even hinted towards him not being all right.
"Yeah. I guess it is..."
'Screwed up' was the only way Sasuke could describe him and Naruto then.