AN: Please bear with the slowness of this chapter and I'll see you next month.
Warnings: Oocness, slight slash and long paragraphs.
Realities Away
By: SukiAme
Entry: 07 – A New View; Plots Unveiled
Alter-verse
In the warm quiet of mid-afternoon, Sasuke wandered about in mesh of a park. Birds did not call to one another and a steady rush of currents rang against the banks of a river. A sudden gust of wind beckoned the clouds to cover the sun casting shadows upon the earth for a moment, sending chills down the spines of the people. Then there was silence before the sun reappeared, peaking from behind the clouds.
Sasuke had not exactly chosen to be there, at least not directly. He had wanted to pour through the last few pages of that journal he'd found when he had first awaken, but a certain blond coaxed him to coming to this park which looked quite close to dreary. Aside from wanting to finish the journal, there was also the previous factor in which he did not know where this park was located. Asking Itachi was not a very easy thing for him to accomplish, and he had to quash his (which he might admit to, under duress) overbearing sense of pride. The latter was not helpful having tossed him a map, light jacket, and out the door. And by some odd way, Sasuke wondered whether it was typical to have your brother do such things to torment him in ways other than psychological damage.
On a plus side, the allergies had subsided and he no longer felt the need to sneeze every thirty seconds. The doctor had come, Itachi eventually decided it was necessary, and had found that nothing was wrong, which was strange considering Sasuke had not stopped sneezing for so many days. But he was not going to question the miracle of his sneezing cessations.
And then Naruto called. There was something strangely compelling about the boy who kept saying, "If you don't come I'll hogtie you and drag you there," and "Please? I have something important to tell you." The threat made Sasuke smirk at the ludicrousness of that ever happening but it was the second phrase that caught him by the throat. Naruto had said it in such a tone that sounded quite serious and a little weary.
A mental image of Naruto crying found its way to Sasuke's mind along with a strange sense of worry that actually came before Naruto called.
Two days prior, in the midst of his sleeping, Sasuke had a dream. It was an odd dream that worried him but he could not remember what the dream was about. There was a familiar rush of watching a fight unfold itself and then he remembered his heart stopping in surprise. But no images came to his mind as he tried to conjure the scene again. He remembered the feeling and that was all.
So there he was, wandering in the forest-like park waiting for Naruto to appear.
"Sasuke-kun!"
At the high pitched squeal, Sasuke felt his ear twitch at the familiar but unwelcome frequency. With his eyes at a half closed state, Sasuke turned toward the noise and saw a platinum blonde head bobbing toward him with a strange enthusiasm that he did not share. He mentally kept himself from twitching as the girl strode up to him with an overly sweet grin on her face.
"What do you want, Ino?" He asked curtly, not even bothering to shield his blatant annoyance.
"What a wonderful coincidence this is," Ino commented as she latched onto his right arm. Her pony-tailed waist-length hair bounced as she rested her head upon his shoulder while he gently tried to pry off her hand only to be unsuccessful. She snaked her hand around his and pulled away for a moment, her forest green skirt floated in place contrasting a white short-sleeved blouse. "It must be fate."
Sasuke frowned while he continued to shake her off without commenting to her.
"Hey Sasuke-kun?" Ino began, coyly snuggling up to him, "Let's go on a date."
"No."
He wondered with amazement whether Ino realized that he was trying to get her off him or not. Sasuke understood that his own gesturing was steadily growing more violent but apparently, so did the girl's grip.
Where the hell is Naruto?! He not so mildly wondered trying to glare at the girl whose eyes were closed in content.
-
Naruto watched the plot unfold itself from his place in the bushes with a disconcerting frown etched on his lips. Why? It was because he was not happy. Sasuke had not reacted the way that he had wanted him to, which was strange because Sasuke always reacted in a way that he predicted. It kept stability in his life but the ebony haired boy had been acting very strange lately. It was almost like he was dealing with a person with a different personality but, there were still elements of Sasuke in the puppet. And Naruto could not help but not enjoy watching his supposed "Ultimate Revenge No. 147" being enacted by this erratic Sasuke.
Turning his head to the boy who crouched next to him in an indifferent manner, Naruto pouted casually, "I think I'm jealous."
His long haired companion blinked blankly at the blond before asking what his reason for being there was only to receive a offhanded wave of the hand and a mumbled, "Must extract revenge" in the very manner that Naruto's been displaying for the past several days.
Naruto idly wondered when he should step in to actually begin part two of the plan since part one was not proceeding as well as he'd like. He turned half his attention to a leather brown backpack by his legs and pulled at a zipper, hoping that neither Sasuke nor Ino would hear it. Well, Ino was not a problem, but Sasuke might suspect something but that was not going to help the boy in the present situation.
A rainbow of neon colors came from the insides of the bag and Naruto poked at one with a twisted grin on his face. He pulled at the elbow of Neji's shirt and nodded, quickly zipping up bag to conceal the objects inside.
"And now, part two."
-
"See you at school, Neji!" Naruto shouted from the platform while Neji got on one of the trains at the station. He enthusiastically waved an arm while Sasuke stood morosely glaring at the blond, brunet, and the state of his clothes. He was sticky and it was not a very pleasant experience to be at the receiving end of Naruto's twisted sense of humor.
When the train disappeared, Naruto clasped his hand folded neatly behind his head while the leather bag swung freely from his shoulder, the grin ever present on his face. "What a great day."
"You're annoying. Shut up."
"Don't be weenie, Sasuke," Naruto said as he turned toward the boy with a smile, "It-was-fun."
Sasuke narrowed his eyes and said lowly, "I'm stick. I detest sugar and you've coated me in a carbonated drink; no, let me correct that, several types of carbonated drinks that consist mainly of sugar. I think I'm entitled to hate you at the moment."
Naruto feigned horror and commented, "Blasphemy! Sugar is God! No wait, I take that back, caffeine is God. But it's still blasphemy!"
"Typical."
"And how can you hate me? I don't hate you," Naruto frowned as he watched the red and yellow train approached the station.
"I'm sticky! And I hate sweets. And you're responsible for this!"
"It was worth it 'cause you were a jerk," Naruto shrugged easily. The bright early afternoon did not bring many people and getting on the train was not a problem during this time of the day. He stepped inside the car as soon as the doors sprung open closely followed by Sasuke who sat next to the blond in one of the many plastic seats of the nearly empty car. "And Ino was a jerk."
The brunet merely scowled in a frustrated manner and refused to acknowledge the other boy's existence. He stared straight ahead, gazing outside the windows of the train with an intense sort of concentration as the scenery flew by.
"Oh come on, what do you want me to do about it? I'm justified!" Naruto said pulling his pack off his shoulder and dropping it to the empty seat on his left. He settled in his seat and waited for the snippy response that never came. "It's settled, we're agreed. I had a good and legitimate reason."
"No."
"Then what the hell do you want from me?"
"I don't like being sticky."
"You want me to clean you up?" Naruto asked incredulously only to receive strange looks from the few people in the compartment. He reddened a light shade and ducked his head behind his bangs.
"Yes."
Naruto's jaw slacked before he hissed in Sasuke's ear, "What am I, your mother?!"
Sasuke did not answer as he looked out the window again.
"I'm still mad at you, you know?"
-
Kishimoto-verse
Sasuke leaned against the blank hospital walls before he slid to the floor. He grinned wearily as he stared blankly at the floor. Overcome with a bitter sense of fatigue, Sasuke closed his eyes and waited. He might have fallen asleep; if he did, he did not realize it because he wore no watch nor was there a clock on the hallway. Upon the cold floor he listened.
"Would you like some water?"
Sasuke looked up to see Hinata standing before him with a cup of water in her hand, extended in offering. He shook his head and glanced at the door in vain hope of it opening with good news. But then, no news is good news, there was still hope.
"I would like to talk to you, Sasuke-kun," Hinata began turning away from him and down toward the exit of the hallway, "Accompany me on a walk." Sasuke looked up at the girl ready to protest before she said in a lightly fridge and quiet tone, "That was not a request."
"What right do you have-"
"I'll tell him. And everyone else."
Sasuke mentally cursed having told Neji anything and hesitantly got up to follow Hinata outside to a small garden. The world was strangely bright and sunny and clashed quite unhappily with Sasuke's mood. The two walked along one of the roads in silence. Sasuke slowly relaxed as he soaked in the sun and momentarily forgot about his troubles and just lived.
"It's nice isn't it? The sun I mean." Hinata held the cup to her lips and tipped it back pouring the water in her mouth before swallowing it. She crushed the cup in her hands and scanned the area for a nearby garbage bin. When she had located it, she excused herself for a moment and tossed the paper ball into the can. She looked over at him and saw a dazed expression of confusion; deciding to get straight to the point, Hinata opened her mouth and began to speak, "Sasuke-kun, may I ask about your relationship with Naruto? You seem a lot more, what's the word, intimate than usual.
"There's also something that has been bothering me about that mission; you did not really participate in the fighting also like you were lame. I did not see you use any type of techniques with the exception of taijutsu and, though it was rather impressive, was fairly rudimentary taijutsu," Hinata paused and fondled her fingers, fully aware that Sasuke's attention on her was unwavering. Perhaps it was surprise, or shock. Though she had a lot more confidence than before, she still held an element to her former personality and his scrutinizing gaze made her uncomfortable.
She swallowed the lump in her throat and mentally cursed Neji for it not having been a love interest problem rather than Sasuke. Yes, she had to admit that she was rather interested in the problem and what happened to shinobi Sasuke, but this Sasuke was surprisingly attentive of her former crush. Of course, that was not a bad thing and she was not going to condemn him for his lifestyle but that did not help the sanctity of her mind.
Then she remembered that she was supposed to be helping him.
"You know that I know that you're not from here, or even this world. Neji-niisan has asked Lee-san and me to help you," Hinata let go of her fingers and stared at him with all seriousness. The unease left her and she nodded with the wind, "I've been doing some research at my family library while Lee-san has been checking records from the village library.
"But let me ask you, do you like it here?"
Sasuke's eyes dropped to the ground with his hands shoved into his pockets. He kicked at a pebble that bounced a little ways wondering how he should answer. He looked up at the clear sky and closed his eyes letting the wind hold him for a second.
"Yes. As twisted as it may sound, it's peaceful here. I would like to live somewhere like this," Sasuke opened his eyes and turned to face Hinata, "But I want to go home. There's someone waiting for me."
Hinata did not answer for a moment but just observed the joy from the small smile on Sasuke's thin lips, "Naruto?"
Sasuke nodded contently.
Hinata's head drooped for a little while and then tilted it to look up at him. She grinned and said, "Understood. I'll help you with my utmost effort, so will Lee-san. But I have a few questions: Do you remember what happened before you got here?"
"..." The fringes of what happened brushed the side of his mind before he quickly shooed them away, "No. I don't recall anything specific that would be significant."
Hinata frowned at the far-away look in his eyes before she shrugged it off, mentally reminding herself to analyze it later. He was hiding something. Neji had said something about him having been attacked and something about seals. Hinata assumed it was some type of technique that went array, but Sasuke apparently knew nothing of it. The research was not fruitless in that Hinata found a lot of interesting information but it was not relevant to Sasuke's case.
There was something that Sasuke was reluctant to talk about and Hinata wanted to ask but a nagging voice told her to not. The voice was annoying and sounded particularly like her cynic cousin though the other voice that kept encouraging her to do it reminded her suspiciously like Lee. She shook away both voices and just smiled, "I think Hokage-sama should be just about done, don't you?"
- To Be Continued -
Outtakes that I was not able to incorporate into this chapter due to excessive OOCness. Think of it as AU within my AR fic:
WARNINGS: SLASH!
Alter-verse
"You want me to clean you up?" Naruto asked softly.
"Yes."
The blond blushed and slowly reached for the brunet's shirt, pulling at the buttoned collar of his coat. His eyes caught the pink flesh of Sasuke's neck and a strange desire to start necking with him ignited in his chest. He hastily shook his head and pulled the sleeves from Sasuke's left arm.
The brunet boy turned to his other side to make it easier for Naruto to pull the coat off. A moment later, he was free of the sticky coat he noticed quite suddenly that Naruto had his hands on his right hand and had yet to let go.
"Naruto?"
Naruto brought Sasuke's sticky hand up and without giving Sasuke any warning, he began to lick the sticky substance from his hand.
Sasuke froze, not having to want to lead Naruto on. Based on what he read, Sasuke and Naruto had a very close relationship. It was intimate more than physical which was hard to find regardless of whether you were male or female.
"Naruto?"
Naruto leaned close to Sasuke and gazed into dark eyes. He leaned his forehead against Sasuke's and blinked as a nostalgic sense of calm flowed though his body. Sasuke's eyes glanced away from the openly pleading face before him. Naruto tightened his grip on Sasuke's hand as he whispered, "Please don't turn away from me."
Sasuke's eyes unwillingly went back to the angelic looking boy who usually looked like Satan in disguise. Unaware of his dazed state, Sasuke slowly leaned forward and planted a chaste and tender kiss on the other boy's lips.
Shocked, his eyes that had closed of their own will sprang open is surprise. But he didn't want to pull away. For some bizarre reason that he did not know of, he did not want to pull away. So he didn't.
-End-
Amusing outtakes:
Ino's story: As she trudged home, her white blouse and green skirt soaked through, she pulled a sticky hand through her hair that was stuck together like cement. She screamed angrily and cursed Naruto, "Damn it Naruto! You suck –censor- and –more censoring-! How dare you! It'll take forever to wash out the sugar!"
-
Naruto's plan: Sasuke sitting in the boat with Ino. Naruto and Neji sneak up on them. Pelt them with water balloons that are filled with soda. Run like a madman off on speedboat. Find hive of bees –failed-. Fire ants –failed-. Make Ino run off crying –successful-. Piss Sasuke off –successful-. Weasel ramen from Neji –failed-.
Ranting: I am so sick right now. There's only four and a half more report card periods... I need more sleep too. Remember to sleep all you can before you're actually forced to stay awake due to homework!
Naruto chapter 237: Ah, Yokatta na, Naruto! Ganbatte! It was cool. What insight but Kishimoto is being too obvious with the team seven paralleling the sannin. I cannot wait to see how the next three years will go, and though I'm a bit pissed at Sakura's reasoning for asking Tsunade about that thing, I show more respect for her now... at least she's not going to stay useless. And I'm downloading 238 RAW now.
Double review responses:
Thanks to Muchacha, Byushi, monkan, Wolfgirl13, Renn, Hikaru, Sally11, ILLK, Kin Uchiha, Saiera, Sierra-Falls, HikariChang, TheTrueSilver, ririka1, me, Gi wo mite sezaru wa ya n (Due to my time and workload, I'm afraid I can't do more than one update per month. And about lemon... I'm not good enough to write something like that... Sorry but thank you for sticking with me); The Laer (Glad you liked Hinata. And did I ever say that Neji liked Naruto? Hm...) Kyuubi-kun, Ryouseiteki (I still have yet to decide whether I want Drama or not. Would the people like it?) and to anyone else I might've missed, thank you!
Please review, criticisms, suggestions, flaming? (I keep expecting one)