What He Dreamt Of
This is a story about a lonely wolf with a cold heart.
Hah! You mean it's a story about Sasuke!
Naruto, don't say rude things like that!
But Sakura-chan, it's true! Lonely, cold-hearted bastard… it fits him perfectly.
Naruto, I'm gonna!
…Not to say this wolf was completely lonely. He had his pack. And in that pack, there was another wolf that was more baboon than wolf.
Kakashi-sensei, why are you pausing?
Because he's referring to you, idiot!
That can't be the reason…
Hn. Seems pretty accurate to me.
What'd you say, bastard?
The cackle of lightning filled the air. Kakashi watched lazily as his pupil rushed toward Tsunade with not the most pleasant expression on his face. The woman had given him a most nasty bruise on his left eye, rendering him able to use only one of his Sharingan. And in return, Uchiha Sasuke was, no doubt, ready to punch an ugly hole in the other's big-breasted body. He charged, cool completely gone, like an insane bull.
His clumsiness would cost him.
"Huh, déjà vu," muttered the Fifth, not even batting an eye at the furious youth. She 'tapped' the ground with a finger, causing a minor tremor as a crack split the forest floor.
But Naruto had told him about this move. He wasn't going to be so easily defeated as that idiot. At the last minute, Sasuke jumped, soaring above the earthquake below. Landing neatly to the left of the split, he continued his rash assault.
"Die!" he screamed as he neared, one red eye blazing fury.
The Sannin smirked at the death threat, dodged the death blow, and repelled her attacker with a quick flick of the finger to the forehead.
For a moment, the boy seemed to hold his ground against the hit. Tsunade blinked. Oh? Was her strength diminishing?
Then, as if to reassure her of her own skill, the Chidori disappeared and as if being blown by an irresistibly strong wind, her opponent rolled.
The number one Konoho rookie and prodigy of the Uchiha clan, rolled backwards over and over again like a tumbleweed on a sunny desert day.
Kakashi, finally distracted by something more amusing than his book, burst out laughing.
Sasuke laid, then struggled feebly to his feet. When he stood, it was with a twisted wrist and black eye and a look colder than a glacier. Tsunade was surprised by the speediness of his recovery but to compliment him on it was taboo. The boy had just tried to assassinate her, after all.
"I thought you were supposed to be a genius," she sneered instead, to which he had no comment.
He walked away, his silence preserving the barrier he had set up over the years as it always had. No need to show her how frustrated he was. How crushed. She would never understand that the fight had not affected him so much as its outcome.
Still this way... Why am I still this way?
Neh, neh, then what happened?
Then the wolf left.
He… left?
Don't look so surprised, Sakura, you knew it was coming.
But… just like that?
More or less.
What? That's a bad ending, Kakashi-sensei! How could he leave without saying good-bye or anything?
Simple, Naruto. He's an animal. He couldn't talk.
It's still horrible. He didn't even care enough to say good-bye to his friends. Right, Sakura-chan? Right?
…Right.
That's not true.
Sasuke-kun?
It wasn't because he didn't care.
Then why?
It wasn't because he didn't care.
When he left, it was the day after his birthday. His teammates had celebrated it with him, filling his empty home with enthusiastic chatter and happy refrains of the traditional song. There had been cake, too, and though he had never been one for sweets, he had eaten two slices. It was his way of indulging himself; Sakura had smiled with so much pleasure when he had asked for seconds.
With their beaming faces before him, their excitement more palpable than his own and all the more infectious, he had almost been able to forget what was coming the next day. There had been jokes, laughter - well, a certain number of smirks on his part - and enough cheer to make even him a bit more light-hearted.
And always, just the three of them.
When the end had come, perhaps Naruto had squeezed his hand a little too hard during their final handshake, and maybe Sakura had just something else besides utter and total bliss in her green eyes, but all in all, it had been the perfect way to say their good-byes to each other. It was good-bye without actual words.
He woke the next morning, gathered his pre-packed things, and walked away from the house that was not his home and the people that were.
So where did the wolf go?
I don't know, Naruto, I don't think it matters.
What do you mean it doesn't matter! Finish your damn story, Kakashi-sensei, and tell us the ending!
Oy, a scary Sakura-chan…
Well, if you want to an ending, you'll have to make it up for yourself. Where do you think he went?
I think he went to Ichiraku for the seafood special ramen!
Dumbass! He wouldn't leave his pack and go there!
What do you think, Sakura?
It's obvious that he went to have more adventures.
Plausible. Sasuke?
…He went to die. Animals are like that.
00
00
Be reassured, everyone! You're all wrong. He doesn't die. If you all must know, he's going to try and go home.
…"Try" to go home? That's it? Does he get there?
Maybe.
Arrrgh! Of course he went home!
I agree with Sakura-chan!
Tch, who says he has a home? Who says he even has a family? The story's a damn lie. It would be illogical, not to mention foolish, for the wolf pack to welcome him back.
But-
He has only himself. He can't go back. He has nothing to go back to.
Sasuke-kun…
His instructor was waiting for him at the gates, book out.
"You know, it's funny. How kids grow up so fast. I still remember sending Naruto flying during the survival training and pulling you into the ground with an Earth jutsu. Not to mention, scaring Sakura out of her wits."
Icha Icha Paradise was forgotten as the man dwelt on less perverted and more amusing things. Kakashi chuckled, gave the familiar cliché, "Those were the good old days…"
The other man snorted but with good humour, continued walking.
"You can still turn back, Sasuke."
At this, his student stopped and looked at him in disbelief. "What?" he demanded with more than a tinge of annoyance.
"Didn't hear me?"
"No, I heard you… It's just funny that they're still someone that still wants to stop me. All those years ago, it was Naruto and Sakura who tried to keep me from this," he stopped, remembering. Yes, before it had been Naruto who had tried to beat him to bring him back. Sakura who had confessed her love on an empty, cold street in an useless attempt to keep him. Before, it had been those two…
"…And now it's you," he finished, refocusing his thoughts to the present.
"But it's still your choice."
"Yes, my choice," he echoed softly, though he still wondered if there had ever been such a thing for him. A distance grew on his handsome face that was more than a little resentful. He proceeded to the edge of the forest and there, his feet stilled.
Always looking too far way to look back, his teacher was thinking, The boy was always just beyond the realm of influence that could change his mind…
"Kakashi…"
Sasuke paused, letting his memory overpower him. Then, once again, he was sitting on that knoll of grass with his teammates listening to the made-up stories of their teacher. But there was no anger now, only resignation and something that resembled nostalgia.
"Do you think the wolf can ever go home again?"
It was, somehow, important to know the answer before he left.
"It doesn't matter."
"Ah, so she was wrong."
The reply was detached, cool. Yet Kakashi imagined what look rested upon the face of his student at his reply. His only clue was the sound of footsteps starting up again. The leaves were crunched with regular, angry rhythm.
Kakashi cleared his throat and the crunching stopped.
"Because the home was always with him. He carried it in his heart and never let it go. Animals are like that, you know." And softly, "People, too."
He predicted an expression of intensity, fierce yet understanding, and looked over his shoulder to see the prediction fulfilled. Black eyes gazed at him seriously, perhaps with the thought that they might never see him again. Last memories of a dead man. Maybe, maybe not. But all it really meant was that Sasuke had looked back, too.
"What will you when this is all over? After Itachi is dead, what comes next?"
"There are… there are people here that I wouldn't mind seeing again."
The boy had changed, after all. Same path, maybe, but without a doubt, a different person.
Kakashi felt a tinge of satisfaction - or was that pride- that made him smile a lazy yet oddly cheerful smile. It was his farewell. He drawled,
"Then don't forget to write."
To which the other gave the tiniest of nods, though they both knew that he had packed no paper or writing utensils and probably would not have the time to jot down even a word.
"Good-bye… sensei."
Kakashi nodded and spent the rest of the afternoon alone at the gates of Konoha, in light and memories, Icha Icha Paradise forgotten.
…and the wolf took his home with him and on the harsher nights, when no stars were to be seen and when the wind turned the world cold, he dreamt of a girl who had loved him, a boy who had been his friend, and a man who had told him a story.
owari.
...Happy endings are open endings...
