Chapter 7 - Portraits and Letters
Naruto couldn't remember the last time he'd felt like this. He was nearly bouncing across the camp and had to fight himself not to fly. He somehow kept himself from smiling, and everyone but Kakashi thought he was still the broody guy from before.
"Naruto." a voice called him out of his happy state.
"Yes captain?" he asked, walking over to the tent.
"We're going into battle tomorrow. Try to not repeat last times incident. I know you didn't mean to and you probably have no control over it. But I'd advise you to be careful." he said sternly. "But other than that, kick butt!" he smiled.
Naruto sighed with a sweat-drop.
'He is so weird...'
He smiled and nodded before heading off to his tent. Naruto didn't bother asking how Kakashi knew when they were going into battle, he just did. They'd been only 1 battle, but it seemed Kakashi knew where every camp site anywhere was.
"Maybe I should've asked about Sasuke's camp...oh well..." his happy mood broken, he went into his tent to pack up...ok, he was going in there to meditate...kinda. He wanted to relive last night.
Sitting cross-legged so that anyone entering thought he was meditating, Naruto thought back.
He had poured his heart out to the boy. He had cried himself to sleep. But subconsciously, he heard Sasuke speak. Not his usual voice though. It was a mix between a 6 year old's voice, the voice he knew of Uchiha Sasuke, and Sasuke the soldier's voice.
"I'm sorry Naruto..."
'For what?' he asked mentally.
"I'm sorry your parents died...I'm sorry you're alone...I'm sorry this war even started. Though I'm happy."
'Why?'
"Because I met you. I feel connected to you as I did to the prince of Uzumaki, whom I only knew for one hour."
'You knew me?' Naruto asked in confusion to the dark around him. Feeling something soft on his head, classifying it as a kiss, he woke up without movement.
Sasuke pulled back, Naruto didn't move. His voice, the next time he spoke, was filled with unshed tears and the voice of the little boy he'd heard subconsciously was gone. Only 14 year old Sasuke remained.
"Do I feel...the same for you...that I did for...Prince Uzumaki?" Sasuke asked. "This is so out of character for me...I..." he let one single tear fall and it landed on Naruto's lips.
Naruto wanted to hold his friend close...so he wouldn't cry. They could comfort each other.
"I loved him..."
"You loved me..." the blonde whispered. When had he met this boy before, that in one hour he could've fallen in love?
The boy by the lake was the only person from Uchiha he'd ever met. He had an idea. Naruto let everything that had happened between him and Sasuke to flow through him as he drew his portrait.
The eyes were much sadder than the 6 year olds were. A slight glimmer of happiness through a dark veil. His mouth was drawn in a scowl that, along with the rest of the picture, could be seen hiding a hidden smile. He too, had the tears that Naruto hadn't consciously drawn and his hair was as he had worn it the night before. He wasn't quite as skinny as the 6 year old, but still pretty skinny. He seemed to be glowing almost.
Naruto loved this picture more than any of the others he'd drawn. Picking the other Sasuke picture from his bag, he compared.
"Almost the same eyes...same hair style...same secretly tear stained cheeks...same glow...almost same quirky smile...My go-"
"Naruto!" came an almost sing song voice from just outside his tent. Naruto silently cursed and put the pictures up. Exiting his tent, he acknowledged his temporary superior.
"Yes captain?" he asked military like.
"We're moving out. Pack up your tent. We'll be engaging the enemy in combat at sunrise tomorrow." he explained, regaining his leadership voice. "Bye now." he smiled lightly as he walked off to check on the others.
Naruto scowled as he packed his tent up roughly. Kakashi was such a...a...oh! He didn't know what Kakashi was! But he was something! Always interrupting everything! Oh right...the pictures...but he couldn't very well look at them now...
Pushing them to the back of his mind, Naruto finished packing up and was ready to march at a moments notice. 5 minutes later, they were off. Naruto hoped he could rush off to the lake to meet Sasuke tonight...
Sasuke...I'm sorry if I'm not there...I really hope I can make it...You're so tormented inside...I wanna help. He finished his thoughts with a defiant air.
-
Sasuke blinked. What was that?
Sasuke...I'm sorry...I wanna help...
It sounded cut...like he wasn't hearing the full message. How he'd even heard that was beyond him, but it was Naruto. He would stake his life on it.
"Uchiha!" Merdal took a strike at him and Sasuke jumped and rolled forward to dodge, landing in a defensive position.
"What is it, Captain?" he asked as if he hadn't just been attacked unfairly from behind.
Merdal charged at him and tried landing several blows, all of which Sasuke either dodged or parried. Sasuke finally took the offensive and struck out at his commanding officer, landing a blow to his right cheek. The moment froze. Merdal smirked and pushed Sasuke's hand away.
"Not getting rusty I see." he said in a voice that boasted the same amount of arrogance that caused Sasuke to dislike this man so.
"Of course not. If I am to lead anything, it might as well start with my fighting abilities." he smirked evilly back. Merdal cracked up at the comment and Sasuke scowled.
"You're far from leading anything young brat. 14 and already an insufferable big shot. Take heed to stay in your place. Know it. Live it." he ordered, turning away.
"Yea. Well maybe you need to learn yours." Sasuke said, without restraining it. He didn't care if the man heard him this time.
"What?" he flipped around to glare at the second prince.
"I may have been the second prince when I joined this division, but ever since my brother's demise, I rank as the first." Sasuke said loudly, and defiantly. "Even as the second prince I ranked so high above your head you couldn't touch me with a heat seeking missile. So don't think you can order me around like some servant. Because I will not allow it." the last sentence was said with such venom that it caused the captain, along with any who had overheard (-coughentirecampcough-) to inwardly shudder and not dare to make a move as the prince made his way to his tent. He spoke not another word.
"Damn prince. Damn royalty. Damn everyone!" Merdal cursed. Everyone knew that Merdal wanted to be king himself and was next in line after the prince. Knocking him down would've given him the spot, were the king and queen eliminated. But the prince knowing his brother was dead had somehow given him new gusto in his ability to become king.
In his tent, Sasuke sat on his 'bed' and thought.
'I searched...well...I didn't but...oh nevermind...East, West...there was no civilization in either direction...' he portrayed a confused expression. 'Where's Naruto from? And that guy...that...weird guy...really weird...and...weird...Augh, what am I doing?'
He ruffled his hair and kicked his right leg out straight. He paused at a 'thunk.' A greenish colored book was at his feet.
'It's that...book...Naruto had it on him...last night...'
Yes, though he hadn't woken Naruto up before he started mumbling, he had felt an extra weight in Naruto's upper outfit and had found a book folded in the shirt's fabric. Looking back at the moment, Naruto had placed his hand over the spot where the book was...
He carefully picked it up, but before he could read it, he heard footsteps and put it under his pillow.
"Time for work...Your Highness..." he heard Merdal say with contempt.
"Yea. I know." Sasuke grabbed the book again, hid it in his over-large shirt, and stalked past his commander and into the woods west of the camp. After he was out of sight, the dark haired boy hurried up, to the lake.
-
The moon shone above him as he sat on the bank of the lake. He sighed and let his head drop to his chest, his dark hair covering his face beautifully. Naruto wasn't there yet, he'd been there for over an hour. Suddenly, he remembered something and took the book out. Might as well keep himself busy, and he was too curious to let this go unread anyway.
'Dear Sasuke' he stopped.
"Me?" then he continued.
'Today was my birthday. It wasn't happy though, far from it actually. A war broke out less than a week ago so...my parents kinda...forgot it was my birthday...'
"What?" Sasuke thought about his own parents. They never celebrated his birthday, sure, but at least they had the courtesy to say 'Happy Birthday' to him once or twice on that day. To totally forget though? "Naruto..."
'Please don't feel bad for me. I'm fine, really. It's just...a shock...that I mean so little to them that they could forget...When's your birthday anyway? I'd love to throw you a party, even if you weren't here to enjoy it with me!'
"I'd love that...Naruto..." he whispered. "July 23rd..."
'I'm 13 today! I suppose you might be 14 already...but I don't know your birthday, so I wouldn't know.'
When was this written? Sasuke was nearing 15 now. So...either Naruto was 2 years younger than him or...
"He wrote this before we met..." he reread the letter. "It was written just after the war started...How'd he write this before we'd even met?"
He read on. A lot of them were sad, others were happy and made him smile at cute faces that were surely worn while writing the passage. One letter in particular caught him.
'Hey, Sasuke!
I joined the army! Can you believe it? My mother and my father were very much against it. But I ran away and joined Captain Fehrock's ranks. So now, I'm in my tent and I just finished eating dinner.'
"Captain...Fehrock?" he knew of the man's legacy. And that man from General Wilham... "Fehrock..." he shook his head and kept reading.
'How are you? I hope you're doing fine. Life has been very boring without you here. I got that necklace you sent me! In fact, I'm wearing it right now! It's very pretty. I hope that, when this war is over, I can come to Uchiha and see you again.'
"He...he got my necklace." Sasuke's eyes shone, a blush on his face and a smile on his lips. He didn't even think about Naruto the 6 yr old and Naruto the 14 yr old. No connection made itself known in his happy bliss.
'For now, it's time for bed. I'll write again tomorrow night, and tell you all the happenings in our camp. I miss you!
Lots of love,
Naruto Uzumaki'
Sasuke's blush intensified at the closing sentence.
"Love" he whispered.
He took a deep breath and swallowed a few times, to tame his pounding heart, then kept reading. A few pages/entries later, he found the latest writing.
'Dear Sasuke,
I missed you so much more than usual these last few days. I'm sorry. I did something terrible. I fought in a battle and killed an entire army fleet by myself. I'm not sure how. I think there's a beast inside of me, one that waits until I'm mad to unleash itself.'
Sasuke's breath hitched. The Uzumakian warrior who killed Wilham's fleet...Naruto?
'I drew a picture of you today. I think it came out nicely. It shows you as I knew you eight years ago. Man...I really wish you were here.'
8 years? What was 8 years ago? The paper was wet as if Naruto had been crying...
'Ok...I'll stop avoiding it. Sasuke...My parents are dead. A Uchihan warrior took them down while I was here. Dammit Sasuke...why do I care for people that never paid me any mind? Just because they're my parents? I'll ask Sasuke later.'
Now Sasuke was lost...
'Oh right. I met another guy named Sasuke. He kind of reminds me of you...But you had more of a free spirit than he does. I gotta go. He's waiting. You see, he's in the military so his schedule is hard to fit me in I guess. Wait...I'm in the military! Oh, never mind. I'm saying good-night now Sasuke...Night Sasuke.
Lots Of Love,
Naruto'
Sasuke shut the book and leaned into the tree he was against. Looking at the stars, he felt warmth flowing steadily down his cheeks. He raised his hand and touched his cheeks, then looked at his hand.
Tears? He was crying? Why?
Had his subconsciousness realized something he hadn't? He closed his eyes and let the tears fall, for unknown reasons.
