Title: Falling is Like This (4?)
Author: WolfPilot06
Pairing: SasuNaru
Warnings: Slightly AU, shonen ai, death of major character, angst, slight language, slight lime.
Notes: So here I have for you a somewhat longer chapter. Unfortunately, I think I'll be taking a brief break from Falling is Like This to possibly write the next installment of "Of Rivalry and Rules". I love this fic, and I've been working hard on it, but I don't want to burn out on it. It's already looking to be much longer than I originally planned for it to be, the blasted thing.
Anyways, in this chapter, we have the promised SasuNaru. I really, really loved writing this scene, and I'm incredibly proud of it. XD
Someone (JoriWinter) mentioned that the entire fic was good except for how Naruto died. It made me grin to read that review, 'cause I know that Naruto's death seemed to be incredibly ignominious. Not everyone has the heroic death they deserve, and not everybody gets their happy ending. There's a reason for Naruto dying like he did, and it's not just 'cause I like to take my characters down a notch or two. Sasuke also wants to know how Naruto died like that, and he starts thinking about it here.
--
In the hours leading up to dawn, Sasuke lay restlessly in his bed. After leaving Sakura at Naruto's apartment, he'd returned to his own, intent on catching a few hours of sleep before meeting with Shikamaru and Hinata. It hadn't taken him more than ten minutes to gather up what he needed for the mission; most of his things were still packed from his abruptly aborted mission with Naruto.
However, as he'd lain in his bed, waiting for slumber to take him into its oblivious embrace, several things had begun to haunt him. He hadn't had much time to contemplate Naruto's death in full these past few days, distracted as he was by the funeral and still, in some measure, suffering from an unhealthy dose of denial. The conversation with Sakura, however, had driven him to the rather reluctant decision that it was time to come to grips with reality. With that decision had come many questions and various things about the circumstances surrounding Naruto's murder that simply didn't make sense. The more he thought about them, the more they bothered him, until he gave up on sleep in favor of contemplation.
First and foremost, how the hell had Naruto died from a slit throat?
The blond jounin had been the recipient of much worse injuries, most of them courtesy of Sasuke himself. While he shuddered to remember the epic battle that had taken place between he and his rival at the Valley of the End five years ago, those same memories offered mute testimony to the fact that an injury like the one that had killed Naruto simply shouldn't have.
Had Naruto possessed normal regenerative powers and healed at the same rate as other humans, Sasuke should have killed him multiple times in the Valley of the End. First, when he'd tied Naruto to the outcropping of rocks and tried to burn his rival to a crisp; second, when he'd slammed Naruto into the ground headfirst (there were times when he thought that Naruto had been dead for those horrible, long moments that followed; when Naruto's body, his neck bent at an impossible angle, his eyes wide and staring, had fallen to the ground limply; when Naruto had drifted away from him on the surface of the water like so much driftwood – it had been with inexpressible relief and horror that Sasuke had seen Naruto's body rise like a limp marionette teased to life by its master, bubbling with chakra and rage and sorrow); and third, when he'd driven Chidori straight through Naruto's chest.
Yet, Naruto had healed from each horrific injury, the strange, scorching chakra that Sasuke had only recently figured was due to the demon sealed within his rival's belly bringing him back from the edge of death again and again. It was nothing that Naruto did consciously; it was Kyuubi's own self-preservation that caused it to heal Naruto.
So why, then, hadn't the Kyuubi healed Naruto that one, vital time?
Sasuke turned onto his back and stared blankly at the ceiling. In his mind, he could see Naruto's body falling, his wide blue eyes staring at Sasuke as if in astonishment, a fine red spray bursting from his throat even as he tried to gasp –
Abruptly, Sasuke sat up. 'His wide blue eyes' – Naruto hadn't been using Kyuubi's chakra at all when he'd died, and yet Sasuke could have sworn he'd seen a tiny hint of it earlier in the fight, when Naruto had been looking about the clearing. Had Kyuubi withdrawn its support for some reason? Had something caused Naruto to be unable to use Kyuubi's chakra?
With a silent curse, Sasuke flopped back down on his mattress and punched his pillow in frustration. Too many things didn't make sense.
Then there was that second thing bewildering Sasuke.
How had the Mist shinobi been able to sneak up on and attack them so easily? Even if Naruto had somehow been incapacitated, Sasuke should have been able to detect them. Yet, he hadn't so much as noticed suppressed chakra as they'd traveled down the familiar road between Konoha and the port town where they had planned to board a ship to Water Country. The attack had been sudden, catching both Konoha-nin by surprise. Had Sasuke somehow been inattentive? Had some slip in his vigilance led to Naruto's death?
Sasuke groaned and covered his head with his pillow. He was getting himself nowhere agonizing over this and was only serving to deprive himself of sleep this way. In less than four hours, they would depart for Kirigakure, and Sasuke could begin to hunt down Naruto's murderers. Perhaps, then, he would be able to figure out the mystery of Naruto's death.
Until then, though, he would have to try to suppress his wandering thoughts and catch a few hours of sleep.
--
Sasuke was warm.
He stirred sleepily as his pillow moved beneath his head and grumbled, wrapping both his arms around the comfortable warmth and stubbornly holding on. The pillow began to rumble and move – was his pillow laughing at him?
A dark gray eye, bleary with sleep, opened slowly to find itself confronted with an expanse of smooth, tanned skin and a nipple. Further contemplation revealed that it was quite a nice nipple, with a wonderful set of bite marks surrounding it that Sasuke recognized as being his. He smirked, remembering exactly how those bite marks had come to be.
"Oi," said a husky voice, sounding amused as a finger prodded at Sasuke's head, "Stop staring at my nipple and wake up, you horny bastard."
"But it's such a nice nipple." Sasuke murmured, and moved to demonstrate just how much he appreciated said nipple by nuzzling his cheek against it. He could feel Naruto's stomach muscles tense beneath him as he breathed gently across the little nub, watching as it hardened beneath his ministrations. A hand moved into his line of sight, covering the object of his attentions, and he frowned in disappointment.
"Sasuke," Naruto said, trying to sound annoyed but failing miserably, "We have to get up. We're meeting Sakura-chan and Kakashi-sensei for lun- hey!"
Sasuke had decided to ignore whatever it was Naruto was saying, deeming it unimportant in light of the fact that Naruto had left his other nipple vulnerable. With a great deal of sadistic concentration, he began to tease the rose-colored flesh, alternating between laving it with his tongue and gently rolling it between his teeth. Naruto's breath hitched in his chest and he made a funny noise that sounded like a cross between a whimper and a groan. Sasuke almost smiled, but the expression quickly turned into a scowl as Naruto shoved his head away and grabbed his own pillow, hugging it to his chest and glaring at him with furious blue eyes.
"Listen to me when I'm talking, asshole!" Naruto snapped. Sasuke was placated to notice that his cheeks were flushed and settled on Naruto's legs, propping his chin up with one hand braced against the mattress. It wasn't the most comfortable of positions, but it let him smirk at Naruto's discomfited expression.
"Why?" He asked lazily, trailing a finger along the length of Naruto's calf, "Can I help it if parts of you are incredibly distracting?"
Naruto blushed even further and jerked his leg away from Sasuke's hand, which was beginning to move higher.
"We don't have time for your libido, oh randy one," Naruto growled, his face still red, "Like I said, we're supposed to meet Sakura-chan and Kakashi-sensei in less than an hour – will you stop that?"
Sasuke was nuzzling against the inside of Naruto's thigh, his smile predatory.
"We have more than enough time," he murmured against pale, soft skin, pressing a line of kisses there and grinning as the muscles twitched under his attentions. He was pleased to note that something else was also twitching in response to his ministrations. "Sakura and Kakashi can wait."
"Sasuke –" Naruto's attempt at sounding stern was lost when his voice cracked, "Sasuke, damn it, if – ah – if you don't stop then – nngh – no sex for two weeks!"
That brought Sasuke up short. He glared up at Naruto, who was looking a little short of breath and was glaring back at him with equal irritation. With a sigh, he sat up - to Naruto's great relief - and ran a hand through his sleep-mussed hair.
"Do we have to?" he said plaintively. He would much prefer spending his Saturday in bed with Naruto to meeting with the other members of the former Team 7 for lunch. Naruto grinned in amusement at his quasi-pout, reaching out to lay a slender finger against his lips.
"Yes, we have to." Naruto said with exaggerated patience, ignoring Sasuke as he began to lick and nibble at his fingertip. "For all that I know you enjoy being a recluse and avoiding the rest of humanity, a little social interaction won't kill you."
"I don't like avoiding the rest of humanity," Sasuke breathed, rubbing against the inside of Naruto's wrist and tasting the pulse there, "That would mean avoiding you. And I get plenty of social interaction just staying here – in bed – with you." He smirked.
Naruto turned a brilliant shade of crimson and buffeted Sasuke's head with the pillow he was still clutching.
"Pervert," he muttered and began to climb out of the bed, "Honestly, Kakashi-sensei has rubbed off on you, I swear – "
He yelped as an arm slid around his waist, pulling him back onto the bed. His protests were cut off as a pair of warm lips slid over his, coaxing him into returning the kiss. Sasuke smiled as Naruto moaned, and deepened the kiss, falling into the taste and feel of his lover.
Minutes later, they broke apart, panting softly for breath. Naruto's eyes were narrowed in question, a tiny hint of suspicion in his sated gaze. Sasuke merely smiled and kissed Naruto again briefly.
"Good morning, Naruto," he said quietly, resting his forehead against Naruto's. Cerulean eyes widened and then softened as Naruto smiled.
"Good morning, Sasuke." A moment later, he grinned mischievously and smacked Sasuke's shoulder, effectively ruining the mood. "Now get your lazy ass out of bed."
--
Sasuke woke slowly, his hand grasping blindly for the familiar warmth of Naruto's body as the cold of the room became more pronounced with his waking. He shivered.
"Naruto?" he called sleepily, not yet completely awake, "Could you close the window? It's freezing in here."
Silence answered him. Then, someone sighed.
"Uchiha," said a vaguely familiar voice hesitantly, "Uchiha, wake up. It's time for us to go."
Sasuke came to his senses abruptly, a horrible emptiness settling in his chest as he realized where he was. The bed beside him was cold (he had unconsciously slept on his own side of his bed, forgetting that Naruto was no longer there to occupy the other half), and Shikamaru stood by the open window, his expression uncomfortable. There was a mixture of pity and sadness in his eyes as he looked at Sasuke. The Uchiha closed his eyes for a moment, pushing away the memories still fresh in his mind; when he opened them again, his face was impassive.
"What time is it?" he asked flatly. Shikamaru sighed again, but evidently decided to play along.
"It's half an hour before dawn. We were supposed to meet at the gate twenty minutes ago, but when you didn't show, I figured you'd forgotten to set your alarm."
Thankfully, Shikamaru didn't say anything else as Sasuke quickly went through the motions of getting ready, donning his uniform and perfunctorily washing his face and brushing his teeth before rejoining Shikamaru in the bedroom. Silently, he closed the window and walked towards the front door, listening as Shikamaru sighed yet again before falling into step.
Despite the fact that Sasuke had been late in meeting Shikamaru and Hinata, they were still early for their departure; the gates would not open until dawn, and so they walked through the waking streets of Konoha instead of going over the rooftops. Sasuke was aware of the small, uncertain sidelong glances Shikamaru kept giving him, but steadfastly ignored them.
They were about three blocks away from the gates when Shikamaru, evidently having had enough, abruptly spoke.
"Why didn't you ever tell anyone?"
Sasuke tensed. When Shikamaru continued to look at him steadily, he forced himself to relax, scowling.
"What, that I have dreams of my dead teammate?" The Uchiha snorted, pretending not to know what Shikamaru was talking about, "It's enough that they think I'm a homicidal maniac, thanks."
The pony-tailed jounin sighed irritably and actually glared at him.
"No, you troublesome idiot," Shikamaru said, annoyed, "Why didn't you and Naruto ever tell anyone that you were together?"
Sasuke looked away. There was a dead weight in his chest that threatened to choke him as he struggled to maintain his infamous composure. He closed his eyes.
"Was it anyone's business?"
Shikamaru was giving him another one of those looks, he could tell, but he didn't care.
It wasn't, really. So what if he and Naruto had been together? So what if their relationship had evolved beyond the norms of rivalry and friendship? It had been between the two of them and the two of them alone, and while they hadn't been afraid of (or cared about) other people rejecting their relationship, they simply hadn't felt the need to share.
It was their own private heaven, and they hadn't wanted anyone else intruding upon it.
Lost in his own thoughts as he was, he nearly broke Shikamaru's wrist when the other man placed a hand on his shoulder. When he looked at the notoriously lazy jounin for an explanation, his brow creased in inquiry, Shikamaru merely sighed and awkwardly patted him twice before dropping his arm to his side again.
"I'm sorry," he said simply, "I know you're a bastard, and I don't like you any more for it, but you made him happy. And I know he did the same for you."
Sasuke stared at the gates, his eyes distant, and didn't reply.
He didn't need to. They both knew what Shikamaru had said was true.
They left for Kirigakure when the sun rose.
--
To be continued…
--
Comments and Criticism, please.
Just for clarification: yes, Sasuke and Naruto were together before Naruto died, but nobody knew about it, as they felt no need to make it public knowledge. Shikamaru, being Shikamaru, guessed, but didn't say anything, seeing as they never brought it up to him.
Wolf
