Title: Falling is Like This (Interlude)
Author: WolfPilot06
Category: AU, angst, deviant timeline, timeskip, deathfic.
Pairing(s): SasuNaru, some hints of others.
Notes: I'm really sorry for the long wait. I've ditched and rewritten chapter 5 about seven times already, and, well, it's still not done. But it's about halfway finished! I generally have a No-Writing Policy during the school year, which is why I'm typically unproductive from September to May. Anyways, this was originally the introductory scene for Chapter 5, but I've decided to separate it and make it into an interlude. Enjoy!
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It was nighttime, the comfortable silence brought by the dark broken only by the heavy patter of rain against the windows and the occasional crash of thunder from outside. Inside the warm bedroom, two figures lay curled together on the bed, one half-asleep and pretending to be unconscious, the other wide awake and watching with fascination as the storm raged over the village of Konoha.
"Y'know, I used to be scared of thunderstorms when I was little."
The voice was hushed and reverent as the smaller of the two boys spoke, blue eyes fixed upon the heavens as a fork of lightning speared through the dense cloud cover in a brilliant flash of light. Sasuke sighed, giving up the pretense of sleep, and reached out to pull Naruto into his arms, burying his face against sleep-mussed blond tresses. Naruto's hair smelled fragrant and warm, of muted sunshine and summer, a hint of the cheap, floral shampoo he used interspersing the familiar scent.
"Mm?" he answered coherently when he had comfortably settled Naruto in his embrace, legs and arms tangled together until it was difficult to tell which limb belonged to whom. "I can't really imagine you being afraid of anything."
Naruto laughed quietly, wriggling back against Sasuke as he continued to watch the rain lash the windows. Absently, he began to trace patterns along Sasuke's arms with his fingers, tilting his head as Sasuke shifted and buried his face in the crook between Naruto's neck and shoulder instead.
"I was only six then," Naruto said philosophically, "I wasn't a big mighty hero yet."
"I have to say," Sasuke murmured teasingly against Naruto's neck, "You're still not exactly a big mighty hero yet."
Naruto whacked Sasuke's hand and tried to crane his neck back to glare at Sasuke, who merely chuckled and kissed Naruto's upturned, scowling lips.
"Oi, stop making fun of me," Naruto grumbled into Sasuke's mouth, though he returned Sasuke's kiss enthusiastically, "Just because you're taller than me by a bare three inches – "
"Actually, it's more like six," Sasuke quipped, and grinned as Naruto tried to punch him.
"Anyways," Naruto said, attempting to sound aloof even as Sasuke turned his attention to the slender column of his neck, "As I was saying, I used to be scared of thunder – ah – "
Sasuke smiled against Naruto's skin and began concentrating on the small patch of skin that had elicited Naruto's surprised gasp, mischievously flicking his tongue over the smooth surface and suckling lightly. Naruto's fingers clutched convulsively over Sasuke's for a moment as he momentarily lost his train of thought.
"Sasuke – " Naruto whined, half-gasping as Sasuke continued to lave attention on that sensitive patch of skin. His dark-haired lover took pity on him and withdrew after one last lap.
"Why were you afraid of thunder?" he asked curiously, partly to show that he had been paying attention to what his lover had been saying, partly because he honestly wanted to know. In the few months they had been together, it was rare that either of them chose to disclose anything about themselves to one another, some remnant of their fierce rivalry lingering in their relationship. "It's just noise."
Naruto lay where Sasuke had left him, head still tilted to the side almost hopefully, as if he wouldn't really mind if Sasuke went back to ravishing him. When Sasuke merely settled onto the bed behind him and pressed his cheek against Naruto's hair, though, he continued.
"I used to think it sounded like a monster roaring," Naruto said, sounding slightly embarrassed, "And then I'd have nightmares of this really big monster fox eating everyone in Konoha…"
Sasuke paused in the middle of nuzzling against Naruto's hair and frowned, lifting himself onto one arm to look into Naruto's face. The blond was watching him carefully, a bit of apprehension showing in his blue eyes. For a moment, the Uchiha heir thought, trying to figure out why Naruto's statement bothered him.
"'Really big monster fox'?" he asked as casually as he could. Naruto's posture became wary as a number of things began clicking together in Sasuke's mind. "Naruto, you couldn't possibly have been remembering the Kyuubi. That happened before you were even born."
"I was born on October tenth," Naruto said, his voice hushed and – was that fear? The last piece fell into place.
"The Yondaime," Sasuke breathed, all the boring history lessons Iruka had once taught them gaining a sudden, new importance in the light of this revelation. He'd always thought that it was strange that the demon fox – powerful enough to demolish shinobi villages – had been brought down by a single man in Konoha; he'd always suspected that the fox had either been sealed away or banished, but for all that he'd searched for information on the Kyuubi's defeat, he'd never been able to find any records regarding the jutsu used. "The Kyuubi – you're the one he sealed the demon into."
The tensing of Naruto's shoulders gave him just enough warning before his lover tried to escape from the cage of his arms and legs, scrambling blindly for the edge of the bed. Quickly, Sasuke pinned him to the mattress, ignoring the small, stinging cuts Naruto's nails cut into his flesh as he tried to trap the flailing arms against Naruto's sides. The blond seemed beyond reason, his breaths coming harshly and quickly as he actually whined upon finding he could not escape, a high-pitched noise in the back of his throat that was far too canine for Sasuke to dismiss his new revelation offhandedly. The scent of his sweat, however, and the fear shining in his blue eyes were all too human. Any doubts that Sasuke might have had regarding his lover's humanity disappeared the instant Naruto let out a soft keening wail and went limp beneath him.
Sasuke leaned over Naruto, attempting to catch the elusive blue gaze that seemed to flicker everywhere but at his face. After a moment, the dark-haired man sighed.
"I won't ask why you didn't tell me, because I think the answer is fairly obvious," he said, trying to sound the same as he always did, for all that he was shaken by the violence of Naruto's reaction to his revelation. Never, in all the years they had known each other, had Naruto ever tried to run from him. "But – couldn't you trust me enough to tell me?"
Naruto finally looked at him, his gaze narrow and wary like a trapped animal's as he searched Sasuke's face for something to give away his inner thoughts. Slowly, he began to relax, a hint of puzzlement entering his expression, as if he was surprised by how Sasuke was acting.
"You're not angry?" He asked cautiously, clearly bewildered, "You're not, I don't know, feeling any sudden urges to gut me and hang me by my entrails from the nearest power pole?"
Sasuke gave him a flat look.
"I wasn't before, but if that's how you thought I'd react to this, I might start contemplating the idea." Sasuke hesitated, looking torn for a moment. "I thought you knew me better than that."
Naruto shifted slightly under him, reminding Sasuke of the fact that he was still pinning his smaller lover to the bed. The Uchiha immediately released him and lay next to Naruto, propping himself up on an elbow and keeping an arm and leg slung over Naruto, partially to dissuade any further attempts to escape, and partially to reassure his uncharacteristically twitchy lover that he wasn't deserting him.
"Well, I don't know." Naruto said seriously, "I've seen perfectly nice and rational people start frothing at the mouth the moment they see me. I usually start looking for escape routes when they start calling me names, and I run when their eyes go all red and scary."
Sasuke almost scowled as he began remembering all the apparently random incidents of nastiness towards Naruto that he'd noticed before but had never understood. Naruto was unusually quiet, cerulean eyes tracking every flitting emotion as it manifested itself on Sasuke's face.
With an explosive sigh, Sasuke frowned down at Naruto, reaching out to trace the whisker marks with his fingertip.
"So these - ?" he asked, brushing against the smooth skin of Naruto's cheek – he supposed Naruto's apparent hairlessness was also a result of his hosting the unwilling fox demon, as was his relatively small size; most of Naruto's energy, he figured, which would normally go towards growing, had apparently been diverted towards keeping the seal intact.
Naruto nodded, his gaze still guarded as he waited for the other shoe to drop. Finally, Sasuke sighed again and reached out to poke Naruto in the nose.
"You were paranoid for nothing," he said dryly, "You should've known I'm not like most people."
Sasuke could almost literally see the tension leave Naruto's body. The fox-carrier practically melted into the sheets with relief, blue eyes closing for a moment as he laid the back of his arm against them. Then, Naruto grinned, a quick flash of white teeth.
"You're right; I should have realized that you're neither nice nor rational," Naruto joked, grin widening at the disgruntled look Sasuke gave him, "So the worst that could've happened would be you treating me nicely for once."
"Oh?" said Sasuke, lifting himself to hover over Naruto as he gave the blond man a slow, predatory smile. He suddenly felt the need to reassure Naruto of his love, of his humanity – to tell Naruto with his body what he could never say with words. "I'd say I treat you quite nicely fairly often."
Blue eyes tracked his every movement, the tip of Naruto's tongue darting out to wet suddenly dry lips as Sasuke prowled up the length of his body. A faint, answering smile curved Naruto's mouth as he stretched beneath his dark lover, purposefully causing the slender muscles beneath his tanned skin to ripple and shift. Sasuke watched him hungrily and bent his neck to rest his forehead against Naruto's, close enough so that Naruto was nothing more than a blur of blue, tan, and gold. His gaze softened, though he knew Naruto couldn't see the expression, and lifted a hand to caress the side of Naruto's face.
"You're human, Naruto," he whispered, "You're more human than anyone I've ever met."
He felt Naruto smile, strong, slender arms draping over his neck, pulling him down slightly as Naruto brushed his lips against his.
"And you, Sasuke," he breathed, "Are a far bigger sap than I ever give you credit for."
Sasuke ignored that, closing the distance between them to give Naruto a deep, lingering kiss that seemed to last for a blissful eternity. He followed the kiss with another, and another, filling his senses with the sensation of his Naruto, until all thoughts of fox demons and hateful villagers were the last things on either of their minds.
A long while later, the sated lovers lay twined on the bed together again, the rumbling of the thunderstorm gradually dying away outside and fading to the faint sizzle of rain along the rooftops. Sasuke rested his head on Naruto's chest, loving the sound of the other man's steady heartbeats beneath his ear as Naruto absently combed his fingers through the damp locks of Sasuke's hair. Closing his eyes, Sasuke settled against his lover.
"Get some sleep, Naruto," he murmured, "We have that mission to the Wave Country tomorrow."
"Says the man after he ravishes me so thoroughly that I'm not sure I'll be able to walk straight," Naruto grumbled. He laughed softly as Sasuke poked him in the ribs and wriggled until he and Sasuke were both comfortably beneath the covers, yawning slightly. "Ah, well, it's just a delivery mission. Piece – " he yawned again, "- of cake…"
Sasuke hummed in response, and soon, the two were fast asleep.
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To be continued…
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Comments and Criticism?
Wolf
