Chapter 4
Astral-Augh! Finals!
Mirokai-MY BRAIN FEELS LIKE IT'S GOING TO EXPLODE!
Gaara-Sorry about the long wait, as you can see, we've been preparing for our Midterms and haven't had time to type any new chapters. Hell, we should probably be studying right now, but-
Mirokai-PROCRASTINATION!
Astral-Anywho, here's a Christmas Gift to all of you who read our fanfic. WE thank you so much for taking time out of your day to listen to us ramble.
"So Sasuke, how are you and Naruto getting along? You seem a lot happier nowadays. No more of all that drama you would put us through with those bouts of depression about your eyes. And from the look of it, you've been going out a lot more often. Before, you almost never wanted to go out in public." Sasuke's mother, Mikoto asked while the family was together sitting at the dinner table.
It had been awhile since he and Naruto had become friends, Sasuke's birthday had come and gone, as had summer break, and the first semester of his second year at the academy. Both of them were now seven, which Sasuke was glad about, Naruto hadn't stopped teasing him until they were the same age. Not that he minded. Sure, the loudmouth could get annoying, but it was only friendly banter, Sasuke could hear it in Naruto's tone. And, he was getting better reaction skills, because the only warning Naruto would give before any obstacle would be something like 'Duck!' or 'Jump!', and he'd have to react. If he didn't, he would either trip or bonk his head. But he silently thanked Naruto for the extra training.
"It's great! I've been getting better reflexes because he gives almost no warning before we're jumping over something or diving under it! So I'm getting stronger, Father! And Naruto and I train together when the other kids at school are slacking off. I can hit a tree with a kunai every time now, and I can't even see it!"
Mikoto chuckled, and then gave Sasuke a small pat on the head. "That's great! I'm very happy you've begun to improve. I always get mad at your teachers when they say you can't be a shinobi. All you need is the right encouragement, and you shoot up tons! Right, dear?"
Fugaku hn'd in response. He was silently very proud of his son. Sasuke was going to grow up to be a strong shinobi with Naruto at his side. At first, he had been wary of the demon child, but after seeing the way he affected his son, Fugaku was glad the kid was around. He certainly was a bundle of energy, always keeping Sasuke on his toes. Which was a good thing, the boy needed all the training he could get. Especially for what was happening tonight.
"When's Naruto coming to pick you up?" Itachi asked, smiling at his little brother, even though Sasuke couldn't see it.
"He said he was coming at six! What time is it what time is it!" Sasuke pleaded, jumping up and down in his chair. He and Naruto were going to spend most of the night together, like they always did when the Uchiha Clan had another one of their meetings. Sasuke would leave at around six, and come home at eleven. The next morning he would always question what the meeting was about, but he never tried to go to them anymore. Naruto was more fun than a stupid old family meeting.
"It's five forty-five. Why don't you go get ready?"
Sasuke nodded, he had eaten all of his dinner because of his excitement, even his vegetables! He raced out of the room, in complete comfort because he knew where everything was.
"Um, Mother?"
"Yes, Itachi?"
"I moved the settee again. . ."
They heard a thunk, and then Sasuke started yelling. "Hey! Who put that there! Moooottthhhheeerrr! Itachi moved the settee again!"
L.+I.+N.+E.+B.+R.+E.+A.+K.+
Sasuke had had fun. He and Naruto had gone to the park after it became 'dark', something Sasuke didn't understand, but seemed to make it the right time to go to the park. He guessed it had something to do with the amount of light, or something like that. All Naruto had said was, 'The sun goes down, and then it becomes dark!' and he was bored within ten seconds of his brother's explanation.
"We're here, Sasuke!" Naruto shouted. Sasuke winced, he really wished Naruto would stop doing that. He was almost as bad as Sakura, the only difference was that Naruto was nice to him. But they were working on it, Naruto was slowly gaining an indoor voice.
"Bye Naruto! I'll hear you at school tomorrow." Sasuke said, giggling at their internal joke. Since Sasuke couldn't see, they made a point of not using words and phrases that pertained to eyesight, like 'See you soon!' or 'See you at school tomorrow!'.
"Heheh, you too! I had fun! I wish I could come to your house sometime, it's huge!" Sasuke clutched his stomach, laughing at Naruto's ridiculous tone.
Sasuke listened intently as Naruto's footstep sped off, getting quieter and quieter the further away they got. Now, all he could hear was silence. Resting his hand on the gate, he quietly pushed the door open, not willing to wake any of the Uchihas who had decided to go to sleep after the meeting. He shut the gate behind him and started walking towards the main house, wondering why it was so quiet, too quiet. Normally, either Itachi or his parents would be waiting for him just inside the gate, but no one was there. And he could usually hear one of the radios in some of the night owl Uchiha's houses, or the small talk of the elders as he passed their homes. But none of it was there, none of it. Sasuke was scared, not just scared, terrified. He had an uneasy feeling that something was wrong.
Reaching the main house, Sasuke opened the door and stepped inside. "Mother? Father? Aniki?" Sasuke whispered. He didn't know why he was whispering, it just seemed a lot better than yelling out his presence to the unnaturally still household. He gulped, and then headed for the kitchen, hoping to grab a glass of water before going to bed.
A small splash sounded when he set foot in the kitchen. 'Strange, Mother is always so adamant about keeping everything clean. Why is there water on the floor?'
Sasuke bent down to get a better feel for the amount of liquid, and a strange stench hit his nostrils, making him wrinkle his nose in disgust. Letting one hand slip through the moisture, he found that it was sticky to the touch and definitely not water, bringing it up to his face and sniffing it. It smelled disgustingly like iron and sweat and-
Sasuke let out a shocked cry and leapt up, stumbling further into the room. 'Blood! It's blood! Why is there blood on the floor!? Why-'
Sasuke's train of thought stopped when he stumbled over something large, cold, and covered in blood. Falling on his back jarringly, he felt the offending thick liquid soak through his shirt and pants, and quickly pulled himself into a sitting position. Reaching a trembling hand out, he found the strange object he had tripped over, and traced his hands along it until he found a face. Yes, a face. There was a dead body in his home! Ghosting his fingers over the corpse's features, tears sprang into his eyes as he realized who it was.
"Mother! Mother! Please don't be dead, you can't be dead!" He stood up, and ran.
He went from room to room, house to house, running into almost everything in his panic, hoping that someone, anyone, was alive. 'Please don't let everyone be dead, please! Where's Aniki!? And Father!?'
As if reading his thoughts, a voice cuts through the silence like a knife, stopping Sasuke in his tracks.
"Where are you going, otouto?"
"Aniki!? What's happening, I found- I- Mother is dead, Aniki!"
"I realize that. So is Father." It was now that Sasuke realized that something was off. Why was Itachi above him, like, by a lot. And why did he sound so calm. 'No! He-he couldn't have! Aniki would never do something like that!'
"I can tell by the look on your face that you've figured it out. You've always been so smart, Sasuke. Every last one of the Uchihas is dead, now, only you and I are left." Sasuke could hear the smirk in his Aniki's words. He turned and started running towards the Gate. If he got to Konoha, then he could find Naruto, or he could find another adult or-
"Foolish little brother. Trying to escape. But don't worry," Suddenly, Sasuke came into contact with something soft, like fabric, and wet, like blood. He fell to the ground, trembling. "If I wanted to kill you, you would be dead already."
There was a breeze-like sound, and some footsteps, and then Sasuke was alone. Completely and utterly alone. With corpses. With his family's corpses. And the feel and stench of blood covering his body. 'No. No. . .Aniki. . .'
Sasuke broke down crying, curling into a ball, much like he had been when Naruto had first found him. "Please don't- please don't leave me like this. . . Why?"
That was all he remembered before he sank into unconsciousness.
P.+O.+V.+C.+H.+A.+N.+G.+E.+
Naruto was scared, really scared. And, for the first time in his life, he wasn't scared for himself.
No, not this time. Last night, a terrible event had occurred. Every last Uchiha in Konoha had been brutally massacred. But that wasn't the worst part, it had been Itachi of all people, who had killed them. And the only one left alive had been Sasuke.
He'd heard from their teacher, Iruka-sensei, at school the next day, that Sasuke had been admitted to the hospital, as well as that he was in shock. Naruto just had to see him.
As soon as the final bell rang he raced out the door, not caring if he ran anyone over. He ignored the shouts and jeers of the villagers as he flew through the crowds towards Konoha Hospital. 'Sasuke must be so scared! He hates being left alone! And now his entire family is dead, his brother's a traitor, and he's stuck in the worst place in the universe with no one there with him. No wonder he went into shock! Whatever that is. . .'
Slamming the door to the hospital open. He bolted towards the front desk and practically leapt on top of the counter. "Hey, lady! Can you tell me where Sasuke Uchiha's room is? I have to see him!"
The secretary glared at him, a disgusted look on her face. "Like hell you will, you demon brat! He's in shock, you have to leave him alone if he is to come out of it!"
"And I'm tellin' ya lady! Sasuke won't be okay unless someone's there with him!"
"Hmph! You're going to end up killing him, so NO!" She then picked him up and was about to toss him out, when she was stopped by a hand on her shoulder.
"Excuse me, miss. What are you doing to my student?"
"Iruka-sensei!" Great, it was Iruka-sensei. He'd be able to talk the girl into letting him see Sasuke.
"I'm simply throwing him out. The demon was trying to get into Sasuke Uchiha's room, Iruka. The monster was probably going to play a prank and kill the poor boy." The woman said smugly, expecting to be congratulated on her course of action. Most people would, unfortunately for her, and fortunately for Naruto, Iruka was not most people.
"You put that poor boy down right now. Naruto is one of my students, and so is Sasuke. The two of them also happen to be inseparable. Now if you will kindly tell Naruto which room is Sasuke's we'll both be out of your hair." Naruto looked up at his teacher with admiration. Iruka was glaring up a storm.
The woman, shocked, dropped Naruto. "R-room 216, sir." Naruto snickered at the sir at the end of her sentence, before saying thanks to Iruka-sensei and running off towards room 216. 'Man, Iruka-sensei's the coolest!'
Opening the door quietly, because he didn't want to startle Sasuke and make him even more scared, he stepped into the room. It was blank. The walls were a sickeningly bright white, and there was no furniture other than the bed in the middle of the room, the nightstand next to it, and a lone chair for visitors.
Taking his place in the chair, Naruto took a good long look at his friend. Sasuke had always been pale, but now he looked like a ghost, almost transparent. There were bags under his eyes and salt tracks down his cheeks, probably from crying. His eyes were closed, but he didn't seem to be asleep, more like waiting for something to happen. His entire body was limp, and when Naruto grabbed his hand, he found it cold and clammy.
Then, Naruto closed his eyes and listened. Ever since he had become friends with Sasuke, he would sometimes try to look at things through Sasuke's perspective, and that is, not looking at all. He heard Sasuke's breathing, which was fast, yet steady, and the room smelled way too much like medicine. There was the steady beeping sound of a heart monitor coming from somewhere down the hall, most likely the next room over, the door had been open. Other than that, though, he could discern nothing.
He opened his eyes, smiling down at Sasuke sadly. Mumbling quietly. "Hey there, Sasuke. How are you doing?"
No answer.
"Are you going to be okay? I hope so. I'm sorry about your family, and about your brother. I wish I could have been there to help you. But don't worry, I'll take care of you from now on. I mean, we're best friends, right?" Naruto paused, hoping that Sasuke would open his eyes and give him an answer. "So don't you dare leave me here like this with you in some stupid state of shock. Don't worry, I'll be here."
Naruto didn't bother saying anything else. He just sat there, staring at his friend's still form sadly. After half an hour, he fell asleep.
L.+I.+N.+B.+R.+E.+A.+K.+
Naruto was jolted awake by the sound of sobbing.
Opening his eyes, he glanced up at Sasuke and frowned at what he saw. Sasuke was curled up on the bed, head in his hands, crying. Sitting up, Naruto tentatively reached out a hand towards Sasuke, letting it rest gently on the Uchiha's knee. At first Sasuke flinched, and then he realized who it was. No one else ever touched him nicely, except his family and Naruto. And now his family was dead, so it could only be, "Naruto?"
"Hey Sasuke, how're ya doing?" Naruto was uncharacteristically quiet when he spoke. He smiled sadly when he watched Sasuke unravel himself and grab Naruto's hand, pulling Naruto onto the bed and pushing his face into Naruto's shoulder.
"T-they're d-dead Narut-to. They're all d-dead." Sasuke sobbed, Naruto hugged him.
"I know. I'm sorry. I wish I could have helped you. I shouldn't have left. I'm sorry. I can't fix anything. But I promise I won't leave you, or betray you like your Aniki did." Sasuke just pushed himself further into Naruto's chest.
They stayed like that for a long time. Sasuke crying into Naruto, and Naruto beating himself up about leaving his best friend alone like that during such a frightening event. 'I wish I had stayed.'
Eventually, Sasuke's sobs died down, and he pulled away from Naruto. "I don't want to go back there." was all he said.
Naruto simply smiled and said, "Don't worry, you won't have to. You can just move in with me. It'll be cramped, and we'd have to share a bedroom, bathroom, and pretty much everything else, but we could make it work."
Sasuke, seeming to hear the smile in his voice, gave a small smile in return. "Yes please. I don't want to be alone. Thank you, Naruto."
Naruto just squeezed Sasuke's hands reassuringly. He knew his friend would be alright.
Mirokai-And that's it! We might have messed up a little on the ending, and I'm pretty sure we rushed Naruto's POV, BUT HEY! NOBODY"S PERFECT!
Gaara-Next chapter we will be starting the timeline of the actual Naruto series, meaning we're skipping until they're both twelve. We get it, we're being lazy. Don't judge.
Astral- Please leave a review when you can. We would like five before we start writing the next chapter. If possible, of course.
Mirokai-MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Astral-And a Happy New Year.
Gaara-What am I supposed to say? You know what? Just- just Happy Holidays, everyone.
