::Chapter Two:: (I do not own any of the characters portrayed in this fanfiction)
Dark lashes fluttered open exposing sensitive eyes to the bright morning sun that peered through the curtain-less window. Sasuke begrudgingly woke up; stretching awkwardly in his bed and then kicking his legs so that his comforter uncovered his body. Last night's incident finally caught up to his body, leaving Sasuke sore and achy. Sasuke let out a small groan; he never really was a morning person to begin with, and now this—this is just too much. He laid there for a while; a morning dove cooed outside his window. That's when reality struck. Sasuke sprang up in his bed, causing a bolt of pain to shoot through his body, but never mind that…
Naruto. He needed to see Naruto. Sasuke had remembered the look that Naruto gave him last night; the anger in his forceful slamming of the door…right in Sasuke's face. Sasuke knew that he should've asked what was wrong right at that moment—but his mind just went blank—his body acted on his own…and he went home. But now, now he had to go straight to Naruto's house and pursue the problem. Sasuke hated thinking that he was causing misfortune for Naruto…he couldn't bear the thought of hurting the one he loves the most.
Quickly, Sasuke got out of bed and hustled out his bedroom door. He didn't bother with changing his clothes—last night, or this morning. Something in his mind just told him to skip that part… He raced down the stairs and past the kitchen. Surprisingly, his brother was not at his usual spot in the morning—sitting at the table with a cup of coffee reading the newspaper (comics).
"That's strange…" Sasuke mumbled to himself as he tucked his feet into his shoes; he stood up and tapped his foot on the floor a couple times to ensure that his feet where all the way in his shoes. Once he was outside he stared at the empty space on his blacktop driveway…
"Oh yeah…" he laughed sheepishly, "I totaled my car…" Sasuke bit his lip; should he go get the car thing taken care of first? He shook his head; no, this was way more important than some stupid car…a stupid car…that he wasn't done paying of… Sasuke sighed. He let his shoulders slump as he began to drag his feet on the drive way as he trudged his way down it. Abruptly, he straightened up.
"No!" He encouraged himself. "I can't let myself get down! I've got to get things settled with Naruto and then I'll worry about the car!" With sudden inspiration, Sasuke sped up his pace as he made his way to Naruto's. He paused at a turn—he thought it was best to take a different route to Naruto's…seeing his car would be too much to bear…
Sasuke walked quickly as he knew his destination was closing in. He stared at his feet; like most people do when they walk alone. They marched forward on the cement sidewalk, one after the other, not knowing what lies ahead. A forgiving settlement or a life changing breakup. Sasuke shivered at the second possibility. When he let his eyes drift upwards the first thing that flashed in his eyes were cherry and blue lights. His eyes went wide; his feet stopped. A black and white police car was parked in Naruto's driveway.
Sasuke wasn't too far away, so he could see that Kakashi (an old friend of Naruto and Sasuke's) was at Naruto's door; he knocked. Sasuke didn't know why, but his feet still did not move. Frozen in fear for why a police officer was at Naruto's house. God forbid if his house was broken into! He continued to watch from afar when Naruto came to the door; his expression showed surprise; obviously he was not expecting Officer Kakashi. Kakashi's expression, however, was fairly sympathetic. Sasuke watched Kakashi's mouth move to the words he spoke; although, he could not read lips, so what he was saying was completely out of his knowledge. Kakashi paused, shaking his head as he spoke the last words of his sentence.
Just then, Naruto's face went blank. His features turned that of a ghosts' color, as if all the blood had been drained out. Sasuke felt his heart sink when he saw Naruto burst into sobs; his legs gave out, causing him to fall to his knees. He buried his face in his hands. That's when Sasuke's body reacted. Like a bat out of hell—Sasuke put aside all tiredness from the night before and dashed through Naruto's front yard to get to him.
"Naruto?! Naruto what's wrong?!" He yelled. He panted slightly from the outburst of speed he had just strained his body for. Naruto did not look up at him. Sasuke looked towards Kakashi, whose face was turned away from both Naruto and Sasuke. The confused Uchiha laid his hand on Naruto's shoulder as he kneeled down next to his upset boyfriend. The talk can wait—right now, he wanted to help Naruto through…whatever just happened. Sasuke thought the worst—something had happened to Iruka (another good friend of theirs…). He patted Naruto's shoulder.
"Naruto…" He spoke into his ear; Naruto gave no reaction, his sobs still coming as heavy as ever, "If someone did something to Iruka…I swear I'll--"
"Let me see him." Naruto interrupted Sasuke, he lifted his head from his hands; his eyes were rimmed with red as tears bled from them; staining his soft cheeks. Sasuke was a little taken back. 'See him?' he wondered. Without even acknowledging Sasuke, Naruto stood up and began walking towards Kakashi's squad car, tears still streaming down his face. Sasuke looked at Kakashi, who stared intently foreword.
"Kakashi…" Sasuke spoke, "I'm confused. What happened?" Kakashi just closed his eyes, took a deep breath in, and turned to follow Naruto. Sasuke followed as well, although he felt as if he shouldn't be there. Something definitely wasn't right with him and Naruto. Why would he so coldly ignore him like that? Even so; Sasuke still wanted to be there for him. So, a little awkwardly, Sasuke got into the back seat of the car with Naruto and sat next to him. The car started and they drove off, in complete silence.
Sasuke chewed his lower lip as he thought. "Naruto really is mad at me…But he let me come with so he can't be THAT mad…can he?" He turned his head towards Naruto, who kept his gaze directly out the window, watching the blur of images zoom by. All this was happening so fast, that Sasuke felt as if he couldn't keep up. Tension was high, and the silence wasn't helping at all. He kept silent nonetheless; for some odd reason, he felt as if he was the cause of all of this. He couldn't explain this feeling, but it was just one of those gut feelings. Hence, the three drove in silence…
After a while, Sasuke leaned over a bit, to see where they were actually going. His eyes widened in surprise. An all too familiar stop light beamed before his eyes. He felt the car begin to slow; but the light was still green. There were other cop cars parked not too far away, their formation was a little questionable. Like they were surrounding something. His heart began to pick up speed, little by little. He snapped his head towards Naruto, who lifted his head from his hand, in which he had been resting his head on. Sasuke felt his own hands begin to shake, an uneasy feeling started to brew in the pit of his stomach.
Before the car pulled over to a complete stop, Sasuke saw Naruto frantically unlatch his seatbelt, pull up the door lock (yeah, I know, Cop cars don't have locks in the inside of the car….whatever…) and dash out of the car, leaving the door wide open. "Naruto!" Sasuke yelled out, he quickly did the same as Naruto and scooted across the seat. When he got out of his car, his whole body froze on the spot. His eyes widened, wider than they've ever been, in horror. The sight before him caused this.
His demolished car was still in the grassy ditch. Debris was everywhere; shattered glass sparkled in the sun, making the street seemed to be made of crystal. He watched Naruto run over to something on the ground. Immediately Naruto fell to his knees, laying most of his upper half on—whatever was over there. Sasuke's heart beat hard against his chest; the bile in his stomach rose.
Horrified by all of this, Sasuke slowly walked towards Naruto. Naruto's sobs bubbled to the surface again; this time more loudly. His whole body quivered, as he gasped for breath. Sasuke gulped once he reached Naruto. He stood right behind Naruto, but he could not see what was there. Slowly, Sasuke leaned over to see…
Himself lying there.
Sasuke slapped his hand over his mouth, in fear of puking. Was this for real? Was he really looking down at himself, lying there on the side of the road? His eyes shook as he gazed, sickened at the sight of himself. Dried blood smeared across his face; some out of both his nostrils, some out of the right corner of his mouth…some was even dripping out of his ears. Purple shaded bruises covered wherever his exposed skin was. On his arm, the red, scratchy looking wound plagued his skin. Making it look rough and burned. His eyes were closed; his face in the expression of something far more serious than sleep.
He took a step back, his legs stumbling; threating to give out any second. Naruto's crying still bellowed out in the silence. Sasuke kept his hand over his mouth; he snapped his head towards Kakashi, who was walking up to Naruto now.
"He was found like this, just this morning. At 6." Kakashi said. Naruto continued crying. Sasuke felt his eyes begin to burn, a hot pain started to rise in his throat as well. He backed up a bit as Kakashi walk over to Naruto and place a hand on his shoulder—standing directly were Sasuke had just been a few seconds ago.
Naruto's head shot up, his fists grabbed Sasuke's limp body's shirt. Tears streamed down his face as he yelled. "You idiot! You fucking idiot! Why would you leave me like this, huh?! You want it to be like this?!" His voice cracked as it wavered from his sobs. With his hand still over his mouth, Sasuke shook his head, unconsciously answering Naruto's hypothetic question. His heartstrings had been tugged so hard, that they probably broke. He felt his eyes burn more, as tears flooded his eyes, spilling over onto his cheeks. His breathing was uneven as sobs began to rise in his throat.
"Wh-what about all those stupid plans of yours?! Are you gonna let all of those be flushed away?! Come on…you-you're stronger than this!..."
Kakashi walked to the side of Naruto and squeezed his shoulder. "Naruto…he's gone--"
"NO! He ISNT!" He yelled, looking up at Kakashi. His voice cracked yet again, his voice getting softer. "He….he can't be…" Naruto's voice was completely lost as fresh sobs and tears bubbled to the surface. Sasuke watched Naruto lay back down upon his body's chest. His shoulder's shook.
"Th-this is unreal…" Sasuke said to himself, after he finally uncovered his mouth. "I-I'm…dead?" Tears still streamed down his face. He looked down at his hands and moved his fingers, he wasn't translucent or anything. "Oh. That must be why Naruto slammed the door last night! He…didn't…see me…" Sasuke let his hands drop to his sides. He was so confused. He couldn't even explain to himself how he should feel right now.
He had just found out that he's…dead…and yet—here he is—standing before everyone. Although, it seemed that no one can see him. Sasuke watched as the scene before him played; like a movie, and he was the audience. No matter what he did, he would never get a reaction; that's how movies worked, right? With a sudden fear, Sasuke felt his heart race. Why was he still here…if…he was dead and all?
Was this really what happened once you died? You just linger around—watching others continue on? If that was the case, Sasuke would never in a million years be able to bear it. "Wait…" Sasuke said to himself, "didn't Naruto say something about the 'after life' once before?" Sasuke recalled that Naruto was always into that paranormal stuff…something about not being able to 'move on'?
What was it again? 'Souls that cannot pass on from this world to the next are trapped there because…they had something in their lives-- when they were living—that they had to accomplish. Until that important task is complete their souls cannot rest in peace' Naruto's quote played in Sasuke's head, like he had just heard him speak.
"That's odd…" He said. "Since when do I have such a great memory? It was almost as if…that sentence was…placed in my mind…" Sasuke's eyes widened as he let his gaze drift up towards the sky. "Ok. I get it. You want me to fulfill my important desire, right?" There was no answer. Sasuke felt his heart sink as he was cast into yet another pool of confusion. He let his gaze drift back to the living—he saw that his body was being moved. Naruto stood by Kakashi, his expression on his face read 'hurt' 'betrayed' 'lost' and many others…Sasuke stared deeply at his boyfriend…for once in his life—uh, death—he was mesmerized by Naruto. Just then, another familiar voice spoke out.
"S'hard to believe that he's really gone…" The low toned voice belonged to Itachi—Sasuke's older brother. Sasuke's attention was shot towards Itachi. He watched as Itachi walked towards Naruto, who practically collapsed into Itachi's arms. Sasuke felt another wave of emotions rush through him. Seeing his brother's face was something else he couldn't bear. Itachi held Naruto; Sasuke jumped a little when he saw a tear cascade slowly down Itachi's pale cheek. This whole thing explains why Itachi wasn't there this morning…
"He…he never came home last night…so I figured he was sleeping over at your house…" Itachi spoke to Naruto, as they continued to embrace. "I should have called…maybe we could have gotten an ambulance and--"
"No." Naruto said into Itachi's shirt, his tears soaked into the fabric. "Th-this…is just…a part of life…death is a part of life…" Itachi squeezed his eyes shut as more tears bled form his eyes. His hold of Naruto tightened.
Sasuke couldn't stand it anymore. He had to get away. There were no possible words that could explain this feeling of his—
Here was his boyfriend, his friend, and now his brother grieving over his death—and he's supposed to just stand there and listen?! Sasuke began to walk over to Naruto with his hand outstretched, but stopped. Tightening his hand into a fist, Sasuke averted his eyes away from Itachi and Naruto; he bit his lip. Closing his eyes—another tear fell—Sasuke turned and began walking away from everyone. The flashing lights still beamed; people were walking around doing their jobs…living their lives. Sasuke didn't know where he was going to go—did that even matter? All he knew was…he was dead and unable to pass on, and until he figures out what he needs to accomplish, he will have to endure watching his friends and family live on…without him…
(O__O)
To be continued...