Fate's Garden

Part 3 - Inked

Chapter 5 - A Tall Glass Of Water

Naruto was sitting in the cramped living room of his apartment. He had been since Sasuke left earlier, and he'd been either napping or reading some old ninja scrolls of his. He was pondering going to the library and getting a book when Sasuke finally did come back. It was probably a good thing he didn't, that might be too weird, for him to be willingly reading. For a reason he was likely soon to find out, this Sasuke was furious, he stormed into the apartment and slammed the door. He stood there, glaring openly at Naruto before he started pacing back and forth, attempting to glare a hole in everything.

Naruto propped his elbows up on his knees, resting his chin in his hands as he watched Sasuke move back and forth like a tennis ball at Wimbledon. Eventually his neck grew tired so instead he stared at the floor. It took a while but eventually Sasuke calmed down long enough to approach him, and kneel on the floor on the opposite side of the coffee table from him. He rested his elbows on the coffee table, folding one hand over the other and pressing it against the lower half of his face. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply for a few minutes. Then he sighed again and moved his hands away from his face.

"So…so…this whole thing with the past lives and…and the gods, it's true?" Sasuke asked, his voice strained, as if he couldn't believe what he was asking.

"Yes, it is."

"Is there any way other than the fact I can't seem to tell anyone about it, that you can prove this to me?"

"I don't believe so, other than me acting differently than your Naruto to an extent, I've lived far longer now."

"How old are you exactly?"

"I have lived through a total of four hundred and fifty two years now, collectively. But if you include my memories from the lives I've been through I have lived much longer. With each life I enter I gain the memories of that Naruto until I can remember his entire life."

Sasuke's eyes widened and his hands fell down onto the table with a weak thud. Naruto waited patiently for the information to sink in, it was a lot after all. He massaged his face and admired it's young pliant skin. When he was a fox he had the ability of glamours and illusions, so he could look young when he really wasn't, if he wanted. But he'd never been inclined to do so. Whenever he ventured to Konoha in his later years he would always assume the correct human form for the age he really was, which equated to around sixty-four in human years. The skin on his face was softer but in a different way than when he was a young todd. It also felt…very…strange to be talking to a Sasuke that hadn't experienced these lives with him. The most time he'd been without his Sasuke but with another version had been back in his second life, and that'd only been for barely a day. He was going to be stuck with this version for the rest of his time in this life.

"Could I…meet your father?" Sasuke asked finally as the shock wore off.

"Well..." Naruto tried to imagine how that might go over. As he created vivid scenarios in his father's voice rang not in his ears but in his mind. It was genial and warm.

"Son, try to find other ways to prove your divinity to him I can give you a god's power for twenty minutes but no longer, we are not allowed to reenter mortal realms in our fully realized form so I wouldn't really be able to achieve anything. I am proud of you for taking this life seriously and doing your best to reach an understanding."

"Thank you Dad," Naruto thought back, smiling at the praise.

"What?" Sasuke questioned Naruto's causeless smile, having not heard the internal discussion.

"Oh, nothing. He says he can't come to see you, so I'll just have to find another way to prove it to you. Let's see…a god's power huh?" Naruto chuckled.

Naruto reached out and touched Sasuke's forehead, imagining them standing on the hokage sculptures, specifically on the fourth's head. When he opened his eyes there they were, he removed his hand from Sasuke's forehead and watched as he stared in awe at his surroundings.

"Would you like another example?" Sasuke's eyes flew back to him, his clamped shut his face was ashen, and had confusion and disbelief written all over it.

"Naruto…just stop, take us back before the ANBU find out and report us to council," Sasuke demanded.

"Alright, I'll make it so they didn't even notice," Naruto assured him, taking him by the arm and returning them to the apartment.

They were standing in the apartment's tiny kitchen, Sasuke leant over the sink, face paling even further at the implications that what Naruto had told him was real. Naruto was standing quite complacently, popping his knuckles and heading back towards the couch. A few minutes or so later Sasuke joined him though he appeared far less angry than before and instead more somber.

"How long are you going to be here, Naruto?" Sasuke bit out.

"I don't know, probably until I learn the lesson I'm supposed to. I'm supposed to be able to 'completely get along' with my mate by the time this life is over, so however I'm supposed to accomplish that, I guess."

"What does your father mean by 'completely get along'?"

"I think I'm supposed to just give my heart away to Sasuke and trust him entirely, and I think my Dad wants me to understand his views on the situation too. It's weird, and dumb in my opinion. I don't see why I have to get along so great with Sasuke before we get home, I mean, it's not like we don't have the rest of eternity to work out our problems."

"Maybe it would make this easier if you showed me, from your perspective, what happened that night of your really important argument?" Sasuke suggested.

"Mm," Naruto grumbled, reaching forward a hand to place on Sasuke's forehead, willing him to see the events that transpired that night all those years ago.

At first Sasuke appeared baffled, and then tense, and then incredulous. The changing of expressions was especially entertaining, if not a bit confusing. When Sasuke finally spoke, it was not what Naruto was expecting.

"You are such an idiot."

Sasuke loathed civilians; he hated them and their abhorrent school system. What a complete waste of time. He'd sat through the first several classes of the day and quickly realized that all of what he'd be learning was vaguely interesting but basically useless information from textbooks and adults who found themselves witty. That and he didn't see this world's Naruto again until he was told to head towards the cafeteria for lunch. Any attempts he made to try and talk to him in the hallways in between his classes were thwarted by the blonde avoiding him, so this time he was determined. Sasuke Uchiha was not ignored, especially not by the dobe, especially by a civilian version of the dobe.

In order to fit in he stood in line, purchased an exorbitantly unhealthy meal and found Naruto sitting at a table by himself. The blonde was clearly scanning the lunch room for someone, probably a friend. Too bad, he was going to talk to him, whether he wanted to or not. Naruto saw him coming and his search of the cafeteria grew a bit more frantic but he didn't get up and leave. Sasuke supposed that was a good sign. He set his tray down on the table and sat down opposite his prey. Naruto sighed and his forehead fell into his hand.

"What do you want from me dude?"

"I want to talk to you."

"That's it? Do you know how weird that sounds?" Naruto questioned.

Sasuke opened his mouth to retort when he realized he didn't actually have an answer. He didn't stop to think about how odd it might be for him to show up in this school, somehow know this kid's name, and seem compelled to talk to him to the point of following him around all day. What else did he want? He just wanted to be with this Naruto so he had some strand of normality to cling to. No matter how different the circumstances, at his core, this Naruto was like his. Sasuke wanted to be friends with him, spend all of his time with him, and generally cling to him like a drowning man to a straw. Now how to relate that without sounding inherently creepier? Act embarrassed maybe that'll make you more normal and less weird.

Sasuke allowed a faint tinge of pink to overtake his face and he mumbled, "Um….I do now…I didn't really think about it till now."

The air between them grew awkward and Naruto picked at his food while Sasuke continued to awkwardly stare at the table for the sake of his story.

Come up with a crazy reason for why you wanted to talk to him…that'll draw in sympathy.

"I…I thought you were someone I knew but…he died a few months ago and….you just looked so similar I guess I forgot. He had moved away after all…" Sasuke trailed off bitterly, propping his hands up on the table as if he was about to push himself into a standing position.

"You know…it's…it's not that big of a deal, man, whatever…you're new to the school right? So you don't really know anyone yet?" Naruto relented with a slight stutter.

"Yeah, my family just moved here like a week ago, this is my first day," Sasuke answered, allowing himself to appear a bit more comfortable.

"Hey, what classes do you have?"

Sasuke reached into his bag and handed him his schedule which Naruto took, scanning it while idly chewing on his plastic fork. As Sasuke was planning on asking him something about why someone would want to put lockers in the basement of this forsaken place, he was interrupted quite rudely. A girl that was all make up, cleavage and anorexia stood next to their table. Behind her were a few other girls who were standing a few feet away and giggling while looking at them. Sasuke tried to ignore her, but Naruto wouldn't, he was eyeing her with recognition but no clear like or dislike.

"Hey, you're that new kid Sasuke, right?" the girl asked, smiling coyly at him.

"Yes, I am."

"You're cute, how bout you come sit with me and my friends?"

"No thanks, I'm fine here, though I've got a secret for you," Sasuke smirked at her in that way that made all the girls swoon in their first life, sure enough it worked.

"Really? What is it?"

"If you drink more water, your lunch will come back up easier when you go to the bathroom to purge around fifth period."

The nameless girl gawked at him and then stormed away in a huff. When Sasuke turned back to Naruto triumphantly he was rewarded with a grin. Maybe making friends with this Naruto wouldn't be too hard.



TBC…