Summary - Sasuke has returned after a five year absence. Completely void of all emotions, he claims he only wants to become the strongest. Naruto and Sakura, along with the rest of the infamous 'Rookie Nine' need to draw out the old Sasuke and reassert their friendship before he turns into the one person he really hates. Main pairing is SasuNaru, along with many minor pairings for fluffy goodness.
Rated For - Swearing, violence, and future citrusy situations.
Disclaimer - Believe me, if I owned Naruto, I wouldn't be writing this.
Chapter Six - Allegro
-------Naruto.-------
Thud.
Thud, thud, thud.
Thud, thud, crash.
"Five more minutes," I mumbled, "and then you can beat me up. Just don't steal the ramen..."
Thud.
I wriggled, burrowing deeper into the blankets. I vaguely registered the door handle turning before I sat up. Most people who came here broke down the door. They didn't walk in calmly. Rolling over, I noticed a figure blocking out the sunlight.
"Ah, thank you." I murmured. I drifted off, almost falling asleep again, before whoever the hell it was nudged me with a foot.
"Whaaaat?" I whined, still not awake.
"Oi, idiot. Get out of bed already." The figure snapped. My eyes popped open, and I rolled away, getting tangled in the sheets.
"Wha-Sasuke! What the fuck are you doing here?!" I screeched, rolling around. I struggled to get out of the blankets, and flopped down when my efforts proved to be futile. I glared at him from my warm cocoon. "Don't just stand there!"
He sighed. "This is so pointless..." Reaching down, he pulled a corner of my blanket, tugging violently. Without warning, I found myself sprawled on my floor, a few feet away from where I had last been lying.
I swore under my breath. "What was that for?!"
"For wasting my time. Get up and get ready." He snapped.
At last! Some emotion!
A smile tugged at my lips. He saw it and glared. "What?"
"Haha, Sasuke-teme! You're angry."
I could tell this made absolutely no sense to him. Ever since he'd rejoined Team Seven, Sasuke had displayed no emotions whatsoever. There was a tiny hint of annoyance every now and then, but this was the most he'd said in a long time, with the most feeling behind it. Of course, it just had to be anger...
I repeated my thoughts to him, and he shut off again, his eyes resuming their bored, blank expression.
I continued grinning stupidly, even if I didn't mean it. I had to pretend I was okay with it. I had to pretend that the small change was the most exciting thing in the world. I had to try.
Maybe this way I could get the old Sasuke back.
-------Flashback.-------
"Sasuke-teme!" Naruto shouted. A smirking Sasuke landed a few feet away, completely unfazed.
"Feh. Useless. I would have thought you had improved." He said, not bothering to turn around.
Naruto scowled. "Why do you have to be such a bastard, you bastard?!"
He heard a snort, and watched in disbelief as Sasuke walked away. "If you can't even put up a good fight, I'm wasting my time here."
Naruto growled, raising a fist. Sasuke stopped, having heard the rustle of his clothes. "Well, what are you waiting for?"
Naruto lowered his hand, and Sasuke finally turned around. Naruto flashed him a trademark grin, although the smile never reached his eyes. With a loud pop, a pile of rocks fell to the ground with a loud rumble, and Sasuke's eyes widened a fraction as Naruto appeared behind him, a kunai knife at his throat.
"Ready or not..." He grinned, and barely had time to dodge as Sasuke's leg swung up behind to kick him.
Naruto suddenly found himself backed up against a tree. "Aw, man..." he said huffily. Sasuke's eyes blazed red, and Naruto quickly used a Substitution justu to prevent himself from being tied to the tree by Sasuke's Sōfūshasan no Tachi (1).
"Using the same old trick...?"
Naruto grinned. "I'm just getting started!"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Several hours later, both boys were on their backs, the forest around them in varying states of ruin. They were both panting heavily, and had a number of wounds, several which were relatively serious. Sasuke turned his head to look at Naruto, lying a few feet away from him. The blond-haired boy was looking up at the sky, a distant, genuine smile on his face.
"You've improved." Sasuke commented after a moment of silence.
Naruto only managed an incoherant grunt as he turned to look at Sasuke as well. The older boy smirked at him, and he smirked wearily back.
"So. You've defeated Neji and Gaara."
"And you!"
"Idiot. You're just as incapacitated as I am."
Naruto glared. "Well, what if I was just pretending? So that I could let you feel safe and then kill you?"
Sasuke observed him silently, and Naruto squirmed under his gaze. "Are you?" Sasuke asked eventually.
Naruto paused. Sasuke hadn't been able to see it in the dark, but most of his cuts had healed, and even the few serious injuries he had received were starting to improve. 'He doesn't know about the demon fox...'
Naruto stood shakily, and Sasuke struggled to sit up. He looked up at Naruto, who was holding out a hand. Sasuke stared at him. "Incredible stamina." He commented quietly.
"Come on, Sasuke-teme. You promised if I could beat you, you'd treat me to dinner."
Sasuke opened his mouth to point out that technically, neither of them had won, but stopped. Naruto was grinning, his eyes brightening, which made Sasuke smile back, although Naruto almost missed it. Allowing himself to be helped up, Sasuke closed his eyes as the world spun for a moment, and then muttered, just loud enough for Naruto to hear, "If you let me fall, I'm going to kick your legs out from under you."
"Haha, friends don't let friends fall!"
"...Friends?"
Naruto stopped, his head turning towards Sasuke. "...Oh. Never mind." He tried to take a step forwards, but Sasuke held him back. "What?" Naruto frowned.
"Friends who let friends fall deserve to fall down with them." Sasuke said slyly. Naruto's grin returned, and Sasuke went home that night completely broke.
-------End Flashback.-------
I frowned, although Sasuke was looking away by now. The old Sasuke was full of snarky comebacks and insults, and was always eager to fight me. The old Sasuke and I pushed each other to become stronger. The old Sasuke and I were starting to become good friends. This Sasuke...this Sasuke didn't want anything to do with me. I was used to people like that.
But not ones that used to like me.
"Will you just get up?" he muttered. I got up instantly, obviously startling him.
I pushed him out of my bedroom and slammed the door in his emotionless face, getting dressed quickly and scrubbing my face.
I came outside to find him still waiting there, but stalked past him. He didn't say anything, which proved my earlier point. This Sasuke was a shell, completely devoid of human emotion, with only one purpose in life – to become the strongest.
"You know what, Uchiha-san?" I hissed angrily as I passed him. "I preferred you when you were an irritable bastard, full of insults. When you pushed me to better myself, and when you let me do the same for you."
He stared at me now, finally paying attention to what I was saying.
Our eyes met, blue fury meeting a black void, and I spat the next sentence at him before wheeling around and running, as fast as I could, away from the loser that replaced Sasuke.
"I preferred you much better when I thought you were my friend."
(1) Literally Manipulating Windmill Triple Blades.