It was cold.
That's all Sasuke Uchiha realized as he sat on a very particular bench in the village of Kohonagakure. Looking around, he recognized the place as where his Aniki would go to relax and escape from the pressures of their family. When he was younger, he would follow Itachi around the village. Hoping that if he adopted some of Itachi's habits, he may become stronger and actually deserve to be called Itachi Uchiha's younger brother. Clutching his pants in his right hand, he vaguely wondered if Itachi would be sitting there with him.
If things had been different.
Of course, he'd never know how things could have been.
Not after the death of his family, and his venture down a dark path,
Not after Itachi's blood, their cursed family's blood, stained his hands.
So he sat there on the bench Itachi once sat on reading, every evening after they finished dinner. His only company a dimly lit street lamp and the sky's pouring rain, which seemed to be expressing the emotion he could no longer emit. He gently swirled Itachi's ring in his hand, it was the only thing he had of his brother besides his fondest memories. Sasuke's dark bangs didn't move as he faced the sky with closed eyes, inviting the rain onto his pale face to wash away his sins.
He really didn't care if he were to catch a cold later on. He was too occupied in his thoughts.
It took him a few moments to realize that the unforgiving cold droplets were no longer pelting his body. In its place, was comfort and…protection?
He looked up to see a practically dry blonde shinobi, smiling down at him as he held his obnoxiously neon orange umbrella.
"Stupid, you're gonna get sick just sitting here! Come on, get up. The apartment's not too far from here, you can stay there till the storm let's up."
He didn't move, instead, he just stared up at Naruto's face. The face he looked for in his most desperate and grueling times for comfort and hope.
"Are you already sick? We gotta get your immune system working better." Naruto said, grabbing hold of Sasuke's hand and pulling him up into a standing position.
"Come on."
He sighed and stuffed his hands in his pockets, no longer trapped in his thoughts of the past. Sasuke almost smiled and discreetly moved closer to Naruto, attracted to the blonde's energy.
Naruto always managed to be there when he needed him most.
Sasuke walked with Naruto to his apartment with soaked feet, leaving the bench and some of Sasuke's most painful yet pleasant memories with it.