A/N: Hey mina-san! So, I'm posting this uber fast to make up for last time. ^.^ Thank you for reading, extra thanks and huggies for the reviews that have made my day. You guys are amazing. :-*

My anon reader. Kakashi's Dog – I updated soon. ^.^ I hope you DID study. I have no idea what you're talking about when you say bad habits… ::looks all innocent:: ;-)

Disclaimer: Do not own. Do torture. Heheheheh ^.^

The Sun and the Rainfall

Shoulder Angels

More than once Sasuke had told him that, if not for his nagging voice in the back of his head, the crimes he had committed would have been so much worse. There had been a time that the Uchiha's heart had been so terribly numbed by his need for vengeance and that dreadful thirst for his brother's blood, that he could see nothing past it- and yet something had held him back. Something had kept him human. Sasuke would smirk and say that it was "A Dobe's annoying voice next to my ear, yelling that I can't do that."- whatever that might have been at the time. Surprisingly, though the dark boy would scoff to that loud, intangible creature, he would comply all the same. Naruto had told him that this admission confirmed him as his official 'Shoulder Angel'. Sasuke had responded that feathers might actually not look that bad on him as long as the attire was right. That had been enough to stir the argument in a whole new direction.

Now, months of intimacy later, Naruto was standing in the threshold of Sasuke's room, watching him take everything in as though as he had never set eyes on any of it before that moment. He didn't remember their gambols and hen-pecking, didn't recall any of the nights that they had spent in this room, doing things that would still make him blush. None of what had filled the air between them was there- well, almost nothing, because he could see Sasuke struggling to figure him out. So maybe there was hope. Or maybe he was just seeing things that he wished were true.

"Anything familiar?" he asked, as the other boy opened the door of his closet and winced.

Sasuke pulled out an orange robe and placed it against his frame for comparison. "This isn't mine." He said firmly- with a hint relief and a peck of certainty. Memories or not, his downright lack of appreciation for the color was a constant. "Do I have a girlfriend?"

Naruto's brow twitched, because the amnesiac Uchiha had unknowingly stumbled over a point of contention. After doing stuff- and especially since they had started having sex- Sasuke would often tease him about how pretty he looked when he blushed or murmured his name breathlessly. Apparently, he had never bothered to turn that mirror around, otherwise he'd know that, between the two of them, the dark boy with the delicate features and deliberate grace was far prettier than he could ever be. The jury was still out on the girlfriend case and he'd like to keep it that way. It had been hard enough to deal with the idea that he had feelings for a guy- if he wanted a girlfriend, it would have been so much less complicated to get himself one.

"No." he said after a moment, brow still twitching enough that he had to wonder if he was developing a permanent tic. "You do not have girlfriend."

"Good. I wouldn't want to see the girl who could fill this." He said, before his eyes trailed to Naruto, dressed in his usual, mostly-orange apparel. He arched a brow, before tossing it at him. "You have an odd choice for a favorite color. Especially for a ninja."

Naruto blushed, realizing that Sasuke had guessed right all along. Yes, the fluffy, orange robe was his and he had expected more of an interrogation on the issue- not that he was complaining. No, until now, it hadn't occurred to him that Sasuke would be coming across various pieces of clothing that he had left here one night or another- or that the Uchiha got for him, because it made the place feel more home-y. And one such had been the bathrobe that the blonde had favored over than any traditional apparel available to him- like those silk kimonos that Sasuke kept trying to get him to try on. He didn't do silk anything- it was girly and weird.

"Yeah, well…" he said absently, rolling the robe into a ball and tossing it on a nearby chair. "To each his own, right?"

The Uchiha returned to his search in the closet. "You must be pretty confident in your skills."

Naruto eyed the other boy suspiciously, searching for the hidden insult. "Huh?"

Hook, line and bait. On dry land. "Anyone wearing such a loud color has to have a deathwish or be a damn skilled shinobi." He deadpanned. "Not that I would have thought that the later was the case for you, considering how accident prone you seem to be."

"You're the one who can't remember shit, Teme." He panned back and thought he had a point.

Sasuke must have thought so too, because he smirked in that familiar way that only he would- and it made his heart ache. "Touché." He acknowledged, then pulled out a midnight blue yukata. Those charcoal eyes studied the small red and white fan embedded on the back. "So. Do you stay here often?"

He froze. Was there some kind of suggestion hidden in the question? Did Sasuke remember something or was he just fishing? "Often enough." He responded, honestly.

The Uchiha usually favored his place over the mansion, because the small apartment was cozy and did not carry the terrible memories of the massacre. Sasuke paused in his investigation, his charcoal eyes setting firmly on him. The stare was intense and scrutinizing- and not at all unfamiliar in a way, because he'd look at him that way when he was coming up with the next intriguing thing he wanted to try. That couldn't be it now, though.

"I suppose that makes sense to me." He said, taking a few steps towards him and pausing less than a foot away- which wasn't nearly as much space a Naruto needed. "That girl did say that we always have fun together."

What was he trying to do? If it was an attempt to gauge his reaction at proximity- especially talking like that, using Ino's baiting words- and not something that revealed intention or emotion, Naruto would find it in poor taste. Be that as it may, Sasuke had always been an asshole and this memory-loss deal seemed to have stripped him of whatever progress they had made since his return.

With an irritable sigh, he stepped back. "How about you focus on trying to remember something?" he suggested and immediately bit his tongue as it hit him that whatever the dark boy would recall in this place would be traumatizing. "Uh… I mean… Anything would help."

Sasuke's gaze had not changed, nor moved from him. "No." he said simply.

Naruto blinked in surprise. "What?"

"No, I don't want to try to remember something about this place." He said, sounding stubborn, but that wasn't it.

Could he really blame him? The whole compound still reeked of death. Especially on stormy nights, it'd give him the chills- and he hadn't had the privilege of witnessing the massacre through Itachi's Mangekyu. "That's fine." He said, running a hand through his hair. "You want some tea?"

This time, Sasuke didn't question how he was that familiar with the place. "I would appreciate that." He said simply.

"Okay then." Naruto dusted imaginary dirt off his pants nervously. "Make yourself at home."

If his attempt to lighten the mood had reached the other boy there was little indication in ways of appreciation. Seriously- was that the best he could come up with? A lame- lame, lame, lame - stab at humor. Even someone like him, who was ridiculously easily amused, could tell that it wasn't funny. That's why he left the room a little too quickly- shaking his head at himself- and made his way to the kitchen.

Now, even if Sasuke got his memories back, he would still be a lot better at finding his way through the cabinets than the Uchiha. A few days after he had started to spend the night a little more regularly, he had discovered that the other boy had done very little upkeeping in most of the kitchen- because he would only use a couple of cupboards, the refrigerator and the stove. Everything else had been reverently kept the way his mother had left it the day Itachi went batshit and killed everyone and it took a lot of convincing to change that, with Naruto pointing out that his mom would not have wanted the house to be a monument, but rather a home for her son. It had hit home with Sasuke, who had left the room with a dismissive-sounding "Do whatever you want.", which was as much of a concession as he'd ever hope to get on such an emotional issue.

An unexpected factoid was that he had also proven much better at brewing tea, even though Sasuke had more experience with the beverage. It pleased him immensely to see the Uchiha's brows furrow in mild chagrin at his skill each time he'd make him a cup. With thoughts like those, time went by too fast and before he knew it he was all set and the tray with the tea ready to be served. He walked back, inhaling the sweet scent of jasmine tea that was familiar and soothing in this insane situation.

"All set-" he started to say, but realized that Sasuke was no longer in the room. "Sasuke…?" he called. "Oy, Sasuke!"

A chill ran through him as he put the try down and stepped out of the room in search of the Uchiha. What the hell was he thinking, leaving him alone like that? Had he run away? Had he remembered something terrible and… And what? What would Sasuke do, if he remembered the massacre?

Almost knowingly, his steps brought him to the west wing of the mansion, where the bedroom of Sasuke's parents was located. Uchiha Fugaku and Mikoto had died in there by the hand of their eldest son. Cobalt eyes widened as he saw Sasuke just standing there in front of the closed door. It was locked- for which Naruto was thankful. He had been in there once with the raven, on his father's birthday, when he would light incense and spend a few moments in the room that would be inaccessible other than such occasions- birthdays and the anniversary of their death. The significance of being included in the rite had not escaped him.

A few days later he had managed to summon up the courage to go to his own father's grave- since the people in the know had finally decided to fill the gaps- and Sasuke had been with him. Supposedly he had never been told the truth about Minato as a child, because people figured that he would have resented him for the bright idea to seal a demon in him. Maybe they had been right at the time.

"… Sasuke?" he tried softly, as though sound might break the Uchiha.

If Sasuke heard him, he ignored him. Whatever state of trance had brought him to that room had completely enveloped his mind. A pale hand came up to touch the door, head stooping a little and shoulders dropping as though he was suddenly so, so tired. There was a grim, but determined expression on his face as he looked to the side, then reached into a small vase and fished out a key. Surprise was swiftly added to his features- and then understanding.

No, no, no, no… Naruto's gaze shifted from the vase to Sasuke's hand that had closed tightly around the key. All he wanted was to protect his precious person- Sakura was wrong. Not knowing had to be better than the shrill pain that he was about to experience all over again, that he no longer remembered how he had learned to live and cope with it. "Sasuke…" he called to him a little louder. "Let's just go back to your room. We can deal with this tomorrow."

Sasuke had never been one to be reasoned with once he had made up his mind though. "Stay here." He said tightly, finally acknowledging his presence, and unlocked the door.

Guess he wasn't invited this time. Naruto's hands balled into fists, feeling helpless as he watched his precious person, his best friend- his any-and-all-things encompassed in that pale form- survey the room like it was hostile grounds. There was a picture on the nightstand- of him, his brother and parents- that he picked up for a moment and his hands trembled a little as he set it back down. A haunted look started to crawl in those beautiful eyes, darkening them with unspoken grief the more he stood there, the more his gaze set on a specific spot on the floor. There was the brownish outline of a stain that had drenched the wood and would never be removed.

Screw this, Naruto thought and walked to his side. He wanted to take his hand, but settled for squeezing his arm. "Ne, Sasuke… are you alright?" he asked tentatively.

His gaze never wavered from the floor. "Fine." he replied, his voice a hoarse whisper that told another story entirely.

Bullshit, he accused. "Anything coming back?"

Sasuke shook his head. "No."

Naruto had had to bypass the Uchiha's stubborn mask twice already- and however frustrating he would do it again and again. There was nothing more important to him that the stupid bastard that stood in front of him, nothing he needed more- or at all, as long as Sasuke was there. Besides, the Hokage monument had not been built in a day and anything worthwhile was a work in progress.

He brought his arm around those tense shoulders and tried to tear him out of the room. "Come on… let's go have some tea." He urged gently.

The raven's feet were glued in that spot and he didn't move. Naruto had been about to do just about anything sort of hoisting him over his shoulder or dragging him out of her room by the hair- unless nothing else worked, in which case he'd have to keep his options open- when he felt Sasuke shiver. His eyes snapped back to Sasuke's face and his breath caught in his chest. No… The charcoal eyes shone with unshed tears and his frame began to shake with silent sobs. Naruto didn't care about rules or misunderstandings anymore. Right there and then Sasuke's heart was breaking and he needed him- maybe he didn't remember that need, but he was going to be there for whether he liked it or not.

Always. He promised in his mind as he gathered the pale boy in his arms and held him tightly against him.

There was nothing he could say- nothing but trite assurances and hollow pledges that it was going to be alright- so he simply squeezed him to him, one hand stroking his back, the other guiding the raven's head to the crook of his neck and holding him there. It wasn't going to be alright. Nothing would ever make that pain disappear- but, eventually, he prayed that the raven would remember that he was not alone. Never. But there and then there was nothing he could do other than use his clumsy arms to hold him together as the world-around him, inside him- was falling apart. His body was the only buffer for the muffled scream of utter grief that left Sasuke's lungs until they emptied of air, robbing him of his strength. His knees buckled and crushed on the floor. Naruto went down with him, refusing to let go, placing feathersoft kisses on his dark hair as the strong, unyielding Uchiha wept- and he wept with him. For the parents that had been killed, for the terror and heartbreak that he had experienced, for all the innocence that had been stolen from him that day.

There was no compass for time in that painful limbo, so he couldn't tell how long it had been until the sobs subsided, but Sasuke had remained quietly in that embrace longer still. Finally, he looked up at him and those dark eyes were red-rimmed and bloodshot. Naruto smiled a little at him and pushed the strands of dark hair that had fallen into his eyes out of the way, cupping his face in his hands.

"I'm here." Was all he said and wished there was something more, yet begged whatever Kami there was that it was enough. For now.

Sasuke took a deep breath and stood, offering his hand to help him up. It was strangely assuring, almost an image of strength even though the Uchiha had to sniffle now and then. Naruto didn't need it, but took it anyway- because he didn't feel the need to be strong in front of Sasuke. They had always been stronger together than they had been individually and even if his memory never returned, he wanted the Uchiha to know that. After a moment, Sasuke handed him the key to the room causing him to look back questioningly. Was it a response in trust? Did he even know why he was doing this? Maybe his hearing was still failing him, but the heart must have heard the soothing whispers his Shoulder Angel.

The Uchiha didn't explain either way. He simply stood there, with something almost pleading beckoning behind his eyes. Eventually he spoke again in a voice that was barely audible and painfully broken. "Get me out of here."

He didn't have to ask twice.

So that was chapter 5… ::crickets chirping:: … I know… angry, huh? ::crickets having a symphony orchestra:: I'm sorry, I HAD to do this! Well… not had to per se, but this is how it came out. Will try to send angsty muse on vacation. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy. ^.^

Ja!

M.