Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but K. Masashi kicks puppies!
Did any of you see the Avatar finale? Didn't it piss you off?.! Finally, when Zuko could've had a better life and worked alongside Aang, he had to be stupid and choose Azula! WTF?.! I think being with a cutie like Aang and having your eye healed by Katara would be so much better than regaining your pride... I know, males have this "pride" fixation, but come on. Sex with Aang... better than pride, right? Well... sex with Jet... but apparently, Jet's either dead or away somewhere doing ok with Smellerbee and Longshot.
Sorry this chapter took a few days, but I was workin' on Reconnection and thinkin' about another fanfic idea XD Hah, phone sex. There isn't too many fics out there with that.
Children ran around their parents, chasing each other and giggling like it was the funniest and coolest thing in the word. One of them finally got tapped on the shoulder and they quickly turned, chasing back after the other kids, darting right between Sasuke and Naruto, who were enjoying the Christmas lights scattered about. The blond had to explain what that holiday was, telling Sasuke of Santa Clause, presents, cookies, pine trees, etc.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the kids who bumped into him, but then he realized he was feeling annoyance. A sensation he wasn't supposed to have. He ignored it, not wanting to pull Naruto from his joy of looking at Christmas lights.
"Aren't they beautiful?" Naruto asked, "I've always wanted to put some up, but... there'd really be no point, you know? I could only put them up on my porch, but it's not facing the city, so no one'll see them," he sighed, "although... since you're here this year, maybe I could put them up anyway, in the house!" he grinned, "so you can experience a real Christmas!"
Sasuke smiled slightly. Naruto was a very caring person, always thinking about the raven instead of himself, "I would enjoy that."
"Oh, and we can buy a tree, too!" he looked up at the dark sky in thought, "but where would I get the money? I can't ask Ero-sannin for money since he pays for apartment..."
Sasuke looked over at the koi swimming around in pond, the water illuminated by a light above it, "Humans have jobs, do they not? Do you have one?"
"Um, have you seen me go to work?" Naruto said through fish lips, "Ino refuses to let me have a job because of my condition, so I basically have to live off of two of my father's old friends."
"I see..." Sasuke tightened his coat, "when are we going to reach the icecream parlor?"
"Huh?" Naruto had honestly forgotten where they were going and grinned sheepishly, "uh, it's right around here," he led Sasuke to the right and just a bit away was a building lit with various red and green lights.
"Naruto!" Temari called to him from inside, her uniform consisting of a dark red shirt and tan pants. She tossed a calculating gaze at Sasuke, "who's your friend?"
"Temari, this is Sasuke!" he pushed the raven forward when they reached the ordering window, "Sasuke, this is my good friend, Temari! Say hi!"
Sasuke grumbled, "Hn."
Temari chuckled, "Not much of a talker, is he?" she looked at her nails then back at them, "now, welcome to Tsukiyo, how may I help you? May I suggest the mint ice?"
"Um, I'll take it!" Naruto grinned, "how about you, Teme?"
Sasuke raised a brow.
"Oh, right," Naruto scanned the menu, "let's start you out simple. Sasuke'll take the chocolate ice."
Temari wrote the order down and tore the page from her small notebook, handing it to a worker behind her, "Make it quick, my friends have somewhere to be," she said boredly.
"It doesn't have to be fast, we could stay here all night for all I cared," he laughed.
"I'd prefer to go back to your apartment," Sasuke commented.
Temari slowly blinked her grey eyes and smirked, "So, Raven is staying at your apartment? You two must be good friends."
Naruto blushed, "I-It's not what you think--"
"I'm sure it isn't," the girl tapped her fingers on the counter, amused, "since you're too much of a wuss to ask someone out, and Raven here probably doesn't say more than ten words at a time. I doubt he asked you out."
"Here," a worker placed their orders down on the counter and Temari lifted them up, handing them to both males.
"Now," Naruto started, ignoring Temari's comment, "you don't want to eat it too fast because you'll get a brain freeze, so take slow bites," he took a spoonful of his and smiled foxily, "see?"
Sasuke examined the frozen treat and lifted the spoon, which had a blob of light brown icecream on it. Taking a bite, he let it dissolve on his tongue before he swallowed, the taste coating his glands, It's actually pretty good... He took another bite, "It looks like you get to keep that 10,000 yen, Dobe."
The blond grinned, "I knew you'd like it! No one can resist the delicious taste of icecream!"
Temari snorted in a Sasuke-like manner, "What? He's never had icecream before?"
"He was a deprived child, born in the slums of America," Naruto nodded at his own statement, licking his spoon clean of his mint ice.
"Really now?" Temari looked humored, "How was that?"
Sasuke wanted to answer, but he didn't really know how.
"He doesn't like talking about it. It screws with his mentality," Naruto said quickly.
"So basically, he's an unstable freak? Like you?"
Naruto's brow twitched, "Very funny."
Sasuke, realizing that he didn't want to involve himself in their bickering, wandered off. He recognized this place as a street both he and Naruto had passed the other day when they went to the market... meaning the coast wasn't far away. He was tempted to go back, to see if he could regain his memories. He wanted feelings, he wanted his life back...
I can't come back to life, but I can remember what is was like, at least...
Going through the crowd, he crossed the street and walked along the rail that led to the mangroves of the sandy beach. He ran his fingers along the cold metal as he made his way down the stretch, turning to look back at the icecream shop. He saw Naruto looking around frantically, but the raven made no move to turn back.
"He looked terrified that day... but I desperately want to do this. I want to remember being his friend... it's a step towards his happiness... giving him back the friend he lost," leaping over the rail and going into the mangroves, he breathed in the scent of the salty ocean, dropping his coat and spreading his wings out once he climbed out of the winding trees, His happiness.
He looked down at the water and fell forward, his black wings blending into the darkness of the night. As he fell closer to the ocean, his wings flapped and he hovered in the air, his head turning to the side, knowing the site of his death was around these cliffs. He swooped down and sped around the large rocks, his wings like beautiful gluiders.
xXxXx
A smaller Naruto ran through the fallen leaves in the park, his breath coming out in huffs as he reached a red bridge over a frozen river. He grinned to a smaller Sasuke, the black-haired boy swinging his feet back and forth over the edge of the wooden bridge.
"Sasu-nii!" he called, finally reaching the boy. He held out a small box which was poorly wrapped. He blushed slightly, "s-sorry... but I tried."
Sasuke smiled and took the present, opening it. His obsidian eyes glittered with happiness as he pulled out the hand-made stuffed bear. It was a beautiful fuzzy tan and he held it against his chest, smiling. His parents had told him it was childish to have stuffed animals, and that if he wanted to be a great business man like his brother, he'd have to grow up sooner, so they took away all of his toys,
"Thank you, Naruto," he whispered, that gift meaning more to him than anyone could know.
The blond sat down next to his friend, "What about my gift?" he looked around Sasuke, but he saw no box, "you didn't forget, did you? It's Christmas, Sasu-nii, how could you forget?" his eyes watered, "and it's the day we first met..."
Sasuke bent forward and pressed his rosy lips against Naruto's, pulling away after a few seconds, a blush adorning his cheeks, "This is my present."
Naruto's face turned a bright red, "Sasu-nii?"
"I give you myself," the raven whispered shyly, "that's my present."
xXxXx
The sudden memory shocked Sasuke and his wings gave out, his body falling towards the water. He managed to regain his balance, but his appendages seemed to be weak and he flew up to the top of the cliff, his wings finally going limp and his body slamming into the earth.
He coughed, and shakily lifted himself up, scrapes on his arms and right cheek, Why did my wings give out? Kakashi said regaining my memories wouldn't cause me to lose my wings... so why?
He stood and tried to lift his wings, but they only twittered, feathers falling from them.
"Sasuke!"
The raven turned and came face to face with Naruto, the blond's face filled with fear, "Naru--"
"Why would you come back here...?" Naruto asked, shaking, "I thought we were going to forget about this, Sasuke!" he gripped the sides of his pants to keep his fingers from twitching.
"I wanted to..." Sasuke said simply, "but this place is bringing back my memories..."
"Wh-what?" Naruto stuttered.
"My name is the same as his, I look like him too, don't I?" the raven asked, his wings finally lifting a bit. He took in Naruto's scared and confused expression, "Sasuke... Sasu-nii..." he felt different feelings swellling inside of him. Hunger, anxiety, fear, happiness, anger, sadness... they were all swirling inside of him.
Naruto's eyes widened.
"Killed by my brother..." he felt anger rise up, "leaving you behind..." and then there was sadness, "but by fate, I was able to come back to you..." and then overwhelming happiness.
"Sasuke...?" Naruto stepped forward.
"Even after death..." he thought back on the memory that returned itself to him while flying over the violent waters, "I can't leave your side, can I?"
Cerulean eyes watered and the blond rushed forward, wrapping his arms around his guardian angel, "I thought you could've been him... and you are..." he bit his bottom lip and felt his legs collapse from under him, but Sasuke held him up, "I've missed you so much!"
Sasuke held Naruto against him, the feeling of happiness overriding everything else. He didn't have all of his memories, but he knew from his recent vision... that the blond was everything to him. And he was sure the feeling that was boiling in the pit of his stomach was what they called love... a desire to hold a certain person in your arms, protect them, keep them happy...
"I've missed you, too..."
xXxXx
Naruto laid in bed, staring up at the ceiling as Sasuke sat at the foot of his bed, like he did every night. When they returned home, the raven seemed to have lost that spark of happiness he held while by the cliffs.
"It was there..." Sasuke stated, "but it disappeared... it always does."
"You'll get it back... and I'll help you," Naruto sat up and smiled sincerely, "I want you to feel again."
Sasuke had explained everything about how angels can have feelings when they're by their graves, and how they can regain their memories when near it as well. Naruto had desperately wanted Sasuke to have them all back, so things could be the same as they were years ago, but the fact was... even if that happened, Sasuke would have to retrun to Purgatory in less than three months.
"My wings are shedding as well... but no feathers grow in their place... it's as if they're fading away. But my mentor told me I could only lose them if I refused to return to Purgatory... so why?"
"Maybe... you could talk to him about it again? He might've forgotten something," Naruto said in the darkness of the room.
"He'd never forget something like that..."
xXxXx
Kyuubi wandered down the halls lit by lanterns, "His wings are withering away," he said to someone who stepped out of a room, walking alongside the red-head, "it seems as if he'll be bound to the world as a spirit soon..."
"I thought they would only fade if he didn't return here," the other male said, his shaggy cinnamon hair down to his ears.
"No, my dear Shukaku, he has chosen to remember his life... and those memories will tear his wings apart. Why?" he chuckled, "because he's different from the rest."
"How so?" Shukaku asked, intrigued. How was Sasuke different from every other guardian angel, besides his black wings?
"He was never supposed to die."
Shukaku raised his brows, "What do you mean?"
"His brother was never supposed to push him into the violent tides of the sea," red eyes gleamed, "because his fate was altered... so was his 'life' in Purgatory. Black wings prove that only half of himself is here, while the other half is stuck with the living."
"I see... so he was let into Purgatory even though he was meant to be a ghost on Earth. And now that he's regaining his memories..."
"His self that is a part of this place is fading and the part of him stuck to the living will grow stronger, binding him to the Earth as a spirit," Kyuubi finished.
"But he won't officially become a spirit until we cut his ties to Purgatory, correct?"
Kyuubi nodded, "So when the time for his return comes... we will cut those ties."
Woo! Done in two hours! Please review!