YAY! I'm starting! Finally! Anybody happy? Huh? Huh?
…X3 But…yeah. I'm sure you all wanna know I made the Senior Basketball team. So…Which means less updating. Someone kill my basketball coach…XD Nah, I'm joking with ya!
Notes: Holy FRUIT! I made 100 reviews! Someone pinch me, I'm dreaming! I didn't even expect to get 50 reviews. Who ever thought 100?! ARIGATOU minna-san! I wouldn't be continuing this without you!
Dedicated to: ALL of my reviewers! You guys rock!
XD: HeeroTomoe! You're my hundredth reviewer! -hands numerous things meaning Sankyuu!- My beta, Beth! Because none of you would read this without her X3 And…Ali! Because she helped me get the courage to write on the net XD Oh! And Jeans-chaan, because she's such a cool friend!
Warnings: Guys. And Guys. Doing stuff that is unacceptable in modern society (do we care? Noooo.) SasuNaruSasu, ItaNaru in THE FUTURE!
Disclaimer: As I've said (and dreamed) numerous times, if I owned Naruto, they'd be doing the things mentioned in the warning above. So Nyaa to you, because I don't. Come to think of it, if I owned it, nobody would read it XD
Bunraku: A large scale Japanese puppet theatre. The puppets are operated by many people, and about 2/3 life size. The puppeteers are on stage and not hidden during the show
Bunraku
Awaken to a light of knowing,
all your truth was lies,
and the faith which you embraced
has left you blind.
Deceived like the fools that surround you,
it came with ease unfulfilled were the days of your being,
but now you will see.
Awaken to see
a god of a desertion,
Awaken to see
a god of lies.
-At One With Nothing, Angel Morbid.
Mreow, Mreow, Mreow….
Sasuke's face gave a twitch, tensing from it's relaxed position not two seconds before. What was that annoying noise? It sounded like a cat. This was impossible, just for the simple fact that the Uchiha hated cats(1). Irritating and selfish creatures, he'd had one when he was a kid. Damn thing scratched him. Of course, the vile thing liked Itachi. Nasty things stuck together, didn't they?
Dark eyes opened, feeling particularly sluggish. Going from ½ an hour of sleep a day too 8 hours obviously wasn't good for him. To top it off, he felt useless. Surely, an ANBU leader wasn't to be lowered to this menial task? To observe and detain an idiot like this one?
While he'd been thinking, the black-haired boy had gotten up and stretched, hearing the chorus of noises that meant his bones were popping back into place after the rest. He padded over to the drawers, pulling on a pair of pants over his boxers. He shivered, because morning always seemed to hold a chilly air to it.
Mreow, Mreow, Mreow…
His head snapped up, eyes flicking towards the door and various other spots in his spotless room. Oh yeah. The thing that had woken him up (even if he was glad it had). Where the hell was the cat? He knew for a fact that there was no way a cat could get in his mini-mansion, for the simple fact of the traps set up all around the house (he wondered vaguely if something had set them off. He hadn't checked them before he'd gone to bed). Nothing could usually survive the traps. He'd never had a hard time, of course.
He strode over to the window over his headboard, gazing around the walkway leading up to the door. No, it obviously wasn't in the front. He didn't see any carcasses.
He checked one last time before making his way to the hall, opening and closing all the doors as to not scare the animal. He wanted to catch the damn thing. He hated cats.
Mreow, Mreow, Mreow, sssh!
Sasuke cocked a brow. Sssh? Cats didn't 'sssh'. Well, at least not in Konoha. Maybe in another universe, but not his universe.
He scanned the room his feet had led him too, eyes rolling when he realized that yes, the room was void of a certain idiot. And yes, that was cat food that was in the corner, half-hidden under a dirty shirt. So Shin was keeping a cat without his permission? Maybe, hopefully, the Hokage would finally see how much this idiot could cause no harm?
Carefully, silently he made his way towards the meowing that happened every few seconds, sometimes he had to stop and listen, but that was o.k. It wasn't like this was a mission. He didn't have to try, did he?
A few minutes later, Sasuke's blood was getting colder with each step he took. He could feel himself freezing up, but why was he so hot? It didn't make sense. His skin was cold but…he was burning.
Sasuke stopped in front of the large doors, not wanting to even go near them. He wanted to turn back, and run and never see these horrid gates to hell ever again. These doors…opening these doors made him what he was today.
He loathed them.
He didn't want to open these…They gave him nightmares. He fought back what could have been a whimper, but ended up being a low growl at the back of his throat. It was a feral sound, moving the still air around him. Even the cat had stopped meowing, but he doubted he'd have been able to hear it anyways. All he could hear was the sound rushing in his ears, blocking even the famous Sharingan from seeing anything but red.
Itachi…Was in the doorway…Itachi looked startled to see Sasuke out there…Sasuke was a little boy again, but Sasuke was all grown up, and now he could beat Itachi. Now Itachi looked apologetic. For killing their parents, maybe? No…Itachi couldn't be sorry. Itachi was a cold-hearted bastard.
He launched himself at Itachi. This is what he was destined for. Get Itachi. Get him, get him, get him, GET HIM!
His fevered thoughts reached his eyes, and he watched in satisfaction at Itachi's surprise to see Little Sasuke rushing at him, kunai in hand. He grinned in satisfaction as he felt the butt of the weapon connect with bone.
…With bone?
Red eyes looked into the pair across from him, furious that Itachi had blocked such a blow with his arm. He wanted to get his head -his HEAD-, not his arm! Break the arm, get it out of the way, out of the way!
The Uchiha threw another punch, and another one, and how come Itachi could block them all? He'd connected with nothing but blocks. It made him angrier, more livid, MADDENED! He had to get him. He needed to settle this savageness that was twisting his insides together. He needed it.
"Sasuke! Sasuke!" How come that bastard was speaking his name? Kill him. It'd teach him.
He threw his whole body into this attack. This one attack. As he flew towards Itachi, something registered. He wished he could stop.
Why was Itachi wearing pajama's? Why were Itachi's eyes green? Why was Itachi not going to be in time to stop this attack?
Why, why, why?
'Stop! I need to stop!' These frantic single thoughts broke through his mind, but before it was too late. He only realized now that this was Shin, not Itachi. The word 'stop' only registered in his brain after he heard a crack, then what sounded like a shattering. What happened? Where was he?
He looked down, to the boy slumped on the ground wincing. His eyes widened a fraction when he took in the blood under Shin, the old mixing with the new. The old…It was from his parents. That night. He fought for control over his panicked thoughts, satisfied when the frenzy in his head calmed. Now, who was the new blood from?
His question was answered when he looked down, where Shin was trying desperately not to cry (he guessed), wincing and tying the bloody pants around his knee as some sort of a tourniquet. "Ah… Sasuke ….What was that?" It sounded faint, quiet but urgent all the same. "Could you help me…I can't stand." This last part was much more strained, the part where Shin couldn't stop the pain from slipping under his tone. He illustrated his point by leaning on his good knee, testing his bloody one to see if he could stand. Less then a second later, he collapsed. Guess not.
How the hell had that idiot managed to hurt himself to this extent? He voiced this question, in a tone that insinuated that Shin was stupid, but he knew it hurt. "How did you get that?" Sasuke's quiet voice made Shin pause in his shallow-breathing, and he looked at the dark-eyed boy in disbelief.
"Are you serious?" At Sasuke's blank look, he shook his head astonishment, seemingly disappointed. "You did this Sasuke!" He looked surprised, and Sasuke had the same look. He closed his eyes as he helped Shin to his feet, trying to remember what had just happened.
He'd just blacked out. How could he have attacked Shin? The last thing he remembered was…The gates. The door. Was he in them? Why was he in them? He didn't want to be in here! The walls were closing in on him. They were, he could tell. He closed his eyes, willing the walls to widen. What kind of jutsu was this?!
Sasuke stumbled, disturbing the weight leaning on him. He hadn't been in this room since that night. He didn't want to be in here! He'd vowed to burn down this room after he killed Itachi…
"Sasuke! Sasuke! Yo! Wake up!" The annoyance cut through his thoughts, and he discovered he'd stumbled out of that room. Somehow. How?
Only then did he notice that he was leaning on Shin. And Shin was panting heavily. Shin was standing on both legs. And Shin seemed to be in pain.
Sasuke took it upon himself to relieve Shin of the weight that was him, and he pulled him up, slinging his arm around his waist. Why couldn't he bring himself to say sorry? Two syllables. 5 letters. 3 consonants and 2 vowels.
He sighed and shook his head. He was out of practice.
"Sor…Shin, let's go. I'll take you to the hospital." He still couldn't believe he'd done that. Since when did a ninja injure his charge? This…this was dishonorable. You didn't just suddenly attack the person you're looking after! He could be demoted for this! Then he could never defeat Itachi! What if…
A high voice interrupted his thoughts. Maybe it got higher the more pain you were in? "S'ok, Sasuke. I'll say I fell down the stairs or something equally stupid. They'll believe me!" Slightly wider eyes stared at Shin. How had he known what he was thinking?
"…You're eyebrows were furrowed together." Shin sounded like that simple sentence could explain the world.
"…" He'd deal with it later. Right now, Shin was in pain, and even if he tried to hide it, it wasn't working.
The rest of the walk to the hospital was silent.
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"Hey Sasuke-ku-Oh!" The nurse stared at the her crushes companions knee, surprised beyond relief. "Are you…Stupid question. Can you follow me?" Simultaneously, they nodded. Shin leaned heavily on Sasuke, and he tilted his head so his breath was ghosting over Sasuke's neck.
"You owe me a thousand favors for this." He could feel Shin grin after these words, and he nodded.
He did not just shiver.
"Right this way. We'll be with you in a momen-"
"Get a doctor here in more then a 'moment'. If he's not here in less then 2 minutes, I'll personally escort him." He'd cut her off, and she made a face at him. "I saw that. Hurry up before I do your job for you." She sighed, and nodded. Seconds later, she was gone.
"Jesus you're an ass, you know that?" He turned to Shin, who was sitting on the table, his good knee tucked to his chest. "There's words like 'please' and 'thank-you' that were invented you know. They'd under 'good manners'."
"Maybe I just don't care," his attitude was iced over, and he glared with slanted eyes at the person who caused this change in mood. "Besides, a moment to the doctors here is an hour to normal people and a day to a shinobi." He turned his eyes upwards, noting with disgust that the ceiling was dirty.
He heard Shin mumble under his breathe. Minutes later, the doctor arrived. "Gomen nasai, Sasuke-kun. I believe I was 10 seconds over two minutes." The doctor had an amused look as he set his gaze on Sasuke, then Shin.
"For all you know, Hinshi-san(2), he could have been dead by the time we got here." His voice detained a cool quality to it, and he stared as the 'doctor' walked over to Shin, who was now biting his lip. The white-haired doctor pointedly ignored it.
"I heard you were being rude to one of my nurses?" After he checked Shin's heart, he looked at his knee. "How did you get such a wound, anyways? I understand you're not a shinobi."
Shin was about to answer, but the doctor had stuck his finger in the large cut in Shin's knee.
Disgusting.
'Shin must have a shattered knee-cap,' was the distant thought that slipped into Sasuke's head. He remembered a couple of years ago, he'd done the exact same thing. And the doctor had done the exact same thing. It hurt like hell.
Though, he'd never admit it.
The peculiar thing, Shin's facial expression hadn't changed. When he'd been in his situation, he'd had a blank look on his face. When the doctor had done that though, he was ashamed to admit that he'd made a small exclamation of pain.
Shin just looked like he was concentrating on what the doctor was doing.
"Shattered kneecap." Hinshi made his diagnosis after awhile, and turned so he was facing both Sasuke and the shorter teen. "You'll have to stay here for awhile, alright? We'll set your operation for about…A week from now?"
Shin nodded, then sighed. "Man, the first year I remember isn't even over yet, and I already get surgery." Sasuke suppressed a laugh, and Hinshi looked strangely at both of them.
"Could you get one ANBU guarding one of the other patients to come and stay with him for 10 minutes, Hinshi-san? I have to inform Hyuuga-san of these events." Hinshi nodded, and in an instant, Sasuke disappeared.
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"So he injured himself falling down the stairs?" Neji's face remained impassive, but he voiced his surprise all the same. "How did he manage that?"
"I really don't want to know." Sasuke spoke wryly as they walked toward the wing that their 'watch' was kept in.
Neji would have sighed. Instead, he rubbed his temples. "Let me get this straight. They want two of their strongest -and youngest- ANBU to watch someone who shatters his kneecap falling down the stairs?"
Sasuke nodded. Keeping a straight face was part of the requirements to being a good ANBU.
They stopped in front of Shin's room, and they turned to each other. "You know you better come back early. About 3 hours early." The white-eyed teen had his hand on the doorknob.
"Why?" He wasn't going to come back 3 hours early because Hyuuga told him too. He was the ANBU leader, not Neji.
"Because that's how long I had to wait, Uchiha-san." He glared as Neji tilted his head to him, in a mock form of politeness. "Have a good time, Uchiha-san." Then he opened the door, and he was gone.
Sasuke glared at the door.
Ass.
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"Hey Sasuuke!" 3 hours early. Dear lord did he hate it. Not only did he not finish as much work training his new squad as he would have liked, but now he had to walk into the hospital room to this annoying voice?
Sasuke might as well get his tick checked out while he was here.
"Greetings, Uchiha-chan." A wry voice accompanied the overly hyperactive one, and the coal-eyed boy in turn hated whichever God had made him deserve such a fate. Then, Sasuke prayed that a Deity would save him from his inevitable fate.
But, Sasuke did not believe in Deity's, so he strolled in in all his indifferent glory. Upon inspecting the faces of the occupants of the room, he inwardly winced, wishing that somehow, he had been injured during his training with the squad. Though, Uchiha Sasuke never got injured, so this was another vain wish.
Through even closer inspection, he was startled to see that Neji had his 'white eyes' (2) activated. Said teen watched him humorlessly, and Sasuke took the clue to not ask him why. Instead, he turned his attention towards the irritating voice that was trying to capture his attention.
"Guess what, Sasuke! My surgery is tomorrow!" Had it already been that many weeks? He couldn't believe it. He'd been standing beside Shin while he slept for how many days now? He'd gotten back into his old sleep cycle, and he couldn't say he was glad.
An ANBU captain needed no rest, though.
"What time?" He asked this because it was the thing to do, and he most probably needed to know. He could train at the time Shin's surgery was taking place.
Immediately, Shin shook his head to clear this unthinkable thought. Idiot or not, Shin was his charge. He wouldn't leave him at that moment in time. It was the first surgery Shin would remember, anyways.
"Full house! I kicked your ass, Hyuuga!" Shin's voice exploded in the room, startling Sasuke out of his reverie. So they were playing poker? Watching as Neji set his cards down, looking amused but carefully blank, he had decided he'd ask later. "And they said tomorrow at six!" Shin looked at him cheerfully, green eyes in an upwards curve to show how pleased he was to win his 'match' with Neji.
"6:00pm? Hn." He was fine with that. Now, he didn't pick up Shin until 9. It would most likely by Hyuuga's problem, and the black-haired teen would be knocked out when he got back. He silently thanked whatever for the small reprieve.
"Nope. Morning!" Shin was cleaning up the cards now, shuffling them with expert ease and dropping them back in the case. He stared at the 'cripple' with disbelief written all over his features, not comprehending what he was saying. He had practice tomorrow morning! How could… "In the morning." He erased his train of though, instead giving Shin a deadpan stare that clearly said, 'what the fuck are these doctors smoking?'.
The green-eyed male threw him a sarcastic roll of his eyes, setting the cards aside. "You don't even have to go through it, you big baby." At this, he cocked a brow, and Shin gave him the one-fingered salute. "Oh, look at that, it just…popped up. Sorry 'bout that, Sasuke." He grinned widely at his 'supervisor', setting his hands back down.
He made a sound of acknowledgement, standing across from the boy beside the uncomfortable hospital chairs, scanning the room to see if it had been tampered with. He watched as Neji got up, placing his chair in the proper place on the wall. He set it with a 'tap' against the white-washed walls, leaning towards Sasuke. "Outside."
He nodded. He was going to ask why Neji was using the Byakugan anyways. He followed Neji outside, nodding as the ANBU guarding the door slipped inside behind him. "So what is it?"
"I know you're wondering about the Byakugan." Neji watched him, hand resting on the hip that his mask was occupying. He tapped his finger against his mask in a thoughtful motion. Finally, he seemed to come up with an answer that suited his interest. "I was playing poker."
Sasuke's eyes twitched.
This teen, Hyuuga, could say that with such a straight face. How could he? 'I was playing poker' was not a proper answer for why he was using the Byakugan. A proper answer would have been, 'I heard there were enemy ninja to attack.' or 'I was on the look-out.' Not 'I was playing poker.'
Why was Neji a part of the ANBU squad? Say…Konohamaru, for instance? At this thought, Sasuke shook his head. The kid was a Naruto-wannabe.
…Naruto.
"…at 6:00, tomorrow morning, during Shin's surgery."
Sasuke looked up, hiding how startled he was. What he had been thinking about was bad. Distraction for an ANBU captain. He scowled, but nodded to Neji. "Say that again."
"You need to pay more attention, Uchiha-sama." Neji stared at him impassively, before repeating what he had previously said. "We have a meeting with Tsunade-sama at 6 tomorrow morning, regarding Shin. Obviously, it's during his surgery."
"…"
"You don't approve, I take it?" The Hyuuga looked amused, but he was agreeing nonetheless. "It is pretty inconvenient, but Hokage-sama's orders." Neji tilted his head towards the door. "Have fun, Uchiha-san." With those parting words, he slipped his mask on, and disappeared.
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"Sasu-ke, this is boo-ooring…." A whiny (very whiny) voice cut through his concentration, and he looked up from the board that had caught his interest.
"Is it boring because I'm kicking your ass?" Sasuke spoke in a dry tone, but started gathering the pieces anyways, throwing them in a bag and picking the board up. He set it off to one side before turning to look at the bed-ridden boy.
As expected, he argued. "No way Sasuke! I was totally molesting you!"
Sasuke covered up his laugh with a fit of coughing, and Shin stared at him with an expression of confusion. "Do you even know what molesting means?"
Shin stared at him for a few moments before his face turned beet-red, "Shut-up! I didn't say molesting, you pervert! I said mauling!" By now, Sasuke couldn't hold in his laughter, and was holding his sides with a small grin on his face, trying not to change from his chuckles to full-blown laughter. "Shit! Sasuke! I would never molest you! You're a mean bastard!" Sasuke let out a peal of laughter, no longer being able to hold it in.
By the time Sasuke had regained his disposition, Shin was beet-red, and looked pissed. The ANBU leader was still laughing inwardly to himself, but he couldn't help it. Apparently, Shin had been molesting him!
At that thought, he let out another snort of laughter, but overall, was done with his little fit.
"I hate you," Shin was grumbling, crossing his arms and sticking his tongue out at the entertained occupant of the room. He looked at the small television hanging above his head, annoyed when he noticed it was an old soap opera. How stupid!
"Nice to know," Sasuke spoke in a laconic tone, standing up and stretching his arms above his head, always wary that there may be someone watching them.
"I wasn't being serious, stupid!" Shin threw a pillow at him, in which he immediately caught with expert reflexes. He cocked a brow at him, before lobbing the pillow back at him, noting with ironic sarcasm that it hit Shin directly in the face. He snorted.
"I know."
"Argh! It's so hard to tell with you, you emotionless bastard!" Shin buried his face in the pillow that Sasuke had thrown at him, choosing to glare at the other teen over the edge of the cushion. "The only time you showed emotion was in the hall where you groped me the other day, and with your tic, and now! See, three!" Shin threw his fingers up, three in all to go hand-in-hand with his words. Sasuke stared, eyes cloudy remembering when he had Shin against the wall.
Well, more like why.
"So, why'd you freak out when I called you Sasuke-chan?" Shin leaned back, the pillow he'd 'caught' cushioning his head against the board. "Is it something personal?"
Sasuke sighed, shivering when he remembered why he hated the name Sasuke-chan, and he ran a pale hand through his hair, tilting it back and closing his eyes. Did he have to tell Shin? Staring at the ceiling he decided that yes, he would tell Shin. He didn't know why he needed to tell Shin, or why he felt he had too but he would anyways. "It's a long story." He wanted to warn Shin, and maybe had a vague hope that Shin would decline, claiming that he couldn't sit and listen to Sasuke mope for hours.
"I have 'til 6'o-clock tomorrow morning!" He heard the happy tone, but kept his eyes glued to the ceiling, hand still tangled in the hair at his forehead.
"When I was 12, I was assigned to a team of three. To an idiot named Kakashi," he tilted his head up just enough so he could capture Shin's gaze. "You met him the other day." Sasuke drew his eyes to the ceiling once more, "there was me, a pink-haired girl named Sakura who was infatuated with me, and still is. Then…There was this boy." He looked up now, hand dropping to his lap. He opted to lean on his hands, elbows resting on his knees.
"He had bright blonde hair…Only the jumpsuit he wore was a brighter color. Orange." Sasuke smiled wryly, but continued nonetheless, "He had blue eyes, and 3 whisker-scars on each of his cheeks…" Remembering their fight, he frowned. "He reminded me of a fox…He was exuberant, and nobody rivaled him in energy."
"His name was Naruto. Everyone hated him, and I still have yet to know the reason why. I'd never seen him do anything that was worth an entire village hating him…He lived alone for a lot of his life, for the simple fact that nobody wanted to keep him. Everybody hated him. Even the children. Even me," Sasuke laughed, a dry affair, but he continued on, "I didn't have a reason for hating that idiot. I just did. But…I never really hated him…We were the same."
"The thing was, since I had lost my parents in a vicious murder," He would tell Shin it was his brother when he trusted him more. If he ever did. Even the possibility was disturbing to Sasuke. "I became, and still am, cold towards mostly everyone. Naruto….Was different. He always had a cheery face on. I've never seen him cry because he was sad," Sasuke frowned, remembering the word 'distraught' for some insane reason. Naruto had never been associated with the word distraught in his mind, ever. "Even though he'd never had parents. We're similar but infinitely different."
"Naruto became my best friend," He frowned thoughtfully, before continuing, his eyes glued to the wall above Shin's left shoulder. Shin was listening intently, "I trusted him substantially. He was the only one I really…have really trusted in a long time." Coal black eyes flicked to meet green, and he continued, "he saved me, I saved him. He would have denied what I just said, saying that it was him always doing the saving…" Sasuke snorted. As if. The dobe always did have his head screwed up.
"On April 1st, 2 years ago, Naruto…disappeared. Left without telling me. Or anyone else, for that matter. I…Well, there was a note. And I don't remember it. Only the portion that was addressed 'Sasuke-chan'." Sasuke let loose another snort of laughter, but turned his head to the side. He hated remembering stuff like this. Knowing Shin, the next question would be…
"What'd the note say?" Shin was staring at Sasuke with utmost attention, hands folded in his lap, eyebrows knitted together.
Sasuke started reciting from memory, his voice void of emotion that was supposed to be there, "Hey, Sasuke-chan! Yeah, I called you Sasuke-chan, got a problem? Anyways, I'm writing this to say I'm ditching you guys. Yeah, I know you're going to be in great danger without the great Uzumaki Naruto around, but you have to deal with it! So, anyways, before you start bawling, I'll end this goodbye. Bye, Sasuke-chan!"
Sasuke looked up, and of course his eyes were completely dry. "I didn't even know the idiot could write legibly."
"Did you love this guy or something? Or was it just a brother-type thing?" Sasuke's eyes whipped up to meet a thoughtful Shin's, and he growled. "No. It was neither. He wasn't even my friend." Sasuke glared at the startled boy.
"You trusted a guy you weren't even friends with? Was he your lover or something?" Something in Sasuke snapped, and he lunged forward, grabbing Shin by the collar of the stupid hospital gown, kneeling beside him.
Why were his eyes burning? "No. He never was, and he never will be. He's dead." He spat this out, and he didn't even know he had his Mange sharingan activated, but he couldn't help it. He was livid.
Defiant green eyes stared into his red ones, and he could imagine them blue. Sasuke was losing himself, again, as he had so many times before, in those blue eyes. Those blue eyes of 2 years ago, the years that seemed liked decades and millennia.
"You remind me of him," Sasuke breathed this sentence, barely a whisper, and he was surprised to see how close he was to Shin's lips, so much that he could smell Shin's breath, and that he couldn't get enough of it. Shin's breathe was filling him up, keeping his heart beating.
He leaned in, eyes closed, surprised to see the other boy doing something identical to what he was doing, and his heart ached. Naruto…
"Sasuke-kuun!" A boisterous voice broke through his thoughts, and he scrambled to get away from a flustered looking Shin, relieved when the girl walked in a few moments after his little…stunt.
"Sasuke-kun! How are you?" Sakura smiled shyly at him from beneath her eyelashes. She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, and Sasuke offered her a small nod.
"Shin, this is Sakura. Sakura, this is Shin." They both looked at each other, blinked once, twice, and both stared at each other some more. Sasuke decided to speak up, and he looked decidedly amused, "Do you guys know each other?"
"I don't think so." Shin stared at Sakura, but his eyes lightened up almost immediately. "You must be the girl Sasuke was talking about!" He grinned widely at the girl, but the girl paid no heed, smiling nervously.
"Sasuke-kun was talking about me?" She asked this in an overly hopeful voice, and now she grinned. "Wait until I tell Ino-pig!"
"I was talking about our…" Sasuke searched for the right words without having to say 'Naruto'. "Our old team." At these words, Sakura visibly deflated, and she turned back to Shin.
"Ino was actually talking about you, saying how cute you were! I really agree with her!" Sakura smiled coyly at him, before throwing a sidelong glance at Sasuke. "Nobody's as good as Sasuke-kun though." He'd heard it a million times, and Sakura was still like a cousin. "But Sasuke-kun, I have invitations for you and Shin!"
She brandished two pieces of paper, and handed them too each, "Ino-pig made the one for Shin, since I don't think I met him before now!" She smiled at them, before wagging a finger at them, "You can't open it until we say, though!" She laughed, hands folded behind her back as she leaned forward. "But I have to go now, Sasuke-kun! Shin-kun! Bye!" She waved before running out of the room, more invitations clutched in her hand.
Sasuke sighed, tucking the paper into his back pocket. "Don't mention him in front of Sakura."
"Ok." Shin nodded, leaning back into his pillows, the previous incident most likely stored away. "Oi, Sasuke?"
"Hn." He acknowledged that it was a question, and Shin continued.
Shin was fishing something out of his travel bag, the one he seemed to always bring with him. Sasuke sucked in a breathe of air when he saw what Shin had grabbed.
That damn doll.
"Is this that guy? Naruto?" Shin was intently looking at him, head tilted and eyes in a small slant. "It's like you describe him, anyways."
Sasuke had a small smile. "Yeah. That's him."
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"I'm scared." A whisper. It was barely audible in the quiet dark that enveloped the room. Groggily, dark eyes slowly opened, realizing that he was resting his head on his crossed arms.
I'm scared…That's what had been said. With a small sigh, one that barely escaped his lips, just slipped past his teeth, he pried the other boys curled hand open, slipping his fingers in and intertwining them together.
"..." The tension was suffocating him, and another sigh, and he reached up and brushed his knuckles against his cheek, leaving them there, resting against soft skin.
"Thank-you." This was quieter then before, barely perceptible in the dark.
Though, he'd already been sleeping.
/././././….
They were sitting between a war and a peaceful slumbering field. Sasuke was stretched out, watching the explosions in the sky on the side that was warring, and Naruto was on his stomach, fiddling with a flower.
"I get my heart examined today. Can you hold my hand?" Naruto's lips didn't move, nor did Sasuke hear him.
Sasuke nodded. He would hold Naruto's hand.
"I get a piece of my heart today." Will you hold my hand?
Naruto nodded. He would hold Sasuke's hand.
So they both sat up, hands now linked, and they started walking on separate sides. The only thing crossing over each side was their hands, tangled together.
In front of them was a desolate hospital building, and neither noticed that Naruto had wandered to Sasuke's side, so much that he was now nearer to the bombs and hurtful things then the black-haired boy himself. They looked at each other, and then they shrugged, and then they walked into the building.
Before they could go to the room in which Naruto declared his 'operation' would be, Sasuke jerked him over to another side, the darkest side of the room they were in. There they sat, something that was shrouded in shadows but was holding a light in it's hands. Sasuke held his hands out, impatiently, and you could feel the thing frown. Reluctantly, it held up the light, and broke a piece off. Sasuke nodded and tucked the piece into his pocket.
He would save it for later. When he needed his heart.
Then Naruto dragged him over to the room he was supposed to be in, and Sasuke pretended to resist, but didn't, because he liked Naruto to hold his hand.
Naruto sat on the table, then lay on the table when told, though there were no voices issuing orders. Then the faceless doctors came in, and Sasuke patiently held Naruto's hand as they cut his chest open.
Then there was a line, all of faceless doctors and nurses, and they all cut Naruto's heart, and one took a mask off Naruto, and the mask had a smile on it while the real Naruto was grimacing and crying and making painful faces.
The line continued, and sometimes, Sasuke noted that there were some doctors and nurses who sowed up some of the cuts made on Naruto's heart. What confused Sasuke though, was that some of the ones who had sewn up the cuts made deeper ones of their own.
Still, Sasuke waited patiently, and after the calendar beside the door had finished 13 years, the line had ended, and Sasuke was still holding Naruto's hand.
Now, he noticed, that Naruto's heart was cut into little pieces, and Naruto was desperately reaching for his mask, but couldn't reach it because Sasuke was to busy holding it away from him.
"Please," Naruto looked so desolate, sobbing and crying and bawling and looking at Sasuke with those very happy eyes. "Sasuke, can I have a piece of your piece of your heart, and my mask back? Please?" Naruto was looking so hopeless now, and at that moment, Sasuke was hesitating.
He didn't want to give away a piece of his heart. What if he needed it? Or what if Naruto broke it?
Naruto did help him get his heart back though…He hadn't wanted to get it back. He was scared. But Naruto had been there, and Naruto had helped…
Grudgingly, he reached to give Naruto a piece of his heart, a small piece. He broke off this little piece, a piece that was very small to begin with, and held it out to Naruto.
But Naruto was gone, and he dropped the bigger piece of his heart into the void that had swallowed Naruto, and all he was left with was this small, tiny piece that was useless.
And Sasuke was so angry, so furious, that he threw Naruto's mask on the ground.
But it did not break, so Sasuke stepped on it.
Still, it would not break, and Sasuke was smashing at it now, wanting it to break.
Finally, one of the faceless doctors came, and another one, and they all stepped on it together, and it broke. Then they smiled at Sasuke, and they took the piece of his heart he had left.
Sasuke crouched down, and started picking up the pieces, but one of the pieces of the mask nicked his finger, and he was bleeding now, so he broke the piece, and caused himself to bleed more.
So Sasuke took a cloth and tried to pick the pieces up, attentively so as to not cut himself. Still, they scratched his fingers and caused him to bleed.
Next, he took a broom, and tried to sweep them up, but they cut his feet.
Sasuke looked up at the calendar, and was angry to find another 1 and a half years had passed. He threw down the broom, and the dustpan, and Sasuke stormed out.
Later, Sasuke felt guilty, so he went back to the room. It had been half a year, maybe somebody had picked them up already?
The door was open a crack, so Sasuke assumed someone had.
So Sasuke left, and the pieces were still on the floor.
/./././….
Sasuke sat straight up, eyes darting around in the dark. He was panicked to find his hands unavailable, and he looked down to find that they were twisted together with Shin's. He grunted, untangling them, standing up and looking at the blinking clock on the wall.
4:03am. Hm.
Why had he woken up?
Vaguely, he remembered that he had dreamt something. He knew he had, but he did not know what. He had only known that it was weird.
What had been in his bizarre dream?
He did not remember. He wished he did, but he didn't.
He might as well get 15 more minutes of rest. Sasuke leant against the wall, arms crossed and eyes about to drift close when a word invaded his silence, caused him to bolt with kunai in his hand.
"Itachi…"
His eyes were riveted to the sleeping boys. Why was Shin saying his brothers name sleeping?
Sasuke did not sleep the rest of the morning.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
"What is it, Tsunade-sama?" He looked at her with tired eyes. "Shin's operation is taking place at the moment." He'd left Shin as soon as the doctors had come, and was in a hurry to get back.
"Looks like you've become quit addicted to your sleep, Sasuke!" She grinned at him, and he scowled at her cheery disposition. It was her fault he was like this! "The reason I called you to my lovely office is because Neji asked for a meeting with you and I. I'm sorry that I had to plan this meeting as early at it is." She looked apologetically at the both of them, before tilting her head at Neji, her fingers steepled in front of her.
Sasuke stifled a yawn, fingers gripping the arms of his chair. He was with Shin until 9 O'clock, in which Neji took him after that. He was disobeying his orders, even if it was his 'boss' (Sasuke rolled his eyes at this) that had called him he-
"Shin is much stronger then a genin." The pale teen jerked his head up, and focused his interest solely on Neji. "…I knew that would catch your attention." Neji smiled dryly, before continuing.
"Over the past few months, Shin has showed exponential chakra levels." Neji leaned forward in his chair, jittery but not moving, nervous but not showing it. "I've performed numerous tests. Two of which are worth honorable mention, the rest minor that I have taken the courtesy to jot down in a detailed report." Neji leaned back again, not minding the slanted glare Sasuke was shooting him, paying heed only to Tsunade's interested look.
"The first test was when I let Shin get a tongue-piercing," For some reason, he was speaking with a wry tone, but he continued. "Of course, he agreed readily, and it took no less then ten minutes, but he complained about it for a couple of hours." The Hyuuga had a thoughtful look on, though it was hard to tell with the white eyes. "This was a test to see if Shin was a clone. Unfortunately, or not, the test revealed negative. Clone's disappear in 'pain'. I know this because I tried the same thing on one of my own clones, to get ready for this." This settled Sasuke's beliefs that such a thing wouldn't work.
No, he was not glad the test was negative.
"Now is the most intriguing part of my tests," Neji was sitting completely still. "Recently, I've played several poker matches with Shin," finally, Neji was getting to what he had been wondering about. "I lost."
How was this a test? Did enemy shinobi have good poker skills or something? But…The Byakugan! It dawned on Sasuke, and he watched Neji, expecting what he was thinking to be spoken.
Of course, he was right. "Even with my Byakugan activated, I couldn't see through Shin's cards." Even Neji himself was intrigued. "Normally, my Byakugan can see even through human body. Cards are a flimsy piece of paper. Expertly applied chakra can block my Byakugan. Nobody under the ANBU level should be able to prevent my eyes from seeing." Even if this sounded cocky, it was true. The Byakugan was an advanced bloodline limit. There was a way to get around everything. There wasn't a way to keep the Byakugan from seeing your chakra points, but there were ways to keep it from seeing through other things.
Paper, for example.
Tsunade was rubbing her temples, and pinching her nose, trying to keep the inevitable headache from overwhelming her. "Alright. There has to be someone with him at all times. All times." Tsunade stretched this point with a look in their direction, and they nodded. "Shin Nakitama arrived on August 16...It's September 25th, right?"(3) They nodded again in affirmation, and she sighed, shuffling the papers on her desk.
"In October, we have the…festival," Neji and Sasuke looked puzzled at her careful choice of words, but she continued, "and Halloween. And November is the chuunin exams, while December is Christmas, and new years…"
She seemed to be mapping out every event to happen in the coming months, and she finally came to a decision. "During January, which seems to be free, you, Neji, and a few other chuunin will be accompanying Shin Nakitama to the old ladies house he found himself in. You will examine the premises." The blonde snapped her fingers, remembering something, "I'll get Ino to go into his mind again, and get the map to the old ladies house. For precautions. It may be fuzzy, but we can find the location."
"Other then that, is there anything else that needs to be mentioned?" Suddenly, Sasuke remembered what Shin had muttered in his sleep. This was Sasuke's business, and Sasuke's business only.
As Neji was handing Tsunade the reports, and the meeting was about to be adjourned, Sasuke remembered something else.
"Tsunade-hime. Is it possible for chakra to erase freshly spilt blood? Moments after it's spilt?" Sasuke stared at her intently, and the women looked thoughtful, before shaking her head.
"Not that I know of. I'd have to look up on it, why?" She was watching him now, waiting for any change in Sasuke's features or anything else. There was nothing.
"How about chakra to change eye color? Or…" Sasuke racked his brain for the last piece of information he was looking for, and the thought dug into his brain…What was it? "Have Shin's back examined." He was glad that he'd remembered this detail, but didn't bother congratulate himself over such a trivial triumph.
Again, she thought for awhile, and even Neji was waiting for her answer. Finally, she looked up, blue eyes gazing at them contemplatively, she nodded carefully. "It's possible for the color change. It would take concentration, but yes. It's possible." That was all Sasuke needed to know.
As he was about to leave, he caught the calendar on Tsunade's desk out of the corner of his eye. Absentmindedly, he tore off the previous date and handed it to Tsunade, oblivious to the weird stare he was receiving from the current Hokage.
The calendar having the wrong date was odd, for some reason. Why was he remembering calendars?
He shrugged and stored this away for later thought, making his way to the hospital with Neji close by.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
A few days later, and Sasuke found himself helping Shin to his home. The aforementioned boy had crutches, due to his injury. He kept growling at Sasuke to 'slow the fuck down' and 'I'm crippled, you bastard. Slow down'.
Obviously, the 'cripple' was not happy with the new arrangements.
Sasuke himself was having a hard time to keep his anger in check. He did owe Shin one, for lying like that. He'd refused to be examined further, claiming that doctors creeped him out. They couldn't do anything, because Shin had not had to be examined further.
What could he do to keep his mind off this? Talk about food? The idiot always seemed ready to talk about food. Unlike some other people though, he talked about the aspects of actually cooking the food.
So scratch food.
Games? Actually, Shin had a bit of a sore spot involving games when it came to Sasuke. Even though the green-eyed boy adamantly claimed that he always won every single game they played, it was not true.
Now Shin was complaining about how Neji had made him walk around all day, insisting that he needed to use the damn knee to get used to it.
What to talk about?
"When do you want your birthday to be?" The question came to him unbidden, with no warning whatsoever, and even though it was a good thing to ask so that Shin would shut the hell up, he berated himself for just letting it pop out like it had.
The black-haired boy was silent, contemplating the question, turning it over in his mind. In all truth, Shin didn't know when he wanted his birthday to be. There was no ideal time. Christmas, sure, you'd get extra presents, but presents on two separate occasions would surely equal more presents.
Halloween was…well, for candy. Sure, he could go out with his friends (if he had any by Halloween. He couldn't make friends with the damn scary ANBU following him around) as his party…
He shrugged, "I'll decide later." With a grin, he reached up and flicked Sasuke's nose, much to his annoyance.
"I'll beat you," the Uchiha issued a warning, throwing a sideways glance at the cheekily grinning boy. "I mean it, too."
Shin was grinning widely now, and Sasuke could imagine him running, if his knee was better anyways. "You wouldn't beat cute me! I'm too cute!" Sasuke rolled his eyes, helping Shin hobble into his house after he'd pushed the door open.
OoOoOoOo
Sasuke stared at his alarm clock, legs and arms crossed as he watched.
11:30pm, October 9th. On the dot.
29 minutes and 36 seconds until Naruto's birthday.
THERE! DONE!
Ah ha ha, I'm so proud of myself…It's been what, 2-3 months?
Oh yes -.- DAMN proud.
Well, around 8,000 words. That's…3,000 more then the longest chapter before this XD
I hope this suffices.
I PROMISE the next one will be out before 3 months! Cross my heart and hope to DIE promise!
Notes:
(1) Personally, I think Sasuke hates all living things.
…That's just me XD
(2) Yes. Mr. Death, roughly XD Fear me.
(3) A lot more time has passed XD There's the time in between where I write. For all you know, the bois could be bonking each other XD…I wish T.T
…Please believe me? XD I'll stop wasting your time while you're at it.
Review Button: FEED ME! RAAWWWRR!!!
Listen to him. He'll bite me if you don't. T.T…Naw, just kidding XD Thanks for reading!