Background: Completely freestanding. Sort of based off of the music video Pages by There for Tomorrow. I suggest you all listen to it (: It's a pretty good song. That, and I sort of went through a situation like this earlier this year (long story), but I twisted my experience into this shot so... yeah :P
Warning: This shot is T-rated (Sorry, no smut v.v) Angst-filled and drama.
Disclaimer: Surely if I owned Naruto I wouldn't be writing fanfiction.
Enjoy your free shot of the day ;D
Pages
The day will go down in history as the day the unexpected happened.
Leafs of paper fell from the sky. One by one, they took their time slowly to descend upon the city of Tokyo. No one knew where the papers came from, only that they were meant to send out specific messages. News reporters ate the story up, using it as their chance to keep their watchers entertained and somehow unravel the mystery of who was behind such a feat.
'I miss you.'
'I'm sorry.'
'Forgive me.'
And probably the most heartwarming of all: 'I love you.'
The story not only hit Tokyo, but the whole country of Japan as well. Everyone wanted to know who was this grieving soul trying to reconnect with their lover. It was a true story of the terrible downs Love can have on a couple. Lovestruck teenage girls would swoon over their overactive imaginations of what the conspirator of the pages must have looked like. Tall, dark, and handsome. A real socialite with a huge, grieving heart. The lonely man looking for his wife who had left him due to issues. Or simply a man just looking for the other half of his heart. Now teenage boys didn't share the same response as the girls, but they weren't blind to their reactions. If a few flying papers could get girls to swoon over you, then it was definitely something to look into, right?
Japan was in a whir about who spread the million sheets of paper through the sky that bright, Summer's day but, when no one came up with any evidence, the story quickly became a folk tale to tell your children about. The news got bored and covered a new story. Teenagers would whisper about it here and there, always having their suspicions, but they lost the same vigor they had weeks ago. Households would always ponder on the mystery of it all for a few seconds, but they always went back to the present after a few seconds of thinking.
The story of the papers the news had called, Love Notes, was simply that now. A story. One with a beginning that could be easily webbed and weaved into a new story all its own. A middle with the background information ready to tug at someone's heartstrings. And an end that brought tears to your eyes whenever the two fated souls reconnected, or, simply never found each other again.
However, contrary to beliefs, there were only two people who knew about the origin of the love notes that fell from the sky. The man who did it. And the man who it was meant for.
+Conspiracy+
Naruto Uzumaki was sitting on his balcony, enjoying the warm breeze that tickled his skin and made the ends of his hair dance. The sun was beating down nicely, treating the man who was mending his broken heart kindly for once. Pools of water were scattered here and there on his balcony, but the sun was doing a pretty good job of drying those right up. Naruto's shirt was wet, clinging onto any inch of skin it could. His bangs were plastered to his forehead, and from head to toe he was drenched. But that's how he liked it. He had wanted to be drenched in the rain, for the water to wash away his pain and make him numb. That's why he had sat outside until the rain stopped and the sun started to peak out from the clouds.
Now he felt... nothing. And that's all he ever wanted. To feel nothing, so that when Life decided to knock him down by the knees, he wouldn't grieve. He wouldn't cry. He'd stand up, and keep going, showing Life that whatever it threw at him it did not make a dent in his heart. It didn't knock him down. No, he was strong now. He felt stronger than he was three months ago when he fell in...
Naruto sighed deeply, running a tired hand through his wet mop of hair. That dreaded word he used to use as much as he breathed was forcibly removed from his vocabulary. The word no longer existed to Naruto Uzumaki.
Sighing, Naruto leaned his head back against the wooden bench he had perched himself on for the past three hours. He was hungry, but his body wouldn't move to go to the fridge. He was tired, but his eyes refused to snap shut. Because if he closed his eyes he'd just be plagued with the same dreams that tormented him every night. The dreams where the L-word existed and it actually brought him happiness rather than immense pain and suffering. Dreams where he was still held so gently by the person he thought he... Where laughter rang through the sky and the world seemed to belong to only them. There was no one else that ever held such a tight possession over the blonde's heart. And now, because Naruto had allowed someone to get that close to him, his heart was an aching, shattered, massacre of what it once was.
Happier days were now the torment that plagued him. And these abyssal moments of silence and numbness were how he spent most of his days. Naruto would always plaster on a fake smile. Not for himself, but for the few people in his life that truly cared for him. His best friends friends since grade school, Sakura, Hinata, and Kiba. His uncle Kyuubi, his guardian Iruka, and his old teacher Kakashi. They deserved to see that he was progressing smoothly over his heartbreak, right? They've been with him since the beginning. At first they were a little concerned, considering the rumors they heard about the guy Naruto had chosen... but the blonde was stubborn. He refused to believe what they said because he was too blinded by... Naruto shook his head sadly, a bittersweet smiling curling on his lips.
He was such a fool. He should have listened to them back then. That would have said him so much pain... But that dreaded word Naruto refuses to utter can make people do crazy things. You know, Naruto thought that this relationship was going to go well. He could see them in the future, maybe adopting? Perhaps even finalizing things by getting matching rings? They didn't need a wedding to know that they... each other immensely. But those dreams were crushed underneath the heavy boot of Reality when his friends premonitions became true...
And now, Naruto's heart was broken. His mind, body, and soul felt completely numb. He felt an icy coldness seep through him that even the Summer sun couldn't melt. Naruto was slowly changing, he could feel it inside of him. He could no longer go back to his happy-go-lucky self. No, this experience had caused him to see Life differently. To see relationships differently. To scorn the word people throw around so carelessly because some of them don't even know what it means. What it could do to you if everything around you collapses one day.
Blue orbs were transfixed on the clouds, watching the big puffy ones float by along with the skinny, flimsy ones. Imagination always used to be one of his greatest assets, but whenever he tried to make an image out of a cloud... he got... a cloud. It frustrated him to no end, but he had already known he couldn't make something up from what was not there. That was a lesson he had learned the long way. It didn't mean he wouldn't give up trying to see one cloud as a panda riding a unicycle.
And when he thought that the rest of the day would be bland, ordinary, and numbing, something caught his eye. A single sheet of blue paper was fluttering through the sky haphazardly, being pushed wherever the wind wished it to go. It danced and twirled around in the sky. First one paper, then two more, then five more, until it seemed like it was snowing paper. Naruto rubbed his eyes a few times, guessing that it was his exhaustion that caused him to see such things. But no, they were real. And they were falling all through out the city.
One paper happened to fall right on his lap. Naruto gripped the paper and read the words over and over again.
'I'm sorry.'
Naruto was stunned, to say the least. At first he thought it was some sort of publicity stunt from some company, but then another paper fell beside him on the bench.
'I miss you.'
The blonde couldn't help it. A small part of him was running around in mad circles screaming: 'They're for me! They're for me!' Naruto used what little imagination he had left to trip that smaller part of him into shutting up. These papers, they were no way they could have been for him. Hell, the person who would have sent them didn't have a heart – a freaking soul – to do such a passionate but absolutely ludicrous action.
Another paper fell, this time a few inches away from the bench, and Naruto's curiosity drove him to pick up that sheet too.
'I love you.'
There was that word, again. That dreaded L-word Naruto had banned from his vocabulary. It sent a pang of hurt and confusion through out his systems as a voice he knew all too well rang through his ears saying the same words in that tone that always had him shivering, begging for more...
This time, instead of dismissing the words. Naruto studied the handwriting carefully, knowing all too well the familiar slant in the curves and how big a loop would be for a certain letter. His hands shook violently, the paper crumbling up around the edges, as Naruto's heart started to beat out of control. His heart desperately wanted to break free from its bony cage and run away where it couldn't feel anymore. Even after their five months of separation, the man behind these messages still got his heart going crazy and his mind to turn into a puddle of slush.
And he hated him for that.
'It means nothing.' he tried to remind himself over, and over, and over again. Naruto crumbled the paper and tossed it over his balcony, doing it with the other two pieces of paper as well, not caring if it hit anyone. The pieces of paper were still falling from the sky like snowflakes, but they seemed to avoid his balcony all together, which Naruto was happy for. Thinking that that would be the last of the strange and unwanted phenomenon, Naruto started to head back indoors. But then, one single sheet of white paper that was different from all the rest fell onto his head. No one knew of this white paper except for two people. No one else would never know what was written on the paper, nor would they be aware of what the message that made Naruto's heart constrict painfully against its bony confines.
'Naruto, I'm coming back for you.'
Coming back...
Writing foolish words of love and apologies on paper, and then distributing them in the most incredulous way possible. Naruto wanted to rip the white piece of paper into shreds. Ink out the chicken scrawl marred on the sheet and then throw it in the trash. But... he couldn't. His hands refused to move. His fingers refused to rip apart the paper.
"Why..." he whispered, tears threatening to fall from his eyes. "Why do you have to come back now...?" he gripped the emotion destroying paper close to her heart, choking back the sobs that wanted to be ripped from his throat. Naruto refused to cry over him again. Refused to even let his mind think about that man for more than a nanosecond. That man didn't deserve to see him cry. That blasted man shouldn't be able to bring such emotions out of Naruto.
A knock on the door was what brought Naruto from sinking further into the hole of depression. His heart seemed to stop beating for three, precious, seconds as the knocks reverberated loudly in his eardrums. Instinct told him to run. His body wanted to stay. His heart secretly and desperately wished that it was him on the other side of the door, so it could be mended once more. And Naruto... he was finding that jumping off of the balcony rather appealing right now.
The knocks were becoming more insistent. And with everyone that came, Naruto felt his heartbeat pick up faster and faster. He couldn't move no matter how much he wanted to. And he felt like a panic attack was ready to rear its ugly head. 'Calm down, Uzumaki. It's probably not even him... The message was just a scare tactic. And it worked. So just calm—'
"Naruto! I know you're in there! Answer the damn door!"
Naruto froze...
It was him.
The raven who had broken his heart. The raven that had fucked him up royally. The raven that told him he loved him so many times, only to rip out his part when he left him for someone else. The same, fucking, raven who made him into the wreak he was today.
"Naruto!" knock, knock, knock. "I know you're home! Answer me, please!"
Naruto inwardly scoffed. 'Since when was that word in his vocabulary?"
"I'm not leaving until we talk!"
'You had five fucking months to come here and 'talk'.' Naruto thought scornfully as he glared so hard at the door, he thought he was boring holes into the wood. 'Why come back now when you had all that freaking time...?'
"Naruto!"
"Leave. Me. Alone!" Naruto screamed, clasping his hands tightly to his ears. He didn't want to hear that man's voice anymore! It brought back so much pain. So many memories that Naruto thought he had wiped clean from his mind. Just knowing that the man he had come to painfully loathe was standing right outside his door made Naruto nearly have a panic attack. Whipping his head back and forth frantically, Naruto searched for the best place to hide. Behind the potted plant? No. In his room? That could only be a safe haven for so long.
Maybe... jump off...
The raven was pounding at his door now. Sometimes he punched it, other times he kicked it harshly wishing it could break. With each attack, Naruto winced and his feet kept moving closer and closer to the sliding door that was the separating obstacle to his freedom. He didn't have much time. The raven was pretty damn strong from all his karate classes Naruto had—now regrettably—sat through and watched.
Naruto knew he wasn't thinking rationally as he crossed the short distance from the living room to the balcony. He knew that every part of his body was telling him that this was right, but the logical part of him was trying to slap him out of such a stupid and rash decision. But there was no way in hell that Naruto was going to stand there and face the raven that had completely ripped his heart to shreds. The pain would be too much to handle. The shock would send his body on the verge of a breakdown. And his shattered heart deserved the right to never have to face such annoying and disastrous feelings so soon.
He was so close...
The door handle was just in his reach...
SLAM! The heavy oak door fell onto the wooden floor with a loud thud. The hinges were completely ripped off the door frame—broken beyond repair. Little splinters stuck out from the door that was beaten to the ground, some of them scattered onto the floor below.
Silence quickly followed...
And that silence nearly drew Naruto mad.
He thought for a minute that he was going to suffer from a heart attack for his heart had stopped beating once his blue orbs locked with the piercing gaze of onyx orbs he had long since wiped clean from his memory. It was so freaking hard to breathe... His mind wasn't processing anything correctly. Nothing made sense. His thoughts were jittery and haywire. Going here or there, only to come to a complete halt when Reality sat in.
He was there. In the bloody flesh. Panting audibly, his raven locks matted to his face. Those horribly, disgustingly, beautiful onyx eyes were trained on the blonde, and Naruto prayed to God that he could just randomly combust right here and now.
For five, nerve-wracking, seconds, no man moved. No one breathed. And Naruto thought he was about to drop dead.
Finally... the raven took a step inside.
"D-Don't you d-dare... come any closer!" it was so hard to come off as intimidating when every other word made your voice crack in desperation. With each step the raven took forward, Naruto took one step back. His whole body shook violently as he was trapped under the calm and heavy gaze of the raven. "G-Get out!" he screamed, throwing the nearest object he could get his hands on.
Instead of dodging the thrown picture frame like Naruto had expected him to do, the raven just stood there and let the object hit him square in the chest before falling to the ground with a thud. 'He's going to kill me...' he thought over and over again, his wide and fear-stricken eyes glued to the shadow that had covered the upper half of the raven's face.
Ever-so-slowly, the raven bent down to pick up the misused picture frame. His calloused fingers stroked the stainless black frame as he gazed down at the picture. Onyx eyes widened a fraction as he stared at the picture trapped inside the frame. It was him, and the currently terrified blonde before him, but it was taken back in happier times. A time where the blonde was smiling like an idiot with his arms wrapped around the raven's waist, while the raven had one arm draped around the blonde's shoulders in a protective and loving manner.
His grip on the frame tightened slightly, his hands trembling as remorseful and grieving thoughts attacked him one by one like throwing knives. How in the world could the happy-go-lucky blonde he knew five months ago, the same blonde in that photograph he was currently clutching onto, be this shaking and petrified blonde before him now?
And then he realized something...
'It's all my fault...'
No, he had always realized that. But this was the first time he was witnessing how his decision had affected Naruto. The blonde was a lot thinner from five months ago. His hair was longer, though disheveled and rather unkempt. He looked rather pale, as well. Blue orbs that used to sparkle in delight and joy that never seemed to dim were now dank, murky, and overall... dead. How could he be seeing this now? Just how much of an physical toll he had caused to the blonde? He didn't even want to think about the psychological damage he could have caused.
'I'm going to make things right.' he thought. He was going to get his blonde back. Wrap him tightly in his arms and swear not to let him go ever again. Because that was the worst mistake he had ever made. Leaving the blonde...
Naruto had backed himself into the coffee table by now, the back of his knees hitting the dusty, granite, table. Fear was what kept him glue to the spot. Fear and something... more. His eyes never left the raven no matter how much he wanted to look away. He watched every movement the raven made. The way a few pieces of his hair would move to frame his angular face just right. How his body tensed as it seemed that the raven was gazing at the picture he had failed to rip due to how weak he truly was. And then, something he regretted deeply, the raven looked up and their eyes locked. Now he couldn't look away. Not when those eyes that used to stare at him in that way were staring at him again, but this time... was that pity shining in those black orbs?
Fury pumped through out the blonde's veins, and his body shook once more out of anger rather than fear and the onslaught of emotions that seemed to have froze by now. How dare this man come into his home? Do something as ridiculous as releasing possibly millionsof paper from the sky, barge into his home, and then show him pity? Pity! That was the last thing he wanted from the raven! Naruto had decided a long time ago before he snapped that if Sasuke ever crawled back to his doorstep again, the man better beg to take him back! Not because he felt sorry for him but because he felt like a complete bastard for what he did! Leaving him like that without giving the relationship a chance to grow! A chance to blossom into something long-term!
No. The bastard of a raven that stood before him, pity shining in his eyes mixed with something else Naruto had no will to name, was coming back out of fucking sympathy.
"Stop looking at me." he whispered harshly.
The raven was taken aback a little, but quickly regained his composure. He placed the picture frame gently back onto a side table next to the couch before turning his gaze back onto Naruto. Overwhelming sadness crashed through him, shaking him to the core more than he would have liked to admit. He still couldn't believe that the blonde that used to cling onto him every second of the day was now trying to do his damnedest to bring distance between them.
'It's all my fault...'
"I won't." he replied just as softly, though without the bite.
"I don't want to see you, bastard!" Naruto screeched, his hands were shaking violently. They were just itching to punch the raven! He looked too damn calm for this! Naruto wanted to see pain in those eyes! The same fucking pain that he had to deal with for the past five months!
"But I want to see you." he took another step.
"I don't fucking care! Get out! Get out! GET OUT!" each wail came out more desperate than the last. Naruto tried to take a step back, but he realized that the coffee table was behind him, and not-so-gracefully fell backwards onto the table behind him. The pain that shot through his back was nothing compared to the pain that was currently embedding itself onto his weeping heart.
'I'm so pathetic...' Naruto thought with a whimper, refusing to look at the raven that had caused him so much pain. 'So... fucking... pathetic.'
The raven took the chance to close the distance between him and the blonde and extended his hand, reaching out for Naruto. Naruto instantly snapped his eyes open and slapped the hand away.
"Don't fucking touch me! I told you to get the fuck out! I'll call the cops!"
The raven couldn't help but snort a little. He highly doubted Naruto was in any state to make it for the phone that was halfway across the room.
"No you won't." he stated simply. Leaning forward, the raven planted to hands beside the blonde's hand, effectively pinning him to the coffee table below. "Because you're going to hear me out. And having cops swarm the place wouldn't help me at all."
Before the raven could speak, Naruto's fist connected with his cheek. There was enough force to snap his head the other way, but not enough to effectively get him off the blonde. Naruto was breathing heavily now. His face flushed by anger and his eyes narrowed in fury. He ignored the rush that went through him as the raven towered over him—just like old times. He ignored how freakishly aware he was of how close the raven's hands were to his face.
And he most definitely ignored the look of hurt that flashed through the raven's eyes when he returned his gaze.
"I suppose I deserved that..." the raven whispered, trying desperately to cling on to the little resolve he had left.
Naruto scoffed bitterly. "You deserve a lot more than just a punch to the face, bastard. Now get off of me!" he kicked and he struggled and he even bit onto the raven's arms, but his efforts were so... pitiful and useless that soon Naruto just gave up—all the strength leaving his body. Now he was a mess. An emotional dirty pile of laundry that everyone refused to clean up. "Why do you have to come back...?" a sob ripped from his mouth as unwanted tears cascaded from his cheeks. Naruto felt so, utterly, pathetic. He was supposed to be stronger than this! Five months of separation and just having the raven near him made him crack easily. Steeling his heart. Forcing himself to forget every happy, wonderful, and beautiful memory that brought him anguish rather than a wistful longing and he broke this quickly.
Simply pathetic.
"Because, Naruto..." the raven raised his hand to softly stroke each and every one of Naruto's whiskered scars. "I love you."
"Don't say that!" the stroking caused fire to erupt on every inch of skin the raven's thumb brushed. It hurt so... good. Does that even make sense? Well, by now Naruto's mind was turning into a pile of goo. So most of his rational thoughts were quickly evaporating...
"It's true, Naruto." that annoying, husky, whispered voice teased the blonde's earlobe, causing a shiver to dance along Naruto's spine. "I never stopped loving you."
Naruto couldn't take being lied to like this just because the raven loved to torment him. He grabbed the hand that was stroking his face and yanked it away. With a little more effort, Naruto wiggled and punched against the raven's chest, struggling to get out of his grasp. Struggling to get away from all the lies the raven was spouting. But damn it, the raven wouldn't have that, and pinned the blonde's wrists together using his free hand. There was only so much resistance a man can take. And he had come here today with the sole purpose of fixing everything he had to break with his actions and words.
"Listen to me, Naruto!"
"No!" more struggling, but the blonde was getting absolutely nowhere.
It hurt. It hurt so much to see his blonde struggling like this. Struggling against him. Pang after pang of guilt threatened to kill his heart one by one. Now, more than ever, the raven wanted to do everything in his power to make things right with Naruto. To stop those tears. To see that smile he fell in love with instantly.
He swallowed passed his pride, passed his hesitation, and hung his head low. Black bangs fell to cover his face, which the raven was happy for because he didn't think he wanted to Naruto to see him cry. He had to be strong, because that was the only way he could get through to Naruto—in his mind. Weakness wouldn't get him anywhere. But, when he opened his mouth to speak, all the emotions he refused to show on his face spoke loudly in his words.
"Please..." his voice cracked, allowing the overwhelming sadness and desperation to leak into his words. "Listen to me..."
Naruto froze. Eyes widened in shock and his mouth slightly ajar. 'Did he just say please? Please? I thought that word wasn't in his vocabulary!' Naruto was truly dumbstuck. He felt too weak to struggle, and his heart was crying out to listen to whatever the raven had to say. But his mind was demanding that he just shut the raven out, for it refused to listen to anymore painful words. He realized, though, that he couldn't go on in life acting like this. Like a scared and weeping child afraid of the world and what it had to offer. He hated to admit it, he really did, but he realized that having Sasuke around was much better than not seeing him. Those five months of separation was more brutal and painful than the heartbreak he had to suffer. Yes, Sasuke had tried to contact him numerous of times. But he couldn't bring himself to talk to him. He knew he'd snap. He'd act bitchy and rude, saying things he would regret later on.
Now, he felt like that maybe... maybe he should listen to the raven. If the man was using please, and if his words were sounding so cracked and weak... then maybe, just maybe, he should give the man the chance.
But only once chance. One chance, only.
"Alright, Sasuke..." Naruto whispered softly, causing the raven to snap his head up as if he really wanted to know that those words were truly uttered, and not just his imagination. "I'll listen. But one chance. That's all you're getting."
Sasuke blinked, trying to process if everything that was happening was real. Then, very slowly, a smirk graced his lips that instantly made Naruto rethink his decision.
"One chance is all I need."
+Conspiracy+
They had made the floor their refuge for now, the two laying side by side because they really didn't feel like sitting. Sasuke was propped up on his elbow looking down at Naruto as he spoke every single thing he wanted to tell the blonde for the past five months.
"I really never wanted to break up with you." he stated slowly, watching the blonde's eyes widen in surprise. Naruto opened his mouth, ready to retort, but a pale finger pressed against his lips and silenced him. "I only have once chance, right? So it would do you good to listen." he pulled his finger away and smirked at the small blush staining Naruto's cheeks. "Comments can be saved for later. Anyways, it was my father's interference. He threatened that if I didn't break up with you and marry the girl he chose for him, that he would make your life a living Hell. He didn't go into much details. Just vague ideas like having you evicted from your house and putting you on the wanted list of some of his most dangerous business partners. I knew my father would live up to his promise, and I didn't want to see you hurt because of me. So... I left."
The blonde was silent, taking in the information that Sasuke was feeding him. 'So he broke up with me for my sake?' he worried his bottom lip as another question formed in his mind. "Do you regret it...?"
Sasuke was quiet for a few seconds, the only sounds that could be heard was their evened breathing. Gently, he cupped Naruto's cheek and gave him a small smile. "Yes and no." he felt Naruto stiffen in his grasp and he stroked the blonde's cheek in order to calm him down. "Now listen to me Naruto before you start to freak out. I don't regret it because you're safe now. I do regret not finding a way to save you, for us to be together, earlier. It would have saved you so much pain... and I'm sorry that I was the cause of it." his smile grew a little when Naruto finally looked him in the eye, blue clashing with onyx that refused to break contact.
More questions came, and Sasuke answered every one of them. He wanted Naruto know the full story. To know that everything he had to do, all the pain that they had to suffer together, was so that they could be able to do this. Be together, when his father was no longer an issue, nor his title, nor whatever responsibilities he used to have. He had thrown them all away, just for Naruto. And that decision he would never regret.
"So you threw it all away; the power, the money, the privileges... for me?" Naruto was so dumbfounded. He couldn't believe the words he was hearing but, he couldn't deny that his heart soared a little higher with every nod of the head Sasuke gave him. "And your fiance...?"
"We never liked each other to begin with. She wanted to stay single and I wanted you. So separating wasn't too much of a hassle. Though our fathers were at our throats for weeks. I talked about you a lot, though." he said rather wistfully, a smile tugging as his lips. "I even showed her a picture of you. She said you were very cute."
"D-Don't go showing people my pictures, bastard!" Naruto was sporting a rather wicked blush at the moment as he punched the raven on the shoulder. "W-Wait... you kept my picture this whole time?"
Sasuke chuckled, bringing Naruto's fist down until it relaxed in an open palm. He let his index finger slyly trace the creases and lines he had memorized so well on Naruto's hand. "Of course. Why wouldn't I? It was the constant reminder of what I was fighting for... I could never forget you like that. Besides," he smirked coyly, "you didn't get rid of that picture of us together."
"Only because it was framed... It would have been a waste to rip it out. Though I can't say the same about the others..." he mumbled weakly, feeling so ashamed that after all this time, Sasuke had kept the pictures of them together while Naruto used them to take out his frustrations.
There was a visible frown on Sasuke's face, though he really couldn't blame Naruto. He had left, after all, with no explanation whatsoever. And he had to admit the way he left him was rather... careless. He had said those three words so nonchalantly that it even hurt to say them. Sasuke had replayed that scene over and over again in his head and cringed every time he had to witness Naruto's devastated face.
"I can't blame you." he finally said, a small smile returning to his face. "This just means we'll have to take new pictures for our new memories... together." he added the last part silently, carefully studying the blonde's face for any signs of objection. There was still the shock that danced across those bright, blue orbs, but there was also apprehension in them as well. The frown returned once more.
"I-I'm sorry..." Naruto whispered, gently pushing himself back when he realized that the space between them was, well, not there anymore. "Don't get me wrong. I'm really happy to hear that you were trying to protect me but... five, long, months Sasuke. Five months wondering what I did wrong. Five months I spent trying to make myself hate you. I realize now I can never hate you. That I really shouldn't hate you because for one it's bothersome holding a grudge over someone for that long, and two because I finally know why you did what you did. But you don't know how much pain I've been through, involuntarily caused by you or not. I-I can't get back with you so soon... My heart..." he looked up at the raven with piercing blue eyes that stabbed at the raven's heartstrings. They looked so... painful and desperate, making Sasuke what to do nothing more than pull the blonde close to him and never let him go.
"My heart... isn't ready."
Sasuke would be lying if he said it didn't hurt to hear those words. Here he was, doing something so ridiculous as releasing sheets of paper over Tokyo in hopes the messages he wished to convey would come across to the right person. He broke down Naruto's door, and with a lot of persistence got him to finally talk things out together. Sure, he was a little disappointed and frustrated that his efforts came out for not, but he understood that he couldn't force Naruto to do something. Naruto was hurt badly by him, hell, the man was probably still hurting. If Sasuke couldn't be with Naruto in that sense, then he'd do everything in his power to make the blonde happy again—lover or not.
He hated that there was distance between them—physically and metaphorically—and scooted a little closer so that their shoulders brushed together. Sasuke went for Naruto's hand again, reassuring him that he wouldn't do anything that made the blonde uncomfortably, and gripped it gently.
"I'll wait." the words were spoken softly, but since they were so close Naruto heard them loud and clear. "For five months. For a year. Forever, until you're ready. I know that saying sorry can only do so much, so I'm promising you that I'll do everything I can to make you happy, Naruto. We can start out as friends, hell, I don't even mind if you want to think of me as an acquaintance, but I just want to be with you. Like we were before. Being apart killed me more than you'll ever know..."
Naruto was crying again, he realized. His once broken heart was protesting loudly against his rib cage as sobs ripped out from his throat. To hear those words, 'I'll wait' come out of Sasuke's mouth did something to him... It made him for once, in those five months, believe that things were actually changing for the better this time. False hope was always being fed to him by his friends, but this time, when he looked into Sasuke's eyes... he felt that those words truly meant something.
He gently squeezed Sasuke's hand back, a small grin tugging on his lips as he saw Sasuke's eyes widen by a fraction.
"Alright, Sasuke. We'll start off as friends... but no funny business! I mean it. We work our way up slowly, got it?"
Sasuke smiled widely, one of those smiles that Naruto knew was only reserved for him—and man did he love those smiles. The raven pulled Naruto into a huge embrace, hugging him so tightly that Naruto was certain the man was going to break his spine.
"Hey, I said no funny business, Teme!"
"What?" Sasuke asked innocently, a devious gleam sparkled in his eyes, though. "Friends hug, don't they?"
Naruto couldn't deny that there was some obvious logic there, but he refused to give Sasuke the satisfaction of being right. Though, he had to admit... it felt really good to be embraced by those arms again.
The people of Tokyo would never know that the Love Notes story truly had a happy ending. There was no desperate suicide. There was no part of the story where the pair never reunited. No one moved on to someone else, but rather they were moving forward together where hopefully a brighter future awaited them. People say that actions speak louder than words, but if you really think about it, if the words are delivered the correct way, with the right amount of emotion caked in-between, then perhaps the power of words is more than we hoped to realize.
Wow, a shot yesterday and now a shot today? Lmfao, should I just update this thing everyday? Probably won't happen that way since a) school starts tomorrow, and b) I'm trying to focus my energies on my other stories too. But this thing is such a great getaway...
To the people who have sent me requests so far, I am working on them :D! Please be patient! Right now I'm working on a TobixKiba shot as a request and hopefully I'll have it done tonight so I can post it tomorrow afternoon :).
On your way out don't forget to leave a review ;D, constructive critiscism and praise are always welcomed :3. And, as always, requests are looovely!
Till next time! Tomorrow I'm admitted back into that asylum they call school! -puts on my straight jacket-