Today really wasn't Tsunade-hime's day.
It had started off as any other day; she got up at 6 am, drank just a small amount of sake, showered, gone to work, signed a paper or two, decided that, really, two hours without sake could make things horribly uninteresting, and of course she would have to remedy that by helping herself to half a bottle or so, before she continued to sign her papers- a few hours later, she went to the hospital to check up on the regulars. After that it was time for a snack in the lunchroom at the hospital, where she would declare to herself that she was really rather fond of the tasty rice-wine, and that sake was in fact her friend.
If she was to follow her routine, she would then patrol the streets for a bit, just o show the people what a good hokage she was, and after that she would go back to the tower to play hide-and-seek with the unwilling participant Shizune.
But today wasn't any other day.
Just as she walked past the village gates, Sakura, Kiba, two unconscious chuunin and the mizukage's shocked wife and crying baby boy stumbled in.
Tsunade demanded an explanation.
By the time Tsunade had checked up on the mizukage's wife and child (both of whom were unharmed, only shocked), actually dealt with the visiting mizukage himself (Who of course demanded for someone to get punished), gotten her explanation from Sakura (which she didn' like one bit), assigned four ANBU-teams to only finding the members of the Akatsuki that had been hurt (which they failed to do, of course), she wanted to declare her undying love to, and of course have close contact with, a large bottle of sake and wring the neck off a certain irresponsible blond ninja.
Shizune was ordered to bring her the sake (-now dammit before she decided to sculpture her own face in the hokage-mountain with her fists) and all the available ninjas were told to bring Naruto to her office as soon as he was found. So when a scared genin knocked on her door, saying that Naruto had arrived (without bringing Naruto, mind you.) she couldn't stop herself from sending him a very nasty glare, which promised him a world of grilling later.
"Naruto is here, in the tower actually," he had told her. "Though when we tried to bring him to you.. Complications arose."
Tsunade stormed out. Who the hell did that boy think he was? Yes, Tsunade had forgiven him before and let him off the hook easily, but … Tsunade stopped when she reached the entrance hall.
Naruto, with six jounin clinging to his waist, legs and left arm was shouting obscenities to said jounins, at the same time stretching out his right arm toward the equally distressed, restrained and fighting ghost of a boy who had once been the pride and joy of Konoha.
Everyone make mistakes.
At least, all human beings make mistakes.
Iruka-sensei made mistakes. Tsunade-baachan made mistakes. Kakashi-sensei made mistakes. Ero-sennin made mistakes. Sakura-chan, Hinata-san and Ino-san made mistakes, as well as Shikamaru, Kiba and Neji-san.
Even Sasuke-teme made mistakes.
But the word 'mistake' had an entirely different meaning to Naruto than it had to ordinary people.
From the day he was born, he had been called a mistake. Every day he lived just had to be some sort of mistake. Everything he did was a mistake. A disappointment. A failure.
So really, it wasn't strange that he fell harder than other people do when making a mistake.
Mistakes and turning points in life merged together somehow;
He had made a mistake, his first major mistake, when he thought he had gotten a friend his first month in the Ninja Academy. He had let his guard down. He should have known better. He shouldn't have been surprised when he was two weeks later beaten up again by said friend. It shouldn't have hurt as much as it did.
Naruto learned not to trust people. He became paranoid, he started to hate the villagers for hating him. He tried harder, developed a bubbly personality, unconsciously seeking attention, but receiving much from the unwanted kind.
He made a mistake, his second major mistake, in believing that adults weren't as childish as children. That you could put your faith in adults in times of hardship. Really, he should have known that all humans are the same. When Mizuki gave him the scroll of forbidden seals, he should have known that it was too good to be true. Mizuki had always bee somewhat distant when it came down to dealing with Naruto. Just like the villagers. Why on earth would he suddenly decide to help Naruto?
Naruto learned that even the kindest people have their demons. Ironically, Mizuki was the person who told Naruto about a real demon.
Naruto made a mistake, his third and absolutely biggest mistake, when he let his best friend, his first real friend, go. "You didn't let him go," Sakura-chan would always say. "You lost him." But Naruto couldn't see any logic in that. Had Naruto only been a good friend, Sasuke wouldn't have left. Naruto had been naïve; to think that his friendship alone would make Sasuke happy enough to forget about the revenge he was so set on getting. Like he was some sort of God, like it was his fucking duty to punish those who punishment deserved. No, he wasn't a God. He was fucking Satan- with the hell he had put Naruto through, how could he have ever seen him as someone pure?
But Naruto deserved it. In the end, it had been Naruto's fault. It always was.
Naruto learned, the hard way, that alive wasn't always better than dead.
Sasuke was a combination of his first and second mistake. Naruto couldn't believe how stupid he was.
But he always got something out of it, didn't he?
After he lost his first friend, he put up a cheerful attitude. People around him appreciated it, even though they didn't show it. In times of hardship he made them laugh, even though they scolded him for everything he did. Naruto may not have known it, but he did. And most important of all, Naruto made himself happy.
And of course, after the incident with Mizuki he had gotten a father. He again learned to trust, to love, because Iruka-sensei had risked his life for Naruto, when the monster inside of him had killed Iruka's parents.
And Sasuke… Naruto thought about Sasuke every day. Even as he became a chuunin, then a jounin, then he even became a member of the ANBU and got his own team. Sasuke was always there. Naruto didn't miss him, because.. Well, Sasuke never really left, did he? He was always in Naruto's mind, haunting Naruto's thoughts and taking part of what should have been Naruto's decisions. And Naruto was scared, because he found that it didn't bother him at all.
No, Sasuke.. he never left, yet now he was back again.
Naruto learned his lesson.
Eventually, everything would always turn out.. okay. It would be alright.
No matter how bad things seemed, they always worked out. In the end.
"Tsunade-baachan!" Naruto whined and knocked on her office door. When she (still!) wouldn't answer he sighed and bit his lip. Oh well.
He opened the door and stepped into her office anyway.
"Tsunade-baachan, you're here!" he exclaimed when he saw her sitting at her desk, rubbing her temples. "Why didn't you answer me?" In truth, he knew exactly why she wouldn't want to open the door and let Naruto in.
Since the day they he had returned to Konoha, Sasuke had been locked up somewhere, Naruto didn't even know where since they wouldn't tell him, and Naruto had been forced to 'take a break' from his life as a Ninja after he had, as Tsunade-baasan had put it; "so irresponsibly left your own team, while on a mission nonetheless, and because of your stupid actions the Akatsuki almost got a hold of the two you were supposed to protect, almost giving the mizukage a heart attack by doing so."
But of course, Tsunade-hime had a soft spot for Naruto, and Naruto had learned to use his position in the old hokage's heart to the fullest.
"I know what you're about to ask me," Tsunade-baasan growled. "And the answer will be a combination between 'no' and 'go die'."
Naruto pouted, and for a second, Tsunade saw a short twelve-year-old in an orange jumpsuit standing in front of her. But no, there he was, still short, still very bright, but much more mature. "Come on, Tsunade-baas- uh, Tsunade-sama!" A death glare from Tsunade made Naruto nervous. "You've been holding Sasuke captive for a month; he's probably dying out of boredom!"
Tsunade sighed and started rubbing her temples again. "For the millionth time, it doesn't matter whether he is bored or not. We must keep him under surveillance for the time being, because he is a threat to Konoha!"
"But we already know he isn't Orochimaru, so it all works out!" Tsunade had in a matter of seconds after just seeing Sasuke decided that it wasn't Orochimaru, though now no one knew what had happened to him since Sasuke was still, well.. Sasuke.
"You're forgetting that it was Sasuke who betrayed the village four years ago, not Orochimaru," Tsunade pointed out.
"But he was just confused or whatever! Come on Tsunade-baa…nee-san," he corrected himself just in time, "What can he do anyway? He can't even see!" Naruto couldn't believe how easily those words slipped out of his mouth. He still couldn't quite believe them, but he could now at least talk about it.
"Don't play that card on me Naruto, it won't work. He proved that even though he's got a.. minor handicap he's an above-average Ninja when he managed to tangle out from the pile of jounins and putting them into a temporary coma. I was there you dobe."
"What are you so afraid of?" Naruto frowned. "That he'll destroy Konoha or something? I can assure you, that he wouldn't be able to do that."
Tsunade stopped to think for a few seconds. Well, Sasuke was restrained because of the fact that, yes, he could take down a few unsuspecting Konoha ninja if he wished, but to be honest, it wasn't likely that he would even try. No, Tsunade's major concern was that he would leave again. Not only would it be a major loss of good recourses, even though the kid was, in fact, blind, but..
She really didn't think she would be able to put up with the look of utter sadness that had adorned the blonde's face the first time he actually realized that Uchiha Sasuke had left.
A second time would surely break him.
"Yes.. and no," Tsunade finally answered. "We don't want Sasuke to leave the village until we are sure that he won't return to harm us."
Naruto frowned. "Well, you could always scare him into staying." Such an evil grin. A very, very evil grin, Tsunade thought. "That was what I had planned on doing."
"I'm afraid that won't work," Tsunade said with a sigh. "He left everything behind the last time he left, so we can only assume that there is nothing left here in Konoha for him to care about. Now get out and let me go back to work."
Naruto had of course already tuned her out, biting his lips as a look of utter concentration crossed his face. Tsunade glared at Naruto. What, she hadn't been able to concentrate on her work for the past month because of him, did he really think that she would leave him alone now? "Naruto, get out of my office or I'll-"
"Quiet, baa-san! I'm thinking!"
Tsunade felt like a rain cloud had parked right above her head and was happily trying to drown her in a sea of shuriken.
"Listen here you brat-"
"I know!" Naruto exclaimed happily, making Tsunade's personal rain cloud pee kunai as well. "Sakura and the others bumped into some Akatsuki members on their way back to Konoha, right?"
The imaginary rain cloud dissolved in a puff of imaginary smoke as she actually became a bit curious as to where this was leading.
"Well, I wouldn't say they bumped into them, but yes."
Naruto grinned that stupid grin of his that made Tsunade want to raise her fist and howl like a fucking savage, because that grin always meant that he was about to say something really, really stupid.
"Didn't Kiba bring back a souvenir?"
Tsunade frowned. What the..?
Oh.
Oh!
Of course! Kiba had managed to bring Itachi's headband!
Tsunade made sure her emotions didn't show on her face. "What were you planning to do with it?"
"Well.." Oh snap. Yes, what the fuck had Naruto planned to do with it? He had no idea himself. "I thought that, uh.. Sasuke seems like the kind of guy who'd want to keep the things his older brother left behind..?" he tried. He failed.
"Naruto, I am sure that you are aware of the fact that Itachi murdered Sasuke's entire clan and, according to the testimony from when he was eight, he let him witness the murder or his parents about 200 times by using Mangekyo Sharingan." Well shit. No wonder Tsunade-baasan had become hokage. She knew all of these things by heart.
"No, I didn't mean it that way! I uh.. You know, we could use the headband to track it back to Itachi!"
Where the hell had that come from? Tsunade thought.
Where the hell did that come from? Naruto thought.
That was just beyond Naruto's level of thinking when he wasn't on a mission.
"That.. is actually a good idea."
Naruto beamed.
"There is only one problem."
Naruto frowned.
"This could be a good start on how to bring down the Akatsuki. But. We would need a specially trained Ninja to do that. A kind of ninja that we don't have, nor do any other village."
Naruto cried.
Okay no he didn't. But he felt like doing it.
"Tsunade, you idiot!" And Tsunade was back to getting peed on with Kunai and Shuriken. "Sasuke would be able to do that himself!"
Tsunade stared at Naruto. "Brat, that isn't even funny."
"No, I'm serious." And Naruto actually looked serious. "You should have seen the way he was able to fight in the woods when I went after him. It was.. amazing."
Tsunade put her elbows on the desk and laced her fingers together. "How amazing?"
"He managed to dodge every single attack when I was in my normal form, and you should take into consideration that he in blind, and therefore unable to use the Sharingan. Tsunade-baasan, he has actually managed to heighten his other senses, if not developed a new sense, and with a bit of training he could probably do a lot better." Naruto sounded eager to explain.
Tsunade thought about it.
After the war with the hidden village of Sound, Konoha had lost some of their best ninjas. It hurt to say it, but it was a fact that Konoha had been weak, and it was still just recovering. That was the only reason why young ANBU, such as Naruto, Sakura and Kiba existed.
If Sasuke was properly trained, he would probably contribute to the restoration of the village Tsunade's grandfather, boyfriend, brother and now Naruto had tried so hard to protect.
"Baasan..?"
Tsunade stood up and went to the door. "Baasan, what are you doing..?"
"Naruto, how many times have I told you not to call me that?" She opened the door before Naruto got a chance to say anything and had a hushed conversation with one of the jounin guards standing outside. Naruto rolled his eyes. Sure, you make one mistake and you get shut out. Shitty hokage. Shitty oldhokage.
Tsunade closed the door and went back to her desk.
Then they waited.
And they waited.
And- oh, was that a bird outside the window?
A subtle knock was heard on the door. "Enter," Tsunade said. Naruto watched from his position by the door as first Kakashi-sensei entered, then Gai(1), and oh my god there was Sasuke. Naruto didn't even notice Shikamaru and Neji come in after Sasuke.
Because Sasuke didn't seem to be feeling too well.
"Sit down." Tsunade's hard eyes followed Sasuke's every movement as Shikamaru released his Shadow Bind Technique and Kakashi guided Sasuke to a chair in front of Tsunade-hime's desk and gently pushed him down, remaining in his position behind Sasuke.
"Naruto, you too."
Sasuke looked like he was surprised for a moment, but then the damn bastard blanked his face and closed his eyes again. Well, if he hadn't noticed Naruto's presence when he entered the room, he must be very bad off, Naruto thought as he sat down in the chair next to Sasuke's.
"You may leave," Tsunade said, watching the four ninja who had escorted Sasuke. None of them moved. "Now."
Silence. Neji was the first one to speak. "Hokage-sama, I must object. At least let one of us remain-"
"Don't question my orders!" Neji fell silent. "Look at the boy, does he look like he could even raise his arms properly?"
Neji didn't answer. After another moment of uncomfortable silence, Kakashi squeezed his former student's shoulders, turned around and left. After him went a hesitant Gai, then Shikamaru, who was really half asleep anyway, and lastly Neji.
"I have a proposal to make." Well, Tsunade-baasan was.. straightforward..?
Sasuke gave a small nod.
"I want you to return to your position as a Konoha Ninja. I want you to train hard with the teachers that will be assigned to you, and I want you to go on missions, just like a normal ninja would do." Tsunade paused for a moment, but Sasuke made no move to object. "And.. I want you to help us track down the Akatsuki organisation."
Naruto bit his lip, anxiously waiting for Sasuke's reply. What would happen if he refused?
Naruto wasn't sure he wanted to know.
"There are a few problems." Sasuke's voice was deep and low, as if he was talking about something he'd rather not talk about. "First of all, I'm only a genin. Second, If you hadn't already noticed, I am blind. Third of all, I have no idea where they are. The fourth and most important question is, why would I even want to help you in the first place?"
Tsunade snorted. "Uchiha, don't be stupid. You may have only obtained the rank 'genin', but you are at the level of an ANBU; and that is without your ability to see." Tsunade and Sasuke could have been carved out of stone. Sasuke's face was soft and emotionless with his eyes closed, Tsunade's face was hard and masking. Add the fact that they were talking about Sasuke's.. problem, which Naruto wasn't really comfortable talking about, and you get one squirmy Naruto.. Why was he even there? "And don't worry, I already know that you don't know where they are.. which brings us to your last 'problem'. We've got Itachi's headband."
Sasuke's eyes sprang open, showing those cold eyes. His eyes widened and he frowned, as if he really wished he could see Tsunade's face.
There was nothing wrong with Sasuke's eyes, at least not if you were a normal person looking at him. But to a trained eye they were special, to say the least.
"Well, how does that help us find them?" Sasuke said slowly.
Tsunade leaned forward and smirked. "So that means you accept?"
Sasuke blinked. "What?"
"You said 'us'. How does that help us. So I take it you're on the team."
Sasuke closed his eyes and nodded.
"I have a basic plan thought out, but until you have managed to prove that you really are on our side, I'm afraid I'm going to have to refrain from telling you.
"Naruto has told me a bit about how your fighting skills have improved. In fact, he told me that you have managed to heighten your senses to the point where you were able to fight without depending on your eyesight. That makes you a perfect soldier and a perfect ninja- you can't be ambushed, can't be hit by a weapon coming from your blind spot and your hearing, smell and ability to detect chakra and distinguish a human being from an inanimate object makes it impossible for someone to get past you. I think we can safely assume that the Akatsuki organisation contains some of the most skilled ninja of all time. All we need is someone better than them, and then the tracking down will go smoothly."
"But Naruto won." Naruto could only stare at his former rival as he uttered the words that he had once fought so hard to hear him say. "Naruto won over me. What makes you think that the Akatsuki, or any other ninja for that matter, wouldn't? I am blind- no matter how much I heighten my other senses, or practice different types of jutsu, I will remain blind which means that I have lost the most important sense used during fights. If I lose my concentration for just one second, the entire mission will fail and my team mates and I will end up dead."
Tsunade sighed and leaned back in her chair. "Sasuke, that's why you're going to train under different people. We're going to make you a better ninja than them."
Sasuke remained silent. Naruto glanced at him, then Tsunade.
"Um, baasan..?" Naruto scratched the back of his head. "If you don't mind me asking, what am I doing here?"
Tsunade had a 'Oh, are YOU still here?' look on her face. Senile old hag.
"Well. Since you are off duty, you and Sasuke will live together from now on. Where, you choose you may decide for yourselves. You will also train Sasuke along with Hatake Kakashi, Hyuuga Neji, Rock Lee, Haruno Sakura and assistants chosen by them."
"Live together with.. Sasuke?"
Tsunade nodded. Naruto thought about it.
"Well, we won't fit in my apartment, that's for sure." Naruto frowned as he tried to think of someplace to live.
"Excuse me?" Sasuke interrupted Naruto's pondering, sounding very angry. "Who said I'd agree to that? And why aren't you-" Sasuke nodded in Naruto's direction, "-putting up more of a fight, you traitor!"
Tsunade snickered evilly. "Well, we can't let you live alone, can we? We must keep you under surveillance, and who'd do the job better than the best friend you left behind? You do understand that he won't give you an opportunity to run away?" Naruto felt like he was a pet or something.
Sasuke started playing with a strand of hair absent mindedly. "But if I'm going to be trained to be 'a perfect ninja' as you're saying, wouldn't I technically be able to win, and escape?"
Tsunade sighed. "I didn't think you would actually want to escape but oh well. If you do, you won't have Itachi's headband, and you won't be able to track down Itachi. And if you leave, I'm afraid that Naruto's life will be put in danger."
Sasuke's hand fell back to his lap. "What?"
Tsunade stared at Sasuke intently, and even though he couldn't see her he seemed to feel her gaze. "I'm saying, that if you were to leave, Naruto will have to pay."
Bang. Sasuke stood in front of Tsunade's desk with his head bowed down, face hidden behind the inky bangs, fists half way through the thick wood.
"That… isn't fair." His voice was calm, unnaturally calm. Naruto felt as if he was standing in the dead centre of a storm and shuddered. That desk was made to withstand a small proportion of Tsunade's strength. "He shouldn't have to take the hit for something you want to screw up."
"For your information, brat, you are the one holding Naruto's life in your hands. Now for God's sake sit down before you faint, you stupid child." Tsunade hissed at Sasuke and stood up.
"Naruto, do you trust Sasuke, with your life?"
"Yeah, I guess I do."
"Then it is settled. Training," Tsunade raised her hands to silence the upcoming objections from Naruto, "will begin three days from now. Uzumaki Naruto, you will escort Uchiha Sasuke to the Uchiha estate, since you two don't seem to have a solution to that problem. Hatake Kakashi will bring over food to fill the refrigerator for about a week, I'll send him over later. Umino Iruka will be responsible for bringing over essentials from Naruto's apartment. Naruto, you will not let Sasuke out of your sight. And Sasuke.. She stared at Sasuke as he slowly pulled his fists out of the table. "If you even angle a kunai suspiciously, I will personally see to it that both you and Naruto receive proper punishment."
He just stood there, tall, strong and silent, completely emotionless and expressionless even as blood dripped from his scratched, still clenched, fists. A perfect soldier.
Uchiha Sasuke. A perfect Ninja.
Tsunade shook her head.
"Dismissed."
Naruto hurried outside, pulling Sasuke after him like some kind of ragdoll.
And as Tsunade-hime sat there by her desk, getting reacquainted with a large bottle of Sake, she could have fucking sworn she had gone back four years in time as Sasuke's and Naruto's voices seeped in through the window behind her.
"Well, you were brought back by the greatest Ninja of all time." Naruto sounded like he was serious.
"You couldn't fucking ninjutsu your way out of a paper bag." Sasuke snorted.
"Hey!" Tsunade could practically hear the pout. "Says the blind guy!" he yelled. Now it sounded like Sasuke was pouting.
"Isn't that a bit insensitive?"
"No."
"Yes, yes it is."
"Hmm. . . No, I don't think so," Naruto said happily.
"It is!" Sasuke sounded a tad bit frustrated.
"'Kay then, I take it back."
"Usuratonkachi!"
"Teme…!"
"Dobe."
"… teme…!"
"Is that the only insult you know? It's not even a real insult."
"It's not my fault that you're a teme, teme!"
Tsunade ignored the burning sensation in her throat as she gulped down the rest of the contents.
"Come on, Sasuke!"
"No."
"Sasukeeee!"
"No."
"Please, Sasuke!"
"No."
"Please, for me?"
"Hell no."
Naruto made a frustrated sound and stomped his foot. They had been standing by the gates to the small block of Uchiha houses, and Sasuke just wouldn't walk through them. "Come on, Sasuke-teme.. it's just a bunch of houses. Let's at least walk past the gates!"
"I'm fine here, thank you very much," Sasuke-teme said, then, being the bastard he is, he sat down on the bare ground to demonstrate exactly how fine he was out here.
"You're not fine, teme.. Come on, we've got to clean up your wounds." But Sasuke said nothing. Dammit, he was just.. sitting there.
"Fine," Naruto huffed and grabbed Sasuke's arm, yanking him up. Sasuke winced, but Naruto didn't notice. "We're going to the.. uh.. market. Yeah. To buy.. a thing.." He carefully led Sasuke past the gates, onto the Uchiha estates. It was probably mean to use Sasuke's blindness against him in a situation like this, but he really needed to clean up the bastard's wounds. It was for his own good!
"Naruto, I told you I didn't want to be here," Sasuke said quietly as they came to a halt in front of the Uchiha Main family's house.
"What! How did you know?" Naruto yelled happily.
Sasuke made a serious expression. "I can smell the Uchiha blood that was shed."
Naruto's eyes widened. "Really?"
"No you idiot! I can feel the Uchiha symbol on the wall I'm using to walk right!"
"Oh," Naruto said as he watched Sasuke. What was he doing..? "Hey..!" he yelled once he understood. "Stop backing away! You won't be able to outrun me in the state you're in anyway!"
"God dammit- Naruto, I don't want to go in there!" Sasuke said weakly as Naruto latched onto his arm again.
"Ah, Sasuke-teme, it won't be that bad," Naruto said half-heartedly as he kept a firm grip on Sasuke's arm and pulled him through the little garden to the back door.
It was remarkable, really, that the Uchiha houses hadn't been rebuilt so that other people could move in. It was like the people of Konoha hadn't been ready to give up on the golden Uchiha clan, that had for so long been one of the most powerful clans in the Fire country. As if they had all hoped for Itachi's long lost child to appear out of nowhere, or for Sasuke to suddenly change his mind and return.
It was fascinating, yet oddly disgusting, how some people held more trust for the Uchiha clan members, than they had for their own children, their own flesh and blood. Sure, they had once been the best ninjas and founders of the Konoha police-force, but they had, on numerous occasions, betrayed the village for personal gain. But everyone still kept hoping, clinging on to the hope, as well as protection, that they wished for the Sharingan to provide.
And what would happen now that the Sharingan was lost? It was ironic; the village had gotten everything back, only to find that it was nothing after all. Naruto wondered with bitter amusement what the villagers would think when they would come to realize that it wasn't Sasuke, or even his last name, that they had loved and cherished. It was something in his blood. Something in his eyes. Something he couldn't even change.
And most importantly, it was something that had been taken away.
If Sasuke had noticed how quiet Naruto had suddenly become, he wasn't complaining too much. Naruto opened the back door. He smiled. No key. It hadn't even been locked. And the house hadn't been vandalized.
"Naruto..?"
How could they hold so much respect for someone that had betrayed them? He had been able to leave his front door open for four years, as if they had expected one of the brothers to return any moment, and give them back the whole Uchiha block as if they had never done anything wrong. They hadn't done anything. It was Naruto who had fought for years to bring Sasuke back, it was Naruto who had never, ever lost faith in him. It was Naruto who wanted Sasuke back, and not the Sharingan. Were they really that desperate for hope after the minor war four years ago?
"Naruto.." Sasuke's voice sounded distant, making Naruto snap out of his thoughts. "Naruto, what-"
"Right! Let me see the damage!" Naruto said, masking his thoughts behind a smile.
"What?"
"Show me where you're hurt!"
"Naruto, we're standing in the middle of the hall, if I remember things correctly."
"Oh! Right.." Naruto toed off his sandals and started walking towards one of the closest doors. Just as he reached for the handle, Sasuke cleared his throat.
"What?" Naruto asked, giving Sasuke a quick glance before opening the door. It was a bedroom, much larger than his own had been. Very little furniture were in there, but it did look rather expensive anyway. "Sasuke this room'll be fine, just tell me where to find a.. Sasuke?"
Sasuke looked even paler than he did before as he leaned against the wall. He cleared his throat. "Naruto, I'm afraid I'm not healthy enough to.. navigate, in here."
Naruto stared at him.
"Found it!" Naruto yelled happily as he entered the room he had told Sasuke to wait in, carrying an old first-aid kit in his arms.
Sasuke was lying down on the bed. It looked like he had fallen asleep as he lay there, completely still, eyes closed, his chest gently rising and falling. He had a fever. His lips were parted as he breathed heavier than usual, and his cheeks looked flushed with heat. Naruto walked up to the bed, wondering if he was really asleep. He bent down too look at Sasuke's face…
"This used to be Itachi's room, you know." Sasuke's low voice startled Naruto, making him jump back and yelp. Sasuke didn't seem to notice. "He always kept it clean and impersonal."
Naruto put the first-aid kit down next to Sasuke on the bed and straddled his lower abdomen. "I remember exactly how it looked," Sasuke continued. Naruto put his fingers at the hem of Sasuke's dirty, black t-shirt and dragged them upwards. Sasuke shivered as Naruto's cool fingers made contact with his too warm body.
"He never liked it when people came in to his room. Not even mother or father. But I always came in here anyway." Sasuke lifted his body a bit to allow Naruto to pull the shirt off. "I looked up to him."
Naruto nodded, even though Sasuke couldn't see it. He opened the first-aid kit and poured some antiseptic and poured it onto a small cloth. "It feels wrong, in a way, to be in here without his permission," Sasuke said with a small, bitter smirk. Naruto heard a low hiss as the cloth made contact with one of the mostly healed wounds on Sasuke's shoulders. Wounds Naruto had caused. He shouldn't have thrown those Kunai. It had been unnecessary. But he would make it up to Sasuke, someday.
"It's my house. It's my room. Still it feels wrong," Sasuke spoke in a low voice as Naruto continued to clean his wounds. Silence settled as Naruto continued to clean up some of the scratches that littered Sasuke's pale chest. It was obvious that they hadn't really taken care of him wherever they had kept him for the past month. Tsunade could have healed his wounds in seconds.
"Sit up," Naruto said quietly as he got off Sasuke to allow him to sit up. Sasuke sat up slowly, putting his feet flat on the bed and leaning his arms on his knees, putting his chin on top of his crossed arms.
He is beautiful, Naruto thought as he slid in between the wall and Sasuke's back, putting his legs on either side of Sasuke. His skin was so pale with almost no scars at all, his inky hair so soft and beautiful, even as it was damp and limp, and not spiked as usual.
He looked like an angel. The wounds on his back, from where the Kunais had pierced his shoulders, were red, and although they no longer went right through his body, they were deep. It looked like there had been a pair of wings there, which he had been forcefully ripped off. A blind, sick angel that had been robbed off his wings. It hurt Naruto to think that he hadn't been able to protect one of his precious persons. But Sasuke was his best friend, and he would try his best to take some of the pain away from him. He would try harder.
Naruto took the bandages and started to bandage the Kunai-wounds. It was probably infected, which would explain Sasuke's fever. Maybe he should give him some pills to bring the fever down? No, that wasn't smart, that would allow the infection to spread.
"Naruto?" Sasuke asked suddenly.
"Yes?" Naruto replied, concentrating on the junction between Sasuke's shoulder and neck.
"What about sight?"
Naruto paused what he was doing and turned a bit to the side to get a better look at Sasuke's face. "What?"
"The Genjutsu," Sasuke said, lifting his chin from his arms, replacing it with his forehead. "You never told me about the fifth sense, sight."
"Oh." Naruto bit his lip and returned to bandaging Sasuke's shoulder. "Well.. I noticed some of the details of the town was blurred. I don't know if this counts, but I guess that the thing that gave it away was the fact that no one was looking at me oddly. Their eyes, they were all… Kind." Naruto finished wrapping up Sasuke's left shoulder and went to work on the right.
Sasuke snorted. "Right," He said in an irritated tone of voice. "I never really did get why they always insisted on treating you like shit."
Natuto's breath hitched. He quickly snapped his mouth shut, hoping that Sasuke hadn't heard. But if he had heard, he didn't let it show.
"Finished," Naruto said softly and moved to get out of the bed.
"Good," Sasuke said and leaned back against Naruto's chest before Naruto had a chance to get away.
Naruto stared at the mass of black strands who were making themselves comfortable on his shoulder along with their owner.
"Naruto?" Sasuke said again. Naruto made a surprised sound as he kept on staring at him, wide eyed. It's the fever, he told himself. He wouldn't do this if it wasn't for the fever.
"They told me you had searched for me.. Why did you search for me?"
Naruto's eyes softened and he leaned back against the wall behind him, putting his arms around Sasuke.
For a long time, neither Naruto nor Sasuke said anything, and when Naruto did finally answer, Sasuke was either asleep, or at least pretending to be.
"Because I care for you."
(1)I know his name isn't Maito Gai, which everyone seem to think it is; It's Might Guy. But, People always write "Gai-sensei" so I guess I'll do it too, because Gai sounds cooler than Guy, and I'm not really in the mood to bitch with people about it.
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