No fluff this chapter. Sorryz ^_^; Chapter named after a Tokio Hotel song called "Love and Death." Go and look them up. They're awesome (and German) lol. This chapter's short but I really wanted to make Sasuke's feelings stand out by having this chapter primarily focused on his thoughts. Hopefully you'll get that from the writing and not cause I just told you. Tell me if there's too much drama or I'm just exagerrating unecessarily. Anyways, as always, big thanks to my readers! =)
Not the last chapter if any of you are going to wonder.
At the hospital Sasuke sat feeling abandoned in the waiting room. Itachi had betrayed him – there was never any real trust there anyway – and Naruto, well Naruto was getting surgery to get his nose back in the right spot, the bones having broken into several small pieces. He also had broken ribs, which were no surprise to Sasuke, and internal bleeding and bruising. He held Naruto's hand the whole way until they finally kicked him out as they wheeled Naruto into the ER.
"Don't worry," the blonde mumbled to him the whole way. He should've been the one saying that to Naruto, but instead time passed slowly as he acted spectator to the proceedings around him. Still shocked, unable to feel, and unable to process what was happening.
He told them what happened; at first he whispered it softly, not truly sure if it happened. He told the paramedics, he told the police, and he told the doctors. No one seemed to hear it, gradually he became angry that they would not listen, and even as he raised his voice they still disregarded whatever he said. Itachi and his gang had the city balanced perfectly on the palm of their hand. They would fix Naruto up and blame it on some animal attack. Sasuke couldn't have been more furious.
He stormed his way past noisy machines, hospital personnel, and receptionist booths until he exited the hospital all together, leaving behind the smells of disinfectant, death, and disease. The pain in his ankle became a dull throb with each step, determined to get over the ridiculous injury in comparison to all of Naruto's. He didn't want to sit and be patient. He wanted to do something - anything.
So he went to the park.
Nothing was very far in this city called Konoha. Sasuke soon arrived at the park in less than half an hour. The trees looked the same as… yesterday morning? Was it really not that long ago that Naruto and him had walked to school perfectly fine – normal? Still enemies and rivals? Getting his ankle hurt was the cause of all this. He wouldn't have felt so weak and helpless and let his defenses down, down to Naruto. They wouldn't have walked to his apartment and fallen asleep. They wouldn't have done it. If they hadn't done it, then they wouldn't have need to gone to his house. And if they hadn't gone to his house, Itachi would've never set his damn hands on Naruto.
They should've stayed rivals.
This dirt road, the way the rocks crunched beneath his feet, the way the trees shadowed the path before him, all so familiar, all so comforting, yet he strayed from it, desperate to find solitude amongst the overgrown trees, away from the people he occasionally met who traveled the path, such as an evening bicycler or jogger. He headed down to the small river that ran through the park. It was empty. High grass decorated the banks, perfect for no one to see him, perfect for him to get lost in. He laid in it, completely obscured, the sun shining warmly on his skin. He instantly thought of oranges.
His face crumpled and fists clenched. He wouldn't cry, he wanted to, desperately, but he wouldn't. He never let his emotions fully overwhelm him, the only occasion was with Naruto. And look where that led to. Emotions were dangerous and he never wanted to experience them ever again – not even love or happiness. He would put on a stoic face the rest of his life. He would succeed. He was stubborn and considered himself strong, maybe prideful. Either way, he wouldn't cry for what Itachi did. The only emotion he allowed himself to feel was revenge and hate. Somehow, someway, he'd get revenge for his parents. He would kill Itachi and then there will be so much blood, buckets of the stuff, enough blood to twice-over pay for what he did. And then Sasuke would smile. He would smile and then he would laugh, laugh so hard joyful tears would stream down his face to make up for all the lost years of being emotionless and troubled and finally be happy, happy that his only and closest relative is finally dead. And there amidst the silence of late afternoon, and peaceful scenery, he never again thought of Naruto, and only of Itachi's lifeless body, the blood pouring out from a gaping and fatal wound delivered by Sasuke himself.