101 Words
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor do I own it's characters. I make no money with this.
Author's Note: *insert random comment here*
Trust
"I never doubted you'd survive," Sasuke stated calmly as he entered the small underground prison cell, sliding his ANBU mask off his face.
Naruto smiled up at him genuinely, exhaustion and the lack of sleep painting dark shadows across his face. He was kneeling at the center of the cell with his arms tied behind his back, wearing nothing but his black jounin pants. His face was graced by bruises, his bare torso covered in cuts, whip marks and burns – a few of them would surely leave scars on someone – anyone – else, Sasuke mused. But they both knew he was lucky: he wasn't missing body parts and he wasn't a mental wreck. He'd endured things way worse than this.
"You sure took your time," the blond said quietly, his eyes never leaving Sasuke's.
"I went against three or four direct orders, but Tsunade will forgive me once you're back home." They stared at each other in silence for a while until Naruto's expression turned into one of almost-sadness.
"You know," he said barely loud enough for Sasuke to hear, "I was supposed to kill myself the moment I realized there was no getting out of there..."
"Well, good thing that following orders was never one of your strong sides." Naruto didn't even flinch when Sasuke moved closer, drawing his kunai, and started to work on the ties with swift movements. "Would have sucked to find you dead."
"Maa... I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I would have felt bad for making you come all the way for nothing."
"...You never doubted I'd come back."