101 Words
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor do I own it's characters. I make no money with this.
Author's Note: Have I ever mentioned just how much I hate where the original manga is going? Or what has become of it! Seriously, why do I even bother reading that crap! (*just read newest chapter and now wants to kill someone*) I would be laughing my ass off about how utterly ridiculous the whole "plot" (it almost hurts to call it that) has become - if I hadn't loved it so much a few years back. If there hadn't been so much potential in it! -.-'' Remember the episodes around Sasuke's departure? That was great. Today's chapters are just plain sad...
Fear
"It's not your fault, okay?" Sasuke yelled though the wooden door – locked and sealed and he was going to kick Naruto's ass just for that.
"Who's fault is it then, huh!" Naruto's answering cry came right back, his voice almost breaking at the end. "It's my— It's me, god dammit! It's–"
"It's nobody's fault, Naruto," Sasuke tried again, pressing his forehead against the coolness of the door. Calm, Naruto needed him calm... Just this one time. "It was an accident, okay? Don't–"
"Sasuke, I almost killed him. I... Fuck, Kiba, I almost—"
"No, you didn't! It wasn't you, it was the Kyuubi! And Kiba's–"
"I am the Kyuubi, Sasuke!" Naruto exploded, so much anger and despair and whatnot in his voice that Sasuke finally decided that worry was more important than good manners. The door never stood much of a chance, Naruto's poor sealing skills be damned, one well aimed kick solving the problem in a matter of seconds.
Naruto was sitting at the far wall, curled in on himself, arms hugging his knees to his chest. His eyes, now wide from shock and anger, were still red and swollen from crying, his clothes still dirty and bloodied and burnt in some places. But the wounds had healed.
"Get out!" Naruto yelled at him after what couldn't have been more than three seconds and Sasuke glared harder and crossed the room. Kneeling down in front of the moron – because he was a moron, jounin or not – and pulling him into a tight embrace, he completely ignored the blond's weak protests and how he tried to push him away.
"You fought him back down, okay?" he said firmly, his voice somewhat muffled by Naruto's neck. "You brought him back under control on your own, without Kakashi' help and without Yamato's help. You saved Kiba, okay? It's not your fault."
"I–I...–"
"And dog-face is alright. He would have told you so himself if Sakura hadn't tied him to his bed, and no one else got hurt. It's alright, just trust me on that, okay?"
"It's never happened so sudden..." Naruto whispered, hands finally coming up to cling to Sasuke's back. "And there was no reason, I don't know why... I–I'm scared, Sasuke!"
And it was hard, really hard, to answer, to be reassuring, to tell him it was okay, when it was almost impossible to even breathe through the tightness in his chest, but Sasuke managed. He had to, for Naruto, just this once.
"I know," he whispered back, hugging the other boy even tighter. "But you'll get through this, Naruto. You're stronger than him."