AN: A little note that I forgot to mention earlier, Lady_Kudo is being lovely enough to translate Cloud Cover into Spanish! She is updating new chapters around every 1-2 weeks, and I have also given her permission to upload to wattpad (I might upload the originals there too after Red Storm is complete). So, if you find reading in Spanish easier, you can head on over and read the translation. Hmm, I can't put links here, but if you google "Lady-Kudo Cloud Cover" it will come up.
Chapter 30: The Forest of Silent Watchers
"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong."
Mahatma Gandhi
Sasuke wasn't sure what to expect when he saw the black SUV grind to a sharp halt on the dirt road, but when he saw the flash of blond hair, he no longer cared. He broke into a sprint, dashing towards the car.
Naruto mouthed words to someone as he stepped out of the car. A shot of unease jolted through Sasuke, but he couldn't stop the muscles in his legs propelling him forward as if with a will of their own.
And then Naruto, his Naruto, turned towards him and smiled.
It was a small smile on the Naruto scale, but immediately it made all of Sasuke's fears, worries and anxieties that had built up over the past few days fall away like autumn leaves.
Naruto broke into a run and they met in the middle of the plot.
"How is this-? How did you-?" began Sasuke. He hugged Naruto and pulled away, touching Naruto's arms, then shoulders, face and hair as if to make sure he was really there.
"I had help." said Naruto, nodding towards the car.
Sasuke looked past him. A man with dark hair and darker eyes sat inside. A man Sasuke recognized instantly despite the years that had passed. He grabbed Naruto by the arm and pulled him behind him.
"Get back, Naruto." He said in a tight voice. "We're not safe yet."
"No, Sasuke. It's not what you think." started Naruto, but Sasuke ignored him and pulled out a wooden-handled revolver from under his jacket. He lifted it and aimed it at the car.
"Wait, don't!" shouted Naruto, and grabbed Sasuke's arm as a gunshot rang off. The bang resounded like cannonball fire in the still, morning air.
The car revved to life and the tires spun on the gravel as it pulled away.
"What the hell? Let me go!" cried Sasuke, yanking his arm away.
He shoved Naruto out of the way and began to run after the car, aiming his revolver at the front seat. He shot. The car swerved, but continued to speed up. He couldn't let it reach the corner, couldn't let it get out of sight.
That was when he found himself thrown forward, a heavy weight knocking him over as Naruto tackled him. Breath shot out of his lungs and for a couple of seconds he couldn't breathe. He fought to get out from under Naruto, grappling for the gun that had fallen just a foot away only to have Naruto grabbing his wrists and pulling his hands back.
They struggled in the grass amongst the silent gravestones. Naruto let out a small grunt as he was elbowed in the face with Sasuke's efforts to get away. He managed to flip Sasuke over so that they were face-to-face, Sasuke on his back and Naruto sitting on his torso.
"Listen to me, Sasuke. You have to listen."
"Get off me, you son of a bitch!" he yelled. "I don't want to hurt you, but I swear if you don't get off me…You don't know who that is. You don't know who-"
"It's Itachi." said Naruto, his quiet statement somehow cutting through Sasuke's yells.
There was quiet then, only the sound of the car's low rumble as it sped far, far away into the distance.
Sasuke lay still staring up at Naruto, his chest heaving, betrayal shining in his eyes.
"You knew?"
Naruto carefully let go of Sasuke's wrists and crawled off him.
"There's some stuff I need to explain." He said as he got to his feet, pulling down a baggy, black hoody to cover as much of his shivering legs as possible. It was only then that Sasuke realized Naruto was practically half-naked, standing barefoot on the cold, dewy grass in nothing but that hoody and a pair of white boxers.
Sasuke sat up and stared at the gun lying uselessly in the grass. He put a hand to his head.
"No, it's…I understand." said Sasuke. "He, he was threatening you. You had to get away from him. You thought you were protecting me."
"It's not like that, Sasuke." said Naruto. "He's the one who got me out. He rescued me. And he explained a lot of stuff, stuff about the past, about your parents. He's not the person you think he is."
Sasuke jerked his head up.
"Did they brainwash you in there?" He asked. "Naruto, he's a psychopath. I don't know what he told you, but the man is a pathological liar. He's insane. You get that, right? Tell me you understand that."
"It's not like that, Sasuke. He had reasons, messed up reasons, sure, but…reasons."
Naruto reached a hand out to help him stand up, but Sasuke smacked it away as he got to his feet eyeing Naruto as if he were a stranger.
"Am I hearing this right?" asked Sasuke. "Are you honestly defending the man who murdered my parents?"
"You haven't heard the full story."
Sasuke gave a harsh laugh.
"What story?" he said, his tone harsh. "You mean the story that explains how it's completely okay to execute your own parents in their home, and attempt the murder of a 5-year-old kid? That story?"
Naruto rubbed the back of his neck. "Well…yeah."
Sasuke shook his head. "They really messed you up."
Naruto let out a growl of frustration and grabbed Sasuke by the front of the t-shirt.
"Yeah, you know what, Sasuke? They did. They did mess me up. I thought every day that I was with the Akatsuki that I was gonna die okay? That or tortured to death. I was strapped to a metal slab for my lovely visit, oh and I got to meet our old friend, Kabuto."
Sasuke took a sharp intake of breath. "Kabuto's alive?"
"Yeah, that's right." said Naruto, curling his lips in a bitter mockery of a smile, "Turns out that asshole is alive. And you know what, your brother rescued me. Not only that, but I got to find out it's not the only time he has saved my life. Twice, Sasuke."
Naruto held up two fingers in front of Sasuke's face, tightening his grip on the t-shirt. "He's saved my life twice."
He finally let go of the other teen who just stood stock still while Naruto continued his rant, digging his hands into his hoody's front pocket as he paced back and forth on the cold grass.
"Now I know you've had shit to deal with, but right now I think my shit one-ups yours, all right? So here's what's going to happen. We're going to go home, I'm going to get some clothes, and we're going to get Iruka and everyone somewhere safe. While Akatsuki is after me, they're all in danger, all right? And before you go on a murderous rampage to get your brother, you're going to freaking listen to me. You got that?"
Naruto was breathing hard, his hands in tight fists within the pocket. Sasuke took a few steps towards and Naruto flinched as the other teen lifted a hand towards his face, but Sasuke simply ghosted his thumb over a cut healing just below Naruto's right eye.
"They hurt you." he said in a quiet voice.
Naruto leaned away, bringing his face out from under Sasuke's touch.
"Nothing I couldn't handle." He muttered.
Sasuke frowned and pushed aside some of the blond hair straying into Naruto's face. It was greasy, and dirt stood out in the usually golden hair. Faint, yellowy bruises still bloomed on his paler-than-usual skin, dotting around his right eye and across his nose and bottom lip. The nose was still slightly swollen. Sasuke had seen Naruto's fast healing powers in action. If these injuries had happened a week ago, they must have been pretty intense.
"I'm sorry you had to go through that." He said. "I tried to get to you, Naruto. I tried to find you."
Naruto reddened slightly and swallowed.
"I know, Sasuke." He said. "I knew you would."
Sasuke leaned forward so that their foreheads touched and closed his eyes.
"I thought I would never see you again." He said. "The Akatsuki. I thought that they'd-…I'm sorry."
"There's nothing to be sorry for." replied Naruto quietly.
Sasuke opened his eyes, looking down at the dewy grass below them. Naruto's feet were bare, droplets of water clung to his skin.
"But it was my fault." Sasuke whispered, pulling away slightly. "I didn't tell you. They approached me a few weeks ago. They asked me what you'd taken. I thought it was harmless. I thought they wanted to know about the drug. I didn't know what…I didn't know-"
"I said there's nothing to be sorry for." repeated Naruto firmly. He pulled Sasuke back towards him, forcing him to meet his eyes. "It doesn't matter. You couldn't have known. I couldn't have known. They would have found out one way or another. It wouldn't have changed anything."
Sasuke stared into Naruto's deep blue eyes, and he leaned in, placing a soft kiss on his lips. Then he brought his hands up to cup Naruto's face. Sasuke closed his eyes, deepening the kiss as he lost himself in the sensation of Naruto's warmth. His Naruto. Here. Safe.
Naruto sank into the kiss, responding in kind and pulling Sasuke in closer as he placed a hand on the back of his neck. They held each other for a short while, lingering in the moment.
It was Sasuke that pulled away first, reluctantly, clearing his throat.
"My, uh, car is over there. You can explain to me on the way." He said. "Our first priority is getting you some clothes and food."
He looked him over. "You've lost weight."
Naruto let out a shaky breath and nodded. The two teens made their way out of the graveyard, hand-in-hand, threading their way amongst the sentry-like tombstones and back to the outside world.
AN: Thanks to naruhinakiralacus, Ochame, Arw165 and Shining-Dreamer for your super-fast reviews! It made me so happy to read them.
Shining-Dreamer, there's still a ways to go...but yes, your instincts are right and that shit storm is coming. And oh, what a shit storm it will be. ;) Things are not going to be pretty for our boys, I can tell you that. As for the Sasuke betrayal, as you can see I didn't take it out and addressed it briefly, but at this point, I felt Naruto is too exhausted to cause more drama. I also like to think he knows Sasuke wouldn't purposely betray him at this point. :D