Enjoy!
The Long Way Home
Part 15
The Deed
Chapter 3/5
It was almost laugh out loud funny.
It was true that Sasuke hadn't lived the most pure life but he was almost certain that if he had indeed managed to kill a person in Arrei he might have remembered doing such a thing.
The funny part was that this was one of the few countries he'd ever been to that he had been pretty sure he couldn't be arrested for something. But here he was, captured for a crime he hadn't committed instead of one of the many he actually had.
But then Naruto had told him that he had a weird sense of humor.
He sat on the floor with his back up against the wall facing the bars of his cell, legs drawn up, arms resting on his knees, and stared at the dragon wrapped around his wrist. They hadn't even bothered to take it off him when they'd bought him in here, which had been a surprise.
The parts of the silver dragon had some pointy bits so he'd expected to have it taken but they hadn't bothered in the end. He could understand why, it couldn't even remotely be used as a weapon. In fact the only person he could probably hurt with any degree of confidence was himself given time, a lot of patience and even more pain but the Hunters probably wouldn't care if he did their job for them so why bother.
Before the trip here they had treated his leg so he could walk on it though. In fact whatever they put on it after taking out the arrow and sealing the wound meant that Sasuke was feeling little pain with his injury at all. He might have been interested to know what they'd used if he hadn't had bigger things on his mind say like, being accused of murder.
But oh well, maybe it was a good sign that they had chosen to heal him rather than let the wound fester. They certainly seemed more interested in keeping him alive more than not so that gave him some small hope.
Looking at the dragon though did make him wonder what Naruto was doing right now. The look on his face when Sasuke had been arrested had been pretty crushing. The further fact that he hadn't helped Sasuke fight made him think that perhaps Naruto believed the charges.
And Sasuke couldn't really blame him. Naruto should have known by now that Sasuke was capable of such a thing but this was one of the few rare times that Naruto had seemed to accept it so easily.
He had looked so very shocked and had obviously readily believed in Sasuke's guilt that it made Sasuke think that he wasn't going to be able to rely on any help on that front in the future. But the problem was that it was now that Sasuke had started relying on it. In the past he was used to dealing with things on his own but now he'd fallen into the soft alternative of having an ally to rely on and the realization made Sasuke annoyed with himself.
He should have known better. It was stupid to rely on other people because one false move and that person might decide that your back wasn't worth watching anymore. But still, even Sasuke knew that while everyone had their limits of acceptance, Naruto's tolerance of Sasuke was pretty high.
Sasuke couldn't be shocked that he had finally overshot that tolerance but he was deeply annoyed that it had been because of something he had not actually done.
On one hand he figured this was for the best. Let Naruto understand that even though Sasuke might have been Innocent this time, he wasn't innocent all the time. better he knew that now than let Sasuke down later on. But on a completely different and slightly unreasonable hand he really wanted Naruto to know that he was innocent this time.
Sasuke heard the door to the jail open and footsteps on the stones leading to his cell. He stood up stupidly hoping for a moment that perhaps Naruto had come to hear the truth but was very sadly mistaken.
The person that stopped in front of his cell was a stunningly pretty green eyed girl with long black hair and a dark expression.
Sasuke frowned, what the fuck was this?
Amaya stopped in front of his cell and folded her arms underneath her breasts, her stance defiant.
"Did you think I would never find out what you did?"
Sasuke put his hands on the bars and raised an eyebrow at her. "Actually I wouldn't mind finding out what I apparently did."
"Reizo saw you kill my father. He was a citizen of Arrei, did you know that? That means you can be tried in this country for his murder."
Sasuke sighed. Okay so perhaps he wasn't as innocent as all that. He hadn't for one moment thought that killing her father in Adessa could catch up with him here but that's what he got for allowing himself to relax. And that Reizo guy had seen him, which was interesting. And what was even more interesting was that the last time he had seen Amaya she hadn't seemed to know that Sasuke had killed her father.
So Sasuke wondered why it had taken Reizo this long to come clean. So either Reizo had kept quiet until recently for some reason or something had happened just as recently to make Amaya suddenly care about her dead father.
But the only time they had crossed paths here had been just before Amaya had dragged Naruto off to her lavish mansion to have her way with him. Her plan hadn't worked but there was no way this could possibly have anything to do with striking out with Naruto. Surely not.
"Not that I am in any way admitting that I would do such a thing," Sasuke began in an even tone, "but this would be the father that sold you to a sadistic slum lord, is it?"
Amaya reddened slightly at that which told Sasuke a lot about her motivations here.
"He did it to protect the family name," Amaya told him haughtily.
"And," Sasuke continued, "if he hadn't suddenly gone missing not only would you be married to said slum lord by now but Naruto would be dead, am I right?"
"So you think he deserved to die?" Amaya asked as though she had caught him confessing.
"Don't you?" Sasuke asked in basically the same tone.
"I may not have agreed with what my father did most of the time, but that doesn't excuse murder. There are always alternatives."
Sasuke gave her a half smile. "Oh yes, and how were those alternatives working out for you before he went missing?"
If nothing else Amaya's face reddened even more. It seemed as though Amaya wasn't actually all that saddened that her father had died which was pretty much what Sasuke had suspected. But that didn't answer his other questions.
"I'm curious why this new information is suddenly coming to light now. It's a little suspicious that last time we met, you didn't seem to have been informed about this. You couldn't even get my name right. But suddenly Reizo offers you up a name between now and then and you sick the Hunters on me. Why would he keep such a secret from you for so long?"
"He was protecting me," Amaya replied defensively. "He thought that I was better off without my father as well."
"So even though he decided to blame me for this, he actually agrees that your father wasn't worth the air he breathed. That's interesting. Just how invested is this Reizo with your happiness that this bit of news would suddenly give you peace of mind, now of all times?"
It was starting to seem like the timing was more than just a coincidence.
"Could it be that you have more of an interest in having me out of the way for some reason?" Sasuke continued.
Amaya looked angrier and angrier the longer Sasuke poked at her, she was almost shaking with rage at this point.
"You're not good enough for him!" she exclaimed in a rush.
"What? Who?"
"Naruto!"
Sasuke couldn't help the surprised look at that. A part of him had sort of suspected this had more to do with Naruto than it would appear but he was still surprised just how much.
"I know he stopped himself with me that night because of you." Amaya went on. "The way he talked about you, it was obvious that he cared about you. But you're a murderer, you're a bad person and there is no way he deserves to be shackled to someone like you just because he has a soft heart!"
"Are you actually telling me that you had me arrested because you think I was the reason Naruto didn't want you?"
"You are the reason, I know it. But he obviously doesn't know what you are like, otherwise he wouldn't waste his time with you I'm sure.
Sasuke didn't know what came over him in that moment but he actually laughed. It wasn't a particularly pleasant laugh but enjoyable all the same.
"What is so funny!?" Amaya demanded.
"Just about everything actually. For one thing, I can't believe I have been locked up in jail just because some spoilt little princess can't manage to tempt a single fuck out of her brave prince. But what you don't get is that although Naruto is a moron and an idiot he isn't such an idiot that he doesn't know who I really am. Naruto knows exactly what I am capable of because Naruto knows me better than anyone does and cares about me regardless. If you are brainless enough to think that this will sour his loyalty to me you are even stupider than he is."
...wait...what?
Sasuke had spoken before thinking and what he had said even surprised himself. But not for long. He had wondered whether his arrest might have actually made Naruto stop caring but deep down Sasuke realized that it wouldn't. Of course there were always limits, but Sasuke didn't really think he had exceeded it just yet.
And besides what Sasuke had done wasn't amongst the worst things Sasuke had ever done and Naruto had stil cared for him before. He wouldn't stop now despite how shock had made him react when Sasuke had been arrested.
"Why should he be so loyal to you?" Amaya questioned sharply. "What have you done to earn that loyalty?"
"Nothing that I can see," Sasuke replied truthfully. "But he thinks of me as his best friend and I don't think you being responsible for my capture is going to make him sweep you up into his arms any faster."
"This isn't about what I want!" Amaya told him angrily. "This is about what is best for him. I owe him my freedom, the least I can do is expose his so called best friend as the piece of trash he really is. He will be far better off without you!"
"Perhaps," Sasuke allowed with a smirk. "But he won't moan half as loud."
Amaya's mouth was a perfect 'o' of astonishment at that brazen claim but it only made Sasuke's smirk more profound.
"What?" he asked. "You were the one saying that he didn't sleep with you because of me. You must have known why."
Well that wasn't really true, but Amaya didn't know that. Sasuke was willing to bet that the reason he hadn't slept with Amaya was because of the same reservations he had about sex with anyone.
It was a big step for Naruto apparently and he was waiting for some perfect moment with someone who was more than a stranger, more than a friend even. And really Amaya was close to a stranger for Naruto. Naruto might care about people generally enough to go out of his way to help them, but to actually form a bond or a connection with them?
Well that would take more than the time he had spent with Amaya so far. And even if one day Naruto got more comfortable with the idea of sleeping with a stranger, Sasuke highly doubted that would be while he was still a virgin and therefore perhaps even more sensitive about the comfort factor.
Of course Naruto's decision probably had nothing to do with Sasuke anyway, but any chance to antagonize Amaya at this point was a definite bonus and for once he felt no qualms whatsoever making Amaya believe there was actually something for her to be jealous of. In fact he would take great joy in making her think he had won something she had lost.
"I knew," Amaya admitted quietly.
"I'm guessing he didn't tell you."
"No. When I got close to him he drew away like he felt guilty. I figured it out later."
"Pity you missed out," Sasuke told her insincerely. "I'm happy to tell you what you missed out on in great detail if you like. The way he sounds, the way he tastes, the way his eyes roll up into the back of his head just before he..."
Well they hadn't actually had sex either. However, Sasuke had gotten a lot more from him than Amaya had, enough at least to taunt her and maybe make believe he'd gone even further. And normally Sasuke kept personal things to himself very guardedly but the temptation to screw with Amaya was far too great. If all of this really stemmed from some immature jealous fit, then Sasuke wasn't above being immature about it either. And hearing that Naruto had gotten that close to her only to pull away put him in a good mood.
More than he would have expected. Amaya had said to him that he wasn't good enough to be Naruto's friend. Well he'd certainly done a lot more for Naruto than she had that was for sure. So the fact that Naruto had denied her what she wanted from him was very pleasing and gave him a sadistically happy feeling considering the depths Sasuke was really beginning to hate this bitch.
Besides, unless Sasuke thought of a good escape plan this might well be the last chance he had to feel superior over someone else and Amaya was a prime target.
The selfish little princess was doing this because she had a crush on someone who didn't reciprocate her feelings and was blaming Sasuke for it. And sure, Sasuke might not be innocent of the crime she was accusing him of, he had killed her father, but for Amaya that was just an excuse to try and get what she wanted. She was more like her father than she knew apparently.
"Shut up! You get his loyalty just because you make him feel good? Well, you're not the only one. When you are gone, I will make him forget all about you. He won't even remember your name. I imagine he'll be sorely in need of comforting after learning about what you have done," Amaya finished with a confident smile.
Well, that was entirely possible. Naruto had looked shocked before, he was probably still reeling and perhaps Amaya might manage to comfort him in some way. But what Amaya failed to realise was that she wasn't dealing with someone who simply gave up on other people.
They weren't attached the way Amaya assumed they were, but they were friends and friends were something Naruto never gave up on no matter how badly they treated him.
"Yeah," Sasuke said smiling right back, "Good luck with that."
Naruto had not wanted to let Sasuke out of his sight for a single moment. But as soon as he'd made to follow the procession taking Sasuke away, one of the Hunters shook his head 'no' brandishing a wicked looking sword and giving Naruto a stern look.
Apparently they hadn't appreciated the fact that a companion of the man they had taken prisoner was obviously upset about them taking his friend. They had told him afterwards that Sasuke would be taken to the nearest town, half a day's walk to the north where he would be held until he was either proven guilty or innocent but that Naruto was not allowed to accompany them or in fact travel anywhere near them while they escorted their prisoner.
It might have been reassuring that even the Hunters remained impartial except for that look Sasuke had given him just before they had taken him. It hadn't been guilt exactly, but Sasuke had looked a lot more panicked than a simple mistake could account for. He'd looked peaked and that look had freaked Naruto out a lot.
Still he felt pretty guilty about letting them take Sasuke. He wanted so badly to believe that Sasuke was innocent of this that he had thought that it would be better to let them prove his innocence now rather than fight and have to watch their backs for their remainder of time in Arrei.
But now Naruto wasn't so sure. What if Naruto had read Sasuke's look right and there was some truth to the Hunter's accusations? What if Sasuke had really killed someone? That was a pretty grim thought. Even grimmer because it now meant that not only was Sasuke in the hands of the Hunters, but he might also be proven guilty for his crime. And Naruto had thrown his one chance of helping him fight and save him by standing back and doing nothing.
Of course if Sasuke had been in his right mind he would have been the first one to tell Naruto what an impossible situation that had been. Sasuke would probably have been shot dead before they'd managed to take the first guy out.
Sasuke had spent so much time enjoining Naruto to think a situation through before acting, know when to act and when to wait for a better chance that perhaps it was finally starting to wear off on him. Of course it was easier to hold back when it wasn't simply his life on the line but someone he cared about.
Still no matter how prudent it had been to hold back, he still felt torn up about letting them take Sasuke without a fight. But he also wasn't about to exacerbate matters by pissing off the Hunters either so he waited in the little field of blue clovers for another hour, making himself sick with the 'what ifs' before getting up, grabbing both his and Sasuke's things and heading back toward the road.
The sun had set by the time Naruto reached the town the Hunters had been talking about but that hardly bothered him. As soon as he could, he found the whereabouts of whatever passed as the local jail and made a beeline for it. The building he found wasn't large by anyone's standards.
He'd seen some of the village's local police posts before and they mostly looked like a single office building meant for one guy, a desk and one or two cells. This one seemed no different except for the two guards standing watch just outside.
Naruto approached the building carefully, expecting that the guards would be about as tolerant of him now as the Hunters had been back in the field. But before he even got close enough to talk to them, a figure came out of the jail scowling down at her feet and began striding off in the direction of the center of town.
"Amaya?" Naruto called out in confusion.
The girl stopped, her head snapping toward him. It was definitely Amaya. What the hell was she doing here?
"Naruto!"
She came over to him, smiling as she always did when she saw him but Naruto could tell that for once the expression was a little forced.
"Uh Amaya, what are you doing here?"
She seemed a little taken aback when he didn't reciprocate her smile and he knew he must not have looked all that pleased to see her. It wasn't personal though, there was just some times when he couldn't muster up a smile even for show.
"You haven't heard?" she asked tentatively.
"Heard what?"
"Sasuke has been bought into town by the Hunters."
"Yeah, I know that part. I was there. How did you know?"
"This might be hard for you to hear Naruto. Perhaps we should go somewhere a little more private."
"This is fine," he argued starting to get a sinking feeling. "I need to know what this is about."
Amaya took a deep breath, a pained expression settling over her features but just like the smile, something about it looked forced.
"After the last time we met I found out that back in Adessa, my father didn't flee to escape his creditors after all. He was murdered. Naruto, it was Sasuke"
"What?!"
Shock just didn't seem to cover it. Sasuke had been accused of killing Amaya's father? But then, didn't that mean...?
"You sent the Hunters after us?"
Now her expression looked genuinely surprised. "Not after you! Naruto I would never do anything to harm you. I had hoped you had not taken to traveling with him again but if you had, I made sure to tell them that you had nothing to do with the crime. And now to realise that you were all alone in the company of a murderer... I feel doubly relieved that they have finally caught him. A person like that is not to be trusted."
Naruto wasn't sure whether to feel angry or not about this piece of information. Some part of him was still probably wondering whether Sasuke had actually done it, but then Amaya must have had a pretty compelling reason to suspect him. But why would Sasuke do such a thing?
Okay, so Sasuke wasn't normally the most well adjusted person ever. He had, in the past, taken matters into his own hands and death had sometimes been the end result of that. But no matter how hateful and misguided Sasuke had been back then, he had always had reasons for what he did. He didn't kill people for fun, no matter how crazy he'd gotten for a little while there. So why Amaya's father...?
And then Naruto started to feel sick again. What did Sasuke have to gain by killing her father? Well, Naruto's freedom mainly.
Fuck.
"Naruto please," Amaya went on, "Let me take you back to where I am staying. I want you to know why I had to report this."
Naruto knew, Sasuke had killed her father, who wouldn't want justice for that? But as much as he felt guilty and as much as he wanted to show some pity for her loss, he couldn't force himself to do that right now.
"I can't. I need to talk to him."
"Why?" Amaya asked with a quick flash of anger. "He is not your friend Naruto. He's nothing but a rabid animal. He killed my father."
"I just, I have to. I'm really sorry Amaya."
Amaya did not look pleased and after a few more futile attempts to get Naruto to come back with her, she left him to himself with a deep frown on her face.
When Sasuke got woken up by the sounds of the door opening he didn't bother getting up. It was probably a little late at night to drag him off to his sentencing so it was probably just Amaya again, here for another round of bitch fighting. And if it was, he could taunt her just as easily from his back as on his feet.
"Your cell is a lot nicer than mine was."
Sasuke's eyes snapped open and his head turned toward the familiar voice.
Naruto was standing by the bars with his hands jammed into his pockets looking very tired and very tense. Sasuke got to his feet and walked up to the bars feeling only the mildest sting from his leg. Naruto was very obviously avoiding direct eye contact with him.
Sasuke didn't really know what to say. But it didn't really matter because Naruto had obviously come here to say something anyway. Eventually he did look at Sasuke properly.
"Did you do it?"
Sasuke cast a few furtive looks around trying to spot any eavesdroppers.
"Don't worry. The guards are outside and they won't be able to hear us. I don't want to give you an excuse to lie."
Sasuke frowned. Well, yeah, Naruto really did know him that well.
"Yes."
Naruto's face flushed instantly with anger at the admission.
"Fuck, Sasuke! What the hell?"
"Tell me the world isn't better off without that guy," Sasuke challenged him.
"So? That's not for you to decide!"
"Then who would have?" Sasuke asked sharply.
"You were the one telling me that I can't go around changing the way the world works because I disagree with how it's run! How can you say that and turn around and kill that guy because it suited you?"
"Because of what I did your precious Amaya is a free woman, isn't she? And don't forget you didn't end up staked in the town center for being an impetuous moron either."
"So what, you did this for me?"
"It doesn't matter."
"Of course it matters! If you killed someone to save me..."
"Don't you dare feel guilty about this!" Sasuke snapped. "This is what I decided to do, this is my problem. Do not interfere now because of some secondhand guilt you have no business reeling anyway. I will deal with this myself."
"What do you mean 'now'? Do you mean the field? Sasuke they would have killed you back there!"
He was right, but obviously Sasuke felt a little bitter about it despite himself. Not that he should. Naruto was right, they had been woefully outnumbered. And besides, he didn't any need help, he'd always looked after himself. He had thought before that he hated the idea of relying on people so he shouldn't be so bothered now.
"I didn't... I wasn't..."
"Don't hurt yourself, dobe. I don't blame you for not fighting."
"I'm starting to," Naruto muttered. "You know what the penalty for murder is, right?"
"I doubt it's a light spanking," Sasuke answered sarcastically.
"So how exactly do you plan to deal with that?" Naruto asked ignoring the last comment. "How do you expect to get out of being put to death?"
"I'm assuming there will be some kind of trial first. The way I understand it, it is my word against Reizo's. I'd like to see them try to dig up some kind of real evidence against me." Then he thought about what Naruto had just said. "Wait, do you even want me to get out of this?"
"Of course I do!" Naruto exclaimed. "You should never have done what you did, but I don't think you deserve to die for that guy either."
No matter that he had told Amaya that Naruto would still be his friend even in the face of being called a murderer, he still hadn't entirely believed it. Even though Naruto had forgiven him from doing a lot of bad things in the past there was still that little doubt in his mind that perhaps this was just that one bad thing too many.
Not that he regretted doing it.
"They have nothing concrete," Sasuke assured him. "So there is nothing to worry about."
"I can help," Naruto told him.
"I told you not to interfere."
"And I'm telling you that I don't give a shit!"
"Naruto..."
But before Sasuke could get the words out Naruto stumbled back a little bit as though some invisible force had cut the muscles keeping him from standing up straight. But it lasted just a moment. Naruto did raise his head again but when Sasuke looked at his face, he could only groan in annoyance.
"Just what I fucking need," Sasuke muttered.
Kurama gave him an incredibly self-satisfied grin before reaching forward and testing the strength of the bars holding Sasuke captive in a casually curious manner.
"This is what I would refer to as a happy day," Kurama told him. "Smug little Uchiha locked up and about to be sent off to his death without me having to lift a single finger to make it so."
"I thought you wanted me to live."
"I meant that Naruto would be upset with me if I killed you."
"You think this will make him less upset?" Sasuke asked unbelievingly.
"Actually I do. It's hardly a surprise that he wants you to live even now, but you are just really getting what you deserve. That's a little different than me killing you because I feel like it. If some sense of justice is meted out against you it will be easier for him to recover from it. I knew something like this would happen, you just can't help yourself."
"You know that's complete bullshit, don't you? Besides, he still cares about me."
"I know, annoying, isn't it? He does care, but I wonder if he cares as much as he did before the Hunters came and took you away for murdering a defenseless old man."
"You make that guy sound innocent," Sasuke told him with disgust. "He had Naruto beaten and was going to kill him for merely looking at the wrong person. Not to mention he sold his own daughter off for money. Though I suppose I can understand wanting to do that after meeting her," he added under his breath.
"Just between you and me," Kurama told him, leaning into the bars, "I would have been tempted to kill him too. But you know, Naruto has this thing about honor..."
"You're mocking me."
"Yes."
"Is that all you came here to do?"
"As if the temptation to gloat is not enough," the fox teased. "But you are smart sometimes, I will give you that at least. You know I can help you, don't you?"
"And how do I know that?" Sasuke asked guardedly.
"Unlike you, I still have some power left. I could break you out of here and you could escape. It would be easy for me. I could make sure nobody saw me and Naruto would be just as surprised as everyone else in the morning. Until of course he finds the note I leave for him in his bag letting him know what happened."
"And what's the catch?"
"Nothing really. You leave and never bother me again."
"You mean leave for good," Sasuke finished. "I find it hard to believe you want me away from Naruto so badly. As you said, I might die a death Naruto can't blame you for, may even see the justice in despite what he just said to me, so why would you help me escape when I would be gone either way?"
"Freeing you would not only make Naruto happier, make him trust me more, but it also would prove to him my usefulness. It would make him more inclined to keep me awake."
"You're running out of power," Sasuke realised. "He stopped meditating and you're using all your energy up."
"So now you see. I free you, you leave, forever, and we all get what we want. You're alive and I get back to the regular feedings once Naruto realises that I am his only real ally. I think this will work out for everyone involved, don't you?"
"I'm not convinced I will die here," Sasuke told him. "And if you think for one moment I will help convince Naruto to keep up your recovery I might actually laugh."
The fox didn't look at all pleased by Sasuke's refusal to the plan.
"I am constantly surprised by how badly you seem want to stay with him. After all, your constant rebuttal of his attempts to befriend and help you in the past should indicate that you couldn't care less about him."
Sasuke frowned. That had not been what he'd meant at all.
"I just don't want you to get what you want, that's all."
Kurama peered at him closely, those red slit eyes boring into his almost uncomfortably.
"I don't disbelieve that's part of the reason you are refusing. But there is more to it than that. I was happy when he finally got the courage to leave your ungrateful ass behind but you just couldn't let him get away. I might even be impressed that you made such an effort to get back into his good graces if I thought you did it for him. I don't think he understands just how selfish that olive branch was."
"He knows," Sasuke stated confidently. "I just don't think he cares, and neither do I. So unless you have a better deal to offer I think I'm done with people coming in here just to taunt me for the fun of it."
"Fine. But he will decide I am more useful to him awake whether you want it or not. And if it comes down to it, I wonder which of his two bonds he might cherish more, yours or mine."
Sasuke gave him an unimpressed smirk. "Well until you can find a way to suck his cock, I think I've got an advantage."
"Physical stuff," Kurama dismissed. "I think you are confusing wants and needs. He needs more than that and you know it. He needs a real friend.
"And just who seems more real?" Sasuke asked spitefully. "The one that can talk to him and walk beside him or the insubstantial voiceless leech that he can barely even feel anymore?"
"Don't mock me Uchiha, you'll regret it when you lose."
"I really doubt that."
"Doubt what?" Naruto asked blinking his bright blue eyes rapidly. "What am I...why...what just happened?"
Sasuke sighed. "I really hate that fox."
"What? What did he say?"
"He offered to help. I refused."
"Why?!"
"I didn't like the terms," Sasuke replied simply.
Naruto scowled at him. "I am going to punch you so hard if we ever manage to get you out of here."
"There's that 'we' again," Sasuke said tiredly. "I told you, I will handle this so stay out of it."
"You wanted me to back you up in the field, why not now?"
"I'm pretty sure we've been over this. Look you were right, fighting then was suicide. It is better this way," Sasuke finished with determination.
Naruto frowned at him then, he looked both frustrated and angry now but Sasuke couldn't allow himself to care.
Naruto stepped inside his room and let his bag fall to the floor. The room looked dark and wholly uninviting to him somehow. Not that it was a horrible room, they'd certainly slept in worse in the past. Maybe it was the silence that was getting to him.
Not that Sasuke was a huge talker or anything but this was the first time he'd been in an inn since their journey began when he'd had the entire room to himself.
Normally he would hear the echo of Sasuke's bag hitting the floor, talk of getting something to eat and then the almost always constant of Sasuke heading to the bathroom followed by the sounds of rushing water as he ran his bath or started the shower if there was no bath available. This is when Naruto might take a nap, falling asleep to the sounds of that water running.
Oh sure, they'd spent nights apart before. Most recently during their fight and before that when Naruto had been in jail himself...
Naruto sighed and shut the door behind him with his foot, pushing himself forward and crossing over to sit on the bed. It was a smallish bed and this had been the last room available. If Sasuke had been here with him they might have spent a little while fighting over whoever would get to sleep in the bed. Or even decide to share.
It wouldn't have been the first time, though it would have been the first time in a bed so small. They would have to be practically pressed up against each other to sleep. Not that he really would have cared since it was Sasuke who was the one who mainly had problems with people touching him while he slept. But he probably would have endured it, especially if Naruto made the confinement worth his while.
Naruto rolled his eyes and let himself flop backwards on the bed. He should be angry at Sasuke and he actually wished he was. Being angry had made missing him lessen last time, and even though he had very good reasons to be pissed at Sasuke this time too it was difficult to be so angry when he was this worried. No matter what Sasuke said to him, killing Amaya's father had not been right.
Even if the justification Sasuke had given him had been a lot more unselfish than Sasuke's general justifications for doing bad things, it was still wrong. But would he have been dead right now if Sasuke hadn't done it? Would Amaya still be with Sachio? It was a possibility for sure. Still, it was hard to swallow the idea that someone would be sacrificed in his place just because Sasuke had decided which one of them he preferred to be the one to die.
Well whatever was right and wrong, what was really worrying him at the moment was that instead of Amaya's father dying for him, that apparently now Sasuke might as well. It was easy for Sasuke to tell him not to feel guilty about it, but he still did and he supposed that gave him some sort of clue as to wether he felt there was any real kind of justice here or not.
There were probably better ways Sasuke might have dealt with things, but when it came down to it, he didn't want Sasuke to be punished for what he'd done. It kind of made him sick to think that he might be condoning a murder but it made him even sicker to think of Sasuke dying for it. So there was only one thing left to do, make sure Sasuke didn't die.
When Sasuke had told him not to interfere, that had hurt. It was entirely possible that he was a little pissed that Naruto hadn't helped him in the first place but Sasuke had admitted that fighting back then would have been bad. So now what, he'd just suddenly decided that he didn't want any help at all now that he knew why he'd been taken? Typical Sasuke.
He was so resistant to getting help from anyone that Naruto could believe that he hadn't changed from the time he had gone rogue. That time, instead of staying and getting help from his friends he felt it had been better to run away and close his heart to any feelings he believed might have weakened his resolve.
Naruto had thought that since that hadn't turned out so well that Sasuke might have learnt his lesson. Well, apparently not when it really counted.
He'd even turned down Kurama. Naruto had been pretty surprised Kurama had even offered since to hear Sasuke tell it, the two of them didn't exactly see eye to eye.
Naruto sat up then, scooting back on the bed and sitting in the middle, legs folded beneath him and forced his mind to calm. No easy feat considering. He didn't want to meditate exactly, he just wanted to clear his mind in an attempt to regain some sort of contact. Kurama had wanted to help and Sasuke had refused whatever deal had been offered. Well, Naruto wasn't so stubborn and if Sasuke wouldn't accept, then maybe Naruto could make his own deal if that's what it was going to take.
"This isn't the time to be quiet, Kurama. Sasuke's in big trouble."
He had tried this only once since Kurama had woken up and although he'd felt something a little more than just merely nothing like before, it hadn't been much better either. These days it was less like a huge nothing and more like there was something actively separating them, like a wall, but the effect was still the same.
"C'mon, Sasuke's just too stubborn. He needs your help even if he won't say it. I need your help. I'll do anything."
If he hadn't been concentrating he might have missed it. There was some kind of presence, just on the other side of that wall it was just hard to feel and very faint.
"I know you can hear me," Naruto continued. "Sasuke told me you know what happens to me even when you aren't in control. So even if I can't hear you I want to tell you that I won't let him die. Whether you help me or not, I'm gonna get him out of this. And if you can help, I'm gonna need some sign to know I can rely on you to back me up."
He sort of felt something, like when he concentrated on that presence all the more, he could almost feel some kind of emotion. With his eyes squeezed tightly shut, he tried to hone in on the emotion a little more but the reward as it turned out was hardly worth the effort.
Kurama felt very annoyed.
Naruto slumped where he sat and opened his eyes.
"You two really need to work out your issues."
Okay so apparently Sasuke had really managed to piss off Kurama so maybe there was no help there. Of course Kurama could be annoyed because of his and Naruto's inability to communicate properly, but Naruto couldn't take the chance that's all there was to it.
So he was probably on his own. But no matter, Sasuke said they needed real evidence to prove something and seemed pretty sure that no such evidence existed. Well if that was true, maybe there was nothing to worry about. But then Amaya and Reizo must have something, otherwise why go through all this if Sasuke wouldn't be found guilty in the end?
So that was the plan, find out about any evidence and see whether Sasuke stood a chance.
Naruto groaned. He really wished he had a better plan.
TBC
