Chapter 1:

Quiet Storm

Posted on Feb 23rd, 2020

Her empty blue eyes trace the dark skyline through the window as he breathes over her in pained passion; his dark gaze caressing her face in frail hope.

Unsaid words ring in their ears: How did we get here? When will this misery end?

Nobody extends their hand in trust when Sasuke is brought back to the village. Naruto's loud proclamations that Sasuke should be let free are muffled as ANBU guards muzzle him down and take him to the torture and interrogation department. Konoha gathers its finest resources in deciding what the faith of the notorious rogue ninja will be while he is thrown in a highly guarded cell with a restraining jacket and an eye band with seals blocking his power. Many shinobi say that he is a traitor and civilians whisper that he brought this war of destruction upon them. Sasuke knows that he has many sins to atone for – his deepest regrets are the crimes he has committed against his closest people who tried to help him – Itachi and Naruto. His heart tightens and weighs with regret as he sits in the holding cell in the underground of the Hokage building, his arms tied and his eyes covered. People feared his Sharingan and Rinnegan and for a good reason.

And yet the eyes that scared Sasuke the most, were hers, full of disappointment and pity.

When Naruto comes to his holding cells, at first they do not let her in. She protests loudly but ends up sitting against the bars and telling Sasuke about her day and how the village is doing, promising him that she will get him out of there as fast as possible, dattebayo! Sasuke listens, his head down. He tries to ignore her, his chest burning with regret over the past and his ears deaf with the conviction that he does not deserve her good mood and her company. But her animated voice rings in his ears and like a hook, it grabs at his attention and he just cannot fight the comfort her company brings him.

She continues coming and Sasuke finds himself anticipating hearing her fast steps and her laugh as she tells him about some silly prank she did on someone during her last mission. He does not talk, is quiet even when she asks him something, and that is okay because she naturally and lightly carries on her monologue. Sometimes she does not come for several days when she is on a mission and Sasuke finds his mind trailing off with possibilities of something happening to her. He tries to shove those thoughts away, why would he care now when he did not before, and a subconscious breath of relief comes out every time he hears her husky laugh in the hallway.

One day Sasuke hears the door to his cell open and she is let in. Sasuke's whole body tenses, the warmth of her presence feels tenfold when she stops just a couple of steps away from him and sits on the floor. When she is in front of him and he knows she can see him, see him fallen like that, he just wants to become one with the darkness of the cell and shield himself from her bright eyes. She sits on the floor and as always tells him about her mission, she tells him she was promoted to the head of ANBU and that is why she was able to let herself in. She tells him how angry she is that he is still in there, and her voice holds more anger and resentment for his situation than he feels because he deserves it. She says again that she will get him out, but I want to do it right for you this time, teme, and Sasuke wants to tell her that there is no right way to do good for him.

The next time she visits he is not so shocked when she comes in and sits on the floor and he feels immediate comfort in his chest. He smells something in the air and his mouth waters, I brought you tomatoes, teme, and he hears her slice a tomato and Sasuke gulps at the sound of it. She gives him a piece of tomato in his mouth and her warmth surrounds him when she moves closer to give him and her fingers are so warm when they touch his lips. Sasuke chews the juicy fruit and he feels like stones one by one fall off of his chest. She does not talk much this time. Instead, she reaches for the band on his eyes, and he wants to protest, cautious for her wellbeing, but she pulls the band up and Sasuke blinks several times even despite the darkness of the cell. He sees her looking up at him with her expecting blue eyes, on her knees in front of him, holding the rest of the tomato and a small knife. She looks at him in an evaluating manner, almost as if expecting something. Sasuke goes to look around the cell but finds that his eyes just shift back to hers. She moves with the knife and slices him another piece of the juicy fruit, some of its juice trickles down her golden-skinned hand and Sasuke goes to grab her hand and lick the juice off just to be reminded of the tight cloth keeping his arms tightly bound to his body. She gives him the next slice of tomato without saying a word, still looking up at him, and the blade of the knife touches his lips. Sasuke licks the juice off the little knife before he chews on the tomato slowly in complete pleasure. Naruto blinks at Sasuke's sudden urge for participation and looks away quickly with the excuse to slice him more of the tomato. Sasuke wants to thank her, but he cannot; just looks down at her with dark eyes. She is much closer now, right in front of his face. Her eyes soften at him; she must have seen his gratitude.

"I miss your voice, Sasuke", she lets out sadly as she gives him another piece. "I miss my friend. I keep fighting for you and your freedom, but I need you to fight with me, teme". With this, she gets up and walks out of the cell. She does not put the seal band back on his eyes and he knows that it is on purpose. Sasuke finds it somewhat funny as he thinks how the guards are going to see him without a cover and freak out, and they are going to call a rapid response team to restrain him and cover his eyes again. He decides to look at this as a prank Naruto is playing on her fellow shinobi again instead of as the gesture of kindness and love that it was.

The week after Sasuke recognizes her steps again, this time she is stepping heavier and faster as if in a rage. She storms in his holding cell; almost rips the band off his eyes and continues to pace around in front of him. Waves of rage are pumping off her and her eyes are sharp under furrowed brows; curses spilling under her breath. Sasuke follows her with black-ink eyes.

She looks at him and the sharpness of her eyes alerts him, "They want to marry you off, Sasuke. Or even worse, they want to take samples from you and make babies with women to keep the Uchiha genes and have you here, just wasting away here in this cell in case they need you for more experiments." Naruto goes on and talks fast in a fury, Sasuke cannot look away from her lips moving in distress or how her eyes shine in rage. There is something thrilling and comfortingly familiar in her rage which excites him, wakes him up, makes his blood hotter.

"I told them they cannot do that; that you helped end the war, that you are on our side now, that you are a Konohan and have every human right everyone else does". She swiftly kneels in front of him, right in his space, her face in front of his, challenging, and he sees the crisp sharpness of her eyes now with red bleeding through the blue. "And do you know what they said? They said that there is no hope for you because you have given up, because the great Uchiha Sasuke is now a mere prisoner with no willpower, an empty shell of what he used to be," she spits the words out. "I told them they were wrong…I told them that they don't know anything, that I know you best and I know you can reintegrate yourself into the village, that you will fight for the village. But do I know you, Sasuke? I've been coming here for months and you have not said a single word to me, you have not made a single effort to get out, even if it means fleeing again. What happened to you, teme?! Why are you such a coward?!" Her eyes are completely red now and she challenges him to answer, continues to insult him right in his face with no shame and no mercy. The past few months have been flat for Sasuke emotionally, but now he feels the sharp spike of anger in his chest, you might as well give them the pleasure of rotting here - and he will prove her wrong; breaks free from his restraining shirt – something he could do from the very beginning – grabs her face and the back of her neck tightly and his chapped lips smash onto hers with the intensity of everything unsaid between them. That intensity topples over and anger makes way for something way more crisp, closure buzzing in the air. He pulls away and her eyes are a quiet storm, now blue again, and in a second they fill with clarity and determination. "Get me out of here," he says in a hoarse unused voice as he holds her face and her skin burns his cold and immobilized fingers. She looks at him for several moments more, then, with lips tightly pressed together, she gets up and leaves the cell.

Four days later, Sasuke is let free.

He does not know where he belongs, where to go to, where to even spend the night. But Naruto is there again, waiting for him at the exit. In her eyes, he sees that she does not want him to ask how she got him to walk free and what she had to give in exchange for that. The twilight is gentle on his unused eyes and they don't talk as Sasuke is transported by the guards. To his surprise, they arrive at the old Uchiha compound, and Sasuke looks at Naruto in surprise as she orders the accompanying guards to not proceed past the main gate. They make their way to one of the smaller houses in the compound and Sasuke slowly steps in to see that it has been renovated and recently cleaned and repainted. There are a very comfy looking bed and a kitchen table with fresh flowers and plates; looks like a home. He walks to glance at the back garden and sees tomato plants there, he smells in the air that they smell like the one Naruto brought him to his cell and he now notices the almost invisible traces of dirt under her short fingernails. Sasuke's chest tingles with warmth as he looks back and sees Naruto smiling softly behind him, her eyes heavy with unshed tears and Sasuke blinks only to find that his eyes are tear-filled as well.

Uchiha Sasuke's fire is back, and it burns stronger than ever.

P.S. This will be around 5 chapters long. Your feedback and support help a lot.