If empathy didn't exist, a lot of things wouldn't be possible, which, in reality, are the most important ones. Bonds of both love and friendship would be impracticable, all forms of verbal and non-verbal communication would be senseless.
All those glances that speak, sometimes shout, would fall on deaf ears in the place of that person who perhaps doesn't have the courage to admit something for fear of harming those they love or themselves. Maybe he is afraid of losing who he has in front of him, whether it is a partner, a friend or a family member.
It would be hopeless who could die no longer having those hands to caress him, those lips to kiss him or that voice to encourage him in difficult moments.
Naruto had always considered himself lucky, he had the gift of empathy so above average that at times he even seemed to establish a sort of telepathy with those in front of him. Even though diametrically opposed people had happened to him, he always managed to find, in a very short time, the exact keys to insert into the most hidden locks of which often even the person himself was not aware.
The champion of keys.
He smiled thinking this about himself.
In this way he had managed to understand Nagato even before meeting him, just from the tone and words used by Kisame on the phone, the day they saved his life together. Naruto had been able to understand, without any margin of error, how things really were. Just as, at the same time as this, Naruto had sensed that Kisame's special someone was already there with him waiting on that landing, that's why he had asked him to remain calm despite the circumstance. And then he had seen him without being surprised, it was that beautiful brunette that Kisame, despite the situation, had not given up for a second. Through Nagato's stories, Naruto had come to understand why he had had an intense feeling of déjà vu that day, it had been the only thing he hadn't been able to give an explanation to, only to then discover that, for the umpteenth time, time, his impressions had certainly not deceived him. The memories came from an evening many years ago, at the beginning of his relationship with Kisame born after a long and intense friendship. Naruto could never forget the weasel and how much he, Kiba, and Obito had wanted to conquer it over the years. He had almost suffered a heart attack in the private room, one thing was certain, he would never be able to forget the intoxicating scent of that body. The memories of his youth always remain imprinted in an indelible way thanks to the magic experienced only in that period of life.
Kisame, that evening you left the weasel to me only because you had other plans. You had already seen what you both deserved.
He smiled again, Kisame had always been very intelligent and down to earth from a very young age, if Itachi hadn't been seriously amazing he certainly wouldn't have become his special someone. Now that Naruto also had someone to bruise with every slip, the time had come to make him known to Kisame as he wished, at the same time he was curious to finally understand the real person who once hid behind that weasel mask.
The last time Naruto had seen Kisame he had found him still unsure about what the brunette felt for him, however shortly before at that table in the center, he had been certain he had seen everything completely clearly, he had reassured him certainly not with the aim to deceive him just to reassure him at the moment. Itachi was a person with a very difficult life behind him, he needed time, however the brunette had certainly already come to understand how important he was for Kisame. The words addressed to him by Nagato the evening in which he had invited him to dinner with them, the naturalness with which he had explained to him that the word surrender should not even exist in the dictionary, had been capable of opening the eyes of all of them. Kisame needed to hear them said while Nagato needed to pronounce them, that evening the redhead had started to reach out to the others, showing Kisame how he was always Itachi's first thought. Nagato had brought out that strength that he was born with but that he had always wanted to hide, Naruto had the certainty from there that he loved him.
His talents also made him understand when it was time to step aside to make room for more important things. Seeing how Nagato, completely on his own initiative, had pulled Sasuke into the bar to be alone to clarify things, had made Naruto understand that the meeting with Yahiko could also happen immediately. The definitive confirmation was obtained by looking at their serene and luminous faces once they returned to sit at the table.
Nagato and Yahiko hadn't met for almost two months now, they had spoken a few times by phone but of course it's not the same thing. Naruto had happened to hear fragments of those conversations, he couldn't help but notice how his companion's tone had changed over time. Nagato's voice, incisive and scratchy by nature, had been progressively invaded by an intense serenity. The blond had noticed this, however in those phases he had avoided pointing it out to Nagato, people like him live with an intense fear of healing, fearing that this could compromise their expression of pain to the world. Every little progress praised, even in good faith, could send them back to square one again. A lot of tact and patience were needed. However, many things had changed since then, Nagato benefited by alleviating the suffering of others, which is why Naruto permanently took him with him to volunteer, the important thing was not to make him understand that this constituted a sort of cure for him. This had been the most important lock the blond had unlocked since he was born. Now that his well-being was evident and Nagato was no longer intimidated having understood that this made him enjoy bonds with others like he had never done, Naruto was able to see the perfect opportunity to move on to the next phases.
As soon as Kisame, Kakuzu and Sasuke had gotten up from the table to leave, Naruto had grabbed his still thin hands to ask him if he wanted to meet his brother. The redhead had a totally relaxed and confident position, his legs crossed, his back leaning against the back of the chair, his shoulders straight although still thin. He smiled with a calm expression, confessing how Yahiko had been his constant thought since he had recovered.
"You see, Naruto, unfortunately people like me end up destroying all the bonds and people around them. It's been like this since I was born, my obsessions have always been more important than them. I felt bad when they avoided me without realizing that I was the cause of everything. We still have time to be brothers and I can't wait for it to be like this. Afterwards we will think about Itachi, the person he last saw was not me. Now I want to show myself to the world, Naruto, no longer hiding who I am or necessarily appearing different. It's me, it's just like that."
The blond had the impression of getting lost in the purple reflections of his eyes, they were similar to the sparkle of the sun on the waves of the sea in a world where the colors are completely different yet still beautiful. He got up to kiss him with the sun that had now moved into his turquoise eyes before setting off down the street.
Well, it will mean that for now I'll take a tour on my own, it will be fun with all these kids around, I'll take lots of photos and autographs!
Yahiko had felt very heartened when Shisui had received Sasuke's sudden phone call. The redhead had noticed how down his companion was lately, he avoided showing it exclusively out of consideration for him, given the situation with Nagato. It was true that he had not seen his brother since that damned day when they found him dying, however he was aware of how he was in good hands in Naruto's company. Hearing him through the phone, he certainly hadn't missed his progress. Nagato had lost a large part of his life inside a boundless chasm of pain, that abyss had ended up swallowing up his best years and various opportunities that he could have seized, but nothing could now cloud the joy of knowing he was finally happy at the side of a someone who knew how to love him as he had always deserved.
I was so blinded by myself and my life that I didn't notice anything, yet I was your big brother and my job would have been to guide you, love you and be an example to you. I risked killing you because of my selfishness.
He had come this close to losing him without ever having had a true brotherly relationship with him. Perhaps conditioned by his mother's attitude, Yahiko had always believed that Nagato's crises and behaviors were aimed exclusively at attracting people's attention. He had mistakenly assumed that ignoring them would have been enough to make Nagato understand that this was the wrong way to relate to others and that instead he would have to start rolling up his sleeves and making an effort like all the people in the world. Yahiko had not seen the pain that his brother wanted to scream, terrified that, since it was not a visible physical wound, he could go unnoticed or underestimated by others. He had told him to his face that in his opinion they were invented and intentional fixations, invalidating Nagato's pain and plunging him even further into the confirmations of what he had always thought. A vicious circle that led him to want to die, convinced that there was no one in the world capable of understanding him. Certain that his pain was worth less than that of others, Nagato had even come to envy the people who suffered only because he had the impression of not being loved as much as them, the wrong relationship with Itachi had grown on this basis without the dark if he realized it, even in good faith. Nagato was desperately looking for someone to take care of him but remained blind to the good he received. It had happened as a child with his mother, with Yahiko himself and finally with Itachi.
It is strange and unfair at the same time how we become aware of people, of the truth and see everything more clearly only when we reach the point of no return. If there was nothing left for Nagato to do. Yahiko would follow him closely after a few days crushed by guilt. The last image that Yahiko had recorded of his brother was that miserable tangle of wires that he had not stopped staring at for hours through the glass fogged by his breathing.
He couldn't wait to meet him again even if it would have been difficult to find him in front of him after all the mistakes he had made. Nagato should also have known the truth about what job he had been doing for years. This was going to be the hardest part to deal with. Naruto was aware of this, he had assured Yahiko to organize the meeting only at a ripe time. The redhead trusted him blindly, as did the entire city.
I don't have to be a coward now. As soon as Naruto tells me we can talk to him I will leave immediately to join you wherever you are, it's not too late to be brothers.
While Nagato was, albeit slowly, on the rise, at least until that evening it hadn't been the same for Shisui. Yahiko had never missed the close bond between him and Itachi as they all worked together at Susanoo. He had also noticed it during the period in which they went to help Itachi at home with his fractured shoulder and imprisoned in a cast, the brunette could practically do nothing independently and the good that Shisui loved him had not escaped him. On the other hand, the two cousins had lost touch with each other for several years. The sweetness with which Shisui stood next to Itachi in any way possible, giving him that amiable look, had always been disarming. This was the first spark that made Yahiko begin to fall in love with Shisui.
I couldn't do any of this with you, Nagato.
It had always been rather difficult for Yahiko to give in to his feelings and admit that he had fallen in love with someone. Initially he had considered it as an outlet for the apprehension he felt for Nagato, especially during the first intercourse they had at Susanoo on the occasion of what had been the last evening of work for both of them. It had all continued on that track in the first few days when he was still trying to delude himself that it was exclusively Shisui's body that attracted him. He was thin and muscular at the same time, he really liked running his tongue over his defined, although not exaggerated, abs. He was driven mad by the way Shisui nibbled on the piercings on his abdomen and how his dark haired let himself be penetrated into his mouth by closing those black, magnetic eyes. Yahiko had noticed that the Shisui's weak point was his ass, he liked to pass his tongue there for a long time before entering inside him, and then turning those dark and sparkling eyes to him, with the eyelashes very curved outwards, asking him for the same treatment only with the look. Yahiko had deluded himself that it was almost a given for him to get excited, after all they had been lap dancers for most of their lives. However, no, it wasn't about that. It was Shisui's eyes that made him fall in love, but not when they sparkled with pleasure, rather when they were full of that love that he expressed silently. Those bitter smiles that he didn't show but they were there and were disappearing in the light of joy that Shisui felt in giving himself to the people he loved dearly. The day Yahiko watched over Nagato from that damned glass he certainly hadn't failed to notice Kisame never letting go of Itachi's hand lying on that stretcher for a moment. Even Shisui had noticed it, he loved his cousin so much that he let him make the best life for him. That's why that evening the fact that Sasuke had sent Shisui to the unexpected family reunion had also made the redhead feel very happy.
Yes, I'm happy because I love you. I love you for who you are and for your way of loving. Hiding feelings for fear of appearing weak was exactly what led me to make mistakes with Nagato. Now is the time to take the right action.
Shisui had just left to go to his important family dinner, Yahiko was lying on the sofa with his headphones on so loud that if a bomb had exploded in the street he wouldn't have even heard it. While he played with the two sharp piercings he had on his lower lip, nibbling them mercilessly, he wondered what future Kakuzu had in mind for them.
Their former manager, he had been more so for Itachi in reality, would not have proposed to everyone to resign, himself included, if he hadn't had something certain in his hands; Shisui had also agreed on this, knowing him. Without a shadow of a doubt that job was no longer for them. As long as they were kids they could still go, but now the time had come to move towards a more dignified and stable life.
Yahiko would not have heard the explosion of a bomb in the street but he clearly felt the vibration of his cell phone. Without lowering the volume of the music and taking his eyes off the shadows drawn on the ceiling, he took it out of his trousers pocket hoping that it wasn't Shisui telling him that the family evening wasn't going as he had hoped.
His heart stopped, suddenly sitting up, his headphones twisted, revealing his right ear as if to encourage him to answer Nagato's call. The thoughts that flashed through his mind like a lightning storm were each more distressing than the last. They ranged from I didn't expect to have to explain myself to you today; to get to what the hell have you done again, Nagato?; Moving on but I'm not ready!
Nagato's voice was as serene as he had heard it recently, after simply asking him how he was, he invited him to a bar in the center and nothing more. Yahiko began to stutter as he greeted his brother and accepted the proposal. He desperately tried to collect himself while he was sure that Nagato had smiled on the other end of the line, both amused and understanding.
I will be terribly sorry now to shatter your balance achieved with so much effort, but I can no longer lie to you. Yes, I'm in a hurry. Hurry to be your brother.
Yahiko chose comfortable clothes knowing that he would have to make her way on foot, Shisui had taken the car for his important dinner. However he could never fail to have a certain visual impact as if his piercings and flame red hair were not enough.
I also have an important meeting tonight.
The jeans couldn't be simple, some big frayed rips from which his muscular legs peeked out were needed. The neckline of the simple gray t-shirt certainly couldn't remain useless, an incisive necklace in the shape of barbed wire with red beads was perfect, especially if the sneakers were also the same color. That day would have gone down in history, for him, Nagato and Shisui, however Yahiko began making that journey with a black hole that was growing in the center of his chest. He was terrified of seeing those eyes identical to his sink into the blackest suffering again. His chasm had transformed into a heavy boulder as he proceeded, it was this that made beads of sweat form on his shirt and not the heat of the approaching summer.
I must ask you for forgiveness, Nagato, and then tell you the truth.
Then he saw it from afar, that suggestive wine red shade was most likely unique in the world. Sitting at that table with the green and gray volunteer uniform worn with pride. The last meters to cover were very difficult for Yahiko. As he got closer he saw more and more of all those details that his words would have inexorably shattered as if a stone were thrown against a splendid glass window. Nagato on the other hand had always been like this, special but fragile.
It doesn't surprise me at all that you found your way into Naruto's heart.
As breathless as Yahiko was, Nagato was calm and collected. He stood with his legs crossed, his shoulders straight, one elbow resting on the table, his hand supporting his chin, no longer angular but with the soft shapes that Yahiko hadn't seen on him since he was little more than a child. And those eyes, even though they were identical, were now Nagato's ones that were more beautiful and brighter. Both uncovered even though the red tuft was always very long and moved to the right.
"Nagato, I..." the major had only managed to stammer his name and little more.
The youngest stood up from his chair with his lips curved in a firm yet sweet and understanding smile. Yahiko found himself held tightly in his arms in a few seconds, they were still thin but he felt that his muscles had new strength.
"My brother, welcome back," Nagato's characteristic deep and incisive voice rang out in joy.
"Nagato, I… I have a lot of things to tell you."
"In the meantime, let's have a nice aperitif, okay?"
Yahiko had no choice but to sit disarmed by that person in front of him. This was the brother he was destined to have, yet he was getting to know him now for the first time. Seeing Nagato enjoying beer and snacks like any other person around them, Yahiko spoke without any fear of ruining the progress he had made, Naruto had certainly seized the moment in which they consolidated and never left.
Yahiko had asked for forgiveness for not having been able to see his pain, for having been selfish. He apologized for the time he told him that he himself was creating his suffering with his hands, he felt reprehensible for believing he had invented it.
Yahiko bowed his head without trying to hide the tears that dripped from his perfect chin: "I now understand what real pain is. If you have a wound you can take painkillers until it heals. Once healed it will leave the scar, of course, but the pain will have completely disappeared, you are certain from the beginning that it will have a positive course towards healing. This is real pain for people, they have no doubts, they always go out of their way to understand and help those who have a physical wound. However, the real pain, the devastating one that kills you day after day inexorably, remains in the shadows. I was so mean to laugh at this, I told you that you created it with your own hands. It took me time to see it, too. I had to risk losing you. You don't have to forgive me even if I would like to, I understand."
A hand rested on his red head, caressing him gently: "Everyone can make mistakes, Yahiko, have you seen how many I've made? Yet you're here now, aren't you? What brothers are we if we cannot forgive each other our mistakes? They serve to make us understand how things have worked since the dawn of the world. Unfortunately life is the cruelest teacher, it first gives you the exam and only then explains the lesson to you."
"No, you don't understand!" the major had almost shouted, looking at him now in the same eyes as his "That's not the point. What happened to you… In short, it happened for a reason that now you will have to face again. Itachi and I were colleagues. However, I also left that place."
Nagato's expression had not changed nor his confident posture, it remained welcoming and accommodating: "the one who received the news from Itachi was not me. He was a Nagato who, blinded by his own torment, even went so far as to envy others when they needed help. You see, I was afraid of being overtaken by the pain of others, that he had more value and rights than mine. I approached suffering people thinking that, knowing the pain themselves, they could finally understand my pain and help me. But I didn't want to get better. Itachi had been forced by life to do that job and I, instead of understanding it, actually offended him. He hid it from me so as not to cause me further pain as you surely did. You took immense care of me and I can only be grateful to you."
Yahiko now looked at him between relief and amazement. Nagato had grabbed both of his hands across the table and continued to smile, waiting for him, for them to finally be brothers. Nagato saw Yahiko's eyes shift to look at someone behind him, Naruto sat next to him a few moments later surrounding his shoulders with an arm: "I finally meet this famous older brother!"
"Famous?" Yahiko was amazed with happiness.
"You have no idea, Yahiko, Nagato made me crazy like that by talking about you. I am honored to have become part of your family. The most difficult stories always have the happiest ending, I have always been of the opinion that difficulties help us understand what true values are."
The wisdom and extreme empathy that now flowed from those turquoise eyes had unlocked another essential lock. They had allowed two other people to finally live happily.
Oh yes, there must be a reason why he became mayor and people love him. Certainly more than one. There were more people like him in this world!