Author's note: Yeah, this story is definitely going to be longer than the original version. Buckle up, everybody, we're in for a bumpy ride.
Thanks to the following reviewers: 666snoopy; Ellasauras; Guest
Warnings: Violence; angst; character deaths; homophobic slurs
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.
I hope you'll like it!
Chapter 18
"There was literally no reason why this bullshit couldn't have waited until tomorrow morning," Sasuke said irritated as the door slammed shut behind a highly irate – and frankly still quite agile for his age - Danzo.
He wanted to go after Naruto immediately, but he had to stay a bit longer to make certain that neither Naruto nor Gaara would land into trouble for their reaction.
"You don't have to tell me that," Father sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, looking thoroughly vexed himself. "Danzo's the one who insisted on holding the meeting now and you know how he gets."
"Told you we should have pushed him over the gates a long time ago," Chiyo quipped disinterestedly while shuffling her way past them; her wrinkly hand curled around her cane.
Yoshino and Hiashi were the only ones still seated; their heads bent over a couple of documents as they discussed something amongst themselves.
"No need to worry about your boyfriend or that friend of his," Chiyo told Sasuke unexpectedly, patting his arm. "Blondie and Little Red have a lot of spunk and could really use some sense of diplomacy but to hell with that, what use does diplomacy still have in this world? They both got guts, have to give them that at least."
"Perhaps it is just me, but I think not antagonising them would have made this meeting more diplomatic," Father commented dryly.
She raised her cane and pointed it at him. "Blame it on that old geezer, not on me. I would have been perfectly fine not having this meeting at all. Now excuse me, I'm going to bed finally."
"They aren't going to get into trouble for this, will they?" Sasuke asked concerned.
Considering Naruto and Gaara were the reason why the rest of them were still alive and why Deidara had a chance at recovery, it would be incredibly fucked up if they got into trouble now. It would be one hell of a shitty way to thank them for saving their arses.
"They won't," Itachi assured him before father could open his mouth. "They ended up saving you and the others and I was the one who ordered the gates to be opened. Danzo's just going to have to suck it up."
"Something tells me he won't do so graciously," Sasuke mumbled and left the room, too eager to see Naruto to remain here for any longer.
Now that he was no longer concentrating on the meeting, the pulsating of his head was hard to ignore; a headache, courtesy of the blow and the stuffy air inside the meeting room, steadily creeping up, making his temples throb. He decided to ignore that and his aching back in favour of hurrying after Naruto, hoping to catch him on time before he reached his apartment.
He caught sight of both Naruto and Gaara right as they were about to turn the corner and he ran after them, paying no mind to his protesting body.
"Hey! Wait up!"
Naruto turned around first, Gaara following swiftly, and surprise flashed across his face for a brief second. "Wow, they didn't hold you back to confirm that yeah, Gaara and I actually knew what we were doing?"
"As if that old douchebag would actually listen to that," Gaara said critically.
"Danzo was too pissed off; he left almost right after you two did," Sasuke replied and stopped in front of them, automatically reaching out for Naruto. Relief coursed through him when Naruto twisted around fully to face him, grabbing his hand. "I'm sorry you two were put through that bullshit. That was all Danzo's idea."
"The old geezer who looks ready to croak any second now?" Naruto scoffed. "Yeah, doesn't surprise me at all. Suppose we didn't really make the best impression on them."
"Can't say they made the best impression on us either," Gaara muttered, crossing his arms.
"Chiyo, the old lady, seems to like you both just fine, though," Sasuke said airily, hoping to light up the mood a bit.
"Not entirely sure how to feel about that, to be honest." Naruto looked around, studying the darkened houses. "You going home now then? It's what? Has to be quite a bit past midnight now for sure."
Sasuke hesitated, shifting his left foot. Frankly he wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed right this instant and sleep the night away in the hopes that everything would feel more settled in his mind once morning would come. As much as he wanted sleep, however, the desire to stay with Naruto was stronger. His grip tightened around Naruto's hand without his permission.
"Can I – would you mind if I spend the night at your apartment? I'm not really in the mood to make the whole trek back and I … want to be with you now," he confessed in a low voice. It felt embarrassing to admit such a thing and left him feeling too vulnerable for his liking, but it was too late to retract his question now.
Surprise made those blue eyes lit up for a couple of seconds and Naruto shot Gaara a glance, who rolled his eyes.
"Yes, yes, go on. I'll sleep on the couch tonight," Gaara said, waving his hand. "If you end up messing around, do keep the noise to the absolute fucking minimum, thanks. And with absolute minimum, I mean I don't want to hear a single peep."
While Sasuke's cheeks warmed up, Naruto grinned and rose up on his toes to peck Sasuke's mouth. "Great, come on then! We can keep each other warm."
That really was the best idea Sasuke had heard all day.
He followed them to their apartment, still holding Naruto's hand. This late at night the only ones awake were the ones guarding the gates and so it was quiet; their footsteps the only sound disturbing the silence blanketing the compound. The apartment building was dark as well, of course; everyone inside had gone to bed at least an hour ago.
They made their way upstairs with the help of a small torch that Gaara carried around; the beam of light dancing over each step. The curtains hadn't been drawn yet in their apartment, allowing a bit of moonlight to illuminate the living room.
As Gaara made his way to the couch, pulling off his jacket, Sasuke asked, "You sure you don't mind me being here?"
"I don't care," Gaara said dismissively and plopped down on the couch, kicking off his shoes. "Just don't make too much noise like I said before."
"You're a real friend," Naruto cooed, snickering when Gaara picked up one of his shoes and threw it at him.
Naruto ducked, avoiding the shoe, and tugged at Sasuke's wrist. "Come on, let's catch some sleep."
The bed wasn't made, Sasuke noticed upon walking into the bedroom, but it wasn't a whole mess either. The blanket had simply been kicked towards the foot end of the bed and Naruto pulled at it, dragging it across the bed.
While Sasuke took everything off until he was left in just a shirt and his boxers, Naruto changed into his pyjamas before slinking underneath the blanket with a sigh. He made grabby hands towards Sasuke, who snorted quietly but obliged the silent question, crawling underneath the blanket as well.
"Good night," Naruto muttered as he slung his arm across Sasuke's chest, pressing himself against Sasuke's side.
Sasuke turned his head to kiss Naruto's forehead and hummed. "Good night."
In spite of everything that had happened today, sleep found him mercifully fast.
When he woke up, it was with a splitting headache and a view of – the earth? What?
"This one's finally awake too!" someone bellowed from behind him.
At once dread churned in his stomach and his blood turned to ice. He whipped his head around, barely biting his tongue in time to swallow the scream that wanted to escape.
He was still in the town. Right after he had been knocked out by that arsehole. This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be true. He kicked out with his legs when he was ruthlessly dragged towards the fire where – fuck, fuck, fuck – Anko, Yamato and Deidara were already forced onto their knees. This couldn't be really happening! There was no way he had dreamt Naruto and Gaara showing up to save them, right? That couldn't be the case, there was no way he had dreamt it all when –
But the tiny rocks digging into his knees felt all too real; the acrid scent of wood burning too realistic to not be true. The vicious look on the leader's face all too clear, not anything like the blurred faces Sasuke usually saw in his dreams.
No.
No, this couldn't be happening.
All of that – just a dream? They still would have to deal with this group? That couldn't be true, no, it couldn't.
But it was.
With his blood rushing loud in his ears, Sasuke could barely hear the speech the leader – introducing himself as Sakon – as he tried to get Yamato to tell him where their camp was. It was as if his entire body had turned into lead, keeping him stuck to the ground, watching numbly how just like in his dream Yamato firmly refused to give away their location.
Could only stare horrified as Sakon pulled the trigger, shooting Yamato before turning to Deidara when the blond man snarled and lunged at the fat guy who wanted to rape Anko. Blood spurted, splashing across the ground, when Sakon viciously cut off Deidara's arm with an axe, followed by Deidara's anguished screams as he stared horrified at what remained of his arm.
Seeing all that blood, seeing both Deidara and Anko helplessly pressed against the ground, triggered Sasuke finally out of his daze and he moved, knowing it would be fruitless but having to try anyways. He wrenched himself free and punched Ukon in his right temple; the force behind his punch knocking the disgusting bastard off Deidara's back. He whirled around and landed two more punches in the fat guy's face, blood spurting out into an arch from his broken nose, and made a move to grab the guy's knife. Right as his fingers grazed the handle, a boot caught him in his lower back and pain exploded, making him howl and curl up instinctively.
He was kicked to the ground and wrestled onto his stomach. Someone grabbed his left arm forcefully and extended it in front of him, ripping his sleeve away; the bones in his wrist screaming in protest when they were grinded viciously together.
"Never had a preference myself," Sakon spoke idly; his footsteps reverberating against the earth when he walked leisurely towards Sasuke. "But got to admit, it ain't everyday that you see a pretty face like yours. I like me some fire between the sheets and hell, if a guy's hole is good enough for my brother, it sure as fuck is for me. I bet it's going to be tighter than pussy anyways. Just like your little faggot friend there, I don't think you need your arm anymore either. Only need your hole anyways to enjoy myself."
Amidst the laughter of his group, Sakon picked up the axe again; the shadow of it mocking Sasuke as it danced in front of him. He tensed up, tried to buck off the guy sitting on top of him, but the guy merely clucked his tongue, grabbed Sasuke by his hair and lifted up his head before smashing his face into the ground; the pain making Sasuke dizzy and his vision spinning with stars.
"God, I'm going to enjoy breaking you so much," Sakon sighed delighted and raised the axe.
Right as he brought down the axe and Sasuke squeezed his eyes shut, there was a whistling noise, followed by the thudding of the axe falling onto the ground.
"THE FUCK?!" Sakon yelled furiously.
Sasuke's head shot up and his eyes widened, relief replacing the dread immediately when he realised what was happening. There was an arrow sticking straight through Sakon's hand – and that arrow could only mean one thing.
Naruto was here.
The sound of an arrow whizzing filled the air again and suddenly there was no more weight pressing Sasuke into the earth when the guy toppled off him. He sat up immediately, gleefully spotting the arrow stuck in the guy's temple, killing him instantly. He turned his head and started to grin when he saw Naruto and Gaara melt away from the shadows of the trees as they each kept firing off arrows. Two of them hit the white haired guy in his throat and he made the grave mistake of pulling them out in a panic. It sent his blood gushing out of the wound and he tried fruitlessly to cover the deep cut. It was no use, though: by the time he sagged onto the ground he was already dead.
A fourth arrow – courtesy of Gaara's quick draw – found its target into Ukon's head and three more arrows struck the fat guy in his chest before he could even try to get up and run.
"YOU GODDAMN MOTHERFUCKERS!" Sakon raged and reached for his gun.
There was an ear deafening noise as Sakon aimed and shot; his features drawn back with utter rage. Sasuke flinched away from the noise but scrambled to get up, intent on taking Sakon's gun away from him.
Until he heard something he never wanted to hear at all.
"NARUTO!"
Gaara's anguished scream had Sasuke whirling around; a sense of terror, the likes of which he had never felt before, taking over him when he saw Naruto sagging down against the tree, his crossbow falling limply to the ground as red bloomed across his jacket. The red colour spread wider and wider, trickling down, and Gaara grabbed Naruto before he could hit the ground.
"That's what you fucking get, you motherfucking bastards!" Sakon snarled.
Anko lurched forwards then, tackling Sakon to the ground and smashing her fist over and over again in his face, but Sasuke was barely aware of what she was doing as he stumbled towards Naruto, watching how that red colour only kept spreading more.
More and more until red was the only colour Sasuke could see as he fell down to his knees in front of Naruto, disbelief and fear making him clam up when he realised that –
When he realised that –
"NARUTO!"
Sasuke shot up, his heart hammering in his chest, and he looked around himself wildly, seeing nothing but absolute darkness. His hands shot out, one coming down to clutch the cloth that was twisted around his legs and the other slapped down on something next to him. Something which grunted and moved and had him twisting around, reaching out with his hands until –
"Sasuke?"
Naruto's groggy whisper shot straight through the near blinding panic and Sasuke's breathing hitched; his face uncomfortably warm as he slowly started to piece together where he was.
Rustling noises told him that Naruto was sitting up and soon there was a hand tentatively touching him. "Bad dream?" Naruto asked in a whisper, cutting through the heavy silence blanketing the apartment.
Sasuke breathed out slowly and pinched his own arm. The sharp sting had him closing his eyes in relief and he swallowed.
"Something like that," he replied and swallowed again. It had felt all too real: the fire, the voices, Naruto dying … "I'm sorry for waking you up."
"It's fine, you didn't hit me that hard," Naruto murmured and his hand slipped down until it found Sasuke's, curling on top of it. "You want to talk about it?"
Sasuke blinked, staring into the darkness. Did he want to talk about a dream that had felt all too real? Did he want to tell Naruto how he thought he had still been stuck in that town and had been forced to relive everything all over again, with an even worse outcome: Naruto dying? Did he want to talk how everything had felt so real to the point he could still smell the rusty scent of blood tainting everything?
He laid back down and felt Naruto doing the same. The hand around his own was replaced by an arm curling around his waist, a thumb rubbing circling in his side over his shirt.
"No, it was just some bullshit," he settled on answering in the end, unwilling to relive everything all over again.
To his great relief Naruto didn't try to pester him about it further. He felt him nod; the pillowcase rustling when he moved his head.
"Yeah, I understand. Had nasty dreams for a long time after mum and dad were killed," he mumbled, keeping up the caressing motion with his thumb. "They kept bothering me for months on end. Sometimes I wasn't even sure whether I was dreaming or if it was real. It was fucked up."
"It's been a while since I last had one like that," Sasuke murmured and rubbed his forehead. "Think the last time was after mother died."
The last one that had really managed to get to him in a way the others hadn't at least. Nightmares were almost common, especially after the dead had risen three years ago. The worst one before tonight had been right after he had stumbled upon mother's corpse. The month following that he had been unwilling to sleep much, not wanting to face that horrifying image over and over again. Tonight he had thought his mind would have been too exhausted to work through all that bullshit, but clearly his brain hadn't wanted to give him that simple respite.
"From personal experience I know bullshit like 'it gets better' doesn't help, so I'm not going to say it," Naruto whispered and he pressed his forehead against Sasuke's shoulder, gently rubbing back and forth. "I'm here if you want to talk about it, though. Any time."
"Yeah," Sasuke breathed out in a sigh, "thanks." He rested his own arm around Naruto, feeling a slight hint of bone through the warm skin. Naruto was finally putting on some weight, but moments like this one where they were curled up tightly together still made it obvious just how fragile he felt.
Although Naruto was far from actually being fragile. He had proven that last night when he and Gaara had shown up to save them all.
"Think we still have some time left before we have to get up," Naruto muttered; his lips faintly brushing over a spot in the junction where Sasuke's neck met his shoulder. "Not nearly light enough yet for morning to arrive."
Sasuke hm'd, pressing his fingers against the faint outline of Naruto's ribs. He couldn't remember if they had drawn the curtains before falling asleep, but even if they had done so, it would have been noticeable if morning would arrive soon. They didn't have blackout curtains so any ray of daylight, no matter how weak or slim, would be noticeable.
He expected it would take him a while before sleep would find him again after that disturbing dream, but the soothing repetitive motions of Naruto's thumb caressing his side and his even soft breathing had Sasuke's eyelids turning heavy soon.
When he fell asleep this time, no more nightmares took hold of him.
"That's all," Sasuke finished his story and raised an eyebrow. "Can I go now?"
"Go on," Father agreed and nodded.
Danzo's already wrinkled face gained an extra wrinkle when he frowned, leaning back in his chair, but he didn't say anything to stop Sasuke so Sasuke got up from the chair and left the room, happy to leave it behind. He had told the Board everything that had happened before Naruto and Gaara had shown up, though he had no clue what exactly they would do with that information when everyone of Sakon's group, including the fucker himself, was dead now.
He perked up a bit when he saw Naruto waiting for him upon exiting the building. The blond was slumped against the wall with his arms crossed, but he straightened out, his arms dropping to the side, when he caught sight of Sasuke.
"So, how did the interrogation go?" Naruto asked, smiling humourlessly.
Sasuke shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck. "Couldn't tell them anything except for what happened before you and Gaara showed up. Don't know what they are going to do with that information when everyone of that group is dead, though."
"Think they'll send a group to pick up the rest of the supplies?" Naruto inquired curiously, falling into step with Sasuke when he started walking.
"I have no idea," Sasuke admitted, pursing his lips. "I think that's something they'll discuss today."
Father wasn't particularly enthused about sending another group out there to collect the supplies, given that the place might be overrun by zombies by now. One night had passed and in one night a whole herd might have gathered. On the other hand – something father also realised – that place could be their only option for viable building material for a while now. They would have to scout other places for more material; doing so would take up quite some time because it was doubtful they would be lucky from the first try. Frankly, whichever option they picked – the zombie infested nearby town or completely new places – they always risked running into danger.
He sighed inaudibly. There was no point in wondering what the Board would decide; father would surely inform him of whatever decision they would end up making.
"Where's Gaara?" he asked, changing the topic.
"Helping out Itachi with teaching the kids," Naruto replied, which explained why he wasn't here now.
"You want to visit the infirmary with me?" Sasuke suggested, turning around the corner.
"You want to visit Deidara?" Naruto tilted his head to the left.
"Yeah, Anko was sent home yesterday apparently." Father had informed him about that; she had left the infirmary not long after Sasuke, refusing further medical assistance.
"All right," Naruto agreed, but appeared somewhat apprehensive for some reason.
Sasuke didn't understand why, but figured there was no point in trying to find out. If Naruto truly didn't want to visit Deidara he wouldn't have agreed to do so, Sasuke was certain. The blond didn't exactly come across as the type to do things against his will.
On their way to the infirmary they passed Ino and Shikamaru who were walking in the direction of the gates, presumably to begin their guard shift. They nodded at each other but didn't stop to talk, even though Ino's eyes definitely started to shine with interest when she looked at them. Sasuke sighed inwardly, knowing he could expect a whole new interrogation in the future from her this time. It was incredible, really, how people were still obsessed with gossip even with the undead hounding them.
Tsunade was browsing through some papers when Sasuke and Naruto entered the infirmary and she greeted them with a distracted nod. Sasuke wasn't going to lie: he was relieved to see that she had exchanged her old coat for a new one. The one she had been wearing yesterday had ended up covered in blood streaks before she had even been halfway done treating Deidara.
"How's Deidara?" Sasuke asked, noticing how quiet it was in here. It was never rowdy here of course, because Tsunade would definitely kick their arse if they made too much of a fuss, but somehow the silence felt even more oppressive today.
"Still asleep when I last checked on him, which was a couple of hours ago," she replied and put the papers down on the desk. "Sakura checked on him an hour ago and then he was awake but unresponsive."
"She still with him?" he questioned; his gaze straying towards the room Deidara was currently occupying. The closed door gave it away.
"No, I made her go home to get some rest," she said and undid her ponytail in order to fix the loose blonde strands. "She was up with me the entire night, monitoring him. She could use the rest after that."
"The same can be said of you, baa-chan. Shouldn't you be getting some rest too?" Naruto squinted at her critically. "You're not exactly a young sprite anymore, you know?"
She swatted him immediately, scowling when he danced out of her reach. "You can bet your arse I'm still young enough to teach you a lesson, brat, so don't go around underestimating me," she threatened.
"Please, you adore me too much already to do that," he smirked.
Sasuke rolled his eyes, concealing a sigh as he wondered whether the infirmary would soon have a second patient occupying one of the rooms. Hadn't he warned Naruto against doing this shit? Provoking Tsunade was never a smart idea – especially not when she had been doing night shifts.
"Like hell I do," she scoffed and crossed her arms underneath her impressive chest. "It's not because your face hasn't made an acquaintance with the wall yet that you can take that to mean I adore you. Now get out of my sight: either visit Deidara or fuck off, I don't care."
"See, I told you I would be able to charm the hell out of her," Naruto whispered and nudged Sasuke's arm.
"Oh, definitely charming her. So much in fact that you'll have a close encounter with her fist soon," Sasuke retorted dryly. "And I can't promise I'll be in the mood to stop her then."
"Oh wow, here I was thinking we have undying love, you and me. I see how it is now," Naruto pouted and shook his head in mock disappointment.
"Sure, but undying love doesn't make me stupid enough to get between her and you," Sasuke said amused.
His amusement disappeared instantly when they reached the closed door to Deidara's room. Except the door wasn't completely closed, he realised quickly, but stood slightly ajar. Perhaps Tsunade had left it that way to make it easier for her to hear Deidara if he required urgent care.
He raised his hand and knocked on the door, uncertain if Deidara would even react considering he had apparently been unresponsive around Sakura. A soft grunt was his reply, however, and he lifted an eyebrow, pushing the door open. Deidara sat upright in his bed with a thin light blue sheet covering his body up to his waist. His amputated arm was swathed with several bandages and rested on a pillow next to him. He was staring at the ceiling but when his eyes flickered towards the door, they brightened just a smidgen. Truthfully he looked like utter crap, pale as hell, and his blond hair hanging limply around his face, but he was smiling faintly.
"Hey, Sasuke-kun. Feel free to enter, I don't bite," he said; the corners of his mouth twitching slightly.
"We came to see how you're doing," Sasuke explained, feeling just a tad awkward as he walked into the room.
What even did you say to someone whose arm had been brutally hacked off and who had almost been sexually assaulted?
Naruto closely followed behind him, acting like a shadow almost. He closed the door behind them, looking every bit as uncomfortable as Sasuke felt, but he still nodded at the older blond in greeting.
"I'm probably going to need a hand in the future, but I'm still alive, un," Deidara snorted, briefly glancing at his stump before he looked away again.
"Humour is a good sign of recover or so they say at least," Naruto mumbled, choosing to linger near the door while Sasuke approached the bed.
Deidara rolled his shoulders half-heartedly. "Moping's not going to help me, will it, un? It's not going to give me my arm back."
"Tsunade mentioned you were unresponsive when Sakura visited you," Sasuke commented and sat down on a rickety chair that had seen better days in the past. They really would have to start looking for more decent furniture for the infirmary before they would fall through the available chairs.
Deidara scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Only because I wasn't in the mood to talk about what had happened. No offense to her, but I didn't want to talk to her about it, un. Was easier then to just keep quiet. It's not like I remember a lot anyways after my arm got hacked off," he snorted harshly.
"I'm sorry," Naruto blurted out awkwardly, fiddling with his sleeves. "Cauterisation was the only thing I could come up with that would stop the bleeding. I didn't want you to bleed out, but that means you've got one arm less now and - "
"Man, there's no need to apologise," Deidara interrupted him; his remaining arm twitching faintly as if he wanted to wave. "Anko-chan told me everything that happened last night when she was here earlier. Thanks to you I'm still alive, un. Does it fucking suck to have lost my arm? Hell yeah, but it would have sucked a shit ton more if I had died because of bleeding out. If I have to make a choice between dying or surviving with one arm, un …" he trailed off and shrugged, smiling wryly. "Don't have to think long about that. So thanks for saving my life."
"I didn't do that much," Naruto mumbled, fascinated by the stained floorboard for some reason judging by the way he was staring at it. "Baa-chan's the one who got you through it."
"She wasn't the one out there when I was bleeding, though," Deidara pointed out calmly. "You and Gaara-kun were, so thank you. Give him my thanks when you see him, all right? Anko-chan said you two saved our butts? Sorry, I don't remember a lot; I was a bit out of it by that time," he added chagrined.
"Naruto and Gaara got rid of them all with their crossbows," Sasuke confirmed when it became clear that Naruto wouldn't say anything.
"One hell of a badass, you two, huh?" Deidara smiled teasingly, but there was admiration colouring his voice as well.
Naruto shrugged uncomfortably. "We just did what any decent person would have done if they were there."
"Let's be honest here, I think we all agree that decency isn't exactly common anymore," Deidara said lightly and grinned at Sasuke, winking. "Thank fuck you decided to bone such a badass, came in really handy last night, un."
"For fuck's sake, can't you even get your mind out of the gutter now?" Sasuke sighed exasperatedly.
"I have to have my fun somehow now that I'll be stuck here for the unforeseeable future, un," Deidara pouted and gestured at his stump.
All three of them turned their head when someone knocked on the door. Itachi walked in next, appearing completely unsurprised that Sasuke and Naruto were already present.
"I'm glad you're awake," he smiled at Deidara before addressing Sasuke, "Otouto, I thought I would find you here."
"We came for a quick visit," Sasuke explained and stood up. "We'll go now."
"Don't leave on my account," Itachi assured them.
"Or on mine," Deidara piped up.
"Something tells me the doctor will show up soon and insist you can't have too many visitors right now so that you don't get overwhelmed," Sasuke smiled. He was pretty certain he could hear Tsunade walking around in one of the other rooms near this one.
"She should be the one getting some rest herself before she gets overwhelmed," Naruto mumbled. "Baa-chan ain't exactly the youngest anymore."
"I'm not what anymore?"
Everyone, except for Itachi, jumped a bit when the aforementioned doctor appeared in the doorway, one eyebrow quirked and looking less than impressed.
"Really radiant as ever, I have no idea how you do it," Naruto fibbed smoothly, giving her an innocent smile.
"Uhuh, of course. Get out of here, you damn brat," she said amused and slapped his shoulder.
"I'm really glad you didn't die," Naruto told Deidara, reverting back to being awkward before he left the room.
Deidara gaped in surprise and stared at Sasuke. "Was this me and Naruto-kung bonding or was I just imaging things? I'm not, am I? We are really bonding, un!"
Sasuke scoffed amused. "Don't get too much of a big head," he smirked. "He still likes me the most."
Itachi chuckled and Deidara grinned. "Would never dream of stealing him from you," he chirped brightly before addressing Itachi, "So here for a nice visit or did the Board make you their messenger boy to see if I collaborate Sasuke-kun's story?"
Taking that as his cue to leave, Sasuke left Itachi with Deidara and walked away, seeing Naruto waiting outside.
"Think he really will be all right?" Naruto asked quietly when Sasuke joined him outside. "Or was he just trying to keep up appearances, you think?"
Sasuke thought of how Deidara had carefully avoided looking at his missing arm for the majority of their visit. He thought of the way he had been animatedly speaking all the same, smiling and even delivering teasing quips like he usually did. They would be stupid to assume he was completely fine already, but there was no reason to insult Deidara's strength either by considering him a lost cause now. He would keep fighting, even with one arm less.
"He'll be fine. Eventually," he said and reached out, finding Naruto's hand. He tangled their fingers together and gave Naruto's hand a soft squeeze. "He's strong. He won't give up."
Deidara would get through this and end up stronger, he knew. They had all learnt to push on and push through no matter what.
It was one of the sole things that still separated them from the undead.
AN2: We're going to have some fun next chapter ^^
Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.
I hope to see you all back in the next chapter! Please stay safe and take care of yourselves!
Cuddles
Melissa
P.S. For more information about my upcoming and posted stories, please visit my profile.
