Natsu sprawls across the couch, migraine pounding behind his eyes, and pointedly doesn't groan.
Sakura-chan's groaning enough for both of them, really, so he can consider that task crossed off the list. No need to express exasperation, he can spend his energy on something more important, like trying to become one with this pillow, because if he fills his brain with pillow fluff it will probably stop trying to melt out his ears, and that would be great.
Fuck but he misses Lucy and Levy and Happy and-
Everyone, really.
He's never been all that great at understanding all the fancy technical bits about magic and physics and the way it all works together. Just show him how to do it, he can figure it out from there! But ugh Sakuni and Sakura-chan want to actually understand things, which, cool, Natsu's not gonna say that's a bad thing, but he doesn't know how to put it all into words! And Igneel's no help, Igneel doesn't even like what Natsu's trying to do, thinks it's risky and dangerous and could probably hurt Sakura-chan except Natsu even being here is risky and dangerous and definitely hurting Sakura-chan so they have to do something and Sakura-chan and Sakuni both agreed it was worth trying but-!
Well. For everything to work the way Natsu was thinking maybe it could, Igneel would have to really really work with Sakuni, and he is, but-
He's grumpy about it, and Natsu definitely inherited his lack of book smarts from his dad because even Igneel can't answer Sakuni's questions, and so he gets even more grumpy and Natsu's just-
Stuck.
Natsu's not a book nerd like Levy, can't help make things make sense for Sakuni and Sakura the way she or-
Or-
Or that sibling he sometimes thinks he maybe might have, that bleary feeling he gets sometimes, when Kizashi-san acts like a dad and Sakura-chan whispers that she always wished she had a sibling and-
Sometimes, the ghost of the idea that he had a- a brother, or something, lingers in the edges of Natsu's mind, and sometimes he thinks that guy was a nerd. Someone good at explaining things, like Levy is.
But when he tries to think more on it, dig into those ghostly ideas, he-
Shies away.
Natsu can't say he understands it, and Igneel…
Well. That was a jarring subject change that even Natsu couldn't miss.
Igneel probably knows something, "not my place" his ass but-
But none of that matters! Because right now he needs a book nerd to explain things to Sakura-chan and Sakuni but he doesn't have one and he's stuck!
He gives in, groaning miserably into the cushions of the couch, doesn't say anything when he feels fingers rub lightly into his hair.
Sakura-chan's hair.
It's… Mebuki-san, he knows. Not-
Not his mom, someone he doesn't remember at all and yet every now and then he thinks he almost might until it disappears in an instant-
But she likes him anyway. Smiles, and asks about his day, and the things he's done, and this and that, and she asks Sakura-chan questions too, asks questions about Sakura-chan sometimes when he's got too much of a migraine to help pull her into a mindwalk so they can talk but-
But she asks him questions. And talks to him. Not only Sakura-chan.
And-
She's not his mom, but gramps isn't exactly his gramps, and Igneel was always his second dad, even if he was also the only dad he ever remembered.
Family's never about blood, after all.
It's about who's there for you when you need them, and when you don't. Who cares about you.
That's what family is.
And Mebuki-san and Kizashi-san… care.
Natsu hasn't doubted that for a while. Even if it started so awkward and uncomfortable, they-
He hasn't spent as much time with them as Sakura-chan or they would prefer, probably, but-
It's hard to ignore that soft affection, or the way it isn't only meant for Sakura-chan.
Hard not to lean into it, or offer it back.
Hard not to miss everyone back home.
He tries not to worry. They're all strong, and wherever his body is, it's probably fine. Igneel even said something about stasis that one time, so he's probably okay. And they're probably all super worried about him, but just the fact that he's not dead probably means that his body is alive, which means that they're all alive, and even if he wants to get back, well.
Igneel has ideas about that too, and it sounds like it might take a while to figure it all out.
With a migraine pounding through his skull, and a warm hand that drifts away as Mebuki-san heads off wherever she was going initially though, it-
Sometimes, Natsu just misses home.
He cracks an eye open, ignores the stabbing lance of pain that comes with the light, to stare at the fine layer of scales that haven't quite faded from his hand quite yet.
Sasuke's alright, at least.
Well. Alright enough to stomp out of the hospital despite everyone telling him not to, which, honestly that's alright enough for Natsu even if Sakura-chan vehemently disagrees.
He can always go hunt down his teammate later if he needs to.
Probably a good thing he never tried to help Kakashi-sensei though, because ow.
He's plenty used to Sasuke, but that didn't make it easy at all.
Natsu gives in to the stabbing brightness and closes his eye again.
Ugh.
Everything's gone and got complicated on him now.
Even if he never said as much to Inoichi, he's always known this was an entirely different world, kind of like Edolas. He wants to go home, but-
He also likes these kids. Naruto and Sasuke and Sakura-chan. Wants to help them.
The Levy of Edolas managed to make a device that could teleport their entire guild hall around the world, and that world barely had any magic left at all!
So, he could probably get his Levy to make something that would let him visit and check up on them, right?
But-
Ugh.
Not like he knows how to get back right now anyway.
He should probably stop moping and start finding ways to help everyone while he's still here.
His thoughts chase themselves in circles. Then hands, back on his head, and Natsu catches the scent of that downright magic salve.
"'Sn't that f'r sore muscles…?" he mumbles, and Mebuki-san laughs from above him as she rubs gently.
"Of course! But the thing about migraines, is they make you tense up all over! Clenched jaw, stiff shoulders, these create tension all through your head and can get you stuck in a loop! Tension migraines are a thing too, after all! It'll take the edge off, at least."
Her hands are warm, massaging across his temples, down his shoulders, working their way back up.
Her hands cross that point on his throat-
Sakura-chan's unscarred throat, and yet Natsu knows with certainty that that, right there, was where-
He feels his pulse beat against her fingers as she moves, and wonders why it feels wrong.
The hands massaging his throat should be cold, shaking, words, apologies, as coldcoldcold-
He shouldn't have a pulse, as hands trace the lines of that scar, no, wound, and knit it back together-
Natsu sits up with a gasp, jerks away, head buried between his knees as he breathes, ignores Sakura-chan's panicked yelp and Mebuki-san's questioning apology-
Was he… dead?
He sits up, hand flying to his throat but-
The trailing, narrow scar that he got Sakura-chan stuck with way back then is nothing like the massive, gaping thing that he so often covered up just to keep people from gawking-
That scar doesn't exist under his fingers.
He still traces the edges of where he knows it is, where he knows it cleanly cut across the jugular vein, the empty empty empty vein, where no pulse beat even as coldcoldcold hands worked up and down, magic, knitting together flesh that Natsu's pretty sure he shouldn't remember-
He was dead.
Wasn't he?
He traces, back and forth and back and forth, chasing the edges of a memory he's not sure he should remember, ice cold hands shaking, trembling, but the magic was steady.
Knitting him back together.
He remembers… Igneel said he'd always had the scar, that it was already healed over by the time Natsu lived with him, it was already healed over.
He's never really been able to remember how he got it.
Never really remembered anything from before Igneel, at all.
Like. Nothing. Not a thing. Natsu's never remembered even the littlest thing from before Igneel.
…he wonders what about this, about being here like this, with Sakura-chan, makes these memories come up.
He never remembered having a family, before. Not one that wasn't Fairy Tail or Igneel, anyway. A blood family. But-
He remembers, sort of. Not the family. But the fact that he had one. He remembers that now. The feeling of it.
And-
Back and forth, back and forth.
He traces the lines of a scar that doesn't exist on this body, and-
Natsu's dead.
Or-
He was dead. And now he's not.
But-
He's pretty certain, on that, now.
That memory-
Cold, trembling fingers, steady magic. Apologies, as hollow flesh knits itself together.
No pulse.
Natsu's pretty damn certain, here.
He remembers being dead.
Igneel doesn't have hands, and even if he did, they wouldn't shake.
But there was no one else. Natsu remembers nothing, and then there's Igneel.
That person, with the cold, shaking hands-
They weren't there, when the memories start. They didn't stay with him. But-
Clearly, they cared, or they wouldn't have-
But then if they cared- where were they?
…who put shaking hands on his throat, and knit him back together?
Back and forth, back and forth. Natsu traces the lines of a nonexistent scar, staring off into the middle distance.
He doesn't notice, when Mebuki's eyes alight with realization, nor when she steps away to find Kizashi.
Back and forth and back and forth, that faded memory of cold, shaking hands-
Natsu was dead.
And then he wasn't.
He never remembered this, before.
Cold, shaking hands. Pressed against a throat with no pulse.
Steady magic, knitting flesh back together.
Were they crying?
Back and forth, back and forth.
…Natsu can't tell.
He chases the memory, those apologies, he knows they're apologies, knows that's what's being said, somehow, and yet he can't hear them.
Can't tell-
Was that voice crying? With shaking hands and steady magic as they knit his corpse back together?
…were they crying?
Liquid splashes against his hand, startling him.
Natsu pulls it away from his throat, broken from the haze of memory-
He's crying.
When did that happen…?
There's a lot they don't know about the boy who walks in their Sakura's skin. But… Mebuki has seen that scar, before. Stark, vivid, against his throat, in the mindscape. Impossible to forget, even if it took her a moment to recognize the shape of it in the movement of his fingers.
She's no shinobi, not like her husband was.
She still lives in a shinobi village, though. With all the danger that comes with it.
She knows what lethal looks like.
They talked about it, once, her and Kizashi, but-
Well. He was certain that he was alive, before, and equally certain that the scar was old. Old enough he'd forgotten how he ever got it in the first place.
…Mebuki lives in a shinobi village, married a shinobi husband, however retired.
She knows the difference between something forgotten by time and something forgotten for other reasons.
That trance-like behavior, as he suddenly snapped away from her hands and started exploring Sakura's unscarred throat with his own-
She knows what a flashback looks like.
What she's never known, really, is how to safely help with one. Shinobi reflexes…
She gets Kizashi. He's trained, and… he's always had a better relationship with Natsu, than she has.
He's always been so sharp, her Kizashi. He stands the moment he sees her, before she's even said anything, and follows her immediately.
They make it back to their borrowed living room quickly, and yet-
Natsu spins on his heel to beam at them.
"I'm gonna go check on Sasuke!" He chirps, grinning, and darts to leap out the window before she even has a chance to respond.
Mebuki frowns, looking to her husband.
"He was crying?" Kizashi asks softly, as they both pretend they don't hear the front door open, likely long enough for Natsu to grab his shoes before closing it again.
"Flashback," Mebuki confirms, leaning into Kizashi and staring worriedly at the couch and the still-open bottle of salve, "I think I triggered it when I touched his throat, you know, where…"
Kizashi nods, staring contemplatively at the couch. "Do you want me to talk to him, when he comes back home?"
Home. It's not their home, really, just the home of a friend, but-
Then again, it is, isn't it?
Home is people. Mebuki is home when her family is with her.
Family that now includes a boy she never intended to care about.
A family that, one way or another, is doomed to go down to three again no matter what.
There was a time when she couldn't wait for him to leave, to give her back her daughter, but-
Long conversations, curled up on the engawa of a place that wasn't quite real, her daughter trapped on the other side of impenetrable glass, and a young man doing his best to stay as far away as possible until they drag him in-
It's been a while, since home only meant three people.
Now it means four.
And one way or another, it's inevitably going to lose one of them.
She laces her fingers together with her husband's, leans more firmly into him. "I don't want him to run. But… if we can help…"
A firm nod, as he leans into her as well.
A teasing grin she catches the fleeting edges of, in her peripheral vision, as Kizashi says, "Well, as long as he doesn't burn anything else down and get banished from the village again, that is."
Mebuki laughs. It's not really funny, more a terrifyingly real possibility, but-
"The way the Nara are talking, they'll have him drawn and quartered in the main square first!"
She laughs even as she says it.
It's no more funny than her husband's joke.
Another terrifyingly real possibility.
A theory dances across Mebuki's tongue. A terrible theory.
A terrifyingly real possibility.
She looks to her husband, and wonders if it's occurred to him, before.
He looks back at her, eyebrow quirked, questioning-
She bites her tongue, looks away.
Maybe he has. Maybe he hasn't.
It's not… really a safe theory to speak out loud, either way.
They lean together, and say nothing.
Natsu and Sakura will make it home.
They always have.
This time won't be the time that only one of them comes back.
…hopefully.
She's far enough from the window that Natsu won't hear her unless he's actively focusing, but Sakura still whispers, just in case. "Do you… think he's really okay?"
It's a pointless question to ask, really. She and her Inner have always understood each other, even when they aren't in sync, but-
Some things still have to be said.
Sakuni's scoff is abrasive, derisive, but not mean.
It about sums up Sakura's own feelings quite nicely, though.
She leans against her Inner. Older, now, older than her. About Natsu's age. Inner, who became the anchor, the lodestone, the one who connects her and Natsu, holds them together. Keeps them apart. Keeps his powerful will and personality from completely overwhelming Sakura, from driving her out even by accident.
Her Inner, who locked a door until it didn't need to be locked anymore, and spent so long fighting alone until Natsu and Jiraiya could come up with a way to fix the problem for good.
Inner knows things about Natsu that even Natsu doesn't know, Sakura's aware. Inner is her Inner, after all, and on some level they're the same, even though in others they're completely different. Sakura could reach for that knowledge, probably.
She doesn't.
Inner is aged, older than she should be considering she's a part of Sakura. They should be the same, but instead-
Instead Inner is older. Was forced to be older, changed and affected by Natsu and everything she learned of him.
On some level, Sakura knows that Inner walked Natsu's mindscape the way Natsu walks hers. Examined his memories, did her best to make sure he wasn't a threat to her that needed to be destroyed.
Woke up a dragon, in all her poking around. Sakura'll be honest, she's still not sure how to feel about that one.
Inner knows a lot about Natsu, that she's never said out loud.
So… so if she says he isn't okay, then he isn't okay.
But…
"I don't know how to help him."
A sigh, as Inner loops her into a half-hug. Sakura leans into it desperately.
She's not lonely here.
She isn't.
Inner hugs her tighter anyway.
It's nice.
"He's a stubborn one, for sure. Won't ask for help at all! Probably going to laugh everything off and try to convince Mom to stop worrying about him. But he can't hide from us, yeah?"
A nudge, as her Inner grins brightly down at her, and-
She and Inner were always the same age, before. Always something close to the same person, even though they did exist separately.
…Sakura kind of likes being different, though, too.
Inner feels less like a piece of her and more like… a big sister. The way Natsu sometimes, in his less stupid moments, feels maybe like an older brother.
Sakura wants her body back. Wants to feel alive again, wants to exist in a place where everything she touches doesn't send her spiraling into memories, wants to be herself so so badly-
It's horrible, sometimes, being in here like this-
It may have been worse before, when she couldn't even know what was happening, but it's still terrible and Sakura wants out-
But she doesn't want to say goodbye.
She can't have both.
She wants it anyway.
She squeezes Inner tightly, takes a deep breath.
Pulls away and slaps her cheeks. "Right! He can't give us the slip, so it's up to us to make him stop being an idiot! Shannaro!"
Inner cheers, eagerly following her as Sakura strides to the window.
They're still the same person where it counts, after all.
Sakura braces her hands on the sill and shouts.
Konoha's gates loom ahead of them, tall and imposing and fully functional.
Naruto whoops as he runs forward. "Shizune we made it!" He spins, pointing, grinning, and she smiles.
"I see that! It's good to be back!"
Tonton lets out a soft squeal in her arms, and Naruto doesn't flinch. At all.
Shizune smiles even more somehow, and Naruto will figure out her secret.
…maybe without the pig in the room- street- whatever.
Later.
He's fine, anyway, he doesn't need her sneaky medic chiding, he's practically recovered, dattebayo!
He waves eagerly, brushing aside all thought of Tonton's deadpan stare. "C'mon c'mon! We're almost there, so let's go already-!"
A hand, catching the back of his jacket.
She may say she doesn't have her shishou's strength, but Shizune is still scary strong, and Naruto stands by that!
̶M̶a̶y̶b̶e̶ ̶s̶h̶e̶ ̶g̶e̶t̶s̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶f̶r̶o̶m̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶p̶i̶g̶-̶
"No need to rush! The gates aren't going anywhere, Naruto-kun!"
Naruto whines. "But we gotta get there before Ichiraku closes! You can't deprive me, I'll melt!"
She pats his head. "That's alright, I can fix you."
Naruto shudders, skipping away the moment it feels safe.
Medics are scary.
He glances back up the road, but Tsunade-baa-san is too far away for him to see. Maybe Sasuke could, with his cheating eyes, but she wanted to take her time and "get the lay of the land", whatever that means, the land hasn't changed that much!
Probably.
Maybe.
But he's also pretty sure she can read his mind, and he doesn't want to think too loud just in case she decides to chuck a rock or something.
Naruto's like, 90% sure she was joking when she said she could punt him all the way to Iwa.
…maybe 80%.
Best be careful.
He looks back at Shizune, jogs to catch up to her sedate pace as she heads for the gates.
It's not intimidating.
At all.
…Naruto will probably never be able to look at someone loping sedately down a road again without being just a little bit intimidated.
He'd wonder if Shizune was doing it on purpose, but… even though she's scary, she's really nice. So… probably not?
But maybe.
Naruto wants to grab her arm and drag her into hurrying up the rest of the way to the village, but that requires getting within touching distance of Tonton and-
Nope.
Nu-uh.
He can wait.
…hopefully.
He overtakes her, then stops, hopping from foot to foot as she catches up, and he tries to fall in step with her, he really does, but she's so slow-
It feels like it takes a million years, before they finally get up to the gate, and the guards check them in, and that takes another million years, but-
"WE MADE IT!" Naruto crows as he finally finally steps foot back in Konoha, and he magnanimously pretends he doesn't hear everyone smothering laughter behind him.
"Indeed we did! Thank you for guiding me in, Naruto-kun!" Shizune bows formally, and-
She's messing with him.
Maybe.
Possibly?
Naruto really can't tell, squints suspiciously because her smile is sweet and honest but-
Well.
She's friends with Tonton. So…
"Y'need me to go to the tower with you?" He asks, offers, because that's the right thing to do, and she probably doesn't, but maybe she wants him to?
She pats his head. "No, you can go meet up with your team! I know the way, I won't hold you any longer! Just remember to come to the hospital for your checkup tomorrow morning! If I have to come find you, Shishou and I will be very disappointed after all!"
Her smile's so bright it's almost sparkly, and yet somehow Naruto feels distinctly threatened.
Maybe it's Tonton.
Probably.
Yeah, definitely Tonton. Shizune is sweet and nice, after all!
He gulps, nodding rapidly, and promises not to be late.
He waits until she disappears around a corner to relax.
…medics are super scary.
He makes sure to think it super super quietly, just in case ̶S̶h̶i̶z̶u̶n̶e̶ ̶Tonton can read minds too.
Konoha's full of bustle and noise, but it always feels so fresh when he's been out of the village for a while. It's different, from any of the other villages he and Jiraiya passed through. Maybe cause it's a shinobi one.
Naruto grins, wandering the streets of the village, idly figuring that Sasuke and Natsu will be running around somewhere and that he's bound to run into them eventually. Maybe even Kakashi-sensei, if he's lucky.
Everything's still a little more muted than normal, but it's not too bad really! Naruto wonders if Kakashi-sensei's had his teammates doing D-Ranks while he was out with Jiraiya.
He laughs at the idea of them hunting down Tora without him - his clones have been a big part of all their capture strategies, after all! Fingers laced behind his head, Naruto whistles idly.
It's good to be home.
He jumps, trips over himself, as someone screams.
Not in a scared or hurt way, but-
Pissed-off like. Furious, angry, acrid-
Everyone else stops, listens, but shrugs it off, keeps walking. Lots of people are angry after an invasion, and there's no sounds of a fight or anything, but Naruto recognizes that voice.
"TEME!"
Sasuke's in the middle of deeply regretting punching the wall when he gets tackled into the dirt.
…this is why he doesn't do regret, a piece of him grumbles.
"Naruto get off." He snaps, debates whether it's worth the drama and shouting it would cause if he bites the dobe to make him move faster.
…probably not.
He ignores the knee that gets driven into his spine as the dobe scrambles to his feet, and steps away the moment he's able. He dropped his things but-
He's not dealing with this.
"Oi, Sasuke, don't walk away from me!"
Jogging, then a hand around his arm. Sasuke stops, pulls his arm back, but…
He's so tired. When Naruto doesn't immediately let go, he doesn't fight it. Just glares.
One hand sheepishly scratching at the back of his head, Naruto smiles. "Are you okay? I heard you shout earlier, and your knuckles are all split…"
The dobe hasn't let go. Sasuke stares, pointedly, and Naruto stares, pointedly, and the empty alley descends into awkward silence.
Sasuke sighs, lets himself fall back against the wall, Naruto's grip sliding from arm to wrist to hand. "Just leave me alone. Go bother Natsu or something. I'm fine."
Fighting with Naruto just makes him even more stubborn. So-
Just don't fight. Maybe the dobe will get the hint and leave.
"Eh, Natsu's always fine," Naruto shrugs, stepping closer, staring at Sasuke, concern etching across his brow.
Sasuke doesn't regret backing into the wall.
At all.
He already decided regret is stupid and useless after all.
He just might have… miscalculated. Slightly. Is all.
"But you don't look like everything's okay, so obviously I'm gonna stay here!"
Sasuke's Sharingan slips to life almost without his permission, as he scours that face for any sign but-
Naruto's earnest. Of course he is. Sasuke's known what kind of person the dobe is for a while now, he knew he wouldn't see anything else but-
̶A̶n̶i̶k̶i̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶c̶r̶y̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶w̶h̶y̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶c̶r̶y̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶h̶o̶s̶e̶ ̶w̶e̶r̶e̶ ̶t̶e̶a̶r̶s̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶f̶a̶c̶e̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶-̶
His whole world teeters on the edge of a blade. Sasuke never even remembered-
He's had his Sharingan for years, but never remembered, locked that knowledge deep deep away along with-
There's a warm shoulder beneath him, a solitary anchor as Sasuke digs fingers into cloth, past it, into flesh, clawing, and-
Maybe screaming again.
Fury and pain and confusion and-
̶W̶h̶y̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶c̶r̶y̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶w̶h̶y̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶c̶r̶y̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶h̶a̶d̶ ̶n̶o̶ ̶r̶i̶g̶h̶t̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶c̶r̶y̶ ̶w̶h̶y̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶c̶r̶y̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶w̶h̶y̶w̶h̶y̶w̶h̶y̶w̶h̶y̶-̶
"Teme- Sasuke- what happened?"
Sasuke doesn't know when Naruto's grip moved from his hand and into a hug.
He doesn't want a hug. He wants-
̶B̶l̶o̶o̶d̶ ̶o̶n̶ ̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶b̶l̶a̶d̶e̶,̶ ̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶p̶a̶r̶e̶n̶t̶s̶ ̶k̶n̶e̶e̶l̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶b̶e̶f̶o̶r̶e̶ ̶h̶i̶m̶,̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶k̶i̶l̶l̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶m̶,̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶k̶i̶l̶l̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶m̶,̶ ̶a̶g̶a̶i̶n̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶a̶g̶a̶i̶n̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶a̶g̶a̶i̶n̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶w̶h̶y̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶c̶r̶y̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶w̶h̶y̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶c̶r̶y̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶w̶h̶y̶w̶h̶y̶ ̶A̶n̶i̶k̶i̶-̶O̶t̶o̶u̶t̶o̶-̶H̶e̶'̶s̶ ̶S̶a̶s̶u̶k̶e̶ ̶s̶t̶a̶r̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶a̶t̶ ̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶b̶r̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶w̶h̶o̶'̶s̶ ̶c̶r̶y̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶h̶e̶'̶s̶ ̶I̶t̶a̶c̶h̶i̶ ̶s̶t̶a̶r̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶a̶t̶ ̶S̶a̶s̶u̶k̶e̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶d̶r̶a̶g̶g̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶h̶i̶m̶ ̶d̶o̶w̶n̶ ̶d̶o̶w̶n̶ ̶d̶o̶w̶n̶ ̶i̶n̶t̶o̶ ̶h̶e̶l̶l̶ ̶w̶h̶y̶ ̶w̶h̶y̶w̶h̶y̶-̶
̶H̶e̶'̶s̶ ̶S̶a̶s̶u̶k̶e̶-̶I̶t̶a̶c̶h̶i̶-̶S̶a̶s̶u̶k̶e̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶t̶a̶n̶t̶o̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶s̶o̶a̶k̶e̶d̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶p̶a̶r̶e̶n̶t̶s̶'̶ ̶b̶l̶o̶o̶d̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶y̶ ̶w̶e̶r̶e̶ ̶o̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶i̶r̶ ̶k̶n̶e̶e̶s̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶k̶i̶l̶l̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶m̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶h̶e̶'̶s̶ ̶c̶r̶y̶i̶n̶g̶-̶
There's blood running down his fingers, skin tearing under his nails, and Sasuke's not sobbing but-
If he was, Naruto doesn't say anything. Just hugs him.
Sasuke wants to tear his throat out.
His fingers dig into his teammate's back, and there's blood dripping down his arms and flesh under his nails and the world flickers Sharingan-bright and then back to the muted colors of natural eyes-
Sasuke clenches them shut, buries his face back in Naruto's shoulder.
If he screams again, Naruto doesn't say anything to that either.
Sasuke doesn't do regret. So- when he went to the Yamanaka-
It was just-
A miscalculation.
He doesn't regret it.
He does ̶n̶'̶t̶.
Naruto stands, frozen, arms wrapped around his teammate because he doesn't know what else to do with them but-
He- Sasuke's not okay, duh, obviously, Naruto's not blind or stupid and it was obvious. So he did what a good teammate is supposed to do, and refused to leave until Sasuke talked to him, and-
And then Sasuke practically falls apart, sobbing, carving furrows into Naruto's back and fuck Tsunade-baa-san is going to be pissed, his chakra's still not quite levelled out and she told him not to touch Kyuubi's at all until it did but the healing is automatic he doesn't know how to turn it off and Sasuke's trying to rip him apart and sob into his shoulder at the same time and Naruto doesn't know what to do because something has gone really really wrong and he can't ask but he can't not ask and he doesn't know what to do but Sasuke's still crying and he can't just be a jerk and push him off but they can't stand like this forever-!
Naruto doesn't know what to do, so he bites his tongue hard enough to taste the blood in his mouth, and just holds on.
He hasn't had much practice with this 'giving hugs' thing, but he can't be doing too badly, if Sasuke hasn't pulled away yet.
…or maybe he's doing terribly and that's why Sasuke's trying to dig out his spine.
Ow.
He shifts his weight, tries to keep whatever sent that absolutely sparking pain up his nerves from getting hit again, and Sasuke's sobs cut off with a sharp gasp.
Naruto freezes, Sasuke freezes, and they stand there, in what has to be the world's most awkward hug in the history of awkward hugs.
At least his spine isn't in danger of being clawed out anymore.
He always knew Sasuke was a prickly bastard, but damn.
…okay that wasn't as funny as he wanted it to be. Naruto doesn't know how to break this silence though, isn't sure if breaking it would be the right thing to do at all.
Last time he said something to Sasuke, that's how they got here after all.
So he waits, awkwardly.
Sasuke takes a deep breath after another indeterminable moment, then straightens up and shoves him away.
There's blood on his hands- Naruto's- and now there's blood on Naruto's shirt, too, which- rude!
Sasuke's already stepping away though, and Naruto turns to catch up when his teammate glances down, looks at his hands and-
Naruto dashes forward and grabs them both, his own blood smearing under his fingers as he catches Sasuke's eyes - Sharingan-red - and holds them, hands and gaze both.
Stop the panic before it happens.
Naruto's not blind.
Sasuke's always been at least a little weird about blood, even when he tries to play it cool like the stupid jerk he is.
Distraction distraction, don't let him fixate on it with those stupid magic eyes and get lost in all the blood drops or something-
"Hey- hey, Sasuke. Wait. What happened?"
It's the wrong question, Naruto knows, as soon as he asks it. Sasuke jerks back, blood-slicked hands slipping from Naruto's grip.
"Go ask someone else. I don't care. I'm fine."
Yeah, no can do. Well.
On one hand, Naruto's pretty sure that if he asks someone else, they'll actually answer him upfront, but-
"No way! I'm not leaving you alone when you're freaking out! C'mon, tell me what happened, maybe I can help!"
He jogs forward, cuts Sasuke off and catches that gaze again. Once again, his teammate's eyes skitter away from his face.
Naruto frowns. Reaches forward, grabs Sasuke's hands, pushes him back to the wall.
Sasuke snaps at him, all teeth, but his eyes are more pain than anger, when Naruto catches that gaze again.
They stand there, awkward and awkwardly positioned, Naruto's blood smearing across both their hands.
"We're a team, and that means your business is my business!" Naruto declares boldly, leaning further into Sasuke's space. "So tell me who hurt you and I'll go beat their face in, if Natsu hasn't already beat me to it, yeah?!"
Sasuke's eyes skitter about his face, flickering all over, arms straining in Naruto's grip but not-
Not forcefully. Just… straining.
Then, like a puppet's snapping strings, Sasuke falls back, head thunking against the wall, eyes gazing distantly at something up and away.
"I'm fine. It's nothing."
It's not terrifying.
It isn't.
…Naruto knew he shouldn't have left. Fear claws up his throat, and he hastily shoves it away.
Naruto leans forward, winces as their foreheads collide more sharply than he intended. "You're not. And it isn't. Fuck, teme, this isn't- I was gonna come back and make fun of you for not getting our team's first solo mission, but I can't even have fun with that when something clearly went wrong! And I wasn't here to help! So what-"
He bites at his lip, ignores the awkward feeling of Sasuke's breath on his face and the even more awkward memory of the last time they were this close together, and Shikamaru accidentally knocking them into each other and-
Nope.
Not going there.
But maybe Sasuke remembers it too, because he relaxes a little, almost laughs as his eyes finally light on Naruto's face and stay there.
"Watching Sakura try to murder you was priceless," Sasuke gloats, mocks, and wow he's such a jerk.
Naruto snorts. "Not getting out of this that easy teme, tell me what happened."
…it's definitely way too awkward. Naruto wants to back up, back away, but if he does, Sasuke's gonna close off and never answer him, and-
He's never-
Sasuke's never cried like that. Naruto's seen him a thousand shades of angry, hurt, even scared, regardless of whether Sasuke would admit it or not, but-
He's never cried like that.
Naruto can't let him go until he talks about it. He-
He feels like, if he lets go now, he's going to lose Sasuke forever.
If that means standing here forever, holding Sasuke's hands and pressing him against the wall, faces a bare inch apart, breathing each others' air-
Naruto will do it all day if he has to.
He's not letting go until it stops feeling like letting go means Sasuke vanishing.
He doesn't even know why it feels like that but-
He shifts, moves his head forward, cheeks sliding together until Naruto's own forehead thunks against the wall.
He catches sight of a bag, back down the street, where he originally tackled Sasuke.
…maybe it doesn't feel like that for no reason.
He clenches his eyes shut.
"I'm not letting you go. Not until you talk to me."
Fingers, blood-slicked, lacing together, as Naruto keeps Sasuke's hands pinned to the wall. As he talks into the wall. Sasuke's breath warm on his neck.
If he's trembling, then-
It's only because of bloodloss, or something.
Sasuke's the baby who cries on his teammates, so Naruto is totally shaking from bloodloss or something.
He doesn't let go.
Doesn't move.
Listens to Sasuke bite his lip.
Feels his teammate's grip go slack in his own.
Every little sound, as Sasuke's mouth opens and closes. It's gross, and Naruto makes a face (totally not fighting off a sniffle) but he waits.
This isn't how he wanted to come back home.
If he's trembling, it's just the bloodloss.
Sasuke's words are nearly inaudible, when they finally come.
"Itachi… attacked. Natsu and Kakashi-sensei… they were- He said- They're fine. They're fine, but he… I can't… I went to- but- I c-can't-"
Now they're both shaking, ̶b̶o̶t̶h̶ ̶c̶r̶y̶i̶n̶g̶,̶ and Naruto almost asks who Itachi is, before-
Well.
He may have forgotten that guy's stupid name, but he's not stupid. Context says…
Well.
Context says it's definitely a good thing he showed up now.
Naruto takes a deep breath, shoves aside his own fear and panic at the thought of Sasuke running away and leaving them-
And after they just fought so hard to get him back, too! What a jerk!
He doesn't-
He tries to see it from Sasuke's point of view. Tries to connect Itachi coming back and attacking, and the urge to run away.
Run where-?
Naruto can't even picture it. To his death, maybe? But-
Suicide isn't-
Sasuke wouldn't-
He tries to understand but-
Naruto's always known, for as long as he can remember, that he was different from other people.
He's never in his life felt so far away from them before.
Would someone else understand why Sasuke is-?
People- people are stronger, with their friends. They fight for their friends. It-
It was terrifying, knowing that he could lose control and hurt Sasuke and Natsu, is still terrifying knowing how thin that control is, how much of a struggle it was when Hinata-
Naruto didn't run away though.
He doesn't-
He can't call Sasuke a coward. It doesn't fit right in his mouth and he's pretty sure it's the absolute worst thing he could try to say and he doesn't want to make Sasuke run more-!
Naruto doesn't know what to say, though, and clearly he needs to say something, or Sasuke is just-
If he says the wrong thing, or nothing at all, if Sasuke's just going to run-!
And he doesn't even know what the right thing to say is-!
Well.
He knows one person who would know all about running away from things, right?
"Let's go talk to Tsunade-baa-san. She should be here by now, she wasn't that far behind!"
Naruto shifts his grip, holds one of Sasuke's hands as he frees up the other to scoop up his teammate's pack and proceeds to drag them back to the gate.
Baa-san can fix this.
Probably.
She's the scariest person he's ever met, so probably she can at least keep Sasuke from running anywhere long enough for him to think up a better idea, 'ttebayo!
Tsunade's barely made it two steps into the village proper and already people are pointing her out and saying her name.
She doesn't bother to mask the sigh of exhaustion. She's not putting on a mask for these people. Jiraiya groans out a plaintive hime but she ignores him.
If she's actually going to put up with all this bullshit, and put up with it sober at that, she sure as fuck isn't going to waste precious energy acting like she isn't annoyed to all hell by it.
Shizune's likely already run ahead and informed that stodgy council of sensei's that she's here, and they're all probably dolled up and waiting on her. So she immediately turns to the hospital.
Let them wait.
Jiraiya makes a half-hearted protest behind her as she marches to her destination, but he doesn't really try, and that's enough for her to know he doesn't think it's that serious.
Or it just means he feels so guilty for everything that he doesn't want to argue with her in earnest.
She'll take either one, really.
A lot's changed, in the village.
And a lot's stayed the same.
Her feet lead her true, right up to the front entrance of the general hospital.
The doors of the hospital crash open as a pink blur crashes into her with enough force to rock her back on her heels, and Tsunade raises an eyebrow as the genin lets out a yelp of surprise.
Undoubtedly the Natsu-Sakura of indeterminate gender that always had Jiraiya facepalming whenever Naruto's ramblings brought them up, with hair like that.
Not even that long of a trip, but the kid still managed to paint such a fascinating picture. If there's one thing she knows about Uzumaki Naruto, beyond his sheer bullheaded stubbornness, it's that he loves his team.
And here they are, delivering themselves into her arms one after the other, if she's reading the Hatake brat's chakra inside the hospital correctly.
Always easy to pick out of a crowd, Hatakes.
She should charge for this.
Tsunade crosses her arms, stares the genin down.
They scramble to their feet in a rush, glancing behind them, not even bothering to brush off the dirt before proceeding to hide behind her.
"Obaa-san save me I don't wanna play any more shogi!"
Another genin slouches their way out of the hospital, still sporting bandages. A Nara, or she's a guppy. Great. She's being dragged into genin drama.
She hits the kid behind her lightly, casually driving them into the ground.
"Do I look old to you, brat?"
"Absolutely!" They chirp shamelessly, and Tsunade plants a foot, digs them into the dirt a bit more firmly.
"I must have misheard you-"
"Yeah, your ears getting old too?"
A very careful application of chakra, and the stone cracks, sending the kid deeper into the ground without pulverizing their spine. "What was that, brat? You wanted extra shogi tutoring? I'm no pro, but I've won a round or two off Naras before, I'm sure I could teach you a trick or three-"
Flailing limbs as the brat tries to claw their way out from under her foot. "No, no, you're right, I'm sorry, you're definitely onee-san you're not old at all and your ears are sharp as a cat's-!"
She digs her heel in, just a little, just for fun, then steps away. "That's what I thought. Now, what's all this about causing a ruckus outside my hospital? No one ever teach you to respect places of healing, huh, brat?"
As Naruto's almost-certain teammate splutters out an answer in the midst of pulling themselves free of the street, Tsunade straightens, catches the sound of her name-
"Tsunade-baa-san, help, we've got a mess on our hands-!"
She turns, catches sight of them, Naruto, dragging along a kid who can only be the last teammate, Uchiha Sasuke, and-
Blood.