The Curser [FIC]
The Curser
Author: Ladelle
Rating: M - One Shot
Pairing: Naru - Sasu
Genre: Dystopian Drama, Mystery, Horror
Summary: Sasuke gave up his sanity; Naruto wants to keep it.
The city was a shimmering stain against a silk sky; a mess of colors smeared into an inky oblivion. There was a meteor shower on this particular night and so velvety black clouds occasionally bled stars. They fell in curling rivulets and caught light in blinding flickers.
The edges of Sasuke’s vision blurred and he rubbed at his eyes. A headache pounded in his temples. Exhaustion was why he had told his commander he needed to leave early. He couldn’t admit to the truth. He was experiencing another one of his feelings and was possessed.
“Damn it,” he muttered. He pulled the flesh of his wrist free from the confines of his coal-colored rawhide jacket and stared at the wristband that adorned it. It was an intricate piece of technology, even for how old it was. After squeezing the sides of its pearly surface, a hologram spilled upwards.
Sasuke cursed. “I can’t believe he’s here.”
The outskirts weren’t safe. They were the slums, the debris-fields, the landfills where old technology and thieves came together, uniting in the fact that they were the forgotten parts of a greater society. It was drab and dark. The glow of the city didn’t stretch this far. The twinkling stars were like broken nightlights. The ground was swallowed by a crawling, roving fog. Even so, things writhed against it. Lanterns lit a pathway, and Sasuke’s gut ushered him to follow them.
“I don’t want to kill anyone tonight,” Sasuke’s fingers found the photon-blazer strapped to his hip, his only weapon as an inner-city police officer. The silicon exterior was smooth against his fingers. It tempted him, along with the aching sensation in his mind.
He’s here.
Sasuke started forward.
“Don’t hide from me…” Sasuke found himself whispering. There was movement from beside him. Metals snapped and groaned. He knew he wasn’t alone.
He’s getting closer.
Sasuke could feel it so strongly that his entire body thrummed with anticipation. He unlatched his blazer and held it tight in his grasp, forefinger ready to pull the trigger.
Any minute now…
Crows exploded into the air as a hover engine revved. Sasuke found himself crouching, protecting his eyes from the sudden storm of molting feathers and talons with his forearm. The birds swarmed and smelled of old oils and soot. He thrust his arm out to shoo a persistent crow away, but a hand caught his wrist.
“Kind of dangerous for a cop to be out here, eh?”
Startled, Sasuke’s head snapped up. Him.
“Naruto.”
Sasuke stared at the man as though he were a shadow puppet, nothing but a rigid black outline against the buttery yellow lantern behind him. There was a moment when the man’s eyes glistened and Sasuke caught the sheen of a forgotten shade of blue. Sasuke snatched his hand backwards and jumped to his feet, the anticipation he had felt earlier dissipating into fear.
“Whatever you did to me, undo it,” Sasuke demanded. He aimed his gun at the criminal, and was rewarded with a perfect set of white teeth that grinned at him as though they were merely floating midair.
The shadow turned slightly, and suddenly became human. Lantern light painted his skin gold and hair ochre, and sketched the sloping curves of muscle with ease. Naruto’s chest was bare but his stomach was decorated with symbols that haunted Sasuke’s waking dreams.
“It’s unlike you to beg, Sasuke,” Naruto’s tone was playful as he tilted his head to the side.
“I’m not begging,” Sasuke tried to hide his desperation. He wasn’t sure if he succeeded. “I’m not here to arrest you, but I will kill you if you don’t take this shit out of my head.”
Naruto took a few strides to the side and became a shadow once again. “Do you remember when we first met?”
“I keep trying to forget,” Sasuke followed Naruto’s pacing figure with the weapon in his hand. His breathing was calm and controlled. His thoughts, however, were scrambling.
“I told you what you wanted didn’t come easy,” Naruto stated seriously. “You were so full of rage because that other one got away. He tried kill your brother, didn’t he? Heh, you were a mess. Not used to losing. And then I came along. Did you really think I’d use my technology to bring Itachi back and not ask for anything in return?”
“I was upset and shouldn’t have asked you to do what you did,” Sasuke interrupted. He remembered his fury taking the form of a pitch black stallion that night, the reigns out of his reach. After finding his brother like a sprig of pale pollen in a lotus of his own blood, he had been willing to do anything to bring him back.
Even trade his sanity.
“It’s not about that,” Naruto said, stepping closer. Sasuke tried to hide his shaking hand and the wobbling gun it was clutching. “You’re the perfect fit. The only person who knows every single detail of each and every crime; who knows the face of every known criminal in the metropolis. All thanks to me.”
“I didn’t want this,” Sasuke lowered his gun as Naruto pushed his arm down and gave him a gentle stare. “I won’t do it. I won’t kill them-“
“Sasuke. You’ll always come back to me,” Naruto smiled. “And in the end, when you’ve killed all the ones I’ve uploaded into your consciousness, I’ll let you have me, too.”
Naruto pulled Sasuke into a simple embrace and Sasuke’s eyes drifted to the sky. He followed the curling wisp of a falling star until it disappeared beyond the horizon, and prayed to disappear himself.
Author: Ladelle
Rating: M - One Shot
Pairing: Naru - Sasu
Genre: Dystopian Drama, Mystery, Horror
Summary: Sasuke gave up his sanity; Naruto wants to keep it.
The city was a shimmering stain against a silk sky; a mess of colors smeared into an inky oblivion. There was a meteor shower on this particular night and so velvety black clouds occasionally bled stars. They fell in curling rivulets and caught light in blinding flickers.
The edges of Sasuke’s vision blurred and he rubbed at his eyes. A headache pounded in his temples. Exhaustion was why he had told his commander he needed to leave early. He couldn’t admit to the truth. He was experiencing another one of his feelings and was possessed.
“Damn it,” he muttered. He pulled the flesh of his wrist free from the confines of his coal-colored rawhide jacket and stared at the wristband that adorned it. It was an intricate piece of technology, even for how old it was. After squeezing the sides of its pearly surface, a hologram spilled upwards.
Sasuke cursed. “I can’t believe he’s here.”
The outskirts weren’t safe. They were the slums, the debris-fields, the landfills where old technology and thieves came together, uniting in the fact that they were the forgotten parts of a greater society. It was drab and dark. The glow of the city didn’t stretch this far. The twinkling stars were like broken nightlights. The ground was swallowed by a crawling, roving fog. Even so, things writhed against it. Lanterns lit a pathway, and Sasuke’s gut ushered him to follow them.
“I don’t want to kill anyone tonight,” Sasuke’s fingers found the photon-blazer strapped to his hip, his only weapon as an inner-city police officer. The silicon exterior was smooth against his fingers. It tempted him, along with the aching sensation in his mind.
He’s here.
Sasuke started forward.
“Don’t hide from me…” Sasuke found himself whispering. There was movement from beside him. Metals snapped and groaned. He knew he wasn’t alone.
He’s getting closer.
Sasuke could feel it so strongly that his entire body thrummed with anticipation. He unlatched his blazer and held it tight in his grasp, forefinger ready to pull the trigger.
Any minute now…
Crows exploded into the air as a hover engine revved. Sasuke found himself crouching, protecting his eyes from the sudden storm of molting feathers and talons with his forearm. The birds swarmed and smelled of old oils and soot. He thrust his arm out to shoo a persistent crow away, but a hand caught his wrist.
“Kind of dangerous for a cop to be out here, eh?”
Startled, Sasuke’s head snapped up. Him.
“Naruto.”
Sasuke stared at the man as though he were a shadow puppet, nothing but a rigid black outline against the buttery yellow lantern behind him. There was a moment when the man’s eyes glistened and Sasuke caught the sheen of a forgotten shade of blue. Sasuke snatched his hand backwards and jumped to his feet, the anticipation he had felt earlier dissipating into fear.
“Whatever you did to me, undo it,” Sasuke demanded. He aimed his gun at the criminal, and was rewarded with a perfect set of white teeth that grinned at him as though they were merely floating midair.
The shadow turned slightly, and suddenly became human. Lantern light painted his skin gold and hair ochre, and sketched the sloping curves of muscle with ease. Naruto’s chest was bare but his stomach was decorated with symbols that haunted Sasuke’s waking dreams.
“It’s unlike you to beg, Sasuke,” Naruto’s tone was playful as he tilted his head to the side.
“I’m not begging,” Sasuke tried to hide his desperation. He wasn’t sure if he succeeded. “I’m not here to arrest you, but I will kill you if you don’t take this shit out of my head.”
Naruto took a few strides to the side and became a shadow once again. “Do you remember when we first met?”
“I keep trying to forget,” Sasuke followed Naruto’s pacing figure with the weapon in his hand. His breathing was calm and controlled. His thoughts, however, were scrambling.
“I told you what you wanted didn’t come easy,” Naruto stated seriously. “You were so full of rage because that other one got away. He tried kill your brother, didn’t he? Heh, you were a mess. Not used to losing. And then I came along. Did you really think I’d use my technology to bring Itachi back and not ask for anything in return?”
“I was upset and shouldn’t have asked you to do what you did,” Sasuke interrupted. He remembered his fury taking the form of a pitch black stallion that night, the reigns out of his reach. After finding his brother like a sprig of pale pollen in a lotus of his own blood, he had been willing to do anything to bring him back.
Even trade his sanity.
“It’s not about that,” Naruto said, stepping closer. Sasuke tried to hide his shaking hand and the wobbling gun it was clutching. “You’re the perfect fit. The only person who knows every single detail of each and every crime; who knows the face of every known criminal in the metropolis. All thanks to me.”
“I didn’t want this,” Sasuke lowered his gun as Naruto pushed his arm down and gave him a gentle stare. “I won’t do it. I won’t kill them-“
“Sasuke. You’ll always come back to me,” Naruto smiled. “And in the end, when you’ve killed all the ones I’ve uploaded into your consciousness, I’ll let you have me, too.”
Naruto pulled Sasuke into a simple embrace and Sasuke’s eyes drifted to the sky. He followed the curling wisp of a falling star until it disappeared beyond the horizon, and prayed to disappear himself.