The Tower (1/1)
I’ve been feeling particularly existentialistic and nihilistic lately.
Anyway, one day, the "killing the dragon" line came to me, and I was like, dude, something has to be done with this, because it's my Naruto to an absolute T. It was going to be gen, but then Naruto had to go and wax poetic about Sasuke's eyes. *sigh* It's an indefinite AU from Sakura's pov, which Naruto ruined with his little soliloquy/pseudo confession. There's something about that idea I really love. Only it scares me how long I could probably let him go on. I blame filler.
For whatever reason, Sasuke’s hurt/in a coma/something to that effect. They're maybe around 16/17 or so. Apart from being an obvious AU, surprisingly, I've no backstory for this--weird. That fairy tale shtick came up again, though. I still have a couple more in me, drabbles that connect to longer stories, particularly with Sakura, but I'm seriously hoping I'll get it out of my system after that; it won't leave me alone.
eta: Shoot son, I just made the sleeping beauty connection. Subconscious, you really scare me sometimes.
Or maybe I'm just that slow.
In any case, please be warned for unadulterated sap, which, for the record, I did not write, but I'm going to let myself idealise the dynamics of these three just a little bit longer. jfc, who am I trying to kid? It's oocness galore.
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Characters: Naruto/Sasuke, Sakura
Rating: PG-13
Words: 1123
Summary: "It’s like killing the dragon in all those stories and shit, because that’s what the hero’s supposed to do, except this is real, you know."
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He takes Sasuke’s hand, squeezes once, twice-for the fifth time, Sakura counts-then a sixth right before the seventh, but Naruto doesn’t let go in the horribly long stretch of silence when Sasuke still doesn’t squeeze back.
Enclosing upon them blank walls of the room are overbearing, empty and stark like the blankets bleeding into the pallor of Sasuke’s far too pale skin, so she tucks her legs against her chest, hides beneath the itchy blanket and curls within herself further in the uncomfortable chair next to the bed.
The breeze from the window out of reach she can’t close breathes air warm a light touch on her neck that makes her shiver.
He snarls a little, gripping Sasuke’s hand tighter, dragging the chair with a harsh screech closer to the other side of the bed.
“But I can’t do anything,” he says, then his voice wavers, “I can’t...”
Lower and lower, it falls and falls, but she’s too afraid to wonder if it’ll ever stop.
“...and that hurts. Not being able to do anything, I-”
He looks away, stares at the blanket he refused lying forgotten on the floor. “The doctor said you still might be able to hear us,” he says, sends to her a shaky smile she doesn’t know how to return. “Right, Sakura?”
“Naruto...”
“Remember all those stories Jiraiya used to tell us?” he says, his voice reaching a little higher, “about those ninja from that village?”
She nods even though she really doesn’t, stiff underneath the blanket wrapped around her, because suddenly his voice doesn’t waver, sounds so very hopeful, and suddenly she doesn’t know what else to say.
But she’ll listen. She’ll close her eyes and pretend they’re eight again if only to selfishly cling to a wisp of a memory not so long away and far ago.
“Remember when we used to sneak out of the house when Itachi wasn’t looking and I dragged you guys to that playground with the crooked slide so we could practice being ninja cause none of the other kids liked to go there.
“And I’d say I wanted to grow up to be the brave, gutsy ninja everybody’d have to acknowledge. Like the one in Jiraiya’s stories. Because then I thought I could be a real hero. Even when you guys laughed at me for all the ninja stuff I couldn’t do, I still believed I was going to be that kind of person. No matter how many times everybody kept telling us ninja weren’t real, I used to think we still could be.
“I used to believe one day we’d save the world.”
He scoffs then laughs, and she opens her eyes she wipes with the blanket that makes them itch to see him absently running his thumb over the back of Sasuke’s hand.
“But this, Sasuke...I can’t...”
After he sniffs, he sighs, licks his lips and drops his head, pressing against smooth sheets the knuckles of his hand still holding Sasuke’s.
“It’s like killing the dragon in all those stories and shit, because that’s what the hero’s supposed to do, except this is real, you know.
“But they don’t talk about this part. The waiting. The not knowing. The stuff nobody wants to read about it.
“In my mind it’s like...it’s like you’re all the way up there while I’m all the way down there. I guess...I guess I know it’s always been like that. You’ve never been fair with stuff like that, and you’re still an asshole for even thinking that one time you could just leave me and Sakura behind. So yeah, maybe sitting here while you’re lying there isn’t so different from before, but for all those times you didn’t think anybody could save you, we never stopped trying.
“All those times you said we couldn’t, even though every time we found a way, but now I don’t know how to reach you all the way up there.
“I can’t follow you this time.”
Tighter and tighter, her fingers clutch the blanket a veil over her arms holding her knees against her chest.
“You’d never let me live it down if I tried to say this before, but I, uh...I ever tell you how much I like your eyes? Because, um... wow, that sounded really bad, didn’t it? I think-I think Sakura’s already laughing at me.”
The smile he gives her dwindles until it’s no longer dim, but she shakes her head, breathes and tries to clear her vision suddenly so blurry.
“Well, I do,” he says. “Like your eyes, that is. Even when you’re mad at me-like that time I told you I thought your cheeks were too big for your face and you didn’t talk to me that whole week-but as long as you’re looking at me. If I can get you to look at me, so I’ll know everything’s going to be okay, and you’re just trying really hard not to laugh at me and call me a loser for promising to wait all the way down here for you, because I...
“Damn it, I don’t know even what I’m trying to say. I just...”
She watches him squeeze Sasuke’s hand again. Once and twice and three more times but he still doesn’t let go.
“I don’t know, but maybe, if you really can hear me, we’re here, all right. Sakura’s here. I’m here. Just in case you try to jump or something stupid like that. Cause you’re the stubborn kind of guy who likes to do things on your own. So if you do try, I’m going to catch you because even if I can’t reach you, I can still make sure you don’t fall.
“But if you could throw me a rope or something. I’m not saying you have to open your eyes yet. Not now. But if you could just-if you could give me something so I’d know how to find a way to reach you and bring you down. And then the next time you feel like going, let’s climb up there together, okay. And that way you won’t have to be-”
“Naruto,” she says, her voice a whisper pitched far too high. She wipes again at her cheeks and carefully unfolds herself from the chair. The itchy blanket falls to the floor, lies quiet and forgotten, and she leans closer towards the bed, presses together lips that slowly begin to part. “...Naruto, look-look.”
So he looks and he swallows, chokes on a noise as eyes dark and bleary wander from eyes green to blue.
“Okay, yeah,” he says, smiles at her because she’s still smiling at him when the hand he’s holding finally squeezes back, “something just like that.”