{fic} day by day
day by day
PG; naruto fandom
naruto/sasuke, don't you try to stop time, now
Sasuke spends most of his last days sleeping. There is really little difference to him between being awake and not being awake. (Except for the fact that he sees when he dreams. When he's awake, it's all black.)
"Three days," the Anbu tells him one morning (or afternoon or night).
Sasuke only nods, a quiet thanks.
Sakura visits later that day. "We missed you," she says, and Sasuke tries his best to look as if this matters to him. (It is surprisingly easy, he realizes, to fake emotions when your eyes are hidden.)
"I didn't think it would turn out this way," he tells her quietly (guiltily) as she is about to leave, stopping her at the door to his cell.
"Did you really?" she asks.
He sighs. "Never mind," he says.
She leaves.
("Goodbye.")
Naruto visits on the last full day. He talks about mundane things; how the flowers in the flower box outside his window died because he forgot to water them, how he accidentally dropped a full carton of eggs out the window while cooking one day. Sasuke--Sasuke can't help but feel himself start to smile. It burns brightly in the darkness, making up for the light that doesn't reflect off his eyes.
"I missed your smile," Naruto says eventually, earnestly.
"You never saw it before," Sasuke snorts.
(Knowing you will die in less than 24 hours is oddly uninhibiting, Sasuke realizes.)
"That doesn't mean I couldn't miss it anyways," Naruto protests.
"You're an idiot," Sasuke says. You can't miss what wasn't there in the first place, he (doesn't) add.
Naruto stands to leave; and pulls Sasuke up with him into a hug, one of those that only Naruto knows how to do.
"I'll see you tomorrow," he says (and it is such a lie in its own right). Sasuke nods, waves goodbye; goes to sleep.
For possibly the last time of his life.
Naruto can only watch as Sasuke -- his rival, friend -- stands there, tall and proud and (not) strong (at all). He watches Sasuke look around, staring bravely (stupidly) into his own personal darkness, ready to take on the world and more, ready for anything that could come his way. He takes a deep breath.
And then.
Nothing.
PG; naruto fandom
naruto/sasuke, don't you try to stop time, now
Sasuke spends most of his last days sleeping. There is really little difference to him between being awake and not being awake. (Except for the fact that he sees when he dreams. When he's awake, it's all black.)
"Three days," the Anbu tells him one morning (or afternoon or night).
Sasuke only nods, a quiet thanks.
Sakura visits later that day. "We missed you," she says, and Sasuke tries his best to look as if this matters to him. (It is surprisingly easy, he realizes, to fake emotions when your eyes are hidden.)
"I didn't think it would turn out this way," he tells her quietly (guiltily) as she is about to leave, stopping her at the door to his cell.
"Did you really?" she asks.
He sighs. "Never mind," he says.
She leaves.
("Goodbye.")
Naruto visits on the last full day. He talks about mundane things; how the flowers in the flower box outside his window died because he forgot to water them, how he accidentally dropped a full carton of eggs out the window while cooking one day. Sasuke--Sasuke can't help but feel himself start to smile. It burns brightly in the darkness, making up for the light that doesn't reflect off his eyes.
"I missed your smile," Naruto says eventually, earnestly.
"You never saw it before," Sasuke snorts.
(Knowing you will die in less than 24 hours is oddly uninhibiting, Sasuke realizes.)
"That doesn't mean I couldn't miss it anyways," Naruto protests.
"You're an idiot," Sasuke says. You can't miss what wasn't there in the first place, he (doesn't) add.
Naruto stands to leave; and pulls Sasuke up with him into a hug, one of those that only Naruto knows how to do.
"I'll see you tomorrow," he says (and it is such a lie in its own right). Sasuke nods, waves goodbye; goes to sleep.
For possibly the last time of his life.
Naruto can only watch as Sasuke -- his rival, friend -- stands there, tall and proud and (not) strong (at all). He watches Sasuke look around, staring bravely (stupidly) into his own personal darkness, ready to take on the world and more, ready for anything that could come his way. He takes a deep breath.
And then.
Nothing.