It can be hugs tiem, now?
from:questofdreams
from:green_bird_
from:erisabesu
Title: (You get to title this!)
Naruto dreams it every night.
The slant of rays touching the rippling surface of the lake at the edge of Fire Country’s border. The pattern of rock on the surrounding cliffs that shuts out everything but this most important of confrontations. And Sasuke.
All is fire and lightning, sulfur and ozone. Twin grimaces of effort and furious roars, pushing past all limits in a fight to prove once and for all that one is right and the other is wrong. The strain in Naruto’s arm as he stretches and draws the final line is nothing compared to the agony of claws ripping through his skin, a fist breaking into his chest and crushing the protective encasement of his heart.
Naruto wakes without the need to question what it means, or why the pain still lingers after all this time. For Sasuke’s message has always been clear:
“You are my best friend. Therefore you must die.”
--
Two and a half years of separation hasn't dulled the memory.
Naruto's chest remembers, even if his sight rejects the image in front of him, this paper-blank Sasuke staring down from the edge of a white sky. Sasuke moves with the delicacy of a whisper, though there is sharpness in those deep eyes to match the cut of his words.
Naruto's nerves are stretched taut - so close to him at last - but there is no fear, even at the deliberate scrape of a sword being drawn, and the declaration that it will all end here. He stands still, defiant, because he knows what the rest of them don't.
If Sasuke meant to kill him, his fingers wouldn't be curled so gently at the back of his neck, his arm wouldn't pull him so close, and his breath wouldn't be so moist and tender on the curve of his ear, despite the bite of his taunts. Naruto doesn't move a muscle when the blade rings free of its sheath and Sasuke angles for a critical stab, because this can't be how it ends.
All of Sasuke's most important messages are delivered with a fist through the chest.
The meaninglessness of this whim hurts more than the dreams, though Sasuke still disappears. Hot tears of separation come much more easily than before, and Naruto's chest burns with despair, even as his wounded heart beats louder and more desperate than ever before.
"You are my best friend. Therefore I can't die."
--
Sasuke is so close he can taste it.
Following Kiba's lead had been hard, but now that Sasuke's scent has spread in multiple directions Naruto knows he's the only one who can find him. Anticipation fuels his steps, his self divided into a hundred different pairs of arms and legs and eyes with which to latch onto his most precious person, all of him unified under a single cause.
It happens so suddenly. One moment there are only trees stretching in front of him, and in the next there are four shinobi set to intercept him, including the one who makes his heart stop each and every time.
There's only a split-second for shock before the jarring blow knocks him backward, the crackle of Chidori a welcome symphony in his ears as that familiar fist reclaims its territory within the confines of his ribs. It hurts; it hurts so good all he can think is "yes, yes" before all goes blank.
Three hundred meters away, Naruto receives the message loud and clear:
"You are my best friend. Therefore you can't stop me."
And mixed with the transmitted pain, there is hope.
--
It's been going on like this for more than a year.
Akatsuki is finished, and with it, Itachi. It should be safe - appropriate even - for Sasuke to come home, yet he's still running. And Naruto runs after him.
Each day it's the same. A glimpse of him in his black cloak, a lingering smear of his chakra, the illusion of his presence in a small village's only tea shop. The trail of clues is just enough to keep Naruto going, relentless, the gap neither widening nor growing smaller, no time to sit still or let roots take hold anywhere on the map they've covered with this break-neck chase.
Sasuke isn't the only one on the run. Naruto should have reported back to Konoha long ago, his leave of absence extended indefinitely in his mind regardless of what the Hokage agreed to on paper. But avoiding Kakashi's ANBU is nothing to one whose determination does not waver. Naruto will find him, and Sasuke will come home. End of story.
No matter the lean hardness of his body after months of little sleep and constant travel. No matter the icy pallor of Sasuke's complexion from the difficult, prolonged journey that has no escape. There is no peace allowed except in the companionship of recurring dreams.
High in the mountains, Naruto makes camp for the night when his fingers and toes are numb from the cold. The air inside the tent isn't any warmer, offering only a thin protection from wind and rain, and a hazy shield against the full moonlight.
Sleep comes slow, and with it a morphing of shadows on the canvas above him that looks just like Sasuke. Naruto watches it move through tired eyelashes, the opening of his tent parting enough for him to crawl through and hover over his legs wrapped tight in a worn blanket.
Sasuke looks down at him, thin, pale, and somehow beautiful despite.
"You're never going to stop following me, are you, Naruto."
Naruto chuckles. "No. I'm not."
"You'll only get hurt."
"I don't care."
"Then I have no choice," Sasuke says, and Naruto watches his blue electric light dance on the inside of the tent, hot wind caressing through black and blond hair with equal, sudden wrath.
Sasuke's left hand forces the air from Naruto's lungs, breaking past the layers of blanket and coat and smashing his heart against the rough edge of his spine. Naruto shudders from the excruciating pain, latching onto Sasuke's wrist and refusing to let go. He tries to speak but only coughs up blood and thicker things welling in his throat.
Sasuke's eyes never leave his, boring into his mind as the Chidori's electricity wanes and then stops. He pulls, but Naruto keeps his hand where it is, drenched to the elbow in his blood. Naruto struggles to breathe through the torture, blackness ever-closing behind his eyes, but he can't tear them away from Sasuke. One squeeze could finish him off, crushing his heart beyond what even the Kyuubi could heal, and he knows Sasuke knows this too - but it doesn't come.
Naruto reaches out to him, and Sasuke leans back out of range. So Naruto pushes himself up, choking on blood and bile and coughing it onto the both of them. He grabs Sasuke by the front of his shirt - it's the hardest thing he's ever tried to do - and Sasuke sneers, left hand still buried in Naruto's chest, fingers curled around the solid muscle beating erratically in his palm.
Naruto clears his throat, and the words finally come.
"You are my best friend. Therefore I will never give up."
Sasuke's trembling fingers tighten - Naruto's consciousness swirls - and then something lets go. A tear curls down over Sasuke's porcelain cheek.
It's the last thing Naruto sees before he passes out, and he smiles.
--
Ω
from:myrafur
from:red_rahl
Merry Christmas, Toffee. You are loved. ♥