Day 13
for
meemobunnySasunaru
Right before everything goes to hell.
Note: haha, yeah, I don't know how much canon you know, so I'm trying to keep it to nothing farther than a little after the chuunin exam. ^^ And XD;;;, I know you like fluff, but...yeah. :P
Naruto is everything.
Sasuke hates the thought of it, but it seems to be true. It is Naruto his brother wants, it is Naruto who defeated Gaara, and it is Naruto he would risk his life for. He'd already done it once, in the Land of Waves, even with the thought of Itachi in his mind. Sasuke did not understand why then. Maybe he does now, but he would never admit it.
He's not sure how Naruto managed to sneak into his life and become a constant, but Naruto has. That's the way Naruto is, though, and Sasuke has come to expect him even though he shouldn't, because Naruto does not, cannot, matter the way Itachi does.
Naruto stops by often enough and asks to train together. Sasuke always refuses at first, but sometimes, he lets Naruto persuade him. Training with Naruto is what he suspects training with a brother would be like (only Itachi was never just his brother). It's good training, even if Sasuke would never tell Naruto. What Naruto lacks in skill he makes up for in determination and stamina, and Sasuke can imagine them years from now, still on the same team, in missions together. But Sasuke doesn't do that often because it is dreadfully sentimental of him, and he cannot afford such sentimentality until Itachi is dead by his hands.
If Itachi is his fire, though, then Naruto is his sun. Naruto is perpetually bright and warm and inviting, and he's seen how Naruto draws other people to him and his ideas, melts down their barriers and hate and makes them his own. Sasuke's felt those effects in him, too, even though he has tried to keep Naruto away, because it is impossible to be impervious to Naruto. And sometimes, when Itachi is not the foremost thing in his mind, he almost doesn't mind it, because it is Naruto, and Sasuke can take that if it's Naruto.
But as much as he wants it, Sasuke cannot indulge. Itachi is still out there, and even though Sasuke has fallen into Naruto's orbit, he must move away if he wants to kill his brother. So he will, and Sasuke will hope that when it's over, there will still be a place left for him.