For: insteadofdeath
For: insteadofdeath
Title: The Glint of Light on Broken Glass
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Sometimes things really aren't as complicated as people think.
Warnings: None.
A/N: I hope this fulfilled the prompts you chose. I enjoyed working on it even though it did change quite a lot from the original plan I had for it! Thank you for the lovely ideas your prompt produced and I hope you enjoy this : )
Mod note: Reminder for the author/artist of this submission, please do not reply to comments signed in, if you want to reply anon commenting is enabled.
"He's been out of Interrogation for a month. There were two teams assigned to watch over him. He's being kept under house arrest and... At the moment people are still too angry. It's for his protection as much as the village's. I-I was placed in one of the teams because of the condition he's in and also because I kn-used to be closer to him. We were instructed not to say anything but... I know how worried you've been. I've spoken to Tsunade about letting you in on this and I went through a lot of trouble for her to okay this Naruto. Please don't do something stupid. There's a reason why I'm telling you now. I could've held on and not told you but... this is important. He's not... he's not well Naruto and he's not helping himself. I know after everything else this isn't something I should be asking of you again-but if you could talk to him. Don't mess this up with Tsunade."
~
Naruto waited outside. He'd stopped jumping every passerby after the first ten times had gotten him nowhere.
Tsunade was still in a meeting.
Bullshit.
Naruto had been on the verge of kicking the door in several times and just kicking the snotty bastards in there out so that he could speak to Tsunade. Unfortunately for him, that wouldn't do him any good. She'd probably just order him out until he calmed down. She'd realised that tactic just frustrated the hell out of him so she tended to do it whenever Naruto stepped out of line.
So Naruto waited. He'd sat himself down on the floor right outside the Hokage's door, his back against the wall, wrists balanced on his knees and his head knocking against the wall every so often. He had mission room duty and he'd managed to get out of it by swapping with Kiba-and now owed him lunch and dinner-and Iruka was going to kill him for doing it but Naruto hadn't been able to just let this go after he'd been woken up by Sakura at five in the morning, looking as if she'd killed someone.
'Naruto... we need to talk.'
What had followed had left him staring at her in stunned silence before he'd finally stood up, running to get dressed and then heading straight for Kiba's place. He hadn't been able to say anything to Sakura right then. The anger and small traces of hurt he'd felt at being kept in the dark had made him want to look away from her face. But a more pressing need to know and see had also pushed him to leave in that rush.
Naruto sighed and let his head fall forward, leaning it against the hands over his knees as he went over the conversation again. Sakura had looked guilty and defensive at the same time. Naruto wasn't sure what had shocked him most. That one of his closest friends had been lying to him for a month-or that proof that Sasuke was actually still alive had been given.
Lifting his head again, Naruto tipped his head back and focused on a small crack that ran from the wall to the ceiling.
It had been a year since all hell had broken loose at the meeting of the five Kage's. Until now Naruto still didn't understand how they'd managed to escape an all out war. It had been such a close call. They'd been on the fringes of it and about to tip over. But they hadn't.
Sasuke had killed Danzou and on that same day the one who had identified himself as Uchiha Madara had disappeared. Without a Hokage Konoha had come close to being overtaken at what other countries had perceived as a time of weakness. The Council's decision to rectify their mistake-too late to do much good-had been swift and Kakashi had been named Hokage-not that he was very interested in the position as he proved by giving it up the moment Tsunade had finally surfaced from her coma. That had provided them with a brief moment of leverage. The Copy Ninja as their Hokage had held an interesting fear factor which had provided them with an unexpected leverage.
In the end nothing had happened as Naruto had expected it to. He'd managed to track down Sasuke in the middle of all the mess; had found him slumped against a rock, that team of his surrounding him like they actually cared.
Naruto rubbed at his temple. He supposed they had.
Danzou had been lying all the way across the wreckage, a katana protruding from the hollow of his throat. The long blade had glinted under the cold sun. The snow had made the scene eerie with its perfect innocent white. There'd already been a thin layer of it on Danzou's body.
Even from where Naruto had stood he'd seen the way his open eyes stare at the sky.
He'd only turned to look back at Sasuke when he'd heard the girl's worried cry. Sasuke had fallen to his knees. He'd coughed out blood, splattering it on the snow. There had been blood running down his cheeks, some of it had already dried and caked at the edge of his eyes and his body had been trembling as his team members urged to him to get up, telling him that they had to leave.
It had been the word 'leave' that had made Naruto snap out of his shock. He'd stepped forward, foot sinking into the snow, ready to pry his way through the three people around Sasuke when a hand on his shoulder jerked him back. Kakashi had told him he was needed in Konoha and that Yamato was waiting to take him back.
Naruto hadn't wanted to. Sasuke had been just a few steps away from him.
"Naruto. You aren't needed here. I'll take care of Sasuke."
"But Kakashi-sen-"
"Trust me Naruto."
Naruto could remember so clearly that feeling of frustration, rolled into something harder to ignore as he looked at Sasuke again. The opportunity he'd been looking for so long right in front of him. His fingers scratched their way down his trousers with the need to wrap themselves around-dig themselves into-any part of Sasuke he could reach and drag him home with him.
But he'd forced himself to relax. He'd forced himself to look away from the blank gaze that had lifted to meet his.
"Fine."
Since then Naruto hadn't known what had happened to Sasuke.
And now he found out.
A year in interrogation. A year.
Naruto screwed his eyes shut, attempting to forget all the rumours that circled the interrogation unit. They were well known for how ruthless they were. They made no allowances for anyone under their jurisdiction.
He remembered Sasuke's bloodied face and trembling body and Naruto tried not to think about what had been done to Sasuke while he'd been in that state.
Naruto hadn't realised that the door to Tsunade's office had opened until he opened his eyes and found that there were two feet in his line of vision with bright red painted onto the toe nails. He hadn't even heard the people from the meeting leave.
He heard a sigh and followed the legs up to look up at Tsunade. Her arms were crossed under her breasts-he'd once had the stupid sense to make a comment as to why she couldn't cross them over-and she had a resigned expression on her face.
"How did I know you'd be waiting outside my door?"
Naruto didn't reply. He looked back down, not knowing what to say to that. Of course she knew he'd be here. Half of the village would've predicted it if they'd known what was happening.
"What are you waiting for then? Get off the floor and get in here."
~
"You weren't told for a reason."
Naruto was staring out the wide window that circled Tsunade's office, eyes tracing the bird as it dipped into a semi-circle before gaining height to follow the ones ahead of it.
"Sasuke needed rest and you needed time away from Sasuke. It was beginning to feel like too much obsession and we couldn't have your loyalties divided."
Only a brief downward twitch of the edges of Naruto's eyebrows told of the way that last comment had hit its bull's eyes. His fingers rubbed down the wooden arms of the chair, pressing hard enough on their way down that he felt the pads of his fingers heat.
"But..." even if that had been the case-even if she'd been right-they should've told him. He should've known, "You let me think-"
"And it worked. Don't question my decisions." The sharpness of her voice persuaded Naruto to look away from the window and at her instead. The look she had pinned on him was firm. "Not when my decisions lead to Konoha's well being. To your well being. And to Sasuke's."
Naruto shook his head briefly before letting it fall forward, eyes shutting. "Is he... is he okay? The interrogation quarters... I've heard," his teeth tugged at the inside of his lip for a second and then released when he looked at Tsunade again, "And Sasuke... he wasn't well when... when I left."
This time, Tsunade sighed. She leaned back in her chair and pushed her hair back from her face, the gesture telling him that this wasn't going to be a good thing. When Tsunade did that it was a tell-tale sign that something was frustrating her.
"He isn't."
Naruto felt his heart beat hard enough that it felt to him like his chest shook with the force of it. He sat up, not even aware of leaning forward as something nameless made his mouth dry. His hands pressed hard against the un-giving wood of the chair. "Why?" It was the only word that his mind managed to supply him with as images of that day came back to him. The red splashed over the blaring snow; Sasuke's team-mates helping him up and his hard gaze rimmed in red disappearing from Naruto's sight as Kakashi's back blocked the view.
Her elbows still resting on the chair arms, Tsunade linked her fingers together. "His eyes took quite a lot of damage. The full extent of the damage is still unknown but it's bad enough that permanent sight loss is being taken into consideration as a final stage of this condition."
Naruto felt his eyes widen and for a moment all he could do was stare at Tsunade. Sasuke? Blind? He leaned forward even more, his words carried by urgency when he next spoke. "Can't you do something? Can't you fix them?"
Tsunade's glare made Naruto ease back a little in his seat. "If I were able to heal it completely myself, I would've already done it don't you think? As it stands, we did the best he could. His eye sight is minimal but we're hoping that as he heals from the treatment, it will gradually get better. It doesn't help that his chakra has been sealed off."
Naruto had expected that but hearing it made cold prickle at his nape. "You sealed all of it?" He asked his voice quiet.
Tsunade nodded. "Sasuke is still viewed as a security risk at the moment. Unfortunately this means that instead of helping the healing, his chakra is split between attempting to press out the seal restricting it and aiding the mending of his eyes."
"It's why you wanted Sakura in one of the teams."
Tsunade inclined her head to the side in affirmation. "We need a skilled medic keeping an eye on him. And," her tone changed, irritation coming through clearly, "that little shit isn't eating which isn't helping his situation."
Naruto resisted the urge to hit his head on the table. Why was Sasuke always so difficult? "But other than that... he's okay?"
Tsunade nodded. "Yes."
Naruto took a deep breath and asked the question he knew Tsunade had been waiting for from the beginning.
"Can I see him?"
~
Sasuke was thin.
He was also ignoring him.
He sat at the kitchen table with his back to Naruto. All that Naruto could see of him was a small glimpse of the skin of his nape and the black hair sticking up like it had always done.
There were ANBU surrounding the place and multiple barriers to prevent people from leaving had been erected once Naruto had gone through and gotten inside the house.
The small apartment had been built on the inside of the mountain, further up from the safety tunnels built for emergency evacuation of the village. The only thing that ruined it was the claustrophobic feel of the place. Naruto had had a long climb up, needing the two ANBU accompanying him to clear every team of two that he'd encountered on his way up. There had been at least eight; squeezed into the tight space of the passageway with only the torches placed higher up on the walls to light the way. Still there had been lapses of darkness between each one.
When Naruto had finally reached the top, he'd been surprised to see the light inside the place.
It didn't change the fact that it had no windows and was more of a comfortable cage.
There had been no ANBU guards inside and neither had the accompanying two entered the apartment with him.
"You're not going to talk to me?"
Sasuke didn't move. He stayed still in the chair which he sat in.
Naruto wondered if it was because his sight was still so bad that he just wouldn't be able to see. Or maybe he was just being Sasuke and ignoring him.
Naruto ran his eyes over the bare decorations of the kitchen. There was a small square table just big enough to fit one person but there were two chairs. There was a fruit bowl on top of that but it only had two pears left in it. A stove, a small fridge and a plate, fork and knife set on the counter, the dry shine they had telling Naruto that they hadn't been used. One cup. One pan. There was a clear plastic container with a meal inside but it sat next to the unused cutlery unopened. And that was it.
"I didn't know they'd kept you in interrogation so long." Was it him or had Sasuke straightened his back a little bit more. "They just... I didn't know." If he'd known he would've done something. But Naruto didn't say it. There was no point when he was talking to Sasuke's back. He probably didn't want to know anyway.
Naruto looked away from him, hands fisting and un-fisting at his sides. He didn't know what to do with himself. The atmosphere felt so dead. It made Naruto feel like his stomach had been hollowed out, making him queasy.
"I'm... I'm glad you're okay..." he murmured, though by now he wasn't sure why he bothered.
What had he thought would happen when he'd asked if he could come to see Sasuke? Nothing had gone as he expected until now so why would this be any different?
His eyes flicked back to the container.
Sasuke's shoulders were thin beneath the plain white t-shirt he wore.
"You should eat something."
That was the last thing Naruto said before he turned around and began making his way to the front door. The place was like a tight air container, stuffing the air down his throat but making it feel dry and clinging.
He didn't see the small movement of Sasuke's head or the hint of a look thrown over one of those thin shoulders.
Naruto was too busy thinking about how he'd convince Tsunade to let him come again.
Sasuke wasn't eating.
Maybe Sasuke wasn't eating because the food was already made once it reached him.
After an entire year in interrogation even Naruto would know better than to touch ready-made food.
As the ANBU opened the door after Naruto's three knocks from the inside, Naruto stepped out..
The unresolved tension from having been so near Sasuke but receiving nothing-not a look, not a word, not even a movement-buzzed under his skin and Naruto knew he'd definitely convince Tsunade.
If only to get Sasuke to look at him the next time.
~
Tsunade said no.
What was the point of having him keep his distance to ease his 'obsession' if he fell right back into it again?
Naruto had argued until she'd gotten fed up of arguing back and had him forcefully removed from her office.
As he'd shoved away one flimsy guard-they really needed to train those ANBU twinkies better-he told her to get Sakura to just take over some ingredients. Sasuke didn't trust the food.
He heard her shout back 'fine' as the door was slammed shut behind him.
~
Because Tsunade had said no didn't mean Naruto couldn't lie and convince the ANBU that he was allowed in to see Sasuke. It helped that some of the ANBU guarding it were of the newer teams. It didn't make them any less skilled but it did make them more susceptible to Naruto's persuasion skills, ie. They were not immune to his loud voice talking a mile a minute. The entire village knowing that the Hokage had a soft spot for him had also given him an extra bit of leverage. Either way Naruto always wore them out one way or another.
The lights in the living room were off as the front door was closed behind him.
He felt a sudden weight descend on his head, as if something invisible were putting pressure on it. The ANBU had replaced the barriers outside.
There was a light on in the kitchen and that's what Naruto followed. He could hear the rush of water and wasn't quite sure why that surprised him but he followed the sound to the only lit room. Sasuke was in the kitchen again.
This time when Naruto walked in he still had his back to Naruto but he was standing at the sink.
Naruto stopped in the doorway, watching as Sasuke's right arm moved rhythmically while his left kept completely still.
It was the little bit of red that caught Naruto's eye and had him walking into the room in quick hurried steps.
There wasn't too much of it but there were spots of red dotting the white counter where a knife was discarded and the vegetables were still in a see-through carrier bag. A small bag of rice had tipped over, spilling its milky grains over the counter and some onto the floor. A small pan was over the stove and by the subtle scent Naruto realised it was rice.
"What happened?" Forehead creasing Naruto ignored the uncertainty he'd felt when he'd arrived. He hadn't known how he was going to try approaching Sasuke again but that was now the furthest thing on his mind as he moved to stand next to Sasuke.
The impact was unexpected.
He'd seen Sasuke so many times-true that he'd hardly seen him at all since that final battle-but it shouldn't have affected him like it did.
The hand under the running water was the same hand that had come close to tearing the skin from Naruto's face as it had sparked and chirped with a chidori. Naruto's eyes remained locked on that hand, his heart beating faster. He thought he could hear the beat of it in his head. It made him feel like the blood was pulsing in his ears.
Sasuke's face was tipped down but his bangs weren't covering his face when Naruto finally convinced himself to look up at him.
There were circles under his eyes. They were a shade of pale green that looked like it'd been dusted over the pale skin. Paler than Naruto remembered. Naruto wasn't sure if it had just been too long since he'd seen Sasuke and his memory was just faulty, or if it was down to the lack of proper nutrition.
They were shoulder to shoulder but Sasuke still had an inch on him. Naruto couldn't find it in him to mind.
"Did you cut yourself?"
Sasuke stopped rubbing his right hand over his left and reached to close the tap. He still hadn't turned to look at Naruto. He acted like Naruto wasn't even a presence in the room.
Until he turned around and stepped in the direction of the counter and his shoulder bumped Naruto's.
It was an unexpected contact but there was no obvious reaction from Sasuke He had too much control for that. But it was the way Sasuke stilled, the slight flare to his nostrils. And then his head was turning and Naruto found black eyes on his face.
Sasuke was looking at him.
Not from a distance. Not a final look as he turned away from him again.
But there was something not quite right.
His eyes lacked a focus that they'd contained even in a blank stare.
Naruto's mouth wavered between staying neutral and showing the remorse he felt. Without thinking his hand lifted. He hadn't known why but he'd meant to brush the tips over the corner of Sasuke's eyes. But before he'd even gotten close to his goal long fingers locked around his wrist; squeezing hard enough and fast enough that his wrist numbed within a matter of seconds.
During those few seconds, Naruto realised that he'd been right and those eyes couldn't see much of his face.
He tugged his hand out of Sasuke's grip and didn’t try to stop him when Sasuke side stepped this time and walked around him.
"Idiot," Naruto murmured, "You should've said, I would've helped you with the food." Naruto didn't expect an answer. That was good because he didn't receive one.
When he turned back to Sasuke, there was a small kitchen cloth wrapped around his hand and the knife was back on his other as he reached for the bag once more. His eyes were squinting and Naruto watched his face.
This time it was Naruto that reached over and stilled Sasuke's hand with his. Ignoring the look thrown his way he pried the knife from Sasuke's hand and reached for the vegetables. "It's okay as long as it gets made in front of you right?"
~
The first time Sasuke spoke to Naruto happened three weeks after Naruto began to visit Sasuke. He went whenever he was free and although Sasuke never asked him to, he would cook. He wasn't that great a cook but Sasuke hadn't even been bothered to tell him the food was shit. He ate it then he left, retiring to the small sleeping area that was closed off from the living room by a single partition. The bedroom was just a bed roll and a night lamp.
Naruto had taken to rambling about day to day things. If Sasuke was going to ignore him it didn't mean that he had to be forced to listen to silence every time. Never mind that Sasuke hadn't asked him to be there.
Naruto was in the kitchen, entertaining himself by peeling potatoes without breaking their skin and making the it slide off to settle into a spring shape, when Sasuke walked in. His steps were sure of where they took him and not for the first time Naruto wondered if Sasuke had bumped into him that day simply because Naruto was just an extra in a place that Sasuke had already mapped out in his head.
He stared at Sasuke.
He noticed he'd been doing that often but the realisation didn't make Naruto stop. He did it because he liked to see the change. The way the shadows under Sasuke's eyes began to fade, the way the bones of his collarbone didn't stand out quite as much. It was because of that that Naruto had found out that the seal was located over Sasuke's right hip.
Naruto had only glimpsed it earlier that morning when Sasuke had been walking out from behind the partition, tugging a t-shirt on and Naruto had seen it, peeking from under the waist band of his trousers. The seal had looked an inky black, no bigger than the size of a palm as it branded the white skin.
Naruto found had stared at that particular place and wondered if he'd be able to feel the rise of the seal with his fingers if he were to run them over the skin there.
"What are you staring at?"
Naruto's skin went up in goose bumps at the deep, irritated voice. It was if for the seconds that his ears clung to voice already gone he was rooted to the spot, eyes still transfixed to that spot on Sasuke's hip.
The t-shirt fell into place and Naruto looked up. Something felt like it was swelling on his chest when he caught sight of the almost sneer on Sasuke's face and Naruto shook his head slowly. He could still feel the affect of Sasuke's voice on his skin.
"No. Nothing."
Naruto was certain that Sasuke's voice had never affected him like that before.
~
"What is it?" Sasuke asked.
He was frowning down at the bag that Naruto had gone through great pains to get approved to bring in to Sasuke. The fact that Sasuke was staring down at the bag as if it he were handing him poisoned senbon just pissed him off.
Grabbing Sasuke's hand he pressed the handle of the bag to his palm and stepped back, hating the heat that was rising up on his cheeks. He looked away. "Sakura told me your eyes have been getting better and stuff but you still find it hard right?"
"So?"
Naruto rolled his eyes at that answer. "Just look inside." And having said that, he made his way to the kitchen. He'd arrived late that day and he hadn't left anything prepared the night before.
He'd slipped into the habit of leaving some food ready for the next day whenever he stayed over.
Both of them preferred to pretend it wasn't happening as often as it was.
At least Tsunade was being lenient enough to let him.
As Naruto began to wash his hands, he heard the sound of the glasses case being opened-heard the second snap that meant it had been closed again
He wondered if Sasuke would use them.
~
When Naruto got back from a week long mission he was cranky. He hadn't slept for three days and his back ached like a bitch from when he'd been thrown by an explosion after a careless idiot on his team had set an explosive tag off.
He'd headed for home straight away except when he finally stopped he found himself standing outside the hidden door leading to Sasuke's hide out.
After staring at the door for a while-more from exhaustion than actual thought-Naruto let himself through. The ANBU knew him well by then and nodded hello, standing aside to let him pass. It helped that by then Tsunade had already given him her okay and he didn't have to keep talking their ears off every time he wanted to get inside.
When he reached the apartment, he was unprepared for what he found.
He forgot about the tired bones and stinging injuries in that moment and simply stared down at Sasuke who had fallen asleep on top of his sleeping bag. One of the open books that Naruto had brought along on the same day as he'd given Sasuke the glasses lay on his stomach and the glasses Sasuke was wearing had slipped down his nose and hung on by just a little.
The lamp was still on and it threw warm pale yellow over Sasuke's face. It showed just how much change Sasuke had gone through in the last couple of months. His t-shirt was hitched up under the book, revealing a strip of perfect skin stretched over a firm stomach. Naruto resisted the urge to kneel down beside Sasuke and touch that bit of exposed skin just to find out what it felt like.
He really wanted to.
Instead he got rid of his sleeping bag having already left his weapons with the ANBU outside-that was something Tsunade would not budge on-and then stripped to his t-shirt and boxers.
Sasuke's breathing was light and even as Naruto stretched his own sleeping bag alongside Sasuke's and lay down next to him.
He watched Sasuke's features, relaxed in sleep and had to resist the urge to reach out and touch once more. Sasuke would probably kill him.
Still, there was a smile curling the edge of Naruto's mouth as he slipped into the most comfortable sleep he'd had all week.
~
The first time Naruto woke up to find breakfast waiting for him he stared at it like it was poisoned.
He looked up at Sasuke and frowned at him. "Are you sick?"
"Fuck off."
Naruto gave in and went after Sasuke when Sasuke pointed out that since he'd already eaten then if Naruto didn't want it it'd go in the bin.
He managed to catch the one unfortunate egg that was already slipping off the plate and towards the black bin back by the time he reached Sasuke to tell him he was going to eat it.
~
A month was a long time.
Naruto saw it on Sasuke's face. His mouth firming slowly as Naruto finished telling him that his mission this time was going to be longer.
"Sakura's going to come see you?" Naruto offered. He was sitting cross legged across from Sasuke who'd been reading.
The glasses suited him. But Naruto couldn't help wishing they weren't there. He liked Sasuke's eyes better without them.
Sasuke snorted at that. "Tch. It's fine. I don't need either of you coming here every day to babysit me."
Naruto looked down at the floor between them. His fingers drummed an impatient beat on the wood of it. "I know."
"Is that all?"
Naruto nodded and out of the corner of his eye noticed Sasuke pick his book back up.
Swallowing the nerves making his belly feel like it was trying to twist itself into thick knots; Naruto crawled forward and pressed the book back down with the flat of his palm.
Sasuke's eyes flew up to his, he was startled but except for the small widening of the eyes there was no other reaction. H just stared back at Naruto.
When Naruto did nothing but continue to stare, a black brow lifted high. "Well?"
So Naruto stayed on his knees and slid one hand behind Sasuke's head, pulling him down to him. His thumb rubbed the soft skin on the back of Sasuke's neck as his lips brushed Sasuke's the first time.
His breath felt like it was backing up into his lungs and the frame of Sasuke's glasses were digging into Naruto's nose. But Sasuke's lips were warm.
When Naruto traced the seam of Sasuke's lips with his tongue he felt the small tremor that passed over Sasuke.
Then Sasuke's mouth parted.
~
Sasuke wasn't there the night Naruto returned. Instead he found Sakura sitting in what he'd come to think of as Sasuke's kitchen, her eyes red.
Naruto dropped his stuff to the floor. He wasn't even aware of the panic that started building almost immediately. "What happened? Where's Sasuke?"
Sakura shook her head, her lips trembling for a second before she pressed them together. "Interrogation."
Naruto stared. "What? But he already-"
"Not Konoha. The Raikage had given Tsunade a certain time to get information out of Sasuke on Killerbee. Sasuke had nothing to say that hadn't been known already. It wasn't worth starting trouble over." Sakura shook her head again and brushed her hands through her hair, pinching it between her fingers as she stared at the floor. "Tsunade agreed so that she could get them off her back and off of Sasuke's. After this they'll leave him alone."
Naruto's humourless laugh made her glance up at him. "What makes her think they will? The Raikage will never trust Konoha or any of Konoha's methods. He'll probably want to keep interrogating."
Sakura sighed. "He can't."
"Why can't he?"
"Tsunade agreed to a truth serum interrogation."
~
When Sasuke finally came out of interrogation, Naruto was waiting for him. But he refused to let Naruto help him despite the fact that he was paler even than the time Naruto had first visited him. Perspiration dotted his skin and his glasses had been left at home. He looked like he could've been knocked down with the flick of a finger. But still he insisted on walking on his own as they were escorted back.
Naruto didn't say anything but he walked behind him, eyes roaming Sasuke's back. Even in the state he was in, Sasuke walked with his back straight.
Naruto was surprised he could even walk. Truth serum felt like it sucked the energy out of people, draining them completely and giving an odd entrancing effect that was what led the person into telling the truth. Sakura had explained all the chemical reactions to him once but Naruto as usual hadn't been paying attention.
Right at the moment he wished he had.
~
Sakura slept in the living room that night. She'd managed to force one of her concoctions down Sasuke's throat and when she sent him to bed to rest and to give time for her antidote to break down the rest of the serum, Sasuke didn't argue. He'd barely looked at Naruto at all though.
It was the reason why Naruto was sitting at that stupidly small kitchen table at three in the morning staring at the blank sheet of paper that he was meant to write his mission report on. His eye lids felt like dead weight probably due to the fact that instead of resting when he'd arrived, he'd instead spent the entire night waiting for Sasuke to be released from interrogation.
He could've gone to sleep too. The only reason why he continued to sit there, legs crossed Indian style on the chair and a pen gripped in his hand was because Sasuke hadn't spoken to him once on the way back and even after they'd arrived.
It was reminding Naruto too much of when he'd started coming to visit him.
Naruto laid down his head to the table, sighing loudly. There was a chill to the kitchen that probably had to do with the early hour of the morning even though they were practically sealed up inside a mountain.
He closed his eyes and didn't remember falling asleep. It felt like just minutes though when he found himself waking up to something hot being pushed against his cheek.
Naruto jerked up in his seat, eyes flashing open only to find Sasuke staring down at him and sipping from a mug-the amount cutlery had grown quite a bit in the last few months-and he was still holding out another one. Naruto took it with a careful hand.
"Thanks." He said voice no more than a croak from his brief sleep.
Sasuke walked to the counter and leaned there.
His skin was better but there was still an unnatural whiteness to his face. The glasses were back on too.
"Are you okay?" Naruto asked setting down the mug down on the table without taking a sip. The scent of hot coffee wafted up from it, the curls of steam touching his chin.
"I'm fine." Sasuke nodded towards the living room. "Sakura's still asleep."
"Okay." Naruto said and looked down at his coffee.
Then he got up, pushing his chair back with little noise. He made his way over to where Sasuke stood, sliding his hands into his pockets when he was standing just a little away from Sasuke.
"Did they do-"
"Let it go. I said I was fine." Sasuke said. Then he was setting his own mug down before facing Naruto again. His face was cool. "Do you have to do the report now?"
Naruto shook his head.
Sasuke's hands reached for Naruto's hips and he straightened to his full height, making Naruto frown at him when the difference in height became a little more obvious.
When Sasuke leaned close Naruto felt the air from his lungs trap there and when Sasuke's mouth brushed against his ear he turned his face into the brief touch.
Sasuke's words came with a soft brush of air as he murmured them into his ear. "So how quiet can you be?"
~
The day Sasuke was released from house arrest wasn't a great day.
It was raining for one. Despite that, the gossips had come out in their little groups to watch as their once missing nin walked down the road between his two old team mates.
The atmosphere wasn't great and the hostile looks thrown at him were unmistakeable.
It wasn't all bad though because by then Sasuke had managed to get his eyesight back and could see well enough without the glasses. Just the night before he'd managed the first stage of sharingan for the second time in his life.
It scared the shit out of Naruto when he'd come out of the bathroom in the middle of the night to find Sasuke standing there, hiss eyes on him. They hadn't been the black he was used to seeing constantly but instead a deep crimson with a single black tomoe in each eye. It had made Naruto tense in memory of fights that had happened whenever Sasuke had turned his sharingan on him. But then he'd relaxed. This wasn't one of those times. And the self satisfied smirk on Sasuke's face had wiped out any lingering uncertainty that Naruto might have had.
It had made Naruto feel stupidly happy, when despite having his sight back the glasses he'd given Sasuke had made the trip with Sasuke from house arrest to one of the old houses in the Uchiha district.
It'd take a lot of time though, to get his techniques back. And although the seal put on Sasuke had been reduced to one that allowed him a little more access to his chakra, there was still a long way to go for the Council to remove it. For them to trust him to be in the village.
For the village itself to trust him.
Neither of them had false expectations of what was going to happen, but for now it was enough.
Sasuke was back and Sasuke was okay.
For now, that was enough for Naruto.
Title: The Glint of Light on Broken Glass
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Sometimes things really aren't as complicated as people think.
Warnings: None.
A/N: I hope this fulfilled the prompts you chose. I enjoyed working on it even though it did change quite a lot from the original plan I had for it! Thank you for the lovely ideas your prompt produced and I hope you enjoy this : )
Mod note: Reminder for the author/artist of this submission, please do not reply to comments signed in, if you want to reply anon commenting is enabled.
"He's been out of Interrogation for a month. There were two teams assigned to watch over him. He's being kept under house arrest and... At the moment people are still too angry. It's for his protection as much as the village's. I-I was placed in one of the teams because of the condition he's in and also because I kn-used to be closer to him. We were instructed not to say anything but... I know how worried you've been. I've spoken to Tsunade about letting you in on this and I went through a lot of trouble for her to okay this Naruto. Please don't do something stupid. There's a reason why I'm telling you now. I could've held on and not told you but... this is important. He's not... he's not well Naruto and he's not helping himself. I know after everything else this isn't something I should be asking of you again-but if you could talk to him. Don't mess this up with Tsunade."
~
Naruto waited outside. He'd stopped jumping every passerby after the first ten times had gotten him nowhere.
Tsunade was still in a meeting.
Bullshit.
Naruto had been on the verge of kicking the door in several times and just kicking the snotty bastards in there out so that he could speak to Tsunade. Unfortunately for him, that wouldn't do him any good. She'd probably just order him out until he calmed down. She'd realised that tactic just frustrated the hell out of him so she tended to do it whenever Naruto stepped out of line.
So Naruto waited. He'd sat himself down on the floor right outside the Hokage's door, his back against the wall, wrists balanced on his knees and his head knocking against the wall every so often. He had mission room duty and he'd managed to get out of it by swapping with Kiba-and now owed him lunch and dinner-and Iruka was going to kill him for doing it but Naruto hadn't been able to just let this go after he'd been woken up by Sakura at five in the morning, looking as if she'd killed someone.
'Naruto... we need to talk.'
What had followed had left him staring at her in stunned silence before he'd finally stood up, running to get dressed and then heading straight for Kiba's place. He hadn't been able to say anything to Sakura right then. The anger and small traces of hurt he'd felt at being kept in the dark had made him want to look away from her face. But a more pressing need to know and see had also pushed him to leave in that rush.
Naruto sighed and let his head fall forward, leaning it against the hands over his knees as he went over the conversation again. Sakura had looked guilty and defensive at the same time. Naruto wasn't sure what had shocked him most. That one of his closest friends had been lying to him for a month-or that proof that Sasuke was actually still alive had been given.
Lifting his head again, Naruto tipped his head back and focused on a small crack that ran from the wall to the ceiling.
It had been a year since all hell had broken loose at the meeting of the five Kage's. Until now Naruto still didn't understand how they'd managed to escape an all out war. It had been such a close call. They'd been on the fringes of it and about to tip over. But they hadn't.
Sasuke had killed Danzou and on that same day the one who had identified himself as Uchiha Madara had disappeared. Without a Hokage Konoha had come close to being overtaken at what other countries had perceived as a time of weakness. The Council's decision to rectify their mistake-too late to do much good-had been swift and Kakashi had been named Hokage-not that he was very interested in the position as he proved by giving it up the moment Tsunade had finally surfaced from her coma. That had provided them with a brief moment of leverage. The Copy Ninja as their Hokage had held an interesting fear factor which had provided them with an unexpected leverage.
In the end nothing had happened as Naruto had expected it to. He'd managed to track down Sasuke in the middle of all the mess; had found him slumped against a rock, that team of his surrounding him like they actually cared.
Naruto rubbed at his temple. He supposed they had.
Danzou had been lying all the way across the wreckage, a katana protruding from the hollow of his throat. The long blade had glinted under the cold sun. The snow had made the scene eerie with its perfect innocent white. There'd already been a thin layer of it on Danzou's body.
Even from where Naruto had stood he'd seen the way his open eyes stare at the sky.
He'd only turned to look back at Sasuke when he'd heard the girl's worried cry. Sasuke had fallen to his knees. He'd coughed out blood, splattering it on the snow. There had been blood running down his cheeks, some of it had already dried and caked at the edge of his eyes and his body had been trembling as his team members urged to him to get up, telling him that they had to leave.
It had been the word 'leave' that had made Naruto snap out of his shock. He'd stepped forward, foot sinking into the snow, ready to pry his way through the three people around Sasuke when a hand on his shoulder jerked him back. Kakashi had told him he was needed in Konoha and that Yamato was waiting to take him back.
Naruto hadn't wanted to. Sasuke had been just a few steps away from him.
"Naruto. You aren't needed here. I'll take care of Sasuke."
"But Kakashi-sen-"
"Trust me Naruto."
Naruto could remember so clearly that feeling of frustration, rolled into something harder to ignore as he looked at Sasuke again. The opportunity he'd been looking for so long right in front of him. His fingers scratched their way down his trousers with the need to wrap themselves around-dig themselves into-any part of Sasuke he could reach and drag him home with him.
But he'd forced himself to relax. He'd forced himself to look away from the blank gaze that had lifted to meet his.
"Fine."
Since then Naruto hadn't known what had happened to Sasuke.
And now he found out.
A year in interrogation. A year.
Naruto screwed his eyes shut, attempting to forget all the rumours that circled the interrogation unit. They were well known for how ruthless they were. They made no allowances for anyone under their jurisdiction.
He remembered Sasuke's bloodied face and trembling body and Naruto tried not to think about what had been done to Sasuke while he'd been in that state.
Naruto hadn't realised that the door to Tsunade's office had opened until he opened his eyes and found that there were two feet in his line of vision with bright red painted onto the toe nails. He hadn't even heard the people from the meeting leave.
He heard a sigh and followed the legs up to look up at Tsunade. Her arms were crossed under her breasts-he'd once had the stupid sense to make a comment as to why she couldn't cross them over-and she had a resigned expression on her face.
"How did I know you'd be waiting outside my door?"
Naruto didn't reply. He looked back down, not knowing what to say to that. Of course she knew he'd be here. Half of the village would've predicted it if they'd known what was happening.
"What are you waiting for then? Get off the floor and get in here."
~
"You weren't told for a reason."
Naruto was staring out the wide window that circled Tsunade's office, eyes tracing the bird as it dipped into a semi-circle before gaining height to follow the ones ahead of it.
"Sasuke needed rest and you needed time away from Sasuke. It was beginning to feel like too much obsession and we couldn't have your loyalties divided."
Only a brief downward twitch of the edges of Naruto's eyebrows told of the way that last comment had hit its bull's eyes. His fingers rubbed down the wooden arms of the chair, pressing hard enough on their way down that he felt the pads of his fingers heat.
"But..." even if that had been the case-even if she'd been right-they should've told him. He should've known, "You let me think-"
"And it worked. Don't question my decisions." The sharpness of her voice persuaded Naruto to look away from the window and at her instead. The look she had pinned on him was firm. "Not when my decisions lead to Konoha's well being. To your well being. And to Sasuke's."
Naruto shook his head briefly before letting it fall forward, eyes shutting. "Is he... is he okay? The interrogation quarters... I've heard," his teeth tugged at the inside of his lip for a second and then released when he looked at Tsunade again, "And Sasuke... he wasn't well when... when I left."
This time, Tsunade sighed. She leaned back in her chair and pushed her hair back from her face, the gesture telling him that this wasn't going to be a good thing. When Tsunade did that it was a tell-tale sign that something was frustrating her.
"He isn't."
Naruto felt his heart beat hard enough that it felt to him like his chest shook with the force of it. He sat up, not even aware of leaning forward as something nameless made his mouth dry. His hands pressed hard against the un-giving wood of the chair. "Why?" It was the only word that his mind managed to supply him with as images of that day came back to him. The red splashed over the blaring snow; Sasuke's team-mates helping him up and his hard gaze rimmed in red disappearing from Naruto's sight as Kakashi's back blocked the view.
Her elbows still resting on the chair arms, Tsunade linked her fingers together. "His eyes took quite a lot of damage. The full extent of the damage is still unknown but it's bad enough that permanent sight loss is being taken into consideration as a final stage of this condition."
Naruto felt his eyes widen and for a moment all he could do was stare at Tsunade. Sasuke? Blind? He leaned forward even more, his words carried by urgency when he next spoke. "Can't you do something? Can't you fix them?"
Tsunade's glare made Naruto ease back a little in his seat. "If I were able to heal it completely myself, I would've already done it don't you think? As it stands, we did the best he could. His eye sight is minimal but we're hoping that as he heals from the treatment, it will gradually get better. It doesn't help that his chakra has been sealed off."
Naruto had expected that but hearing it made cold prickle at his nape. "You sealed all of it?" He asked his voice quiet.
Tsunade nodded. "Sasuke is still viewed as a security risk at the moment. Unfortunately this means that instead of helping the healing, his chakra is split between attempting to press out the seal restricting it and aiding the mending of his eyes."
"It's why you wanted Sakura in one of the teams."
Tsunade inclined her head to the side in affirmation. "We need a skilled medic keeping an eye on him. And," her tone changed, irritation coming through clearly, "that little shit isn't eating which isn't helping his situation."
Naruto resisted the urge to hit his head on the table. Why was Sasuke always so difficult? "But other than that... he's okay?"
Tsunade nodded. "Yes."
Naruto took a deep breath and asked the question he knew Tsunade had been waiting for from the beginning.
"Can I see him?"
~
Sasuke was thin.
He was also ignoring him.
He sat at the kitchen table with his back to Naruto. All that Naruto could see of him was a small glimpse of the skin of his nape and the black hair sticking up like it had always done.
There were ANBU surrounding the place and multiple barriers to prevent people from leaving had been erected once Naruto had gone through and gotten inside the house.
The small apartment had been built on the inside of the mountain, further up from the safety tunnels built for emergency evacuation of the village. The only thing that ruined it was the claustrophobic feel of the place. Naruto had had a long climb up, needing the two ANBU accompanying him to clear every team of two that he'd encountered on his way up. There had been at least eight; squeezed into the tight space of the passageway with only the torches placed higher up on the walls to light the way. Still there had been lapses of darkness between each one.
When Naruto had finally reached the top, he'd been surprised to see the light inside the place.
It didn't change the fact that it had no windows and was more of a comfortable cage.
There had been no ANBU guards inside and neither had the accompanying two entered the apartment with him.
"You're not going to talk to me?"
Sasuke didn't move. He stayed still in the chair which he sat in.
Naruto wondered if it was because his sight was still so bad that he just wouldn't be able to see. Or maybe he was just being Sasuke and ignoring him.
Naruto ran his eyes over the bare decorations of the kitchen. There was a small square table just big enough to fit one person but there were two chairs. There was a fruit bowl on top of that but it only had two pears left in it. A stove, a small fridge and a plate, fork and knife set on the counter, the dry shine they had telling Naruto that they hadn't been used. One cup. One pan. There was a clear plastic container with a meal inside but it sat next to the unused cutlery unopened. And that was it.
"I didn't know they'd kept you in interrogation so long." Was it him or had Sasuke straightened his back a little bit more. "They just... I didn't know." If he'd known he would've done something. But Naruto didn't say it. There was no point when he was talking to Sasuke's back. He probably didn't want to know anyway.
Naruto looked away from him, hands fisting and un-fisting at his sides. He didn't know what to do with himself. The atmosphere felt so dead. It made Naruto feel like his stomach had been hollowed out, making him queasy.
"I'm... I'm glad you're okay..." he murmured, though by now he wasn't sure why he bothered.
What had he thought would happen when he'd asked if he could come to see Sasuke? Nothing had gone as he expected until now so why would this be any different?
His eyes flicked back to the container.
Sasuke's shoulders were thin beneath the plain white t-shirt he wore.
"You should eat something."
That was the last thing Naruto said before he turned around and began making his way to the front door. The place was like a tight air container, stuffing the air down his throat but making it feel dry and clinging.
He didn't see the small movement of Sasuke's head or the hint of a look thrown over one of those thin shoulders.
Naruto was too busy thinking about how he'd convince Tsunade to let him come again.
Sasuke wasn't eating.
Maybe Sasuke wasn't eating because the food was already made once it reached him.
After an entire year in interrogation even Naruto would know better than to touch ready-made food.
As the ANBU opened the door after Naruto's three knocks from the inside, Naruto stepped out..
The unresolved tension from having been so near Sasuke but receiving nothing-not a look, not a word, not even a movement-buzzed under his skin and Naruto knew he'd definitely convince Tsunade.
If only to get Sasuke to look at him the next time.
~
Tsunade said no.
What was the point of having him keep his distance to ease his 'obsession' if he fell right back into it again?
Naruto had argued until she'd gotten fed up of arguing back and had him forcefully removed from her office.
As he'd shoved away one flimsy guard-they really needed to train those ANBU twinkies better-he told her to get Sakura to just take over some ingredients. Sasuke didn't trust the food.
He heard her shout back 'fine' as the door was slammed shut behind him.
~
Because Tsunade had said no didn't mean Naruto couldn't lie and convince the ANBU that he was allowed in to see Sasuke. It helped that some of the ANBU guarding it were of the newer teams. It didn't make them any less skilled but it did make them more susceptible to Naruto's persuasion skills, ie. They were not immune to his loud voice talking a mile a minute. The entire village knowing that the Hokage had a soft spot for him had also given him an extra bit of leverage. Either way Naruto always wore them out one way or another.
The lights in the living room were off as the front door was closed behind him.
He felt a sudden weight descend on his head, as if something invisible were putting pressure on it. The ANBU had replaced the barriers outside.
There was a light on in the kitchen and that's what Naruto followed. He could hear the rush of water and wasn't quite sure why that surprised him but he followed the sound to the only lit room. Sasuke was in the kitchen again.
This time when Naruto walked in he still had his back to Naruto but he was standing at the sink.
Naruto stopped in the doorway, watching as Sasuke's right arm moved rhythmically while his left kept completely still.
It was the little bit of red that caught Naruto's eye and had him walking into the room in quick hurried steps.
There wasn't too much of it but there were spots of red dotting the white counter where a knife was discarded and the vegetables were still in a see-through carrier bag. A small bag of rice had tipped over, spilling its milky grains over the counter and some onto the floor. A small pan was over the stove and by the subtle scent Naruto realised it was rice.
"What happened?" Forehead creasing Naruto ignored the uncertainty he'd felt when he'd arrived. He hadn't known how he was going to try approaching Sasuke again but that was now the furthest thing on his mind as he moved to stand next to Sasuke.
The impact was unexpected.
He'd seen Sasuke so many times-true that he'd hardly seen him at all since that final battle-but it shouldn't have affected him like it did.
The hand under the running water was the same hand that had come close to tearing the skin from Naruto's face as it had sparked and chirped with a chidori. Naruto's eyes remained locked on that hand, his heart beating faster. He thought he could hear the beat of it in his head. It made him feel like the blood was pulsing in his ears.
Sasuke's face was tipped down but his bangs weren't covering his face when Naruto finally convinced himself to look up at him.
There were circles under his eyes. They were a shade of pale green that looked like it'd been dusted over the pale skin. Paler than Naruto remembered. Naruto wasn't sure if it had just been too long since he'd seen Sasuke and his memory was just faulty, or if it was down to the lack of proper nutrition.
They were shoulder to shoulder but Sasuke still had an inch on him. Naruto couldn't find it in him to mind.
"Did you cut yourself?"
Sasuke stopped rubbing his right hand over his left and reached to close the tap. He still hadn't turned to look at Naruto. He acted like Naruto wasn't even a presence in the room.
Until he turned around and stepped in the direction of the counter and his shoulder bumped Naruto's.
It was an unexpected contact but there was no obvious reaction from Sasuke He had too much control for that. But it was the way Sasuke stilled, the slight flare to his nostrils. And then his head was turning and Naruto found black eyes on his face.
Sasuke was looking at him.
Not from a distance. Not a final look as he turned away from him again.
But there was something not quite right.
His eyes lacked a focus that they'd contained even in a blank stare.
Naruto's mouth wavered between staying neutral and showing the remorse he felt. Without thinking his hand lifted. He hadn't known why but he'd meant to brush the tips over the corner of Sasuke's eyes. But before he'd even gotten close to his goal long fingers locked around his wrist; squeezing hard enough and fast enough that his wrist numbed within a matter of seconds.
During those few seconds, Naruto realised that he'd been right and those eyes couldn't see much of his face.
He tugged his hand out of Sasuke's grip and didn’t try to stop him when Sasuke side stepped this time and walked around him.
"Idiot," Naruto murmured, "You should've said, I would've helped you with the food." Naruto didn't expect an answer. That was good because he didn't receive one.
When he turned back to Sasuke, there was a small kitchen cloth wrapped around his hand and the knife was back on his other as he reached for the bag once more. His eyes were squinting and Naruto watched his face.
This time it was Naruto that reached over and stilled Sasuke's hand with his. Ignoring the look thrown his way he pried the knife from Sasuke's hand and reached for the vegetables. "It's okay as long as it gets made in front of you right?"
~
The first time Sasuke spoke to Naruto happened three weeks after Naruto began to visit Sasuke. He went whenever he was free and although Sasuke never asked him to, he would cook. He wasn't that great a cook but Sasuke hadn't even been bothered to tell him the food was shit. He ate it then he left, retiring to the small sleeping area that was closed off from the living room by a single partition. The bedroom was just a bed roll and a night lamp.
Naruto had taken to rambling about day to day things. If Sasuke was going to ignore him it didn't mean that he had to be forced to listen to silence every time. Never mind that Sasuke hadn't asked him to be there.
Naruto was in the kitchen, entertaining himself by peeling potatoes without breaking their skin and making the it slide off to settle into a spring shape, when Sasuke walked in. His steps were sure of where they took him and not for the first time Naruto wondered if Sasuke had bumped into him that day simply because Naruto was just an extra in a place that Sasuke had already mapped out in his head.
He stared at Sasuke.
He noticed he'd been doing that often but the realisation didn't make Naruto stop. He did it because he liked to see the change. The way the shadows under Sasuke's eyes began to fade, the way the bones of his collarbone didn't stand out quite as much. It was because of that that Naruto had found out that the seal was located over Sasuke's right hip.
Naruto had only glimpsed it earlier that morning when Sasuke had been walking out from behind the partition, tugging a t-shirt on and Naruto had seen it, peeking from under the waist band of his trousers. The seal had looked an inky black, no bigger than the size of a palm as it branded the white skin.
Naruto found had stared at that particular place and wondered if he'd be able to feel the rise of the seal with his fingers if he were to run them over the skin there.
"What are you staring at?"
Naruto's skin went up in goose bumps at the deep, irritated voice. It was if for the seconds that his ears clung to voice already gone he was rooted to the spot, eyes still transfixed to that spot on Sasuke's hip.
The t-shirt fell into place and Naruto looked up. Something felt like it was swelling on his chest when he caught sight of the almost sneer on Sasuke's face and Naruto shook his head slowly. He could still feel the affect of Sasuke's voice on his skin.
"No. Nothing."
Naruto was certain that Sasuke's voice had never affected him like that before.
~
"What is it?" Sasuke asked.
He was frowning down at the bag that Naruto had gone through great pains to get approved to bring in to Sasuke. The fact that Sasuke was staring down at the bag as if it he were handing him poisoned senbon just pissed him off.
Grabbing Sasuke's hand he pressed the handle of the bag to his palm and stepped back, hating the heat that was rising up on his cheeks. He looked away. "Sakura told me your eyes have been getting better and stuff but you still find it hard right?"
"So?"
Naruto rolled his eyes at that answer. "Just look inside." And having said that, he made his way to the kitchen. He'd arrived late that day and he hadn't left anything prepared the night before.
He'd slipped into the habit of leaving some food ready for the next day whenever he stayed over.
Both of them preferred to pretend it wasn't happening as often as it was.
At least Tsunade was being lenient enough to let him.
As Naruto began to wash his hands, he heard the sound of the glasses case being opened-heard the second snap that meant it had been closed again
He wondered if Sasuke would use them.
~
When Naruto got back from a week long mission he was cranky. He hadn't slept for three days and his back ached like a bitch from when he'd been thrown by an explosion after a careless idiot on his team had set an explosive tag off.
He'd headed for home straight away except when he finally stopped he found himself standing outside the hidden door leading to Sasuke's hide out.
After staring at the door for a while-more from exhaustion than actual thought-Naruto let himself through. The ANBU knew him well by then and nodded hello, standing aside to let him pass. It helped that by then Tsunade had already given him her okay and he didn't have to keep talking their ears off every time he wanted to get inside.
When he reached the apartment, he was unprepared for what he found.
He forgot about the tired bones and stinging injuries in that moment and simply stared down at Sasuke who had fallen asleep on top of his sleeping bag. One of the open books that Naruto had brought along on the same day as he'd given Sasuke the glasses lay on his stomach and the glasses Sasuke was wearing had slipped down his nose and hung on by just a little.
The lamp was still on and it threw warm pale yellow over Sasuke's face. It showed just how much change Sasuke had gone through in the last couple of months. His t-shirt was hitched up under the book, revealing a strip of perfect skin stretched over a firm stomach. Naruto resisted the urge to kneel down beside Sasuke and touch that bit of exposed skin just to find out what it felt like.
He really wanted to.
Instead he got rid of his sleeping bag having already left his weapons with the ANBU outside-that was something Tsunade would not budge on-and then stripped to his t-shirt and boxers.
Sasuke's breathing was light and even as Naruto stretched his own sleeping bag alongside Sasuke's and lay down next to him.
He watched Sasuke's features, relaxed in sleep and had to resist the urge to reach out and touch once more. Sasuke would probably kill him.
Still, there was a smile curling the edge of Naruto's mouth as he slipped into the most comfortable sleep he'd had all week.
~
The first time Naruto woke up to find breakfast waiting for him he stared at it like it was poisoned.
He looked up at Sasuke and frowned at him. "Are you sick?"
"Fuck off."
Naruto gave in and went after Sasuke when Sasuke pointed out that since he'd already eaten then if Naruto didn't want it it'd go in the bin.
He managed to catch the one unfortunate egg that was already slipping off the plate and towards the black bin back by the time he reached Sasuke to tell him he was going to eat it.
~
A month was a long time.
Naruto saw it on Sasuke's face. His mouth firming slowly as Naruto finished telling him that his mission this time was going to be longer.
"Sakura's going to come see you?" Naruto offered. He was sitting cross legged across from Sasuke who'd been reading.
The glasses suited him. But Naruto couldn't help wishing they weren't there. He liked Sasuke's eyes better without them.
Sasuke snorted at that. "Tch. It's fine. I don't need either of you coming here every day to babysit me."
Naruto looked down at the floor between them. His fingers drummed an impatient beat on the wood of it. "I know."
"Is that all?"
Naruto nodded and out of the corner of his eye noticed Sasuke pick his book back up.
Swallowing the nerves making his belly feel like it was trying to twist itself into thick knots; Naruto crawled forward and pressed the book back down with the flat of his palm.
Sasuke's eyes flew up to his, he was startled but except for the small widening of the eyes there was no other reaction. H just stared back at Naruto.
When Naruto did nothing but continue to stare, a black brow lifted high. "Well?"
So Naruto stayed on his knees and slid one hand behind Sasuke's head, pulling him down to him. His thumb rubbed the soft skin on the back of Sasuke's neck as his lips brushed Sasuke's the first time.
His breath felt like it was backing up into his lungs and the frame of Sasuke's glasses were digging into Naruto's nose. But Sasuke's lips were warm.
When Naruto traced the seam of Sasuke's lips with his tongue he felt the small tremor that passed over Sasuke.
Then Sasuke's mouth parted.
~
Sasuke wasn't there the night Naruto returned. Instead he found Sakura sitting in what he'd come to think of as Sasuke's kitchen, her eyes red.
Naruto dropped his stuff to the floor. He wasn't even aware of the panic that started building almost immediately. "What happened? Where's Sasuke?"
Sakura shook her head, her lips trembling for a second before she pressed them together. "Interrogation."
Naruto stared. "What? But he already-"
"Not Konoha. The Raikage had given Tsunade a certain time to get information out of Sasuke on Killerbee. Sasuke had nothing to say that hadn't been known already. It wasn't worth starting trouble over." Sakura shook her head again and brushed her hands through her hair, pinching it between her fingers as she stared at the floor. "Tsunade agreed so that she could get them off her back and off of Sasuke's. After this they'll leave him alone."
Naruto's humourless laugh made her glance up at him. "What makes her think they will? The Raikage will never trust Konoha or any of Konoha's methods. He'll probably want to keep interrogating."
Sakura sighed. "He can't."
"Why can't he?"
"Tsunade agreed to a truth serum interrogation."
~
When Sasuke finally came out of interrogation, Naruto was waiting for him. But he refused to let Naruto help him despite the fact that he was paler even than the time Naruto had first visited him. Perspiration dotted his skin and his glasses had been left at home. He looked like he could've been knocked down with the flick of a finger. But still he insisted on walking on his own as they were escorted back.
Naruto didn't say anything but he walked behind him, eyes roaming Sasuke's back. Even in the state he was in, Sasuke walked with his back straight.
Naruto was surprised he could even walk. Truth serum felt like it sucked the energy out of people, draining them completely and giving an odd entrancing effect that was what led the person into telling the truth. Sakura had explained all the chemical reactions to him once but Naruto as usual hadn't been paying attention.
Right at the moment he wished he had.
~
Sakura slept in the living room that night. She'd managed to force one of her concoctions down Sasuke's throat and when she sent him to bed to rest and to give time for her antidote to break down the rest of the serum, Sasuke didn't argue. He'd barely looked at Naruto at all though.
It was the reason why Naruto was sitting at that stupidly small kitchen table at three in the morning staring at the blank sheet of paper that he was meant to write his mission report on. His eye lids felt like dead weight probably due to the fact that instead of resting when he'd arrived, he'd instead spent the entire night waiting for Sasuke to be released from interrogation.
He could've gone to sleep too. The only reason why he continued to sit there, legs crossed Indian style on the chair and a pen gripped in his hand was because Sasuke hadn't spoken to him once on the way back and even after they'd arrived.
It was reminding Naruto too much of when he'd started coming to visit him.
Naruto laid down his head to the table, sighing loudly. There was a chill to the kitchen that probably had to do with the early hour of the morning even though they were practically sealed up inside a mountain.
He closed his eyes and didn't remember falling asleep. It felt like just minutes though when he found himself waking up to something hot being pushed against his cheek.
Naruto jerked up in his seat, eyes flashing open only to find Sasuke staring down at him and sipping from a mug-the amount cutlery had grown quite a bit in the last few months-and he was still holding out another one. Naruto took it with a careful hand.
"Thanks." He said voice no more than a croak from his brief sleep.
Sasuke walked to the counter and leaned there.
His skin was better but there was still an unnatural whiteness to his face. The glasses were back on too.
"Are you okay?" Naruto asked setting down the mug down on the table without taking a sip. The scent of hot coffee wafted up from it, the curls of steam touching his chin.
"I'm fine." Sasuke nodded towards the living room. "Sakura's still asleep."
"Okay." Naruto said and looked down at his coffee.
Then he got up, pushing his chair back with little noise. He made his way over to where Sasuke stood, sliding his hands into his pockets when he was standing just a little away from Sasuke.
"Did they do-"
"Let it go. I said I was fine." Sasuke said. Then he was setting his own mug down before facing Naruto again. His face was cool. "Do you have to do the report now?"
Naruto shook his head.
Sasuke's hands reached for Naruto's hips and he straightened to his full height, making Naruto frown at him when the difference in height became a little more obvious.
When Sasuke leaned close Naruto felt the air from his lungs trap there and when Sasuke's mouth brushed against his ear he turned his face into the brief touch.
Sasuke's words came with a soft brush of air as he murmured them into his ear. "So how quiet can you be?"
~
The day Sasuke was released from house arrest wasn't a great day.
It was raining for one. Despite that, the gossips had come out in their little groups to watch as their once missing nin walked down the road between his two old team mates.
The atmosphere wasn't great and the hostile looks thrown at him were unmistakeable.
It wasn't all bad though because by then Sasuke had managed to get his eyesight back and could see well enough without the glasses. Just the night before he'd managed the first stage of sharingan for the second time in his life.
It scared the shit out of Naruto when he'd come out of the bathroom in the middle of the night to find Sasuke standing there, hiss eyes on him. They hadn't been the black he was used to seeing constantly but instead a deep crimson with a single black tomoe in each eye. It had made Naruto tense in memory of fights that had happened whenever Sasuke had turned his sharingan on him. But then he'd relaxed. This wasn't one of those times. And the self satisfied smirk on Sasuke's face had wiped out any lingering uncertainty that Naruto might have had.
It had made Naruto feel stupidly happy, when despite having his sight back the glasses he'd given Sasuke had made the trip with Sasuke from house arrest to one of the old houses in the Uchiha district.
It'd take a lot of time though, to get his techniques back. And although the seal put on Sasuke had been reduced to one that allowed him a little more access to his chakra, there was still a long way to go for the Council to remove it. For them to trust him to be in the village.
For the village itself to trust him.
Neither of them had false expectations of what was going to happen, but for now it was enough.
Sasuke was back and Sasuke was okay.
For now, that was enough for Naruto.