[FIC] You and Me - Chapter IV

[thylaslain]

You and Me

Overall rating: R - NC-17

Summary: Uchiha Sasuke has returned to Konohagakure. He's changed of course. But so has everything else...
Chapter 4/?
SPOILERS: Up to current in Anime (i.e. Episode 135).
Pairing: Uchiha Sasuke x Uzumaki Naruto :: Others may be mentioned
Chapter Rating: PG-15 for Language
Disclaimer: Naruto and all related characters (c) Masashi Kishimoto -- i.e. They are not mine.

Chapter I :: Chapter II :: Chapter III

- IV -
Unwilling

There was an eternity in the moment black eyes met blue and vice versa.

Sasuke watched, trying to bring himself to be amused, at the several emotions that flashed in Naruto’s eyes.

He failed.

There was a tension in Naruto’s shoulders and Sasuke wanted to go up to the other to push his shoulders down. He wondered at the thought.

All of a sudden though, Sasuke found himself against the wall, a throbbing pain in his jaw. He fell forward a little, but didn’t stumble. He knew, that if he looked behind him, there would be a dent in the wall. Bringing a thumb to his lips, he felt the slight dampness there. He licked the spot he had just touched and the strong metallic taste of his blood hit him like a shot of strong liquor.

Naruto had punched him, and he hadn’t even seen him coming.

The sharingan flashed in his eyes as he saw Naruto draw his fist back again. His view was then obstructed by Tsunade’s back.

“What the fuck is he doing here?” Naruto breathed, eyes looking past Tsunade and at Sasuke.

Tsunade huffed.

“Naruto. What did I tell you about language?”

“I don’t give a shit! Now answer my fucking question!”

Tsunade’s eyes narrowed on Naruto. He almost never swore. The first time he’d swore, she’d took him by the collar and shook him so hard his teeth rattled. Needless to say he rarely ever swore after that. But this time, she let it slide. Just this once.

“Now now, Naruto-kun.” She said, her voice sweet, a smile playing on her lips. “Is that anyway to treat Sasuke-kun?”

“It’s the perfect way to treat the bastard.” Naruto spat, all this time, his eyes never left Sasuke’s.

Tsunade sighed.

“Step aside so I can punch his fucking face in.” Naruto spat.

“No.” Tsunade’s eyes flashed dangerously.

“Why are you protecting him?” Naruto demanded, his anger reaching a whole new height.

“I’m not protecting him, Naruto. I just don’t want to waste anytime anymore. Remember? You’re late? Sasuke, could you please excuse Naruto and me.”

She turned her head slightly to look at Sasuke from the corner of her eyes. He nodded before stepping outside.

Tsunade turned her attention back at the furious blonde who seemed to be rooted to the spot. He looked like he wanted nothing more than to stop Sasuke from leaving the room and pounding the boy’s face in with all he had.

“Naruto. That was a disgusting way to behave.” She reprimanded him, grabbing his wrist and dragging him towards the table set up in the middle of her office. She shoved him on to it and he winced a little before lying down.

“It wasn’t. It suited him fine.” Naruto murmured.

Tsunade sighed.

“Sit up.”

He did as instructed and raised his arms above his head as she tugged the orange shirt over it. He lay back down, wincing at the cold metal of the table. Tsunade folded his shirt and placed it on a chair.

Tsunade looked at the seal. It was visible almost all the time now and she touched it gently with her finger. Naruto let out a breath he was holding.

“I know you’re upset Naruto. I understand that.”

“No you don’t.” Naruto whined. Yet still, that little complain held fierce anger and a defiance that showed clearly, just how irritated he was with the entire situation.

She whacked him lightly on the forehead.

“Shut up. Yes I do. You’re not taking this seriously, baka.”

“How am I supposed to take you seriously when you’re acting like a five year old!” Naruto demanded, pouting.

Tsunade laughed quietly.

“I want to…” Naruto whispered.

Tsunade wasn’t really listening, as she used Chakra to examine the seal. The seal was intact. She frowned. The more she examined it, the redder the area around the seal became. Glancing over at Naruto, he didn’t seem to be bothered by it.

She withdrew her hand from Naruto and watched as the angry red around the seal intensified. She looked over at Naruto. No reaction.

“Are-does anything hurt?” She asked quietly.

He shook his head, staring straight up at the ceiling.

She knit her eyebrows together. This was the first time he had reacted this way to her examination. The skin around his seal was hot to the touch. Almost burning. She couldn’t believe Naruto didn’t feel it.

“Oh God.” She breathed.

Naruto didn’t hear her. Or maybe he was just pretending he hadn’t. His head was turned to the side now and he stared at the door behind which Sasuke stood.

“I want him to know.” He said finally.

“Hm?” Tsunade inquired, absentmindedly, voice high with tension.

A great flood of panic was threatening to overcome her and she sought to calm herself down. It’s nothing. It’s nothing. It’s nothing. She repeated to herself. She watched as the inky black of the seal shifted slightly, rotating by a few degrees before settling. The skin around it looked like it had been set aflame.

“Ne, Obaasan, you look like you’re going to throw up.” Naruto said, finally looking at her.

She chuckled; glad her laugh sounded sincere, when her insides seemed to be collapsing in around themselves.

“Anyway, what is it that you want who to know?” She said, looking at the seal from the corner of her eye. The red seemed to diminish.

Naruto’s eyes lost its concern for Tsunade and they became dull - if that were possible for Naruto.

“I want him to know,” was all he said again, his eyes going out of focus as he stared past her.

She found her hand resting on the boy’s forehead, smoothing his messy hair back. She took his appearance in for the first time in a long while. He’d grown. So much. In such a short amount of time.

She watched as anger flashed in his eyes. But behind the anger lay a deep deep sorrow. There was guilt there too, intertwining and interweaving with loneliness and something else Tsunade couldn’t pin down. It almost seemed to her like…like relief.

Tsunade noted, smiling sadly to herself, that of all the emotions held in Naruto’s eyes, he lacked one. The one emotion that no one would - or could - blame him for feeling.

Resentment.

“Well? What do you want him to know?” She asked, feigning impatience.

Blue eyes looked up at her.

“Everything.” He breathed.

Tsunade faltered a moment and he took that chance to brush her hand away from his forehead. She knew he reveled in the affection that she rarely ever gave. She didn’t want to go soft on him. Then he’d know how weak she was when it came to him. And he would use it to his every advantage. She smirked to herself as she tossed him his shirt. Although the smirk was more like a fond smile.

“Put that on and call the Uchiha in.”

“Obaasan.” Naruto murmured, eyes downcast as he sat up, t-shirt already pulled on.

She looked at him.

“I-I really didn’t mean to hit him, you know.”

Tsunade’s eyes softened.

“I know.”

Sasuke turned when he heard the door behind him open. The ANBU on either side watched as Naruto stepped outside. Without looking at him, Naruto muttered that Tsunade would see him now. Sasuke watched as the blonde left. He glanced over at the open door and then back at Naruto.

Tsunade could wait.

He ran up behind Naruto, hand reaching out, ready to grab the blonde’s shoulder, should he decide to run away. He didn’t. Instead, Naruto continued walking at the pace he had left the office; not acknowledging Sasuke behind him. Sasuke’s hand hovered inches above Naruto’s shoulder. He imagined that he could feel the heat radiating from the shoulder and suddenly he itched to touch Naruto.

He almost wished Naruto would run, so he would have an excuse to do so. He pulled his hand back and watched Naruto walk ahead of him. Sasuke stopped for a moment. The break in his stride left Naruto unaffected, when usually, one stopped when the enemy pursuing you had stopped. This usually signaled an attack. Naruto didn’t pause. There was no shift in his gait and it made Sasuke uneasy to think, that should he throw a kunai at Naruto, Naruto would have barely cared.

Once Naruto was outside, Sasuke tentatively followed him. Reaching the doorway, he expected Naruto to have gone. He wasn’t. He just strolled idly ahead, head cast down and broad shoulders slumped forward. Sasuke followed him and once he’d reached Naruto’s side, all words left him.

Not that he had any to begin with.

Of all the gifts Sasuke was bestowed with, he had never been good with words.

Naruto’s fists were balled in his pockets; nails digging deep into his palm as he resisted the urge to hit Sasuke again. He remembered his fist meeting with Sasuke’s jaw. The sick sounds of fist making contact with face and body crashing into a wall was not satisfying. He would have thought it would be.

He didn’t look at Sasuke. He was afraid to. Frightened he would probably explode and then…Naruto stopped and gazed up for the first time.

He was afraid of hurting Sasuke. The fury that came with the confusion rushed through him and he found himself seeing nothing at all.

Once, a lifetime ago, Sasuke had said, that to save him, his body had moved on its own. Now, to save Sasuke, his body couldn’t move at all.

Sasuke couldn’t help stepping back. He really couldn’t. In fact, he hadn’t noticed that he had. Naruto’s anger was palpable; it was unctuous and thick in the air of the forest Naruto had led them into. His fury slid over Sasuke like oil. Oil that was about to be lit aflame.

“You fucking bastard.”

It was the first time in an hour - Sasuke was surprised that Naruto had lasted walking besides him for that long - that Naruto spoke to him. The boy still didn’t meet his eyes.

“You fucking bastard.”

Naruto slowly turned to him, eyes that were trained on the ground were now trained on Sasuke’s feet.

“You fucking bastard.” Naruto repeated.

Sasuke swallowed a retort that was bubbling below his surface. Is that all you’ve got to say? Hn. Looks like you’re as articulate as ever.

“You left. You left. You left.”

Naruto trembled and Sasuke braced himself for the punch.

The punch that met Sasuke’s face had none of the pain or intensity he had been expecting. He was left still standing exactly where he was, jaw still intact…The punch wasn’t a punch. The only word that Sasuke could think of to describe it was brush.

It was just a brush against his cheek.

Yet it hurt.

It didn’t leave his jaw throbbing like Naruto’s first punch had. But it hurt nonetheless. There was a heat that flared from where Naruto had touched him and he resisted the urge to bring his hand to his cheek and touch the skin there in strange wonderment.

Naruto’s touch had done more damage any punch ever could.

“You left.” Naruto said once more, quieter.

He looked drained. When he collapsed onto his knees, Sasuke couldn’t move towards him. There was a barrier between them, held up by Naruto’s refusal to look at him.

“You fucking bastard.”

Sasuke heard the falter in the words. The choke that followed them.

“You don’t know, what you’ve done. You’re here. And you don’t even know what you’ve fucking done.” Naruto’s voice was hoarse now, as if worn down from use. “You’re here and you expect everything to be alright and--”

“Stop. Just stop.” Sasuke interrupted him, anger rising in his voice.

Naruto’s head snapped up at this and he stood, eyes blazing.

“Everyone fucking assumes, that I’ve come here and expect everything to be alright.” Sasuke said, his voice shaky.

He didn’t like this.

This was new, this lack of control.

He didn’t like it at all.

He licked his lips, which had gone dry under Naruto’s fierce gaze. He ran a hand through his hair, nervous. He suddenly wished Naruto was fighting him instead. Fighting was something he could do. Something he wouldn’t falter in.

This was new.

“I didn’t. I don’t. I didn’t expect a parade. I didn’t expect everyone to welcome me with open arms.” Suddenly he couldn’t look at Naruto.

He was shocked the other let him continue.

“I didn’t expect anyone to welcome me back. Or want me back. I know that.” Sasuke glanced over at Naruto before looking at a tree, suddenly seemingly fascinated by it.

“I knew that. I don’t even know why I came back. I didn’t want to come back. I mean. I’m not even back at all-”

“You’re leaving again.” Naruto said, interrupting him for the first time since he started speaking.

“I didn’t say that.” Sasuke said, angry for having been interrupted.

He snapped his gaze over to Naruto, who seemed to have calmed down. But he could see the other’s temper, simmering beneath the surface. He wondered at the fact that he was still unscathed. He could no longer deny the other’s strength.

“Look. Naruto.” Both cringed slightly at Sasuke’s use of Naruto’s name. But he continued. “I know exactly where I stand with everyone here. I know, alright? I knew that I wouldn’t be received well by anybody. Least of all by you.”

Naruto visibly slackened, although the tension in his stance still kept Sasuke guarded.

“I-I’m not going to do this.” Naruto whispered and Sasuke knew he was speaking to himself.

Naruto turned and Sasuke watched him walk away. This time, he didn’t follow.

+++

“Why didn’t you tell me you knew he was here?” Naruto whispered, pushing the food around in his plate.

“I didn’t want to upset you.” Sakura answered back.

“Yeah. Well.”

Sakura’s brow furrowed. She understood how Naruto was feeling. At least to a certain extent. Naruto had never spoken to her about what occurred at the Valley of The End. In fact, she was pretty sure he spoke about it to no one. It was only recently, that she began to understand her comrade of so long. For all his loudness, Naruto spoke so little about himself. He complained, exclaimed but never did he actually say anything that meant anything. Sakura paused, startled.

She realized. She knew almost nothing about her teammate. Nothing apart from those she’d observed herself.

“Have you seen him recently?” Naruto asked after a long silence.

Sakura stared at her plate of food. She had come over to Naruto’s house to cook him lunch. Lee was away on a mission and whenever he was away, she often spent lots of time with Naruto. Especially after Sasuke had returned five weeks ago.

She’d heard from Tsunade that they had seen each other the same day she had seen him for the first time. She didn’t know, nor did she want to know, what could have possibly happened there. She was surprised that both had come away from the meeting relatively intact. Naruto, she knew, came back untouched by Sasuke. She wasn’t sure though, how we was holding up emotionally.

“You can tell me you know.” Naruto nudged Sakura lightly. “And you haven’t even touched your food, Sakura-chan.”

Sakura laughed.

“Look who’s talking.” Sakura laughed, sticking a tongue out at Naruto before catching herself.

Nineteen years old and still acting like a child. All thoughts of acting like an adult however, were pushed out of her mind as water was thrown on her face.

“Why you…” Sakura grabbed her own glass of water and doused the blonde as he had done to her.

Soon, it was an all-out water fight; jutsus being performed before Sakura squealed that jutsus weren’t allowed as Naruto hit her with a particularly hard water-based jutsu he’d learnt recently. He’d staggered for a moment, stuttering an embarrassed apology, but his embarrassment was soon forgotten as freezing cold water drenched him from a jutsu Sakura performed.

“No Fair! You just said no more water jutsus!”

“Ok ok ok! No more water jutsus. From this point on.” Sakura giggled.

An hour later found the two in opposite sides of Naruto’s apartment, thoroughly drenched; a trail of damp chaos connecting the two. Between the both of them, Naruto’s apartment would be swimming in at least two feet of water if it weren’t for the small space between the front door and the floor. Apparently, all rules banning jutsus were forgotten five minutes after their creation.

Sakura was the first to realize the mess they had made. Her eyes widened at the mini-swamp that was now Naruto’s apartment. She stood up and saw that Naruto was doing the same.

“Give me a second, Sakura-chan.” He said, looking around him uneasily before disappearing into his bedroom.

Sakura plopped herself down on the couch and the squish sound the couch had made, caused her to giggle a little before jumping up. It felt disgusting to sit on a wet couch. She smoothed the back of her pink Capri pants, checking if the couch had made her wet, before suddenly realizing she had passed the stage of ‘wet’ about forty-five minutes beforehand.

“Here, Sakura-chan. Catch.”

Sakura turned and caught the towel Naruto had thrown to her. She thanked him before starting the diligent task of drying her pink hair. She was once again thankful for its length. Short hair generally dried faster than long.

Looking at the clock, Sakura gasped.

“I’m late! Tsunade-sama’s going to kill me!” Sakura glanced over at Naruto who, bless him, handed her his brush to borrow.

So he does brush his hair. Sakura thought to herself as she brushed her semi-dry hair in a hurry.

Naruto watched her.

“Y’know, Sakura-chan, you never did answer my question.”

Sakura’s green eyes dropped before meeting his blue ones again.

“I have seen him, Naruto. Just a few times. Twice or thrice maximum, and even then…we didn’t really talk.” She set the hairbrush down.

“You know, Naruto, I-I think, I’m…well, not over it, of course. I haven’t really forgiven him yet. But, I’m glad that he’s back. A-and, I’m sure you feel the same way.”

Naruto merely shrugged.

“Come on, Naruto,” Sakura said softly, stepping closer to her teammate. “I’m sure, your promise to me was not the only reason you wanted to bring him back. You were good friends. Don’t let this…” She didn’t finish.

Naruto watched Sakura walk down the hall away from his apartment before closing the door. He leaned against the door, letting out a shaky breath. He walked into his bedroom and placed his knuckles on the short chest of drawers he had and looked at his reflection in the mirror that hung above it.

“You were good friends.”

Keyword: were. Naruto gulped at the past tense present in the sentence. The truth was, contrary to popular belief, Naruto had pride. Perhaps not to the extent that the Uchiha had. Naruto smirked. He wasn’t a psycho when it came to that field. He could bite his tongue down from time to time - but still, it was there. And Naruto was having a hard time of biting his tongue down this time.

When he’d told Tsunade he hadn’t meant to hit Sasuke, he had been telling the truth. In all honesty, Naruto had no idea why he had been so angry. He was sure that he would have been overjoyed to see the bastard back.

He wasn’t.

Instead, he was hurt. As if the reality of Sasuke’s betrayal had only dawned on him then. The battle they’d had before Sasuke left, had affected him more than he put on.

He hadn’t understood.

“You’re my best friend.”

Naruto often woke in a cold sweat, breathing so hard, his breaths all seemed to merge into one, forming a choke instead.

“Ne, Naruto. You ok?” Shikamaru woke, stretching.

Neji was already up, staring at the fitful blond.

“Shikamaru. Don’t go near him.” Neji said quietly, as Shikamaru approached Naruto.

Shikamaru cocked his head to one side, before turning to look at the blond. His eyes widened. Naruto was barely there at all. He was looking at them and yet didn’t see them at all. Besides them, Chouji let out a small snore. Naruto’s eyes darted over at Chouji, panic evident in his eyes.

“Naruto.” Neji called, not moving from his spot, inside the sleeping bag.

Naruto glanced over at Neji, and licked his lips; nervous. Neji had never seen Naruto so frightened. So untrusting.

“What’s wrong with him?” Shikamaru crept over to Neji’s side, eyes never leaving Naruto.

“He’s had a bad dream which he thinks he’s still in.” Neji whispered back.

Shikamaru closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Troublesome. But he wasn’t annoyed. He was concerned.

Despite what Neji had said, Shikamaru made his way towards Naruto.

“God no.” Naruto had breathed.

It made Shikamaru falter and glance back over at Neji, whose eyes were trained on Naruto.

“Ne, Naruto. Snap out of it.” Shikamaru kneeled down besides Naruto, who sat up shaking in his sleeping bag.

“Don’t.” Naruto whispered.

Shikamaru placed both hands on Naruto’s shoulders.

“Don’t!” Naruto shouted, desperate and fearful.

Yet he did nothing.

Shikamaru stared, incredulous, shaking Naruto a little. Blue eyes clouded over with tears that began to spill and for a moment, Naruto looked so violated, so frightened, Shikamaru felt guilty about touching him.

Naruto coughed and Shikamaru pulled back. Looking up, Shikamaru saw Neji on Naruto’s other side. Naruto had lay down again and now he was staring up at the two, eyes seemingly swimming with fear.

“Naruto. Snap out of it.” Neji said, angry.

For a moment, Naruto’s eyes widened and he shrunk away from Neji. When he realized he was shrinking towards Shikamaru, he recoiled, looking like a cornered mouse.

“Naruto. Snap out of it.” Neji repeated. “It’s just us. Neji. Shikamaru.”

“And Chouji.”

Neji heard Chouji standing behind him, now awake.

“It’s just us. No one else.” Shikamaru whispered.

Again, he attempted to place a hand on Naruto’s shoulder. Neji did the same to his other shoulder. For a moment, the fear was gone from his eyes and therein lay confusion. The confusion faded and was replaced with embarrassment.

“I-I’m sorry.” Naruto whispered.

“It’s ok. You were dreaming.” Shikamaru said.

Neji stood.

“We should all get back to sleep. We have a lot of traveling to do tomorrow.” He said, returning to his sleeping bag.

Shikamaru lingered for a moment besides Naruto.

“You wanna talk about it?” Shikamaru asked, gently nudging Naruto.

Naruto managed a smile. He knew it probably looked nothing like one.

“It’s ok. Thanks. Sorry bout that.” Naruto said, trying a little chuckle.

He stopped, when he realized how wrong that sounded.

Shikamaru only nodded and went back to his own sleeping bag. Chouji shuffled his feet, looking at Naruto, before murmuring a good night, stumbling slowly towards his sleeping bag and then promptly fell asleep.

Naruto gazed at his teammates and whimpered a little. He didn’t think he could fall asleep again. In the dark, he could see Shikamaru’s chest rising and falling, he could hear Chouji’s gentle snores. His eyes darted over at Neji.

The man’s white eyes glittered back at him in the dark of the night.

“Naruto.” He heard the other whisper. “Naruto.”

Naruto made a small noise, to show he was listening. The fear inside him was inexplicable. Or maybe it wasn’t. Either way, Naruto swallowed, trying to bite back the panic. The irrational panic that was balling up in his throat.

“Naruto. It’s ok,” the whisper was like a breath between them. “It’s alright. We’re not him.”

When Naruto next woke, he blinked back tears that came from a dream he didn’t remember. The other three were ready, waiting patiently for him. He was embarrassed for being the reason of their delay. If they were annoyed, they did nothing to show it.

“You’re my best friend.” Was what was echoing through Naruto’s mind. He shook his head, trying to clear it.

The truth was; he didn’t understand.

All throughout the mission, he had sensed Neji’s watchful eye on his back.

Naruto hadn't even been able to fake a smile the rest of the day.