This was it. The final battle between Naruto and Sasuke. God, how he'd anticipated this! With his brother's eyes, his obviously superior skill, and his sword, he'd obliterate the little blond idiot. He thought they were still friends? Dream on!
Naruto was standing very still in the middle of a clearing, far away from Konoha. That wouldn't help him. Sasuke and his subordinates would invade the village when they were finished. Not that his subordinates were around to help. No, they were standing by, hiding out while the shinobi war raged around them. Sasuke didn't care about the war. Not now, at least. He had to get rid of Naruto, and get the nine-tails. Then Madara's plan would be complete.
He came up behind him with a surprise attack, slashing down onto his shoulder. He got a surprise of his own, however, when the smaller boy lazily raised his arm and blocked the sword. With a flick of his wrist, the sword twisted out of Sasuke's grasp. Damn. He hadn't been expecting that. When the orange and black covered boy turned, the brunette struck him in the chest with his palm, but it hardly connected. When had he gotten so fast? He grabbed his hand and twisted his arm, then pushed him away carelessly. Sasuke spun around and glared.
"It's been a while, Sasuke," Naruto murmured, looking at him with a sad face. It was the kind of face that just said he'd given up. Perfect.
"That it has," the rogue ninja returned, grinding out the words venomously. He backed up a little and picked up his sword, and then held Naruto still using the power of his eyes. There was no resistance, and no reaction.
Once inside his head, Naruto simply asked, "I guess just having a little chat is out of the question?"
"Correct," Sasuke hissed, waving his hand. Naruto was suddenly tied to a cross. "I control this place, Naruto," he said, while in the real world his slowly inched closer to his former friend's immobile body. In the world in his mind, Naruto nodded mutely.
He didn't even have to use any ninja techniques. He just stabbed the blond in the chest. Naruto crumpled to the forest floor.
In his mind, however, millions of images assaulted Sasuke. Naruto's horrid, lonely childhood, and his solid resolve to become someone everyone would like and respect. The time when they'd accidentally kissed, the time they'd come back beaten and bruised after learning to control their chakras, the time Sasuke had saved him. Then there was the day that they'd tried to glimpse behind Kakashi's mask, and Naruto must had looked over and seen him hugging Chouji around the neck, and the eyes through which he saw this connected with a voice and laughed. The images started with jealousy and a little bit of malice, but then eased into something that he'd only felt a little behind his own burning lust for revenge: friendship.
Then came training. He had all the information he needed, and yet... he couldn't bring himself to leave Naruto's mind and run to tell everything to Madara. He was overwhelmed with the sense of friendship, of how Naruto didn't think once of killing Sasuke, but of convincing him to come back.
Finally, it seemed to linger on a picture of team 7, with Naruto and Sasuke looking angry, Sakura happy, and askashi looking like he was trying to be the mediator. Sasuke might have laughed aloud.
He wrenched himself from the boy's mind with a gasp. Looking down at the open blue eyes and the pained expression, he paused. What was he doing, anyways? He killed his brother, who was following orders. Now he was getting revenge on a village that had down nothing! The Hokage was to blame for that, and the Hokage that had made that order was dead. There was no one to blame, ad he'd just killed his best friend. Yes, he admitted it, Naruto was the best friend he'd ever had.
"C-come on, Naruto, stay awake," Sasuke said as gently as he could, smiling. "It's going to be okay. You're going to make it, just watch. Hold on..."
"Sa...Sasuke?" Naruto asked, struggling to see him. "Is that you?"
"Yes. Come on moron, stay awake."
"I... it was good to see you again," the blond said softly. The life in his eyes faded. The last bit of breath left his lungs, and his body went limp.
It started raining. Sasuke stared dumbly at the shinobi. He shook him. He tried healing him. Oh, the wound closed up nicely, not even a scar. The rain washed away the blood. But Naruto didn't open his eyes or sit up.
"Come on." The words came out short. "Wake up. Wake up! Wake up, wake up, wake up! Hello? You idiot!" Sasuke yelled, throwing the body down. He back away and pulled his knees up, wrapping his arms around them, and he cried. Damn it all, what had he done?
A hand patted his back, and his glanced up, expecting a subordinate. No. The blond stood there, looking worried, his head tilted to one side. "You okay?"
Sasuke scooped him up in his arms and hugged him. "Woah, hey, what do you think you're doing?!" Naruto demanded, struggling against the vice grip on his arms. He feet were off the ground and Sasuke's face was buried in his shoulder.
"Don't ever let me be so stupid again, alright?" he growled.
Naruto kicked his legs uselessly, and then replied, "okay."
Karin came running back and told Sasuke that they'd lost the war and that Madara was dead. He beat her up and told her to shove it right where the sun don't shine. He then went with his friend back to his town where he would face the punishment for his actions.
********
So, I haven't written anything in a while. This just popped into my head. Not BL just the normal friendship implied in Naruto. Hope you liked it!
~Mocha
Karin sat up in her futon when she heard the knock at her door. For an enemy, the citizens of Konoha were treating her very kindly, and the small white hospital room had a relaxing feel to it, which really did help her rehabilitation. She flipped the covers off her body, swung her legs out onto the floor, and grunted as she stood up off of the low bed. Her footsteps were quiet as she padded lightly towards the door, the afternoon sun lighting her way.
When she opened the door and saw who was on the other side, she winced self-consciously. Naruto had probably been the nicest to her. He'd never accused her of anything, and had accompanied the nurse on more than one occasion to her room for lunch. He always told the funniest stories, and was still trying to convince her that you could live off of ramen. She knew that he was one of the reasons she was recovering so quickly.
But today he had a sad smile on his face. A smile that she'd only glimpsed a few times, after he'd laughed at something he'd remembered about Sasuke, and before he'd hurriedly changed the subject. A smile that was shown seconds before tears spilled over and the voice of the one crying, no matter who it was, would rise and fall so much that the words spoken would be incoherent.
"Naruto," Karin gasped, stepping aside, "come inside. Sit," she said, gesturing at the small table. "Would you like some tea?" she added, rummaging through the baby blue painted cupboards.
"Yes, please," Naruto said softly, his head down.
As Karin set a cup of the bitter yellowish liquid down in front of him, Naruto picked up the drink and took a long gulp. When he finished and set the cup down, he rested his chin against his chest in thought. Karin sat down across from him and put her hands in her lap, waiting for him to speak. The bright orange of his outfit, which usually made the room more colorful when he entered, seemed to be drab and gray, as if reflecting his mood, portrayed by his slumped shoulders and the dark circles under his eyes.
When he did lift his head and breathe in sharply through his nose, Karin sat back and braced herself for his next words.
"Kakashi is worried that Sasuke will come and kill you," Naruto said, leaning forward and resting his forearms on the table, "as you are now a liability. A loose end, so to speak."
"That's not the only reason you're here, Naruto," Karin said softly. She reached up a hand to tuck a stray hair back behind her ear. She leaned forward, taking a breath and holding it, then settled back on her heels and pinched the bridge of her nose between her right thumb and forefinger.
"Explain to me why you look so tired," she murmured, glancing up at the dejected looking blond.
"I was looking for this all night," he said, holding out a folded piece of paper. The edges of the yellowed paper were rough, and the whole thing was slightly curved, showing that it had probably been stuffed into its fair share of pockets. Karin smiled gently, and slowly unfolded it. Sakura Haruno, Naruto and Sasuke all stood closest to the camera in the photograph, with their headbands drooping over their left eyes. Kakashi-sensei was in the back with a suspicious book and a bored look in his uncovered eye. Karin laughed, then refolded the paper and started to hand it back to Naruto.
"No, you keep it," he uttered quickly. "I was hoping that if you did see Sasuke, you could, um... ah, I was hoping you could give it to him!" he finished in a rush.
"Of course I'll try," Karin all but whispered. She smiled softly.
"Thanks," Naruto said, standing up. "Really, I owe you one."
"Just one question. Why?"
He stopped in his tracks, his hand on the door handle. "For luck. When I left for training, that picture reminded me of my motivation. That maybe..." he sighed, then finished with an embarrassed chuckle, "maybe Team 7 would be together again." Then he left.
**********
Sasuke swung in through the window of the hospital room a second after Naruto had left. The idiot still thought any of the people around here meant something to him? Dream on, loser!
Karin turned around at his approach, eyes wide. He reached out to wrap his fingers around her scrawny neck, but she rushed into him before he could do anything. A foot away from him, she slammed the photograph into his chest.
"Sasuke, you, you," she took a breath and kissed her life good-bye, as she should. "You baka!"
Surprised, Sasuke stepped back, reaching up to catch the picture.
"If you'd been here a little longer, stayed with him even a day more, you wouldn't have turned out like this. You're so stupid, so bent on revenge that you don't even know how great your life could have been here!" She was crying now, out of pity for Naruto, he guessed, who still foolishly thought of Sasuke as a friend.
"You could have been stronger than you are now..." she trailed off. Then choked.
"As if," Sasuke hissed, lifting her off the ground with one hand. She kicked her legs, clutching his forearm, gasping and trying to breathe through her blocked airway. Her grip weakened, her eyes rolled back, and she almost stopped struggling.
Footsteps echoed down the hallway, and a nurse rushing in with lunch was becoming inevitable. Sasuke dropped the nearly lifeless mass, a dull thud sounding out in the room. He then picked up the picture and jumped to the window.
"Where are you going with that?" Karin gasped, propping herself up on an elbow.
"I'm going to burn it," he said, finally slipped out of the hospital room that reeked of ramen and laundry detergent.
***********
Back at camp, Sasuke held the picture over the fire. Even Madara was giving him space since he'd returned, which was surprisingly calming. He gazed at the photograph, thinking about where they'd taken it.
They'd been trying, (and failing,) at seeing Kakashi with his mask off. Somehow he'd ended the escapade with his arms wrapped around Chouji's neck, trying to choke him, but had loosened his grip and donned a stupid smile when Kakashi-sensei had turned to look at him and the rest of his team. As revenge, he and Naruto had actually worked together to convince Ino to snap a picture of Team 7 with their headbands tied Kakashi style.
He poised his thumbs and index fingers on each side of the photograph, preparing to rip it up and toss it into the flames, but instead, he folded it up and tucked it into the pocket of the inside of his shirt.
Maybe he wasn't as cold a detached as he'd have liked to believe.
The End
