Below are the 3 most recent journal entries recorded in Naruto/Sasuke Only Community's InsaneJournal:

Sunday, August 13th, 2017
6:44 pm	[Fanfic] What is and Will be http://naruxsasu.livejournal.com/409757.html Originally posted by youji_yola at [Fanfic] What is and Will be Title: What is and Will be Fandom: Naruto Rating: T Pairing: Sasuke and Naruto Notes: Post chapter 698. Posted in Ao3 and FFnet. I haven't been active in the Naruto fandom for years (aside from reading the manga), but the fact that it's ending and how PERFECT chapter 698 is has woken so much feelings in me.  The coming end is so bittersweet and I've been rereading the whole series and so much nostalgia.  I thank this community and this fandom and Kishimoto for making such a beautiful work of art that's occupied 15 years of my 25 years.  This pairing will always be in my heart. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If there is one constant in their friendship, it is the endless need to compete and beat each other in one thing or another. It surges in the ragged silence between them as they waited for the end. Hearts ragged from the truths and insecurities of their relationship, bared out in the open in the fluid flowing from a silenced kekkei genkai and the wincing laughter tumbling past bruised lips. It surges when Sasuke's heartbeat speeds up, blood rushing in his ears and vision blurring more than the effects of the sharingan. They've lost too much blood and Naruto's been too quiet, all ragged breathing and random twitches. "Dying first isn't winning, idiot." Sasuke says after Naruto takes a stuttering breath. It reverberates in his bones and sends an alarm through him, painful in a way his missing arm couldn't compare. Naruto faces him, right eye shinning in annoyance as the other swells shut.   He winces from the effort and the pull of his muscles, tugging at the torn edges of his missing hand. Big blue eyes cloud, wavering in liquid that doesn't spill as blond lashes lower on fatigued cheeks. "Shut up, ass." "Not a competition," Sasuke snorts, "You sure are racing to the next world." "Are you trying... to piss me off?" The wet gasps are impossible to ignore. Both of them have numerous broken bones and torn muscles, vast amounts of lacerations and bruises. Sasuke remembers kicking hard and fast at a mesh covered chest. Imagined his leg going past the bones and flesh, feeling the echo of bones crunching from the impact as the sensation traveled up his leg. Probably punctured lung in that rage fueled force. "All those grandiose plans were all talk." "I'd hit you if I could." "All talk." Enraging the blond is the last thing Sasuke wants to do after all the aggression hours prior, but it is the best he could do. He does his best to keep his friend's mind active, his eyes opening and closing in concentration and effort. All to keep the other from slipping in the quiet lull, the trap that would steal him away. It hurts to grin at his friend, but Naruto does it all the same. Sasuke's face is as relaxed as he's ever seen it. His pale face is lax, free of the usual scowl and even glowing with a half smile on his battered face. "Just you wait, teme," it hurts to glare, but the smile blooms bigger and it makes him chuckle and flinch. God, everything hurts, but they're all right. Sasuke glowing under the morning light, smiling without a care of the world. Face a handsome mix of colors, the red into blues into greens and everything in between painting splotches over pale skin. The oddest feeling, that everything is perfect in this moment, hits Naruto right then and there and everything hurts from his body to his heart. They're bleeding to death with smiles on their faces and it feels right. His eyesight blurs to nothing but Sasuke's face, softly haloed by the bright rising sun and Naruto wants to pat him on the cheek. His eyelids and chest feels heavy, fatigue and pressure and his mouth tastes like salted copper, but he smiles because they are fine and wishes so much that he could reach out just once. Sasuke hears Naruto cough and cough, thick fluid sounds building with each inhale and exhale until he stops, wheezing with eyes closed shut. "Naruto!" Sasuke calls and hears nothing in return. His body strains, back vibrating tense and abs crunching to push him up, spin him closer, anything to reach the blond breathing deep yet so motionless. He manages to roll on his stomach and sends pinpricks through his chest, spreading outward to his raised, stretching arm. Blood oozes from his mutilated arm and his vision distorts, wavers, Every breath hurts more and more, but Naruto's too still. His right hand shakes and falls just short of touching a tanned, bloody stump just as his vision fades. Sasuke faces his one and only friend and lets the tears fall, unhidden, just this once. ~~~~~~~~~~~ The rhythmic clicking of something on wood is the first sound Sasuke hears as he wakes from the inky nothingness of recovery. His mind feels sluggish, fuzzy with sleep and drugs for just a second before instincts send his heart racing, pumping to wakefulness, to move his body into action. The surroundings are unfamiliar enough and it makes him tense, body readying to jerk up. If he could. He's on fire. Each and every nerve explodes in pain, from his fingers to his toes, paralyzing his muscles in bone creaking tension that makes the aches flare worse. "Calm down before I drug you up more, Uchiha." Strong fingers dig deep into his skin as it seizes his shoulders and push him down on the bed. Sasuke struggles in the unfamiliar touch until the painful grasp breaks through the all over sting thrumming through his body. A pitiful sound erupts from his throat, pushes him to struggle more from the secure grip and it isn't fair. None of it. "Uchiha!" Brown eyes pin him and gives his panicking mind anchor in the present. "Why?" His voice breaks in the middle and Sasuke wills his right arm to rise and cover his face, but nothing moves. Nothing but his muscles contracting and freezing in place, wound tight and not painful enough. "What?!" "Why am," Another sound claws up his chest, morphs into a sound close to a whine, "Why am I alive?" "Why?" The Godaime's face shutters to annoyance, "Do you know where you are?" "Why me?!" "You aren't making sense, Uchiha." "Naruto-" Sasuke swallows the burning in his throat, sinking it deeper in his chest. He is in Konoha hospital, alone and recovering from wounds he knew were fatal. He tries to open his mouth to continue, but the feeling is unbearable and his chest constricts and none of it is fair. He can't take in enough air and yet he breathes too much. Tsunade eyes the child in front of her, the thin thread of control the young Uchiha grasps as he fights against hyperventilating. It is the first time she's seen an emotion on his porcelain face aside from rage and depression. Without context of the battle, she had decided to separate the explosive rivals to prevent any further antagonism before they'd fully healed. But the shaking form in front of her reminds her too much of herself in the wake of Dan and Nawaki's demise, physically and emotionally weighed down by loss and survivor's guilt. "Calm down and think. Naruto is a couple of doors down the corridor." The next breath Sasuke takes gets stuck down the wrong pipe. It takes him seconds to recover his lungs and his heart, "What?" "He's fine." "But he stopped breathing..." Black eyes regard at her in suspicion and Tsunade fights the urge to throttle him. Only one kid had the right to question her, "You heard me kid." "How?" "Do you think us incompetent?" Silence answers her and Tsunade feels a vein pulse on her forehead. She has to take a meditative second, to sigh at the expectant look she receives, "Sakura found you two and kept you both safe until help arrived." "And?" "And what?" Sasuke growls. His limbs still feel like lead, uselessly lying on the hospital bed. The usual hum he always, always feels with Naruto nearby is absent and it fills his mind with questions and anxieties, too many anxieties to name. "You will see him when you've both recovered." "How long have we been sleeping?" "You were both comatose for six days," Tsunade lifts an eyebrow, at the we Sasuke uses, "Naruto woke up eight hours ago, asking for real food." Sasuke feels an unbidden twitch at the corner of his lips, "Ramen you mean." "Yes." She can't help but join his amusement despite how much she blames him for all the pain Naruto willingly suffered. "Now, as much as I'd like to talk about Naruto, I must check you now that you are awake before my other patients need me." Pale, green tinted cheeks color red, tilting away from her in a huff. Hysterics out of the way, Tsunade takes note on her second critical patient. She reaches for his intact hand, to form a connection with his chakra, feeling the low buzz of his chakra still dangerously low. She ghosts her fingers over the chakra points of his torso, sending small amounts of healing chakra along the way to aid the process without overwhelming his fragile pathways. Her inspection continues until her fingers travel to his left shoulder. She feels his stare and the solemn blankness as the chakra she sends out spreads through the arm before abruptly stopping at the stump. She notices the slight difference in his dark eyes, left eye slightly discolored and greyer than the other. The way he squints at the windows at the left when her stare gets too intense. "Concentrate on recovering and you can talk to him." Sasuke tsks at her, still looking away, and Tsunade gives into the urge to pinch the arm she's unconsciously comforting. "I will tell him. Rest and eat, that's all I ask." Tsunade looks at him, at the small form lying flat on the sterile bed. Her mind remembers the decimated statues and foliage that surrounded him and Naruto, showcasing their monstrous potential for all to fear. So much passionate destruction. Yet alone between clean white sheets, subdued by injuries, she sees a teenager much too young for all the shit he'd been through. "Tell him to hurry up," Sasuke turns and smirks up at her, reminding her too much of another pale face with just as much bravado. "I'm not your errand girl," She throws him a frown before slamming the door. She gives them two weeks. Two weeks before either, or both, leave the hospital without her permission. She feels it in her gut. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Two days pass before Sasuke's body listens to his brain. It stings and hurts to push himself up and off the bed with muscles slightly atrophied from disuse, and hurts even worse when he flings his legs to the side to rest them on the floor, but it's the first step to recovery that feels like triumph. The stump at his left feels awkward and throws his balance when he takes a hesitating step forward, trusting his will to keep him upright. The stump flails around when he flings both arms out, as if walking on a tightrope, and doesn't add anything but confusion to the sensations he feels after so much time motionless. He remembers Naruto doing the same, for totally different reasons and it pushes his legs forwards, one stilted step at a time. Every step feels jarring, yet refreshing. Each step leading a surge of anticipation. Sasuke opens the door and sees the dead end on his left and the long bright corridor on his right. The air outside is just as still and unnerving as within his room and it takes no effort to leave whatever comfort his bed offered. The trek is slow and grueling, with each opened door containing hapless injured persons he doesn't recognize. Sasuke feels a thread of anger by the fifth startled face he glares at. That she had been lying to keep him quiet and sedate in the hospital bed. It mixes with the fear and anxiety and anticipation swirling in his gut. He is almost at the end of the corridor, with two doors left, and no where closer to finding the other. His legs shake with so much effort that his knees almost knock together. His torso burns with the energy it takes to keep him standing. He takes three steps before turning and leaning on the wall, to slide down and calm his nerves. He doesn't remember the hurried gasps and raging turmoil the last time he'd been in this building. He remembers the roiling rage and bitterness but none of the helpless despair eating away at the hope he'd been fed. It makes him take a ragged gasp, his head falling down to meet his trembling chest. "Sasuke?" He looks up and doesn't know what emotion is on his face and doesn't care enough to hide when Naruto looks just as shitty as he feels, with bruises still blossoming on his skin and sweat dripping all over his face. "The hell you doin' on the floor?" "Took you long enough," Sasuke inhales deep and the burn wanes enough for him to raise his hand. There's too much relief in his voice and everything's too raw around the edges when he says, "Dobe." Naruto gives his hand a dirty look and this understanding between them is new and familiar at once. Both their grips are unsure and slippery with anxiety, their arms trembling from lack of use, but Sasuke holds his hand up and Naruto reaches. Sasuke pushes up with unsteady legs and Naruto pulls with legs just as iffy. They overestimate their abilities, too used to everything being too easy and Sasuke stumbles, his stump has nothing to grasp and his other hand's occupied. Naruto only has the hand held in Sasuke's grip and his other arm thrashes about as he pulls the other to him and overcompensates. They both tumble quick to the ground, and Sasuke has enough thought to move their hands behind Naruto's head, which smashes them both to some degree. It hurts and reminds them that they are still, technically, injured and recovering. The impact jars Naruto's broken ribs. The floor is unyeilding and Sasuke's chest just as merciless. The mix of cold floor and hot body heat multiplying the pain. He cusses into the pale shoulder in front of his face and he is so close to crying if it chest didn't feel like it was being squeezed of all air. Sasuke cusses as his stump hits the ground to catch himself, thankfully on the underside and not straight flat. He hisses louder when his right hand pulses in pain from taking the brunt of Naruto's head. Their stupidity is something familiar and it makes Sasuke breath better into the shoulder below him. He lets his body rest a little, legs tangled with the ones below him, arm curled up and edged by a tan arm, hand fully under the blond's head as Naruto's fingers loosely circled his wrist. The position is uncomfortable in it's comfortableness, and Sasuke feels so bone tired from all the effort and action, two days after waking up, so he moves slightly closer, ignores the embarrassment edging his conscious. "Sasuke," Naruto gasps, "my ribs." They are, after all, injured. "Sorry," Sasuke looks him square in the eyes, noses inches from each other. He is sorry for pushing them both to this point, from their fights and this debacle, and the blond's cheeks color a little. "Ah." They both imagine a tanned hand scratching a whiskered cheek. Just standing is a difficult affair. Sasuke tries his best to do it on his own, but one handed requires him to push harder at Naruto's chest and legs, to find purchase to push up and off. His push down centers mostly at his upper thighs and groin, and they both gasp for a different reason that has him feeling like they're twelve again, full of awkwardness and unknowns. Sasuke rests back down on top Naruto and ignores how much his heart is thudding so loud and how Naruto's heart echoes his own, just to remove the pressure of his first try. He contemplates pushing up with his stump for the second try when he feels Naruto's body stiffen, abs turning rock hard under Sasuke's as he pushes up. Some part of him is a little miffed that Naruto has enough energy to lift both of them off the ground, mostly on his own, while Sasuke pressed at his shoulder to push his back up, giving his legs leeway to gather underneath him. They a more normal position, with Naruto sitting up, thighs warmly caging Sasuke's own. It's still a weird contact, but much more neutral than before. "Ow," Naruto's heaves and gulps in big lungfuls of air like he hadn't been breathing, and perhaps he hadn't because of his injury. "Thanks," The foreign word readily leaves his lips and it makes Naruto smile so blindingly that Sasuke vows to use it more in the future. Naruto laughs and coughs before pushing himself off the ground. He squares his stance after he stands, legs steady and planted flat on the ground, and reaches down, offering his upturned palm near Sasuke's face. Sasuke frowns at it on principle. It makes Naruto's grin deepen and Sasuke feels so much to be thankful for as he takes that warm palm into his own, much surer than earlier, but still just as disgustingly slick. ~~~~~~~~~~ Tsunade finds them both in Naruto's room, much less orderly and bland than Sasukes. She doesn't look surprised as Naruto sprawled on the bed, while Sasuke sat close enough that their hips touched, but her face does scrunch up in confusion when both their faces, and their clothes, show no signs of a scuffle. She walks into a silent but tension-less room and stop a couple of steps away from the bed. Two sets of eyes look at her, one curiously and the other it's customary blankness, although both gives her a sense of peace she doesn't really understand. " 'Baa-chan!" Naruto calls her, still lying down on his back and looking more at ease than she's seen him since he'd woken. "How the hell did you get here?" Tsunade ignores him in favor of questioning the intruder in the room. "I walked," Sasuke replies with arrogance dripping in every word and it makes Naruto snigger beside him like it's the best joke in the world. The sniggers trigger an answering smirk on the pale face, annoyingly quiet and confident, and all of it makes Tsunade's head hurt with the urge to smack them both. "You should be in bed," Tsunade ignores her initial reaction, too detrimental to either of their health and tries her best to be the professional medical nin they need. "And I am," There's a minute bow from the brunet's head that sends Naruto into a fit of guffaws. She glares at them both, ignored by one and heeded by the other. Naruto's laugher dies down to a manageable level, to hide behind his lone hand, while black eyes stare at her for a blink then back to his companion. " 'Baa-chan," Naruto has the gall to admonish her, eyes full of disapproval and teasing. "He's just visiting." "Not when both of you are still recovering," Tsunade feels so much exasperation, from dealing with too many idiots that it's bittersweet. "You both just woke up," she hisses. "And we both got bored," Naruto says like it explains their relationship to an outsider. Tsunade slightly understands from Orochimaru and Jiraiya, but not so much that health wasn't a concern. Her old team mates were close enough to beat each other to a pulp over arguments or pure fun, but not close enough to visit each other during their numerous hospital stays. The close contact between the two boys in front of her is possible only because of their missing limbs, arms out of the way from touching something incriminating. "I take it both of you are healthy enough to move around?" "No," Sasuke looks down his hands, picking at his fingernails. "We hobbled back here," Naruto proudly exclaims at the same time. Their relationship is much more greys and mashing than she understands, "All the more reason to go back." Sasuke snorts. "Just a sec," Naruto sniggers, "Teme might pass out if he tries right now." The glare the dark haired boy throws at him is mild, with no real anger in the gaze, "As if you're any better." "Hey, I got back to my room." "Which was only a few steps away." "Still counts," Naruto blows a raspberry. "Such a kid," Sasuke says condescendingly. "Boys!" Tsunade cuts in before anything happens that would make their statuses worse. The air around them still carefree and friendly, but the volatility of their relationship is enough cause to stop them for now. Naruto regards her with surprise, like he'd forgotten about her, while Sasuke glowered, faintly tinged with hostile energy. "You are both still recovering," She repeats, slowing down for emphasis, "As both your doctor, I need both of you to stay put and let your bodies recover." "But we walked fine for a while already," Naruto frowns up, sitting up with a grimace. Their shoulders bump each other and both faces crease in pain before Naruto scoots back, closer to the middle of the bed. Sasuke shoots him an annoyed frown as Naruto responds with an apologetic look. "Be more careful." "I know!" And like that, they're back into their own little world. "Because," Tsunade raises her voice, not yet yelling but close, "you're both too stubborn to lie still. Both of your chakra are too depleted to heal you properly and any stupid movement could ruin days worth of chakra therapy and bones setting." Naruto hms and Sasuke hns, but neither move from their spot. "Then can Sasuke stay here?" Naruto innocently asks her while Sasuke turns away from them both, cheeks color red. There isn't really any reason for her to refuse other than her own fear of history repeating itself. His last stay caused by the other brat is still too fresh in her mind to agree. " 'Baa-chan! It's so boring here," Naruto whines like he's twelve and not tall enough to stare at her, eye to eye. He pouts and almost raises his arms to cross them, before remembering and just lowers the one hand down again. "Three days," Tsunade folds, "Give each other three quiet days and we'll see." Naruto salutes her and Sasuke's head dips. They don't show any inclination to separate until she mentions that both of them need to be examined more thoroughly since they decided to move more than their recovery allowed. They both stare at her with dull expressions, waiting for her to check them, until she the word naked leaves her lips. She can't help but cackle, inside of course she is a professional, when they shift away from each other as if their point of contact burned. She watches a dark hair bow and, without a word, shuffle slowly out of the room. Tsunade feels the urge to help the proud Uchiha limp to his room, to fulfill a part of her duty, but watching Naruto's intense blue gaze track the other's movements out of the room roots her on the spot. She has never seen them together, sedate and separate from their personal demons, but seeing them now, embarrassed and tongue-tied and all of their sixteen years, she sees all to well why their relationship is much rockier than her teammates had been. She feels so much unsaid things between them, hovering in the powerful silence. Waiting to be let out. (Comment on this)
6:44 pm	[Fanfic] To Live a Dream http://naruxsasu.livejournal.com/409498.html Originally posted by youji_yola at [Fanfic] To Live a Dream Title: To Live a Dream Fandom: Naruto Rating: T Pairing: Sasuke and Naruto Notes: Post chapter 693. Posted in Ao3 and FFnet Crimson eyes trail his movements across the room. Nails click in sync with his footsteps on the cold, concrete floor.  Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. Sasuke regards the dripping bag before him.  Rolls his shoulder a little to relieve some tension he builds up with each sluggishly slow day. Always tense. He pivots to regard the corner of his office where a coiled form sat.  Hears a telltale growl, feels the low tune stir the hairs on his arm and raise the anticipation that's been dormant for weeks. He feels the pull of the sharingan rapidly spinning.  Basks in the chakra responding, fluctuating, flinching from his own.  Air stills, moves like a heat wave of monstrous chakra versus monstrous chakra.  It is hard to breathe, but Sasuke resists the urge to lick his lips, to smirk at it all.  The fire in his gut is so familiar, almost painful in it's strength. But the sharingan's contractions quiet and still as the opposing chakra ebbs and a blond head bows with shoulders tense, movements stilted. Sasuke thinks he relishes the power. The way a tanned shoulder slopes in defiant obedience, spine still rod straight as he bowed. All without a word. The deafening quiet. He throws a "tch" at nothing and resumes perusing the content of the bag staining his pristine desk. The sharingan shows him the head is truth.  Unmistakable truth. The bulbous nose is bruised and almost split to oblivion.  The rest of the head grossly mangled and covered in slashes, denoting pure, sadistic enjoyment. Sasuke makes a mental note to deal with whomever had hunted Onoki.  He has no need for a psychopath. A bark of laughter before he could stop himself. He remembers the old man staring him down despite his short statute.  Defying Sasuke's order to stand down or suffer the consequences. He remembers the older man spiting disgusting confidence and reminding him of too much. All too much. The urge to chuck the useless trophy at the other boy is strong.  Naruto would be disgusted, bewildered, hurt. Furious. Blond hair sways as the head rises slightly.  Red, sharingan overlaid eyes regard him, still in a prone position.  Predatory eyes filled with pure hate watching. Always waiting. Naruto would be. But he is long gone. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sakura is the first elite konoha ninja to crack, one night after the second month of his reign.  He expected as much, especially with the hope still shining in her eyes the day he'd captured her group. She enters his public office, shabby around the edges, but oh so certain.  Her green eyes vibrant and determined, though lined with dark sleep deficiency.  She'd worn the clothes Sasuke had sent down to the dungeons.  It's a perfect mimic of her genin clothes, down to the family crest on the back.  Her smile haltingly pointed his way. Sasuke knows she is ready to stab him in the back.  In her mind she would heroically heal him. To love him into submission. Or stop him with her inhuman strength, to release him from the world. All because she loves him. He scoffs. Listens to her blabber on about helping him build a better system.  Her bureaucratic experience with the Hokage and how much she could personally help him. He needs nothing of what she offers. He has everything he wants. But she is the first konoha ninja that mattered.  She is a batchmate and someone with plenty of sway with the other elites.  Her presence alone would reassure them, give them a false sense of control over him. He could deal with her betrayal.  Easily. Sasuke leads her to the other office.  The one where all meaningful businesses occurred.  It is on the opposite side of the building, separated by rooms and rooms of emptiness.  He doesn't need to look to see her following him, still full of determination and purpose. Sasuke opens the door with a thrill coursing his spine.  Looks straight ahead and lays her down on the stained desk without so much as a look at that corner.  Her cheeks color and it feels like he's swallowing delightful ash.  It makes him smile with some teeth that probably drops the bottom of her resolve and ignites lust long ignored. Was it nostalgia that makes her blush? He gives her another smile.  Gives her that much for her determination, before starting to peel each and every piece of her clothing with all the care he didn't feel. The rose coloring her cheeks travels down her skin, following his pale fingers as he feels all the different curves and softness he had always disregarded. Sasuke lifts his head away from the nipple he'd been trying, and failing, to enjoy.  His eyes seek a familiar form in the dark. Not-Naruto stares blankly at them.  No recognition or emotion registering on his too bare face.  He is like a bronzed statue with dark red eyes reflecting what little light comes through the office's barred and warded windows. He stares and stares with hardly a twitch.  Chest moving slightly with breath, eyes blinking in regular, exact intervals.  Not-Naruto stares. Full of nothing and everything Sasuke needs. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The second elite Konoha ninja to swear to him is of no consequence.  Sasuke doesn't remember who, only that Suigetsu appeared in between the meeting to mention a disturbing sound coming from his other office. Something in him twists, uncomfortable and heavy.  It yells 'he is fighting' while another part of him hisses 'he is fighting'. Sasuke drops all the paperwork he's inspecting, the names he'd prepared to form his new governing leaders.  His haphazard movement throws a scroll against the inkwell, splashes black ruin over another scroll he'd been working on for days. He spares it a glance, hears Suigetsu start his name, before he strides past his right hand man, past the unknown traitor and the work he must do. The other office is far, far away. Footsteps upon footsteps away. Sasuke hurries without hurrying.  It would be unbecoming to rush in his own domain. The door is the same as always, nondescript and functional.  But.. The smell of something burning is alarming.  The smell of burned flesh and hair is even worse. He opens the door and knows the worst. The ward on the westward window is scorched. Across the room, splayed on the stained desk thrown to the wall by sheer preventive power, a still form covered in backlash burns and dripping red, angry slices. ~~~~~~~ The wards are used up and ruined.  Burned on the windows, inerasable without replacing walls and boards. Sasuke chooses another room for that office.  One with an attached room, big enough for a bed.  And windows covered in weaker wards. Before he moves the office to the other room, Sasuke orders Karin to clean and treat the unconscious boy.  All under his alert eyes. He watches as each of her actions uncover fresh wounds, impossibly unhealed.  Her applied chakra healing backfires when it touches the tanned boy's skin, cutting little fissures on her smooth fingers.  She switches to a different spot and earns the same reward. "Guess we're going to go the natural way, Sasuke-kun," Karin grimaces and Sasuke dismisses her.  Before she forgets her purpose and uselessly gushes over him. Sasuke hefts the dead weight in his arms and hates the clamminess he feels against his skin. Naruto breathes, but doesn't stir.  Still smelling of burnt flesh and blood. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sasuke thinks he's going blind and senile at once. Once in a while his vision blurs as he feels a burn at his center. All his previous thoughts fizzle out and stop as his mind supplies pictures of pale fingers touching, tenderly touching, a tanned neck, a tanned cheek. Images of a tanned shoulder inches from his nose. The smell too. Much more pungent than he's used to smelling. Images then he's back doing something.  More paperwork and planning.  So much planning in all the silence. Naruto breathes, but doesn't stir. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ By the fifth day of quiet, Sasuke vows to find the person responsible. He doesn't remember who had laid the seals for the wards and more than likely he'd given the duty to Juugo or Suigetsu to overlook. But there must be a paper trail to who or how. There must. But he finds none, so he tracks down his subordinates in the training ground.  Takes all the information they can supply.  They regard him with raised and furrowed brows, but ask no questions. "Sasuke-kun!" Sakura calls out to him, somewhere behind his left.   He looks, but doesn't turn to her.  Waits while he processes the information he'd gained. She'd clearly been training. Her hair is flat and darker with sweat, her skin flushed with exertion. Her stomach is flat with fitness. All lean muscle under her almost skin-tight training clothes. "Are you okay, Sasuke-kun?"  She seems okay and settled.  Sasuke could even call it happy. But Sasuke knows she is a traitor.  A betrayer. He 'hns' at her, but gives a nod.  Doesn't give her enough time to talk before he poofs back to his room, rummages his desk to assemble a couple of weapons and paraphernalia. His glance slides to the right.  To the opened door and what's within. Sasuke shoves a few packs of ryo in the hidden compartments of his kimono. Packs a little more to stand beside the weapons. Sasuke softly closes the door after one last glance. Naruto breathes and breathes. ~~~~~~~~~~ The hunt takes only hours, but all for nothing.  Of course the man is dead. Sasuke surveys the old man's ruined shack and the telltale signs of a struggle past the opened thin door. He could already smell the old, familiarly old, blood that's waiting within. No doubt a victim of criminals exploiting the lack of government figures in Konoha. It is an aspect that didn't fully cross Sasuke's mind until now. With Tsunade in hiding and her anbu guards in tow, no one dared to gather and protect the population from common criminals.  All, but the few groups his subordinates had captured, hid in fear and hate. He feels another twist somewhere, a burning at the base of his throat. His vision blurs and, again, he sees pale fingers stroke a slight, but steadily rising and falling collarbone. The heat of a body comfortably close. Blond hair irritating his cheeks. And he snaps out of it as he hovers in front of a desk strewn with scrolls upon scrolls of unknown material. All of it looks like gibberish, chicken scratches and scribbles.  He knows each stroke is purpose-filled and specific, but it is all nonsense. Sasuke makes a sound from the depths of his throat. He grabs a couple of the cleaner looking scrolls.  Slams the door shut, hard enough to shake the whole shack.  Maybe destroy the whole house if he tried again. The sharingan swirls and pulls. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Dude, Sasuke, you don't look too good," Suigetsu greets him from the desk chair in his office. Sharp teeth bared in a wide, pleased grin. Sasuke doesn't remember stationing him to watch and it sends the sharingan spinning, his stance lowering into something.  To hurt and disable. "Guh," Suigetsu stands ramrod straight, backs up from the desk and scratches the back of his head, "I was just checking if your friend is still okay.  You didn't tell use how long you'd stay out." A too familiar gesture. "He is not my friend," The sharingan spins even faster. Suigetsu smiles that nothing, all too familiar, smile, "God, you're so weird." A blink of red and Sasuke relishes the water sliding between his fingertips from the white haired boy's ruined hand.  Hand defensively raised in front of his surprised face. Sasuke straightens and lowers his arm, marching past his subordinate to the door waiting, looming. "Damn," The other teenager shoots Sasuke a glare he feels burning right between his shoulder blades. "Something's really wrong with you, Uchiha." "No one enters this room," Sasuke says without a look back, cold doorknob cooling his head. "Whatever you say," He hears 'dickwad' mumbled as footsteps leave and another door closes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The room is as he left it. Minimal and functioning.  A light and a bed. The bed, just as he remembers.  Not a single wrinkle or fold out of place. Sasuke stands over the foot of the bed and Naruto is just as still as before.  Chest rhythmically moving in, breath by quiet breath.  He considers forcing a Hyuuga to scan for anomalies.  For damage wrought by the wards. Blond hair glows from a ray of sun creeping from the window.  Sways a little from a gentle breeze. Perhaps bring Sakura to heal the wounds that still peppers the tanned skin before him.  Perhaps she would be able to heal her friend and herself in tandem. Naruto's chest rises and falls.  The movement pulls at red scab edges, shifts bandages. The scrolls he'd collected are heavy. The silence is even heavier. ~~~~~~~~~ Sasuke is always tired. But it is of no consequence.  No world has ever been built without a few sacrifices. Naruto's breathing dominates the blankness of the room. The soft bed is welcoming, cool sheets beckoning, enveloping his knees in warmth. The sharingan sees every detail. He is always so, so cold. ~~~~~~~~~~~ Sasuke dreams. His brother's calm, soothing assurances.  His mother's lilting, muffled titter.  His father's grumbles.  Blood in their smiles, pride and disappointment flitting back and forth in their eyes. A community of black and white buildings, all nondescript sameness. Murmurs full of malice and intent. Of tense air and clan members.  Poisonous, whispered demands. The surroundings shift and the world falls from beneath his feet. Sasuke feels grass under his back and hears carefree laughter.  Sees the blue, blue sky. Warmth on his skin from too much sunlight and exertion. More laughter and bright, bared teeth.  Bitten and chapped lips wide open and smiling.  Yellow swaying in the energized breeze.  Lively sounds all around him, indistinct, but the lively, rejoicing, laughter. The feeling of camaraderie pulses in his veins. Fingers tingling, itching to move and... Something. Childish taunts and indulgent retorts. Sasuke grasps at the sun shining up above, slightly hidden by drifting clouds.  Closes his fist in hopes. Sasuke dreams. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ His eyes flutter open, slightly crusted with sleep.  His vision is still blurry, staring at a flesh-toned blob right under his nose. Sasuke feels rested, refreshed.  In spirits higher than he's ever been. His forehead is warm as he rubs it against the object it rests on. He takes a deep lung full of air.  Feels displeasure at the burnt smell, but disregards it in favor of the stronger, comfortable familiarity. He is in a stiffly curled position, body touching nothing besides his warm, warm forehead.  His left arm is numb from his awkward position, his right sore.  Something tugs at the corners of his mouth and in his chest. The bone deep weariness feels miles away, distant and unimportant.  The urge to stretch is strong.  The urge to stay still and relax, stronger. Sasuke should worry for the blurriness still haloing his normal vision. But the peaceful stillness is everything. "Mgh," Naruto twitches. Sasuke bolts upright and watches as blue eyes slowly open.  Dark navy haze sluggishly clearing into vibrant sky. "Sas-" Naruto's voice cracks, husky dry and full of questions. The sharingan activates, its swirling echo his thundering heart. Blue eyes bleed to red.  Shutters close. Sasuke's throat constricts. Squeezing. ~~~~~~~~~~ The sharingan is the problem, Sasuke concludes. He tests the blond's reactions for a couple of days by dispelling and activating it at random intervals.  All while he stares and notices and hates. Naruto wakens every time the sharingan sleeps.  Naruto falters every time the sharingan stabilizes. His chest tightens the short seconds he chances to see blue eyes open.  Feels congested and heavy when the sharingan flashes not long after. But the sharingan is necessary.  To cage the tailed beasts and the unbendable will resting on the bed.  It is the center of his plan to reform the world.  The shield and weapon to combat the corruption. He knows a way to stop using his clan's legacy.  To still have the power and control without triggering his eyes. It would change everything.  Increase the risk. It is the only solution. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Under the light of a full moon. Sasuke gently pries open a pair of tanned eyelids and stays them in place with medical strips, uncovering a pair of dilated, sharingan affected eyes.  Not even the bright moonlight rousing the blond from his trance. Sasuke straddles the still form on the bed, his knees on each side of a slim waist, face hovering over Naruto's face. Their shadows are uncomfortably incriminating, but direct eye contact in this position is best way possible. Sitting up would be easier, but one of them would be on the other's lap. He could tie the teen standing up, but too much effort for a short operation. Both options disturb something in him. He focuses on those listless eyes, activating the sharingan more and more until he feels himself sinking into a consciousness not his own. Deeper and deeper in the darkness, until his feet touch cold, wet ground. The walls vibrate from rumbles echoing in the cavernous space.  A metronomic crashing, no doubt from Kyuubi's swishing tails thudding against it's cage. The cage is not his goal, but Sasuke steps closer anyway.  He needs to assess the problem, even if he doesn't mean to fix it. The first detail he sees that doesn't belong is a series of chains surrounding the cage, which itself looks different from Sasuke's first visit.  The cage is much closer to the beast, oppressively close, with barely a space for it to move.  Unlike before, its bars are covered in flowing wards that Sasuke understands only in bits.  The chains, the darkest crimson red, twists and meanders around the cage until it meets within the cage, to circle around the beast's neck. Even from a distance, Sasuke could see the strain on it's neck, the tightness of chains pulled to choking.  But, despite this, the Kyuubi laid quiet as it stared at him with no reaction.  Sasuke moves an arm to catch the demon's attention, but receives no response.  Not a twitch on it's nonreactive eyes, not an irregularly timed strike of a tail against the cage side. Without the cage, the chains would have some slack for the demon to function. The chains clink and slither, winding slightly tighter. The sharingan's control in a physical form.  He knows it in his bone. Unyielding.  Merciless. There is no way for him to fix the situation.  Deactivating the sharingan would let the demon function in it's packed cage, but activating the sharingan is the only way to see and disarm the ward-laden cage imbedded in Naruto's subconscious. The Kyuubi is a sunk loss, but he has eight others to pick up the slack. Sasuke turns to observe the walls and corridors surrounding the cage.  Seeks out the most lively feeling direction, where he could accomplish his goal.  Finds the tug of consciousness to the west. The  liquid beneath his feet is different.  Much more viscous, darker, slipperier than he remembers.  Almost feels like resistance as he heads west. The liquid is up to his knees by the time he reaches a wall of unlabeled doors, identical to the next. He plans on sealing most of them, but first he needs to form a room with the reality he approves. To bridge the gaps Sasuke plans to make. He touches the wall and wills it to form a door.  Pushes his all in creating the one thing that will be his. The liquid swirls and drags him in the new space. Pure white walls, pure white floors. Waiting for him to touch. To create. A room full of childhood wishes and hopes. A room full of memories without dark events that mar and taint. A room full of teen trysts, meeting in far-off unmemorable ramen stands after their separate personal training. A room of shared memories.  All created for him. He still doesn't know where Naruto's conscious is hiding. Sasuke feels the strain of the sharingan.  A flaring around his eye sockets that intensifies with each pulse.  His chakra is depleting much faster than he'd planned. The room he created is incomplete, still so much to fabricate.  It will have to do. Naruto will have double memories for now, but Sasuke knows it could easily be deflected as dreams and nightmares.  Naruto is a simpleton. It will work. But first, he turns to the last door and seals it without checking what lays within.  It would contain Kaguya's defeat and their seamless teamwork, after years of separation.  It would also contain his resolve and the other Uchiha men. The Kyuubi fighting his control, struggling as the sharingan dug deeper and deeper. Hands squeezing a tanned neck. All unnecessary details. A scream throws Sasuke all the way to Kyuubi's prison.  Up and up and up.  Further and further into the light. The scream repeats, louder and longer.  Raises the hair at the back of his neck. A child's scream full of anguish and grief. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sasuke gasps and jerks to consciousness, eyes burning hot.  There's a trail of warmth on his cheeks. His vision is worse than before.  His peripherals almost a mess of indistinct colors. The only clear image in the middle of his sight. Naruto blinks, once, twice.  Blue eyes regard him with a puzzled frown, no doubt for their position, before smiling. A smile full of everything. (Comment on this)
6:44 pm	one day... [ART] http://naruxsasu.livejournal.com/408292.html Just a little fanart I did the other night to distract myself from college stress... title: one day artist: coffee_flowers rating: G, no warnings comments welcome! also feel free to friend me if you like my work. i hope to do some more soon. ( you are my dream ) (Comment on this)