A World of One's Own
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His hand stills in Naruto’s hair and his gaze disconnects, eyes unseeing through the blurry window pane. Somewhere to his back is the old Uchiha compound, decrepit and crumbling with neglect where once his cousins and aunts and uncles populated their streets. Somewhere by his left is the grove Itachi finally fell, pressing bloody fingers to his forehead and a sweat-stained brow to his shoulder.
And somewhere to the front is the remnant of his arm, given up for a dream that never came about. Would it come back and strangle him now, seeing how he wasted his one remaining hand? Would it carve out his eyes, forever stuck in lurid shades of red and lilac?
(or the bedtime story involving very little sleep, passing mentions of tea and comfort stolen in the dark)
Series
- Part 1 of A World of One's Own
- Part 1 of Come Settle Down, Settle Down
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This is the man who killed his best friend’s entire clan on a whim, took his teacher and warped him beyond what any normal human being should be. This is the darkness in his village, the one who broke so many good shinobi for his own twisted purposes and killed so many others for his own arrogant needs. For all the wars he never let end, for all the hearts he broke asunder beneath his foot—this is for them, for all of them, and Naruto can’t spare a single tear for the death he caused.
It’s a long time coming, he tells himself, and if it’s a little dark then that’s understandable.
You won’t hurt anyone else again, he promises, and that—that is his word.
(it's Naruto who stains his hands, this time around, but even a ripple can cause a wave)
Series
- Part 2 of A World of One's Own
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Nobody looks beyond the papers, the facts laid bare in black and white. Reduced to empty words and emptier figures, observations and statistics instead of a sentient organic being, Team Seven is nothing more than a curiosity at best and a nonentity at worst. With Sasuke this and Naruto that, there is no room for a girl with a forehead several sizes too large and laughably pink hair.
No amount of studying and striving will ever change that, it seems.
(because heartbreak, unlike Sakura, does not come small and easily ignored)
Series
- Part 3 of A World of One's Own
- Part 1 of Dark Side of the Morning
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Summary
They’re meant to be doing D-ranks today—another round with Tora the demon cat, followed by yet another front lawn that needs weeding and some sort of shopping expedition—but Kakashi, two hours late this time, waits with them by the bridge. Sasuke stands beside Naruto, hands shoved deep into his pockets, but it’s like he’s not there. The moron is silent and pale and it’s wrong.
(sometimes, jealousy pushes you to new heights, but sometimes it's the fall you need to watch out for)
Series
- Part 4 of A World of One's Own
- Part 2 of Dark Side of the Morning
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Summary
Sasuke closes his eyes and says, “Congratulate him for me.”
There’s other words sitting at the back of his throat, pleasant nothings like I hope he’s happy and everyone must be so pleased but his tongue is leaden and his eyes refuse to open. A thumb brushes against the back of his hand and a voice tells him “I will,” but all he feels and hears is rain.
(she's meant to be his everything, but Sasuke has never liked things that came easily to him)
Series
- Part 5 of A World of One's Own
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Slow, stupid Chouji, rings in his ears and he’s just a few yen short of the cheapest packet. Tears gather at the corner of his eyes and the civilian opens his mouth, no doubt to say something to the effect of paying or leaving—
And then there’s a soft pardon me, the clink of money on the counter, and Chouji’s purchase gets ringed through before he can so much as blink.
(or the story about an act of kindness that buys more than its weight in gold)
Series
- Part 6 of A World of One's Own
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“That’s stupid and you know it,” is the first thing Sakura hears when she walks through the door, bags in hand and a greeting on her lips. The door leading off to the living room’s barely ajar, which is the only reason why whoever’s inside doesn’t hear her approach. By all rights she should announce her presence, walk in with a smile and pretend she hadn’t heard the low accusation in that tone.
But… it’s her house. There’s people inside that weren’t there when she left, talking about something she can only assume they won’t talk about when she’s in earshot, and—it’s her house. She might’ve settled down a little more to take better care of Sarada, but there’s still vestiges of the kunoichi who’d unreservedly punch their Hokage within her.
(it's the little things that matter, in the end, because Sakura can only do so much to keep things as they are)
Series
- Part 7 of A World of One's Own
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Welcome home, the ghost in his head says, and Sasuke stares unseeingly at the phantom press of a finger against his forehead. I killed your entire clan, took away your innocence and now you’re all alone because you’re too weak. But that’s alright; I’ll put on my mask and welcome you home anyway.
Itachi’s room is trashed so thoroughly that there is nothing but burn marks and shards of half-melted glass by the time Sasuke’s done.
(but even the lowest of lows are proceeded by better things eventually)
Series
- Part 8 of A World of One's Own
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It’s all Danzou’s fault. It’s all that old warmonger’s fault that Shisui’s fleeing towards a home that is no longer home, back to the little cousin who’s more like a little brother, and planning things that he’ll be hated for but are entirely necessary.
Stop the fighting, his mind whispers to him, and Shisui feels his mouth firm as he triggers another shunshin on the heels of his last one. Keep them safe, and this one’s harder, but—even without him there, he has to try.
All this happened because nobody did and now it’s up to him to make it right.
(it's still not right, despite all Shisui's efforts—so a few other things change to make sure it's right)
Series
- Part 9 of A World of One's Own
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Summary
To our fucked up future, they toast aloud at the eleventy-first, and by then they’re the only customers with anywhere between three and sixty sake bottles scattered around them. The proprietor, a retired shinobi far too amused by the current proceedings, gently but firmly ushers them out.
Then one thing leads to another and Sasuke’s cock is introduced to Naruto’s asshole, repeatedly.
(they may not walk into it with their eyes open, but Naruto and Sasuke stitch their eyelids up with time)
Series
- Part 10 of A World of One's Own
- Part 1 of This is Love (It's All Fake Love)
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Kakashi’s face is blanker than Naruto’s ever seen it before, Sasuke’s eyes are inexplicably red and the drunk old man… well, he’s still drunk and old, but it doesn’t stop him from looking as white as a sheet.
So if Naruto follows their lead by flinching at the smallest noise and chattering a little less than usual, it’s nobody’s business but his own.
(but what Naruto should've feared more were the things he couldn't see and could never touch)
Series
- Part 11 of A World of One's Own
- Part 3 of Dark Side of the Morning
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Summary
What would it be like, to have no chakra at all? What would it be like to belong to a family without such high expectations and such a crushing weight upon their shoulders?
What would it be like to not wake up in the middle of the night, wondering why his four-year-old hands weren’t covered in blood?
(there's no point flogging a dead horse, but sometimes it's cathartic enough to not matter anyway)
Series
- Part 12 of A World of One's Own
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“Goddammit, are you being dense on purpose?!” Ignorant of the stares from other patrons, Naruto throws his hands into the air and yells, “Do you like me or not, Sasuke?”
For a moment, time stops. People pause in the middle of the street. A perfect cherry tomato slips through Sasuke’s fingers and plops onto the floor.
And then Sasuke presses two fingertips to his forehead and sighs.
Naruto's not entirely sure when he'd stopped thinking of Sasuke as less of a bastard and more of a... a love interest, but it hits him that he wants to date his rival-turned-crush.Thankfully for him, though, Sasuke's got it covered. And all the other hapless citizens betting on them, but the less Naruto knows about that then the better off everyone else will be for it.
(ft. a very confused Naruto, a very done Sasuke and innocent foodstuff sacrificed to the gods of rom-com)
Series
- Part 13 of A World of One's Own
- Part 2 of The Second Dawn
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Summary
Why are we doing this? one or the other asks, minutes after the pleasant haze of alcohol’s dissipated somewhat and the surroundings come into greater focus.
I wish I knew, comes the response, and then—
What use is there for words? Why bother saying what they both know?
Sasuke presses a kiss to the corner of Naruto’s lips and goes down on him straight after.
(because nobody ever said that with age came experience, wisdom and a way to deny your basest feelings)
Series
- Part 14 of A World of One's Own
- Part 2 of This is Love (It's All Fake Love)
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Summary
Sasuke closes his eyes for one moment and opens them to a shock of yellow, stark and unnatural in the relative grey of the cave. He can see three different poisons seething beneath tanned skin, more bruises and cuts than actual skin, and the blue eyes that stare back at him are far darker than he’s used to.
They know falls in the air between them and it joins his heart on the floor before his feet.
(all castles fall down, in the end, and all they can do is pick up what little can be salvaged)
Series
- Part 15 of A World of One's Own
- Part 3 of This is Love (It's All Fake Love)
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Summary
Hinata and Sakura were fierce once, able to incapacitate battlefields on their own with nothing more than their hands and a few hand movements—but what’s that compared to the eons-old rivalry they share? There’s nothing else that can compare to the sun and moon etched into their palms, the hum of their chakra resonating with each other—
Sasuke drives into Naruto with one long thrust and the electricity racing up his spine is enough to make his Chidori feel tame.
(it's not love, can't ever be love, but the feelings bleed out of them all the same)
Series
- Part 16 of A World of One's Own
- Part 6 of This is Love (It's All Fake Love)
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Summary
The day is as clear in his mind as it was a year ago, the sight of his left shoulder bloody and bereft of an arm even as Naruto smiled at him with tears in his eyes—Sasuke rubs at the tender lump on his head and scowls at Sakura, but it’s Naruto’s smile that again dominates his vision.
It’s been a year since he came back to Konoha, and…
“Smile already, you bastard!” Naruto yells, and…
(the days bleed into one another, more often than not, but occasionally things glimmer in Sasuke's monotonous life)
Series
- Part 17 of A World of One's Own
- Part 2 of Come Settle Down, Settle Down
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Summary
But the signs were always there, weren’t they?
No initiation beyond the very first date, no variation in a love that should’ve been anything but routine duty. Whispers of indecency between Naruto and Sasuke grow and Hinata speaks up less and less, bowing her head and hurrying on when people laugh behind their hands. Where’s Daddy? is an all too common question that she cannot answer, and Naruto has no answer to give her beyond work.
Work, work, work—this is not the man she married, and Hinata…
(his story was never going to be anything but a tragedy, and only the same could be said for hers)
Series
- Part 18 of A World of One's Own
- Part 8 of This is Love (It's All Fake Love)
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Summary
Sakura should’ve burned it all. Sakura should’ve sold what she could and destroyed the rest of it, rip the uchiwa from every item of clothing she and her silent, grieving daughter own. Sasuke deserves nothing after the deception he’d pulled, nothing except for the derision of every single person in the Five Elemental Nations—
But she loved him, once, and all Sakura can do is thrust the scrolls against his chest and tell him to leave.
(betrayal is hard to deal with, but someone should've warned her about the aftermath instead)
Series
- Part 19 of A World of One's Own
- Part 9 of This is Love (It's All Fake Love)
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Summary
This was what Naruto had longed for all those years ago, in the days after Sasuke had disappeared without a single backward glance. So much time spent chasing his back, swallowing his insults and praying for his return—and now, in the moment he wanted to let go, to have Sasuke look at him like that?
“I have to go,” Naruto dully replies, and refuses to look at Sasuke as he disentangles their hands.
(there is a time and place for everything... except a love that could never be)
Series
- Part 20 of A World of One's Own