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It was kind of funny, really.
The sight of an ex-international terrorist/criminal/insane person/17 year old boy, running desperately under the rain. Yeah, it definitely was something you don't see everyday.
What was he running away from, though?
No, that's not the right question.
Why had he ignored his feelings?
He knew the answer to that.
Why did he ruin everything?
He also knew the answer to that.
Why was he so fucking stupid?
Yes, that's the one.
Or, what was he so afraid of?
No. He wasn't afraid anymore. That's exactly why he was running so fucking fast.
He'd left Konoha three hours ago. He had walked past the gate, said goodbye to his friends (just Sakura, Kakashi and Naruto), and he hadn't looked back. It wasn't until the rain started pouring over him that he realized, and he asked himself...
why the fuck did he leave without saying anything?
And he didn't mean the village, no. He knew why he had left that place. He meant Naruto. Why the fuck had he left Naruto?
A feeling ran through his body. He didn't know what it was. Eagerness, anticipation, anxiety, fear; it could've been anything. But he didn't care. He didn't care at all. He just kept running.
When the war ended, he went back to Konoha. The place didn't mean much to him anymore, and it certainly didn't feel like home. He got checked into the hospital (or Sakura forced him to check in, whatever).
"Naruto has his foxy healing thing. You don't." She answered when he asked what about him? And yes, he was disappointed. Fuck, he really just wanted to spend some time with him. With his best friend.
Sasuke knew that he could easily sneak out of the hospital without anybody noticing. But he didn't. He stayed put, staring at the ceiling, at the copy of the novel Kakashi left for him (there was no way in hell he was reading that), at his only remaining hand, and at the flowers Ino sent him, just as a little reminder that not everyone hated him. That was good.
On the third day of his mandatory hospital stay, Naruto visited him
"Where have you been? " He asked him; and heard a voice inside his head mock him: Nice one Sasuke, not desperate at all.
"Just resting." Yes, it made perfect sense. Naruto fought and endured so much in the past few days. And if that wasn't enough, he had his arm taken away from him on his own fucking birthday. That was Sasuke's fault, it would always be his fault. He could never take it back. He couldn't stop telling himself that.
On the fifth and last day of his mandatory hospital stay, Naruto told him something Sasuke was sure he hadn't heard in years.
Something his mother always said to him when he left for school; something his brother told him when he saw him for the last time; something he always expected to hear from his father.
It made him feel terrible, vulnerable, happy, weird.
"Why?"
A chuckle, and a warm smile.
"I don't know. It's just always been there, in my heart, y'know?"
Silence. Ugly, uncomfortable silence.
"I'm sorry." Wait, what? Why was he sorry? No, he didn't mean to say that.
"It's okay." Naruto said, and smiled. He was always smiling.
Sasuke wanted to slap some sense into him. How could he want someone who had done him so.... wrong?
He wasn't running anymore. The rain was still pouring over him; loud, and a bit cold. He wasn't doing anything. Even his brain stopped functioning, he was....
"You're still here." His voice was a bit rough.
"And you came back." A smile, again. That precious smile that Sasuke liked more than anything.
Naruto was sitting under a tree, in the same spot where Sasuke had last seen him three hours ago, before he left.
"Why are you still here?"
"Why did you come back? " Naruto stood up, and the smile disappeared. Fuck.
Sasuke wanted to yell at him. Naruto knew damn well why he came back.
"I'm still here because... well, I'm not so sure, actually. I just know that I didn't want to walk away." Naruto answered his question, and walked towards him.
Sasuke took two steps backwards.
"Long ago, I... I told my mom I loved her, many times. I told my dad too, and my brother. And now, they're all gone." He wasn't really thinking his words through, they were just coming out without his permission.
It was weird. He was just so fucking scared. Naruto took another step forward, Sasuke another step backwards.
"I don't know what I would do if I tell you that I love you.... and I lose you too..." The thought of that happening was so disturbing, so horrible. Naruto took several steps forward, Sasuke stayed put and lowered his gaze.
"I don't think I would survive that." He finished the sentence. And that was just the simple truth. He'd lost so much, endured so much pain. He didn't want to lose the only person left that he loved.
(Love. Love. Love. The word did weird things to him. Saying it made him feel calm, at peace.)
He felt the embrace seconds after it happened.
"Idiot." Naruto said.
"Get it through your dumb head, Sasuke. I'm not going to leave you. I love you too much." His voice was shaky, but it was the truth.
It was beautiful, almost cliché. The sight of two boys confessing their love under the heavy downpour. Somewhere, someone spilled tears. They blended easily with the rain.
Everything is going to be alright. The two boys welcomed the thought. They deserved happiness, after all.