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Sasuke had seen a lot; he’d both gained and lost a lot as well. He was accustomed to death, even if he didn’t like killing. After he killed Itachi, he thought he’d severed all his bonds.
He was very wrong. Upon returning to Konoha, he’s realized that , while the village will never be his home, his team would always welcome him back with open arms. It was a strange feeling for Sasuke. He was prepared to spend the rest of his life in prison, not by the nanadaime’s side.
Sasuke thought he’d lived long enough as a missing-nin that he’d be prepared for anything the world would throw at him. He’d killed his brother and fought against Naruto and the rest of his team - no, his family - multiple times. What else was there to lose?
Though he spent the majority of his time outside the village, Kakashi still had a way of pulling his student into whatever plans he had made for the day. It was just Sasuke, Naruto, and Kakashi out on an adventure together. Sakura would have joined, but she’d been busy at the hospital.
Kakashi didn’t tell either of his students what they were doing, but both of them went along anyway.
Sasuke was getting impatient. There were more useful things to be doing rather than following his old teacher through the backroads of a village that had nothing to offer him.
Naruto, on the other hand, was eager to follow along with Kakashi’s little game. Maybe he knew something Sasuke didn’t, or maybe he just needed the time away from his office. It definitely was plausible, just standing in the Hokage’s office gave Sasuke unreasonable levels of anxiety.
Kakashi stopped when they walked into an open field. Three stumps were sitting just in front of the dense line of trees that made up part of Konoha’s forest. The stumps were worn down and old, but Sasuke could still recall the memories of those days as if they only happened recently.
The jingle of two bells caught the younger ninjas’ attention. Naruto smiled wide, knowing what Kakashi was about to tell them. Sasuke frowned. The memory of their first training exercise brought a wave of nostalgia tinged with sadness. He’d been so focused on killing Itachi that any instance of training was a stepping stone to get there. Now, there weren’t as high of stakes.
“I want you to take these bells from me before noon,” Kakashi instructed them. The sun was alright shining bright in the sky. They had about three hours, at most.
“And what if we don’t?” Naruto pondered.
“I’ll tell Sakura you aren’t taking care of yourself,” their teacher deadpanned.
A shiver rolled down Sasuke’s spine. The pink-haired woman already tried confining to the hospital after coming to the village with a stab wound once. He didn’t need to know what she’d do if she knew of other self-destructive habits.
Naruto looked just as anxious as Sasuke. He could only imagine how much Sakura stresses over the hokage and his unholy workload.
Sasuke shook the thought from his head and focused on the exercise. Just take the bells. It seemed simple enough, but knowing Kakashi, this was going to be hell.
Their teacher didn’t even pull out his stupid porn before the exercise began. All three of them were off with nothing more than a single leaf falling from where they stood.
The exercise went by quickly. Sasuke didn’t pay too much attention to his actions, it was basically habit. He and Kakashi had a lot of fun ambushing each other, making use of their elite skills. One ANBU and one a rogue ninja who taught himself to survive in a snake’s den. It was really an interesting match-up.
Meanwhile, Naruto went for the tactic of brute force. It was easy to find where the blond and the white-haired men faced off against each other. Their teacher still had his headband pulled over his Sharingan.
Sasuke wouldn’t stand for the man under estimating them, sneaking around the current battle zone, using shuriken to make his first offensive move. He curved it just right to make Kakashi dodge right into Naruto’s waiting fist. It was satisfying to see the white-haired man take a hit from one of his students.
Sasuke wasted no time in rushing forward, snatching Kakashi’s vest off, revealing the bells tied to his belt. This would be much easier without that jounin vest in the way.
Naruto made the next move, rushing in with a few of his Shadow Dopplegangers. Sasuke laid in wait, springing out of the shadows to distract their teacher long enough so Naruto could land another hit.
This pattern continued, leaving all three of them exhausted. Both Sasuke and Naruto gripped a bell tightly in their hands. Kakashi stood up to hover over them before reaching out a hand to help them up.
Sasuke recovered himself quickly, brushing himself off with his arm.
He watched as Naruto stood still for a moment. Then, before either Kakashi or Sasuke could say anything, the blond man dropped. His body trembled violently and his arms curled into his chest.
Sasuke’s breath stopped in his throat.
He’d left everyone he ever loved behind, killing his mentor, then killing his brother. He had witnessed many innocent people die.
Sasuke was no stranger to death or even torture, but this? This was something he’d never had to face.
A seizure. Naruto was having a seizure.
Kakashi’s voice echoed something in his ears. The only word he processed was “Sakura.”
In just a few seconds, Sasuke was on the top floor of the hospital. He ran through the halls, hunting down the pink-haired woman as if it was his life that was in danger.
Naruto’s life is not in danger, a small voice echoed in his head. He knew it was right, but his anxiety didn’t care. All he could feel was the crushing loneliness that had followed the death of Itachi.
It didn’t take long to find Sakura.
She was jotting down notes when he walked directly toward her. She looked up, surprised - probably from seeing him in a hospital without being dragged - coating her features.
“Sasu-” she tried.
Sasuke cut her off with his first breath since Naruto dropped. “Naruto,” was all he managed before his breath failed him again.
She immediately understood, dropping her stuff off at the front desk as they ran out of the hospital.
They made it back to the clearing in less than five seconds.
Sakura dropped to her knees beside Naruto’s head. His eyes were half closed and he didn’t appear to recognize what was around him at all. Sasuke could hear him mumbling, but he couldn't make out the words.
Sasuke stood back, his breath still not returning. He had to start breathing soon or he’d pass out.
No matter what he told himself, his lungs just wouldn’t work.
Before he knew it, Kakashi was standing in front of him, speaking in a low tone. Sasuke couldn’t understand him; he couldn't focus at all.
He still wasn’t breathing.
Everything about him was bleeding out and his vision was fading out, leaving his surroundings dark.
Dark like the tunnels he’d lived in during his time with Orochimaru. He watched a hand reach toward him. It wore a glove, then in a moment it didn’t. It was pure white like the snake.
As soon as the hand touched him, pain ripped through his body. His neck burned where the curse mark used to be. He hadn’t thought about it in years, but suddenly it was only yesterday that his second form had been awakened.
He was trapped in darkness with nothing but death in front of him. He could either succumb to the power or die before he could even take another breath.
Another hand grabbed his shoulder and he was in the tunnels again.
It was dark.
He couldn’t see.
He couldn’t breathe.
Orochimaru was whispering in his head. The snake’s hands were on his own, teaching him how to fatally swing his sword.
He drew his sword. He remembered turning on Orochimaru, killing the snake and absorbing the pathetic attempt at taking over his body.
His sword crackled to life with the chirping of his Chidori.
As soon as his sword was out, the hands were gone.
Sasuke felt his grip falter, chakra flowing weakly into the blade before stopping altogether.
Saskue heard his sword fall to the ground as the world faded out into still blackness.
-
Sasuke woke up in an unfamiliar apartment. His first reaction was to right, but his body was tired and heavy, not allowing him to move. Kakashi walked into the room, giving his student a cautious look.
“Are you good?” the older man asked hesitantly.
Sasuke nodded stiffly. He took a deep breath, everything flooding back to him. “Where’s Naruto?”
Kakashi stopped him before he could get up and run off. “Sakura has him in her apartment right now. She said she’d bring him over when he was feeling better.”
Sasuke sighed. He didn’t know where to start his questions. “Was anyone going to tell me that that’s not new?”
Kakashi avoided his student’s eyes. “It hadn’t happened in a while. That, and we weren’t sure how you’d react.”
“So keeping it a secret was your best idea?”
Kakashi shook his head. “We were discussing it while you were still a prisoner and Naruto is the one who made that decision.”
A weight settled in Sasuke’s stomach. Naruto made the decision not to tell him of something so important?
Kakashi seemed to sense Sasuke’s impending self-destruction. “Wait until he gets here before you start jumping to conclusions. I’ll give you one valid reason we didn’t tell you.”
Sasuke gave him an expectant look.
“We didn’t know why.”
“Didn’t,” Sasuke emphasized. “So you know now?”
Before Kakashi could answer, both men turned toward the door where Naruto and Sakura came walking through.
Sasuke watched Naruto approach him. Each step closer the blond came, the less Sasuke could breathe. The blond leaned over him, wrapping Sasuke in his arms. Without hesitation, Sasuke grabbed the back of Naturo’s hoodie, his hand shaking wildly.
“We think it’s because of the Kyuubi’s overwhelming chakra paired with the stress of becoming Hokage in a quickly developing nation. There’s nothing we can about it though,” Sakura explained solemnly.
Sasuke heaved a sigh into the blond’s shoulder.
“Are you alright?” Naruto muttered. “Kakashi-sensei told me you panicked.
Sasuke hesiated giving his answer. “It’s just a lot to process.”
He could feel Naruto chuckle softly into his raven-black hair. “I promise that I’ll always be here for when you wanna talk.”
Sasuke hummed into the blond’s chest.
“So will the rest of us,” Sakura added from her spot on the floor.
The tension seemed to drain out of Sasuke like a waterfall. He was still scared shitless for his best friend, but he would pull himself together.
He shut his eyes and took another deep breath, his exhaustion finally catching up to him. Naruto chuckled again and moved himself onto the couch that Sasuke was laying on.
It was a tight fit but it was the most comfortable Sasuke had felt in a long time.
“C’mon, teme,” Naruto muttered into Sasuke’s hair. “Let’s sleep right now. I know you’re tired.”
Sasuke couldn't argue with that. He let himself relax under the warm blond laying with him on the couch.
This time the dark was warm.