Choice, Thought & Order
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor do I own it's characters. I make no money with this.
Author's Note: This one is a set of some of my absolute favorites, if I may say so myself... Part 41 is basically just about making decisions - the right ones, hopefully - but when I wrote it, I just started to like it more and more... I actually considered turning this into a stand-alone, because I like the setting that I had in mind... Though I'm afraid most of that never made it into the short version.x) Part 42 is something that just plopped into my head and stayed and in the end, I really like how it turned out. And Part 43 is another take at what might have changed in their relationship if they had continued to work their way up together. For whatever reason, when I imagine older versions of our two 'heroes' (*cough cough*) on the same team, Naruto gets to be captain. =/ Call me crazy, for I probably am... x)
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Part 41 - Choice
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She was young, around ten maybe, and not exactly a beauty. In fact, there was nothing notably special about her at all – she was just another one of the countless kids that this city had forsaken.
And Sasuke had really seen enough orphans to not even look at her twice at first – sad as it might be, there was nothing he could do. But when the man approached her, bending down to whisper something to her, Sasuke did watch them from the corner of his eye.
He watched as she blushed furiously under the layer of dirt that covered her face, then watched as her eyes widened in sudden understanding and her expression wavered between helpless anger and reluctant resignation for a few seconds.
Sasuke didn’t have to hear what the man said; it was pretty much clear from the girl’s reaction.
When the man grabbed her arm and urged her to follow him, she didn’t fight it, staring at the ground with a mixture of self-loathing and general disgust, her light blue eyes filling with tears of rage. Sasuke decided to look away again, chose to ignore how the man pulled her into a dark, shady alleyway across the street.
‘None of your business’, he told himself, trying to choke the sickening feeling of guilt rising from his stomach.
Sacrificing the success of a mission that could save dozens of lives for the sake of just one child? He swallowed heavily, forcing himself to concentrate on their target instead, forcing himself to ignore the small voice in his head that told him his choice was wrong...
“Uzumaki!!” their ANBU captain suddenly hissed angrily and Sasuke turned his head just in time to see Naruto stride past him without as much as looking at him from behind his mask. “Uzumaki! Seriously, you better stop right there or I’ll—Uzumaki!!!”
Naruto never turned, never hesitated as he left the protective darkness of the side street they’d been waiting in and crossed the main street, heading straight towards the other alleyway, their original target catching sight of him almost instantly. Naruto merely glanced sideways at his hurried escape.
Sasuke slowly let go of a breath he hadn’t been aware he’d been holding, relief and annoyance struggling inside him. In the end, he just sighed and moved to follow Naruto, ignoring the now triumphant voice in his head.
Making the right decisions... Sometimes, he admired the blond.
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Part 42 - Thought
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It was still dark outside, several hours before sunrise, when Naruto woke him that day.
Sasuke wasn’t really surprised to find him standing there when he opened his door, very intend on killing the sorry bastard that thought it necessary to fucking wake him at such an ungodly hour of the morning.
“What the fuck do you want, Uzumaki,” he growled in greeting, barely refraining from simply punching the moron through the next wall.
“Uh, Sasuke. We need to talk,” Naruto replied nervously, fidgeting, his eyes never meeting Sasuke’s.
“Oh, we do?”
“Yeah, ‘cause there’s this thing and... Well, I spent most of the night wondering and, y’know, thinking, but I don’t really... I mean, uh...”
Sasuke took a deep breath, calming himself ever so slightly, when Naruto finally cast a quick glance at him, scratching his cheek sheepishly, a faint blush spreading across his naturally tanned face.
“What is it?” he grit out slowly, still glaring daggers at his teammate.
“It’s... uh, probably very stupid, but... Sakura asked me i–if...” He looked away again, the blush intensifying.
“Naruto, talk or fuck off. Now.” There was something strange about the idiot’s behavior and, given the circumstances, Sasuke did not feel bad for lacking a certain patience.
“She said– I mean... Are we... Ugh, Arewedatingeachother?” Naruto finally forced out, speaking so fast he almost stumbled over his own tongue towards the end, still looking everywhere but at the raven.
And while it took almost twenty seconds for his brain to process what the blond had said, it took only three for him to blush furiously and slam the door shut in the moron’s face, completely ignoring Naruto’s cry of, “Dammit Sasuke, it was just a thought!!”.
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Part 43 - Order
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“I . Told . You . To get the fuck down, you asshole!” Naruto hollered, all violent heat and white hot anger exploding into the room as he slammed the door shut behind him, eyes ablaze and red.
Sasuke merely shot him a glare, annoyance evident on his pale face.
“Don’t you fucking dare to give me that look!” the blond warned furiously, closing the distance between them with a few forceful strides and grabbing the Uchiha by the collar of his white hospital gown, completely ignoring the raven’s bandaged arm.
“Give me one goddamn reason to not just kick you off my team right now!” he hissed, pulling the other closer as he spoke until their noses were almost touching. “One reason, Sasuke.”
And for one second, there was defiance in the raven’s eyes, sharp words on the tip of his tongue, but after an instant, he just averted his eyes, his lips shut in a tight line.
“I told you to get down, back there...” Naruto repeated, more gently, more intense this time, his grip on Sasuke’s shirt loosening ever so slightly. “You had more than enough time to react. You didn’t have to get hurt.”
“I know,” the raven whispered back darkly, biting back the usual insult just this once in silent acceptance of Naruto’s anger. It might even have been the smallest hint of an apology.
For a short while, Naruto just stayed silent, unmoving. When he finally let go of the other, his face was hard and determined. But his eyes... They were back to blue – light, soft azure.
“Consider yourself warned,” he then said, almost formally, taking one step back from Sasuke’s bed and towards the door. “One more incident like this one and I’ll make sure you’re done with ANBU. Or rather, that ANBU is done with you. We don’t need people who disobey their captain purely out of spite and I won’t take your shit any longer. From now on, you will follow my orders, without hesitation, no matter what you think of them. Is that understood?”
Sasuke only nodded courtly, still avoiding the blond’s eyes, still looking like all he wanted to do was snap at Naruto and tell him to fuck off. But he didn’t. Couldn’t.
“As your captain,” Naruto continued at last, the shadow of a smile stealing itself onto his face, “I hope you’ll recover quickly. The team still needs you. As your lover, however...”
And suddenly, his voice was filled with ice, making Sasuke flinch uncomfortably.
“...I kindly advise you to stay here for as long as you can, ‘cause I will make you regret the day of your birth as soon as I get my hands on you. Good night, honey.”
