• Sasuke was furious, the rage that he felt inside was burning him alive and he knew he had to let it out. But how exactly do you let it out? Do you get angry with yourself? Curse yourself? Punch yourself in the face?Take your own life? Sasuke brushed that last question out of his mind. He might have done many stupid things in his life but he was not a coward, thank you very much. As he let out a long sigh, his mind flew in to the past.

    Itachi was dead, killed by his hands just like he wanted it. But Sasuke was not in a good condition either. He was lying on the ground, severely injured and dying from blood loss. The raven really thought that he was going to die that day and he didn’t give a damn about it. He even thought it was for the best. Let this bad blood between brothers finish here once and for all.

    At the time, Sasuke had been yearning to feel something that would fill the void in his heart since the massacre of his clan. He was willing to grasp at anything that would indicate he had done the right thing by killing the culprit. Except those feelings never came. Suddenly Kakashi’s words that were said to him at the day he left Konoha filled his mind.

    ‘Even if you do succeed in getting revenge, the only thing that remains is emptiness.’

    As much as Sasuke hated to admit it, Kakashi’s words had proven right. No satisfaction, no fulfillment whatsoever. It was emptiness and emptiness alone. And what a price he had to pay to achieve the worthlessness. Not only had he given up his honor and his dignity, but he also given up his village, his friends, and his best friend.

    Slowly consciousness left Sasuke as his eyelids got heavier and heavier. The last thing he saw before darkness over took him completely was a glimpse of blond and pink hair.

    xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

    Naruto was enraged. Once again he had let Sasuke rip his heart out and get away with it. Sometimes he felt that he had had enough of this madness… this obsession… this foolishness… and all he wanted to do was run away from Sasuke and get on with his life. But he just couldn’t do it he cared for that man too much. As he covered his eyes with the back of his right hand, Naruto’s mind dashed in to the past.

    They had been trying to track down Sasuke. But it wasn’t an easy task, even though their team consisted of Hatake Kakashi and his pack of nindogs, plus the former Team Eight – Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, and Aburame Shino – who has a first class tracking ability. The big blast caused by Deidara’s self-destruct action a day before had wiped down every valuable trace, luckily Kiba managed to pick up Sasuke’s faint scent.

    Naruto, as impatiently as ever, along with Haruno Sakura, directly ran into the direction that was pointed by Kiba. They couldn’t care less of Kakashi’s warning to stay calm. How could he stay composed when he knew Sasuke was there somewhere within his reach? So the blond ran and ran, he pursued the one person who had been continuously on his mind for the last three years.

    Sasuke… this time for sure I will bring you home.

    “Naruto! Stop!”

    Kiba’s hand had grasped his shoulder so abruptly, it startled Naruto and stopped him dead on his tracks.

    “Kiba, what the…?”

    “I smell blood,” hissed Kiba. “Hinata!”

    “Byakugan!”

    It only took seconds for Hinata to activate her blood-limit and to confirm the situation up front but for Naruto those seconds felt like an eternity.

    “There are two bodies. One’s dead and the other still alive. But his chakra is very very weak.”

    Naruto never thought that he could know such fear, but for the first time ever he was really terrified.

    What if…? NO!!! He can’t be!

    Naruto ran. He ran like his life depended on it with Sakura closely trailing behind him.

    It only took one glance to understand what had happened. The Uchiha Sibling battle had finally taken place and the result of that clash was not a pleasant sight. The reek of fresh blood filled the air. Itachi’s battered and lifeless body was slumped against a tree whilst Sasuke’s heavily wounded body was lying on the ground. His face and lips were so pale you could see the bluish veins beneath. His torn shirt no longer white but dark red instead. As red as the cloud pattern on Itachi’s Akatsuki robe that was sprawled near Sasuke’s feet.

    “Sasuke!!!”

    “Sasuke-kun!!!”

    xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

    Konoha had never felt so far away before. It seemed like he’d been running forever while carrying Sasuke’s unconscious body on his back.

    It was true that Sakura managed to stop the bleeding and took other precautions measures but nevertheless Sasuke’s life was still in a very dangerous state and Naruto needed to get to Konoha as soon as possible. Tsunade-baachan would know what to do and then everything would be okay.

    Hang in there, Teme! Don’t die on me now. We’re going home.

    xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


    The next time Sasuke opened his eyes, everything looked so white. The ceiling, the walls, the curtains, the blanket that covered his body, everything was white. The familiar stench of disinfectant hit his nostrils; it made him realize exactly where he was.

    Hospital.

    And then he saw him; he appeared so out of place yet so right. Yellow against white, the vividness struck his eyes. Dozed off on a chair, Naruto’s blond head lounged on the side of the very same bed that Sasuke had slept on.

    So it wasn’t a hallucination after all…

    xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


    “Uchiha Sasuke,” said Tsunade in a very firm voice as she sat behind the big desk of her office in the Hokage Tower. Standing two steps behind her was her personal aide, Shizune and her bodyguard, Namiashi Raidou. At the other side of the room, Morino Ibiki, Mitarashi Anko, Shiranui Genma, and Hatake Kakashi, were standing in a single straight line. Sasuke himself stood in the very center of the Hokage’s office. “You left this village, abandoned your duty as a Konoha shinobi, joined forces with Konoha’s enemy, which attacked Konoha and caused the death of the Sandaime Hokage, endangered the life of your comrade shinobis, and all of this for nothing but a very selfish personalvendetta. Do you have anything to say against these matters?”

    This is it. Time to end it all; he’s not going to deny any of those things that were accused against him. Mainly because all she said was true. He’s been selfish, he’s been reckless, and he’s been stupid. He’s been blinded by his obsession to kill Itachi, and to achieve that he’s shamelessly put his revenge above honor, above duty, and above friendship. So it’s time to pay.

    “I won’t deny anything, Hokage-sama. I plead guilty as charged. I’ll accept whatever punishment that Konoha will give me.”

    Tsunade nodded her head slightly before declaring her judgment, “Uchiha Sasuke, you will be put under ANBU surveillance for 12 months starting today. You are forbidden to leave Konoha’s grounds for 12 months for whatever reasons. You’ll be allowed to continue your duty as a Konoha Genin, accomplishing only D-rank missions within the Konoha village. In 12 months time there will be an evaluation. If the result is satisfactory, then you will be allowed to take the Chuunin Exam and be given missions outside Konoha. Still under surveillance, of course. You have any objections?”

    At that very moment shame that Sasuke never experienced before hit him hard. Suddenly Sasuke felt very small, very unworthy. Here he was standing before the people who represented the village that he had betrayed and they still gave him a second chance, and offered him forgiveness. Something that he felt he didn’t deserve at all.

    “No objection, Hokage-sama,” said Sasuke as he lowered his head. “Thank you.”

    xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

    “WHAT??? D-rank missions for a whole year???” screamed Naruto. “Okay, let’s go, we need to see Tsunade-baachan right away. This is too much.”

    Sasuke seized Naruto’s wrist to stop him before uttering one word in a very stern voice, “Don’t.”

    “B-but, Teme! It’s for Konohas own good too! We need you outside the village to kick some bad guy’s a**, not walking the Daimyo’s daughter’s dog.”

    Sasuke’s left eye twitched a little when he heard Naruto speak of kicking bad guy’s a** but he very much doubted that Naruto noticed it. “Usuratonkachi, I’ve committed treason. I should be executed.”

    “No way! What you have done was not…”

    “It was,” Sasuke cut it. “D-rank missions for a year is a very small price to pay. I should have paid it with my life instead.”

    xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

    “Sasuke-kun, you’ve got to stop this.”

    Sasuke’s black eyes looked straight into Sakura’s green ones but not for long. There was too much compassion in there and he was never good at dealing with that kind of emotion. He would welcome resentment, anger or hatred. He knew those feeling. But kindness, affection, gentleness, or God forbid… pity, he just couldn’t deal with those.

    “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

    “I think you do. You turned your back on us. Please don’t do that, we’re still your friends, you know.”

    She was right of course. He did seclude himself from everybody but it was for the best. They didn’t need him in their social circle anyway and he had this huge debt to pay toward Konoha. Right now, he was nothing but a tool that Konoha could use anyway they liked. He would do anything that his village asked him to do no matter how small, how ridiculous or how dangerous it would be. He simply had no time to indulge himself. He needed to pay this debt.

    Without saying anything Sasuke started to walk away, leaving the pink haired kunoichi behind. However Sakura refused to give in so easily. She followed the sharingan user and tapped gently on his shoulder, forcing him to stop and turn around.

    “If you ever change your mind, you know where to find us. Believe it or not, we all really missed you here.”

    Yeah, right.

    “Hn.”

    xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

    “Your a** is mine, Teme!” yelled Naruto as he shoved his right leg toward Sasuke’s back in one powerful kick. Gracefully, Sasuke turned his body and defended himself from that attack with a simple touch of his left hand at the same time as his right hand drove a potent strike. The blue eyed shinobi jumped backwards and landed half crouching on the ground, stance ready for another attack.

    “Dream on, Usuratonkachi,” said Sasuke, lips outlined in his trademark smirk. He as well got ready for another attack.

    “Oh, believe me it’s going to be as real as it can get! Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!”

    Thousands of Naruto clones filled the practice ground, circling their prey with eyes full of enthusiasm. Sasuke stayed composed in his spot, calmly molding his chakra to counter this attack. Naruto’s bunshins were something that he was familiar with. He’s been fighting them since he was twelve years old; he could surely still handle them now.

    Sasuke never intended to play favoritism but, either Naruto was too dense to be aware of his efforts to be out-of-the-way of everyone’s path or he just simply pretended that he didn’t know, the super-cheerful Ninja always managed to seek Sasuke out and force him to spend some time with him. Surprisingly though, Sasuke didn’t find it annoying. On the contrary he found Naruto’s presence, to some extent, comforting. Gradually, their sparring became something that he yearned for, something that he needed to kill the lack of excitement that he felt from accomplishing those D-rank missions. Thus Naruto become the only person that still existed in the Uchiha prodigy’s social circle for the past one year.

    There was a bluish chakra gushing out from Sasuke’s body as he struck the first hundreds of Naruto’s bushins with his Chidori. The second blow hit even more clones and it seemed that the next strike would be the last. It was.

    Clones Mission: Cleared. Next target: Usuratonkachi.

    Sasuke looked around but he couldn’t see Naruto anywhere. However, after countless sparring sessions between them, Sasuke had a pretty good hunch where Naruto would be. The black haired shinobi unsheathed his long thin blade and flooded the sharp metal with his chakra before thrusting it in the ground. The earth beneath cracked with a loud noise. Something that looked like a flash of orange jumped out between the cracks then headed straight toward Sasuke. The blonde’s fist was just inches away from the raven’s chin, but clearly the punch was not fast enough. Sasuke seized Naruto’s wrist and then in one swift move twisted the arm and held it firmly behind Naruto’s back. Adding the pressure of his hand behind said back, Sasuke shoved Naruto’s body forward against his so they were chest to chest now.

    “Who got whose a** now, Usuratonkachi?”

    Maybe it was the a** metaphor; maybe it was the way the sun caressed Naruto’s hair, it made the blond hair appear so much brighter than usual; maybe it was the ridiculously beautiful blue eyes; maybe it was the naughty grin; maybe it was the whiskers; maybe it was the adrenaline that rushed through out their bodies, or maybe it was that hidden lust between them that had finally decided to erupt.

    No matter what the reason was, at the time Sasuke only knew that he wanted this man in front of him so badly, it hurt.

    Suddenly, everything was changed between them, all initiated by a none-too-gentle kiss.

    xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

    Sasuke growled at the memory of that first kiss that started all this madness. But he had no one to blame but himself. He was the one who initiated the kiss, he was the one who crossed the line, he was the one who let himself surrender to raw desire. All ignited by that very same kiss, while Naruto… Oh Dear God… Naruto had submitted to every single thing he wished for without caring for any consequences.

    Sasuke never meant for it to go this far, or this deep. He thought of it as a mistake, as one of those things that happened based on nothing but lust and hormones. But then he found himself aching for Naruto’s warm body. One thing led to another and then sex became a ‘regular activity.’

    It seemed harmless at the beginning. They satisfied each other’s hunger and there was no emotion involved. But something started to happen along the way and Sasuke couldn’t say that he didn’t see it coming.

    Naruto wanted more. Even though the blue eyed blond never said it to his face -- apart from the after-sex-cuddly-action that took place several hours ago, he could feel it from Naruto’s touch, could see it from the way Naruto looked at him. He knew he had to put this dangerous game to a stop at some point, before somebody got hurt. But when unholy thoughts of a certain firm backside and gorgeous torso struck his mind…. Oh God those images would drive him crazy and in the end he would surrender to his desire. Hence he cruelly pretended that he didn’t see the longing in the blonde’s eyes, which begged for more than just physical pleasure, pretended that he didn’t see the pain in those blue eyes every time he left his bed without a touch of gentleness and continuously kept coming and taking and taking…

    Sasuke, you’re a heartless b*****d!

    Sasuke slammed the small table beside his bed hard, letting out his frustration. This situation he had with Naruto was outrageous and it was his entire fault.

    No more! This has got to stop!

    xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

    Naruto groaned at the memory of that first kiss that started all this madness. It wasn’t the greatest kiss, a little bit too harsh for his taste, but still it was pure magic. The same thing applies with all the sex they shared. It was magic that never failed to stun him, never failed to trap him even deeper to Sasuke’s charm, and never failed to make him feel so dumb for he knew it would only hurt him in the end, yet he still embraced it. Heaven knows, when it comes to Sasuke he was weak. And he didn’t like it. He didn’t like it at all.

    Naruto grasped onto the blanket that covered his body tightly. This situation he had with Sasuke was despicable and it happened because he was too weak.

    No more! This has got to stop!

    -- TBC --