“Sasuke, bastard, don’t you dare fucking die!”
Naruto let out a curse as he almost lost his footing on the damp moss that carpeted the forest floor. Of course it’s raining. It’s always fucking raining he grumbled to himself. He paused in his run to readjust the body that was slumped over his back—Sasuke Uchiha. He could feel the faint but steady tingle of Sasuke’s breath on the back of his neck, but the feeling of Sasuke’s blood seeping into the back of his jacket was a much more prominent sensation. He picked up his pace.
They had run into each other completely by accident, at least on Naruto’s part. He had been jumping through the woods, so intent on tracking his A-ranked target that he didn’t even feel his presence until he stumbled into a clearing and saw his arch rival standing several hundred yards away. The sudden burst of that charka stopped him as suddenly as if he’d run into a brick wall. That charka crashed down around him with such sudden strength that air was forced out of his lungs and he felt himself sway on his feet.
“Sasuke.” He found himself surprised when his voice came out even and strong.
Sasuke merely lifted his chin slightly and raised an eyebrow, seemingly unconcerned about the sudden turn of events. Naruto felt his legs tremble.
“Sasuke, I’m going to take you home.” He knew by now that Sasuke was beyond the influence of words, and he took a fighting stance.
Sasuke seemed to like this, and the corners of his mouth twitched up. “Your mission?” His voice was empty and hollow and he sounded thoroughly bored.
“It can wait,” Naruto said, taking three short steps forward.
He blinked. And then Sasuke was gone.
Sasuke had gotten faster in recent years. Much, much faster. The following series of punches and kicks came at him so fast that it was all Naruto could do to leap away from Sasuke and hold his arms up as protection. He dropped to the ground as a charka laden fist swung through the air, grazing the back of his head.
While trying to evade Sasuke’s unrelenting attack, Naruto called upon two Kage Bunshin. Sasuke continued to chase him around the clearing, opting more for punches and kicks then jutsus and techniques.
It took Naruto several minutes to finally see an opening in Sasuke’s attack and he managed to get a hand on Sasuke’s shoulder, halting his movements. By his free hand, his Kage Bunshin passed off a glowing, hissing Rasengan to his upright and awaiting palm.
Sasuke grinned wickedly, his red eyes flashing. “You wouldn’t—“
Naruto thrust his fist of Rasengan into Sasuke’s chest with such force that Sasuke’s body jerked backwards, out of his grip and onto the forest floor.
As he stumbled to where Sasuke lay, Naruto felt his breath escape his chest in a jagged gasp. Sasuke’s eyes were open and wide with disbelief as he stared up at Naruto. His fingers were twitching slightly and the grass below him was rapidly coloring crimson, thanks to the fist size hole in his side.
“Sasuke…” Naruto whispered. He knelt beside Sasuke, his hands drifting over his face and then across his chest to his wound. “Oh, fuck Sasuke.”
Sasuke’s hand lashed out suddenly, managing to scratch Naruto’s calf with his fingernails before his arm fell limply to the ground again. Naruto bit his tongue in an attempt to get his racing heartbeat under control as he inched up to Sasuke again.
“I’m sorry, Sasuke…” Naruto whispered again. He closed his eyes so he wouldn’t get trapped in Sasuke’s wide-eyed, pained stare as he slammed his fist down on Sasuke’s bleeding wound. He heard a loud gasp, and when he opened his eyes, Sasuke’s were closed.
He quickly set to work to try and quell Sasuke’s rapid blood loss. He wrapped the only bandages he had with him around Sasuke’s body as tightly as he could before he stood and hauled Sasuke’s limp form onto his back. He then turned back in the direction of the closest village and began to run. That was when it started to rain.
~
Naruto took his time as he kicked off his shoes and shrugged off his jacket onto the floor. As soon as he had entered the village he had been running nonstop. He ran to get Sasuke to an inn, he ran to get bandages and antibiotics, he ran back to the inn and his fingers worked continuously until the blood had stopped flowing from Sasuke’s injury.
Naruto was glad; he had his Sasuke just below his ribcage, no where near his vital organs. The boy would live; it was just a question of where and how.
He had then run to the village’s headquarters to have a hawk sent out to Konoha, informing Tsunade that he had found and retrieved Sasuke and that he needed backup as soon as possible.
Now that Sasuke was resting comfortably on the bed, Naruto took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened his eyes a few moments later, Sasuke had shifted onto his side, his arm draping over the side of the bed.
Naruto frowned and circled around to watch Sasuke carefully. He had given Sasuke an ample dose of a medicine that was supposed to limit the flow of chakra in his body, but with Sasuke, you could never be too sure. He still seemed to be unconscious, but Naruto pressed another pill to the back of his throat, just in case. After a few more minutes of scrutiny, Naruto moved to a chair on the opposite side of the room, his eye still trained warily on Sasuke’s dead form.
He couldn’t let up watch until the ANBU arrived.
Two days passed, and Naruto had barely moved from his spot, save for occasional bathroom breaks and a few sips of water.
The ANBU should arrive any time now he told himself, stifling a yawn.
Sasuke hadn’t moved from where he was slumped on the bed. Naruto gave him a cautious glance before he stood and shuffled over to the bathroom. He was just finishing zipping up his pants when a sudden surge of that chakra almost knocked him off his feet.
He was at the side of the bed in an instant and he grabbed Sasuke’s shoulder and slammed it to the mattress. A thunderous chirping filled his ears as the Chidori plunged through his heart. Sasuke watched with tired eyes as Naruto choked on his final breaths, his eyes wide and pleading at Sasuke.
Please, Sasuke, please don’t do this.
Sasuke ripped his hand back through Naruto and Naruto’s body collapsed onto the bed beside him. Sasuke gasped for breath, suddenly unable to move his body or even to pull air into his lungs. The Chidori had pulled on his last reserves of chakra and he could feel himself fading. His head fell to the pillow as he began to see spots. His ragged, gasping breaths filled the still of the room until they slowly faded into silence.
Several hours later, a squad of Konoha ANBU broke down the door of the room. They ran in, but slowly gathered around the bed, stunned at what they saw.
Two young boys, their dead eyes locked together and their hands gripping each other’s tightly.
Outside, the rain had finally stopped falling.
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Chapter notes: Written on a dark, rainy, depressing night. I'm usually not this morbid. :D Reviews are lovely.