Hyetal

Summary: 'It's dark, and the lights on the street throw grotesque shadows across the ground. His footsteps are clearly audible in the quiet of the night. An owl hoots somewhere in the distance. There's blood on the pavement. Rain begins to fall.' The storm doesn't stop after that- until it does.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Sasuke remembers walking home from training. The sky is blue, white clouds drifting around like the petals in the pond. Birds sing, the leaves of the trees rustle, and his brothers' grip is strong and warm when he takes his hand.

The wind tickles when it breezes through the hair at his nape, and he can't help but giggle, his hands over of his mouth and cheeks as if to hide it. He peers over the top of his fingers at the other boy, the mischievous laugh still holding the corners of his mouth captive. His brother chuckles at the sight of him, stress lines disappearing, and ruffles his hair.

The dusty road beneath their feet dirties their shoes, but neither of them cares.

It's a beautiful day.

Night falls before Sasuke knows it. He walks home quickly- he wasn't supposed to be out so late. His father will be mad and, as always, will give him a stern talking to. It won't be so bad, though, because his mother has no doubt been worried and will fuss over him. Maybe, if he's lucky, Itachi will even have returned from his mission.

It's dark, and the lights on the street throw grotesque shadows across the ground. His footsteps are clearly audible in the quiet of the night. An owl hoots somewhere in the distance.

There's blood on the pavement.

Rain begins to fall.

Haku dies, and snow falls.

For a second, Sasuke thinks the clouds will clear afterward.

They don't.

There's a sour taste in his mouth when they go back to Konoha. He walks next to Kakashi. The grey-haired man is a silent companion, even if it is only because he reads those disgusting books. Kakashi is okay. Sort of.

Sakura tried to talk to him earlier, but he's taciturn today, so she gave up after a while. He doesn't mind it. She's talking to Naruto now, tucking a strand behind her ear absentmindedly. Her hair is pink like the sakura petals in the pond back home.

These days, he never sees them. They're washed away by the rain so quickly.

His fists tighten at the sight of the back of Naruto's head. He's blond, like the sun, and has eyes like the sky, but all Sasuke can think when he looks at him is:

Why can't you be enough?

He fights Naruto.

The rain falls once again and Sasuke speaks to his gone (dead, dead, dead, dead) family.

See that, mom? Even the heaven cries now.

Orochimaru teaches him, Kabuto smiles and something in Sasuke stops.

Fog floats above the moss, the smell of rotten wood invades his nose and lightning flashes in the overcast sky.

Sakura isn't crushed as easily as the petals she's been named for anymore. It takes more than a single step to ruin her, to make bruises bloom across her lovely pale skin and dirty her bright, bright colours.

She's become a tree, green eyes the leaves to the flowers of her hair. Tall, proud, older and wiser. Bound to the earth, thick roots holding her up. She's strong, powerful and full of life.

But trees are felled by lightning easily.

Even in death, she will be beautiful.

Naruto saves Sakura, and Sasuke realizes he doesn't know what the sky looks like anymore.

He screams and rages. He makes mountains crumble like sandcastles. He kicks, he curses and he slices straight through trees. He's a man, flesh and blood. He is a shinobi, a broken tool, strong as steel and brittle as rusty iron. Secrets and lies rip into him, but what makes him beg for mercy, for release, are the things he does himself.

His brothers lifeless eyes keep looking at him in his dreams, and even though he can't see them when awake, he can feel their gaze following him everywhere.

This is all a nightmare says a shrill, crazy voice inside of him. It won't matter what I do. Tomorrow I'll wake up in my bed, and Itachi will be home, and mom will make me breakfast while dad is putting on his uniform. There's nothing wrong! Really, no cloud in the sky!

He doesn't know what the sky looks like.

His teammates look at him worriedly, mouths moving, but he can only hear the thunder.

He cries tears of blood when he finds the corpse of a crow on the road.

None of his companions dare to ask anything- they huddle together, cloaks wrapped tightly around them and wait out the storm.

Lightning flashes, wind swirls, and it all ends on the ground. He's on his back, Naruto is next to him. Both of them half an arm down.

Despite all of this, Naruto is already running his mouth again.

Sasuke exhales, thinks of how the blood that's trickling down is slowly mingling with Naruto's, and for the first time in years, there is peace within his mind.

The rain stops, the clouds dissolve, and the only thing left behind is the endless expanse of the sky. It is blue, heart-stealing, man-drowning, sun-crowning blue. So gigantic and awe-inspiring that it takes Sasuke's breath away.

His eyes are wide open, trying to take it in all at once, his heart thrumming in his chest like a hummingbird. It feels exciting, fluttering, and above all: alive.

The sky is blue like the eyes of the boy next to him, and Sasuke feels like laughing until the entire world knows how the earth beneath their feet smells after the rain has gone away.

Somewhere deep inside of him, a barricade is pushed aside. It takes no effort at all, nor does the unlocking of the chains. They fall with a heavy thud, the metallic sound echoing, and the doors swing wide open.

Sasuke looks at the sky, and falls in love.

Hyetal;

hy·e·tal, adjective

Of or relating to rain, rainfall, or rainy regions.

Authors note

Partially inspired by "And you- My One and Only" by BlueRam. Check them out! They have got some great stories!

Also, I'm curious- do any of you tend to symbolize certain Naruto characters with natural phenomena and/or plants?

I hope you enjoyed it and constructive criticism is always welcome!