Autor's note; please read.

Yesss. This is what I've been working on. It's short. I don't really care for it. The story isn't too cooperative with me, and I've got a bit of trouble just.. Pairing the pieces together. I need a beta, seriously. If you know anyone who'd make a good beta, please E-mail / comment / PM me. I really need someone to discuss this stuff with

Anyway, here goes nothing. Please give me constructive criticism. I know this chapter is crap and it seems forced. I spent two eternities trying to make it look better, but it didn't work. :P So, yeah. Constructive criticism!

(And before I forget: thank to those who helped me fix some mistakes in chapter 6!)

This chapter is dedicated to all those who reviewed, and my beautiful Tsiedo; you guys will always be my never ending source of inspiration and motivation.

Pieces Mended is a song by The Used. Don't own, don't sue.

- - -

Chapter 7 – Pieces mended

"Uzumaki-san?"

A quiet voice interrupted Naruto's silent brooding. He sat at the top of the Hokage's mountain, staring out over the village, like he always did when he needed to go someplace to think. It was always void of people, because of the slight chill and the winds.

Naruto threw a backward glance at the young boy, and then resumed staring out over the city.

"You shouldn't be up here alone, Hisoka-sama." He knew that there was no need to call him that, but he did it anyway out of respect.

"Good thing I'm not alone then, isn't it?" witty and diplomatic, as a Kage's son and a future mizukage should be. Hisoka took a place next to Naruto, somewhere on Yondaime's head. Naruto still felt a bit guilty for leaving him and his mother alone with Sakura and Kiba while on the ANBU-mission.

"The hidden village of leaf is very different from the hidden village of mist."

"Well, we've got a better viewing distance, that's for sure," Naruto attempted to make a joke, but it was obvious his mind was somewhere else.

"Something is wrong," Hisoka pointed out in that calm eerie voice of his.

"Hm?" Naruto said, feigning ignorance.

"With you. Something is wrong with you."

"Should I take that as an insult?" Naruto tried to stall. He felt ridiculous, as if his emotions were so obvious that even a child would notice. But on the other hand, this was no normal child.

"You know what I mean." The mizukage's son turned to stare at him with his penetrating black eyes. His lips were set in a grim line, as always.

Naruto refused to give up. He just kept staring, down at the working people of Konoha, from the Hokage's mountain.

"Suit yourself."

Naruto and Hisoka kept quiet, which was a rarity for the first of the two.

Naruto shifted his gaze from the city to the to-be mizukage. How old was he, about the same age as Konohamaru? Naruto amused himself with the thought of indulging Konohamaru with this information and snickered, but quickly decided it a much too mean plan to follow through. There was a different system in Kirigakure; much like the Sunagakure in Sunagakure, where Gaara reigned. There, the title of Kage was passed down and inherited; while in Konoha it was earned through hard work and competition between other candidates. While Konohamaru sadly didn't have what it took to become hokage, he'd probably fought a lot harder for the position than Hisoka.

It may have seemed that Konoha's system was more fair, but Naruto had to admit that the title always managed to be passed on to someone worthy.

And it was weird, in a way. Gaara, the boy who had been hated his entire life, fighting so hard for the village that had shunned him because of what lay sealed inside him, and Naruto, always being dismissed as the monster which resided inside him, was at the age of twelve accepted by Tsunade, the fifth hokage.

Hisoka.. Hisoka was different. He had always been loved, he'd always had friends, and in a way, Naruto was bitter. Because, didn't he have a demon sealed inside him too? Then why was he treated differently?

"What makes you so different?" Naruto murmured his thoughts out loud.

Hisoka had the decency to look confused as he glanced back at Naruto. "Excuse me?"

"Gaara and I.. we were always hated for what was inside of us. Why are you so different?"

Hisoka looked taken aback and Naruto wondered if it had been wrong to bring it up so abruptly. After all, he was still a child, and Naruto was sure he'd been spoiled. He probably hadn't even been on a mission.

He probably hadn't even seen someone die, much less been their cause of death.

And god damn it, It's unfair!

"I.. Gaara?" Hisoka recognized it, and tasted the name on his tongue. "Gaara... You mean the fifth Kazekage?"

Naruto gave a small nod.

"I'm not sure, but I can guess," Hisoka said honestly. Naruto was mildly surprised that he'd lost his calm, all-knowing attitude. "I don't know that much about it, but I assume that it is because you were blamed for Yondaime's death when you were young. Gaara, now the fifth Kazekage was hated by his father, and seeing as he was a respectable leader, everyone simply decided to follow. Him being able to control sand.. I can't imagine it helped."

Naruto smiled. The villages knew too much about each other, and the young inexperienced boy had given it away. He'd have to talk to Tsunade about that.

"And me.. no one died, did they? And so my father still treats me with respect, even though the love was lost the minute it was sealed inside me."

Naruto thought about that for a minute. "So one person changed it all?"

Hisoka shrugged, looking uncomfortable. But Naruto wouldn't let him away that easily.

"One person? So if I had been accepted by one person, the rest would have followed?"

"I can't help you with that, Uzumaki-san. Please don't dwell on it." Hisoka was once again calm and seemingly much too mature.

"After all.. I'm sure that someonewill notice you're up here some day, since all you do on your free time is to sit here and guard the city that hates you."

An insult braided with a compliment, but as it made him hope, it stung as well.

Naruto stood up abruptly and frowned at the smile on Hisoka's face.

"Hisoka-sama," he offered a small nod as farewell, and then disappeared abruptly.

- - -

Sasuke didn't know what was going on.

He stared, he stared, and he stared and oh GOD how he wished something would just appear. A flicker; a light, anythingin the darkness. He now realized how stupid he had been. He'd fought so hard to obtain the Sharingan, once.

Once.

Now he was able to appreciate those days. The days when he could see the snow, instead of just feeling its cold. To be blinded by the sun, instead of just boiling in the indescribable heat.

In some of the most hopeless of days, without his eyes, it felt as if the rain was an attacker too strong for him to conquer.

There was some sort of mixed melancholy. He wished he could go back in time. He wished he could return to the days when he'd seen his teammates, seen them as a hindrance; because if he could, he'd appreciate them instead of acting the way he'd done before.

Once.

While he did believe that Orochimaru had taught him important things, he knew (however much he wanted to deny it,) that he still wasn't at Itachis level.

So, what had really happened, to his benefit, in the last four years?

A question he couldn't answer.

Honestly? A secret that would never be spoken; sometimes, more often that he wanted, Sasuke wished he'd stayed. Instead of pursuing revenge, maybe he should have stayed to take comfort.

Maybe if he had listened to Kakashi-sensei, he'd have been able to maybe smile at Sakura's jokes.

Maybe he should have stayed…

To find comfort in the naïve, optimistic smiles and happiness in the hopeful blue eyes of the person who'd come to get under his skin.

"Uhiha?" he heard the baritone of Ibiki. "'s time to go."

But then, Sasuke always came back to his senses.

- - -

"You know, we do have doors, and they work perfectly well." Tsunade continued to stare down at the paper on her desk as she noticed the other presence. "I hope that some day, the guards mistake you for a spy or something."

"You'd miss me if I died," Naruto grinned.

"Pft. You are banned from my window, brat. Now what do you want? I'm busy."

"You know.. him."

Tsunade shot Naruto a sharp look, choosing her words carefully before she dared to voice her thoughts. "…are you sure that's the best course of action?"

"Eh? What d'you mean, baa-san?"

"I know you've probably heard it from others as well, but don't get too close to him." Naruto opened his mouth again, but Tsunade wouldn't let him speak. "I cannot stress this enough. This probably isn't even the same Sasuke you remember. And the Sasuke you do remember.. what he did before he betrayed Konoha… it should be enough to ring a bell."

The blonde boy remained silent. It was useless. They didn't understand that it didn't matter to him. If this wasn't the Sasuke he knew, he'd force that Sasuke to come back, like he had brought back the weak body less than a week before.

Why is it so hard for them to understand? What are they thinking? That he isn't worth it? That I haven't got the strength to do it? Haven't I proven them wrong

Naruto knew that they didn't understand. Tsunade knew that Naruto thought she didn't understand. When it came to some things, Naruto was a child.

Tsunade sighed, admitting defeat in the short battle. It really was useless. "He's being escorted here from Ibiki's. The surveillance over his house has nearly been doubled. Naruto.." She gave him a helpless look. "He may not leave the village, but you know, that doesn't mean he won't be able to break you."

Naruto shook his head. "Thank you for your concern, hokage-sama."

"Remember.." she said, at the same time as the door opened.

"Just tell me if it becomes too much, and we'll … " the sentence fell on deaf ears as Naruto's attention turned elsewhere.

- - -

Naruto stared defiantly at Sasuke.

"Why did you do it?"

Sasuke leaned back nonchalantly, finding support in the wall.

"Why did you do it?" he repeated.

No answer. Sasuke just crossed his arms.

"Answer me, teme! Why did you god damn do it?"

"Dobe. Did you ever think of the fact that it was for the same reason I left the first time?"

Naruto clenched his fist. "Orochimaru?"

Smirk. "Orochimaru's dead."

Naruto's eyes darkened, and he felt something stir inside him.. "Aah. So you betrayed him to. Shouldn't have expected anything else."

Orochimaru's dead?

"Yeah well. I took his life, he took my sharingan. The sad part is that what he stole from me is probably worth more than him." There was an odd, dark irony in Sasuke's voice.

"Then why did you do-"

Naruto barely managed to catch the fist before it made contact with his face.

"It's none of your god damn business. You'd never understand anyway. How does it feel, Naruto? Being weak? Did you cry when you killed your first person? Did you cry when you killed your first woman, your first child?"

Naruto's face hardened as he felt Sasuke's whisper against his ear. "Do you still cry, Naruto?"

Naruto turned Sasuke's fist in his hand. The dark-eyed boy withdrew it as pain shot through his wrist.

"Do you still cry over your dead clan, Sasuke?"

Sasuke remained silent.

"Do you still see your mother, begging for her life? Your father's eyes, as he was betrayed by his precious son? Sasuke.. Do you still cry because he was their most precious person?"

The brunette was rendered speechless. In a way, he was thankful. For being humiliated, he was thankful for being acknowledged.

He was thankful that Naruto understood.

"You know.. I don't cry. I think about it a lot, though. Do you know how many times I've thought that, maybe if Sasuke was still on the team.. It wouldn't have ended this way."

It felt like the Valley of End all over again. Sasuke felt Naruto's hands grip his, as if preventing an attack to come.

"'cause, you know.. You're still my precious person, Sasuke. Don't for a second believe that I'll let you ruin your life again. Don't you dare to think that I'll let you ruin mine."

A young boy with glowing red eyes stared him straight in the eyes. "To me.." came the firm voice of his only friend. "This is a bond I've finally made."

Naruto's grip on Sasuke's hands loosened. Sasuke remained completely motionless as hesitant arms encircled him. Embraced him.

If this would have happened any other day, Sasuke would have probably pushed the boy away. But he didn't.

"… a little out of character, idiot?" While the insult was rough, Naruto wouldn't let go of his best friend.

And so Sasuke decided that before he comes back to his senses…

He could, this once, find comfort in his ex-friend.

- - - - - -

Well.. Fuck this. Crappy chapter. goes off to kick pots

If you know anyone willing to beta for me, please just.. contact me in some way :P