Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
Naruto sighed. He sighed again. And again. And then one more time. It was the frustration that made him walk in circles, still in Sakura's home, invading her own safe zone. It felt bad to still be there when it obviously bothered the old woman, but he really had to think things through himself, first. Not just zoom out of there like he had done when he kind of sort of kidnapped little Sasuke.
Fortunately for Naruto, Sakura had at least given him time before the police would arrive, that was really nice. Although he had no idea how long it really takes for the current bad guys, in his opinion, to arrive at such a far away place as Sakura's farm.
Racing, pacing around, trying to think what would be the best thing to do. Should Naruto surrender? Hell no! That was the last thing on his mind. He would run away like the convict that he was. It sounded so exciting to him, after having lead somewhat unsatisfying life, but it was a scary thought too. But he'd manage! Just like Naruto managed to kidnap the five-year-old Sasuke. The fact that Sasuke came along almost willingly would be ignored.
And then there was Sasuke, what should he do with him, he wondered. Wondered really, really hard. Because Naruto thought that nothing that there was for Sasuke now didn't seem too pleasant. His big brother had murdered the whole family for God's sake, and by taking the child with Naruto that day had probably saved Sasuke from the same fate. Unless it was because of witty little Sasuke's absence that made the brother go nuts. But that would make it Naruto's fault, so he didn't believe in that option.
Sasuke drove people insane, like Naruto had so much experienced, he did not keep people sane with his presence. And by thinking that, Naruto had finally admitted that, yes, maybe he was a bit insane. After all, he had seen this situation coming. The mistake he had done was to go over the extremely legal Sakura, but there was no time to think of that now.
Naruto stopped and spared a glance towards the still sobbing Sakura. It felt so weird to see the vicious old bat crying like a girl. Of course, Naruto had seen her cry before, but that had been after some sappy romance movie. This was different, this was Naruto's fault and it stung at his conscience. Remorse wasn't a pretty feeling.
Naruto should be getting out of there, far away. Only, the question was whether he should take the emotionally scarred sarcastic little Sasuke with him. He didn't know, didn't know, and if he asked what Sakura thought, she would be sure to shook her head and knock him unconscious until the blue clothed men ran into her house where the last Uchiha was being kept hostage.
The thing was, this wasn't about her, not about old senile Sakura's opinions or thoughts, it was all about Naruto and Sasuke. But little Sasuke was grieving inside his borrowed room, refusing to come out, leaving Naruto to think of things all alone. The boy was a mere five-year-old, Naruto tried to remind himself. He was the adult, Naruto should be the one to think of solutions by himself. Naruto nodded, then stopped. And his head was so empty for things on what to do.
Time was running out, he'd have to leave, leave far away, there wasn't time to think, there hadn't been time to think in the first place. So he walked to the door Sasuke had barricaded behind and rested his forehead to the wooden texture.
Closing his eyes, Naruto sighed yet again, and told the little child inside that Naruto had to leave, he had to go far away because people were coming to him for what he had done and the last thing he wanted to do was to get caught by them. He then asked if Sasuke wanted to remain here and let those people take him home or if he wanted to come with Naruto.
The only response Naruto got was the loud sob that came after he mentioned home. And then Naruto said goodbye, being extremely happy that his voice didn't crack when he spoke the words. Turning around, he went over to the vicious old hag and stared at her scared face for awhile and then grinned.
She didn't protest that much, when Naruto tied her up, saying that this was the least she could do to him, mostly to herself, making it seem like she hadn't had any choice but host the two of them. So he tied the old woman to her chair and dragged the old lady to the closet for a good measure, making him seem like a super villain when the good guys arrived. Sakura didn't look too happy though, almost being her old self already, glaring at him before the closet door was shut. Naruto nodded in satisfaction.
Grapping a bottle of water and his car keys, Naruto walked outside to his car, ready to make a run for it. But he was stopped by a tiny little sniff that came from behind him and he turned around to see his little Sasuke looking absolutely pathetic with his eyes all red and poofy. But it was understandable, they boy had lost everything, every single little thing from parents to his house which had been burned down by his brother.
Sasuke had lost them, but so had he, because there wasn't any way Naruto could go back to them after having done what he had done. He shook his head, concentrating on staring at Sasuke who seemed to have a hard time saying whatever was on his mind. But his little legs didn't wait for words and took him to stand in front of Naruto, close enough for them to touch. And Sasuke did touch, he lifted his tiny hand and grabbed a hold of Naruto's pants, trying to look at his face but dropped his head as more tears started leaking from those dark eyes.
"…All I have."
Naruto blinked, then smiled. It was true, all Sasuke had now was Naruto and the unexplainable bond they had inherited from the Naruto and Sasuke that lived before them. All Naruto had now was Sasuke.
He hoisted the boy up to his arms and gently smiled at him. Sasuke showed a weak dissapprovement on being lifted like that, trying to be more like the witty little Sasuke Naruto was used to by now. Naruto didn't stop smiling as he started walking towards the car, now more motivated to leave than he had been before. Sasuke was there, nothing to worry about.
--
As they drove, Naruto could swear he heard the siren behind them, now wondering just how fast the police was. Breaking the speed limits, no doubt. Naruto took a glance at his speedometer, noticing that he was driving a tad too fast himself. But now was the time to be illegal, really. In fact, there was almost nothing legal on their situation right now.
Sasuke being underage and kidnapped beside him was illegal, Naruto driving away from cops was illegal, Naruto's 'borrowed' car was illegal. Oh yes, Naruto couldn't afford to get caught, really, really couldn't.
He glanced at Sasuke. The little child looked surprisingly indifferent, watching the scenery with rather bored eyes. Naruto scoffed at his attitude. Was the little guy over his family's massacre that fast or was he pushing the thoughts away, waiting until he was ready to handle them. Whatever it was, Naruto was thankful for that Sasuke wasn't crying because it would be rather difficult to comfort him while driving like a madman.
Suddenly, Sasuke turned to look at him, and Naruto cursed inwardly because it was right after he himself had said something about their situation being screwed up that got the child's attention. Which would prove that it was indeed Naruto, who made the boy use bad words.
Sasuke didn't look away, just kept staring, and Naruto was nervous because there was understanding in those gorgeous eyes. Even the five-year-old Sasuke knew how deep in shit Naruto was. But not an ounce of sympathy, not one drop could be seen in those eyes and for a moment, Naruto felt like throwing the brat out of the moving car.
And the child kept staring, as if searching something in him, calculating. Naruto just kept his eyes on the road, squeezing the steering wheel knuckles white. And then Sasuke spoke, his voice low and steady.
"Do you think we should try again?"
It took awhile, but Naruto did understand, really did. Again and again. Of course they should try again. It worked the last time they swore to try again, only, their first Again was a disaster. But that was why there was other Again, and next time, they would make things better, they could be together and happy and do stuff together.
He looked at his Sasuke, all doubt and hesitation gone from his dark eyes, and Naruto couldn't help but smile. As long as Sasuke was there with him, everything would be alright and he would try again. Together with Sasuke.
Seeing a cliff raising high above the road from a distance, Naruto nodded. There it was, their Again and Sasuke looked too, his tiny hands trembling as he struggled to open his seatbelt. Naruto pushed the accelerator, not caring if the overly high speed was overheating and damaging the engine. The car wasn't even his.
Sasuke struggled to climb from his seat to sit on Naruto's lap, watching their quickly approaching Again, before burying his face into Naruto's shirt. Seeing they were close enough, Naruto let go of the steering wheel, wrapping his arms around the tiny Sasuke and smiled from ear to ear, whispering to Sasuke's ear that they'd see again, it was a promise.
And then, everything went black for the two of them. They didn't even have time to feel the impact when their car crashed to the solid rock. They didn't hear the noises of crumpling metal or their own bones crushing. Their car exploded, bit flying everywhere, whatever remained of their bodies after the crash now burning inside the broken car. But no one was there too see, to witness their loud exit from this Again to the next Again.
Everyone thought it was horrible, Naruto's family wondering what went wrong with their happily normal son. A tragedy that was on the news at least for a week. But they didn't know any better. If Naruto's and Sasuke's faces would have survived the crash, they would see them smiling.
--
It ended with start.
Two strangers wanting to be together even if society didn't like it. All because of the promise they had made before regenerating.
Desperate to try again, driven to extreme solutions, dying together while holding each other.
Another promise to meet each other again, no matter how long it took. A promise that next time, they would make things right.
--
About two hundred and seventy-five years later, Naruto remembered none of it. He was just a mere eighteen-year-old commoner, living in the more modern ages.
Actually, to tell you the truth, he did remember something. He remembered Sasuke.
"Stay after class, Uzumaki."
Smiling, Naruto turned to look at his dark-haired teacher who smirked in return.
-END-
There it was. Phew. Finally wrote it out of the way. XD
Yay!
Was it fun to read? Was it sad? Did you think it was utter rubbish?
Read and review!