A Red, Red Rose
by gingko
Hello everyone! This is a little ficcie I did. I posted this on the sasuxnaru livejournal community first, and I completely forgot about Oh well. Here it is.
-
Sasuke could tell that it was him. Even though the face was hidden by a mask, Sasuke knew.
He was close. And getting closer. Wherever Sasuke turned, he was there. His scent, his taste, him.
They were here to kill him. To hunt him down. Or to bring him back.
If Sasuke ever had the chance to look back on this day, he would laugh. To be hunted by that person. That person that he...
-
A chaste kiss. Just a gentle brush of one pair of lips against another.
Sasuke pulled away to look at the golden boy. He had a shocked expression on his face, which soon turned into an expression of anger. Sasuke just smirked and left, while the other screamed questions voiced as words that little children are not supposed to hear.
That wasn't even the last one.
Sometimes it was when the rest of the team wasn't looking.
Sometimes it was when they just happened to be in the same place at the same time, alone.
Sometimes it was when that stupid dead-last slept with his window open and Sasuke passed by.
Sometimes Sasuke just did it because he wanted to.
But that was all Sasuke did, and no words were ever said.
The other stopped complaining after a while and just seemed to accept them, those kisses.
Sasuke never questioned why and he never said anything to him. You don't need words when you have actions, Sasuke thought.
-
The others lay wounded around the clearing. They were all people that Sasuke recognized. All old, old friends. But Sasuke didn't have room for friends. Sasuke had decided this the moment that he found himself in Orochimaru's presence, asking for the ultimate power.
-
Sasuke stared down at his hands. He...he hadn't been able to do anything.
Blood, blood everywhere. Everyone's dead. Mother, Father...Brother, why did you do this? So...so much blood. So dark. So cold. I'm...so lonely. Don't leave me. Don't abandon me. There's no one here. No one's left. No one at all.
It had been at that moment that Sasuke decided he needed to be even stronger. To defeat Itachi, so that no one could ever destroy what was his ever again.
That was why Sasuke went to Orochimaru.
Sasuke never explained this to anyone. It was no one's business but his own.
-
He was the only one left. His mask has long been lost and there was a deep gash in his side from Sasuke's blade. Sasuke wondered why he could still look so defiant, sky-coloured eyes flashing.
There blades met with a metallic clash. Sasuke watched as he gritted his teeth, pressing his whole weight against the blade. With a glowing sweep of his katana, Sasuke swept the other sword away.
He glared, clenching both hands around the handle. Sasuke still stood calmly in the same place.
"It doesn't have to be this way. Come back with us. You'll be forgiven, you always are."
There was no answer.
Azure eyes narrowed, "Why? Why are you doing this, Sasuke? What is this supposed to prove?"
Sasuke just watched him passively, "There is no 'why'. I answer to no one."
"This is our home!"
"It's your home. It was never mine."
The death-grip he had on the katana lessened and in Sasuke's eyes, he looked...defeated. So strange, for someone who did not have the word 'lose' in his vocabulary.
"You have no room in your heart for anything, do you? It's always revenge. Sometimes, I wonder if you even have a heart in that cold body of yours!"
-
'Absolute power corrupts absolutely.'
No one knew how very true this phrase was. But Sasuke knew.
He...he lost sight of the reason, the reason why he needed to become powerful.
It had felt so good. So good to be all powerful. Power licking through his veins, through the very fibre of his being. It was...intoxicating.
That fight, it had been what they had always wanted, right? And so, they fought.
By the time the cloud had cleared from Sasuke's mind, that person lay motionless in front of him.
Sasuke said his name.
No response.
Sasuke tried to say something, but stopped.
Rain began to fall.
There's no turning back now, is there...
"Uggh!"
Sasuke crouched down in pain. It had been too much. But Sasuke's position brought him closer to the unconscious boy.
How many times had he seen that face up close? But now, it looked peaceful and strangely empty. Devoid of that sunshine...devoid of the soul.
As Sasuke walked away, he remembered the words of his brother.
You, too, can gain this power. But there is a requirement.
Sasuke's face became sober. Even under the influence of that power, I hadn't done it. And I never will. I will not be your puppet!
-
The golden-haired man lunged forward again, each word punctuated by a slash which was blocked. "This was how you always were. Even, even back then! You were just messing with my mind, weren't you? All those times, all those times...I'm going to kill you, Uchiha! I'm going to kill you and laugh over your cold, dead, heartless body! I. Want. You. Dead!"
Sasuke's face was emotionless before a small smile graced his face. He lowered his katana. And watched the incoming golden blur. Sasuke watched as the Anbu's eyes narrowed, probably thinking that this was a trick. It was no trick. If this was what he really wanted...
Why don't you just tell him what you need to say. What you've always wanted to say.
Because I know him. He won't listen. He'll just think that it's a trick, that moron. Besides, he's happy right now.
I want to be selfish. I've been too self-sacrificing all my life. I got stronger for my father. I got stronger to kill my brother, for my family. I've gotten stronger so he would not have to suffer.
If I went back with them...I would eventually be forgotten, wouldn't I? He would have his own life, with friends and family. A life that has no room for me.
I know I'm selfish, but now he'll always remember me.
Blood. Warm, red blood dripped down the katana and ran in slow, red rivers to the hand of the wielder.
Shocked blue eyes stared into his own. "S-Sasuke...w-what..."
The smirk never left his face, "You idiot..."
Sasuke coughed and a trail of blood ran down from one corner of his mouth, "It was never a trick. Never."
"You moron! Don't talk!"
I guess, that's just what I get for thinking that a dead-last...would actually know what I wanted him to know.
"What are you trying to prove, Sasuke? What are you trying to prove by doing this? I just don't get you at all."
I'm just trying to prove to you, that I want you to be happy. That my heart beats just for you.
One last time for you, Naruto.