Full Circle

By: Karasu Kyra

He dodged the blow from above and sent his sword in a long arch from the left. His opponent dodged. The blond let his momentum carry him in a full circle, and as soon as he was facing the dark-haired man again, he sprinted forward and the clang of metal hitting metal rang as their blades locked against each other.

Naruto Uzumaki stared into the eyes of the man he loved for so long. They stared back, cold and unyielding. He couldn't say when those eyes lost all warmth. Even as Sasuke stood at Orochimaru's side and promised the blond death, somewhere in the depths of those coal black eyes there was a flicker of love. More a coal burning red-hot, than a buried flame. (But there are always catalysts.)

They broke apart, (and his mind remember heated, harsh stolen kisses) and Sasuke's hands flew through a familiar katon jutsu. He brought his hand to his mouth and sprayed fire at Naruto who dodged out of the way, throwing a few shuriken as he moved.

As the heat, flame, and smoke disappeared a pale hand shot through and gripped the blonde's throat (and Sasuke's body moved against his own, the hand gripping harder and harder as they both moved toward ecstasy) and Naruto can't believe how careless he's been, or how badly his dick is throbbing.

"Sasuke," he hissed out, half warning, half daring.

"Naruto," the Uchiha replied, smirking casually.

The dark-haired man shoves Naruto against the nearest tree without gentleness, lips meeting lips almost instantly. Sasuke ground his hips up into Naruto's, creating delicious shivers to travel through the blonde. The taller man growled and threw the Uchiha to the ground, falling into a straddle over him as the dark-haired man's back slammed into the ground.

The blonde pinned the smaller man's arms above his head and hissed into his face, "Who do you think you are?"

Sasuke responded by spitting in Naruto's face and bucking the larger man off of him. In the seconds it took Naruto to stand again, Sasuke, and his chakra signature, was gone. The blonde's legs shook with the effort to keep standing. He gave in to the pain and weariness and collapsed to the ground. The smell of sweat, blood, and smoke lingered in the air.

If asked, Naruto would never say the relationship between him and his former best friend had ever been gentle. Caring, yes, but not tender. It burned him, hot, passionate, rough. But, the possessiveness in which Sasuke had claimed him made him ecstatic. He knew he was wanted, knew he was needed.

Now, though; seeing the coldness in which the Uchiha regarded him killed him. Not the burning, like the love they had shared. More like being crushed under ice, numb and frozen in place. He could only hope for a little extra air to keep breathing, keep waiting (for what?).

Naruto groaned, a pitiful noise he would never have let anyone else hear. He pushed himself to his feet and started the long trek back toward Konoha.

-0-0-0-0-

As soon as he debriefed, he hit the ANBU showers and headed to his small apartment. He opened the door and stepped inside, not bothering to flip the light on. He stripped of his clothes and threw them in the garbage in the kitchen, wandering to his bedroom to find more clothes. He had just slipped into a pair of boxers and pants when somebody cleared their throat in the doorway.

Battle-trained reflexes kicked in first, as he launched himself at his unknown assailant. He had pinned a small, unyielding body to the ground before he took in the bubble-gum pink hair, and familiar jade eyes. Sakura didn't smile, didn't frown, her face and expressionless mask. Once upon a time, she wore her heart on her sleeve, but they hadn't been children in lifetimes.

She stared for a moment and then stated, "You saw him. You fought him."

Naruto rose off of her, pulling Sakura up with him before answering, "Yes."

"He's well?"

"As well as that asshole can be." Naruto attempted a grin, trying to make it a pun, but it didn't quite hit its mark. Sakura just sighed.

Naruto frowned. The pink-haired girl had excelled in her studies in the years since Sasuke's betrayal. Tsunade had more time to focus on Sakura when Kakashi took over as the seventh Hokage. She was an outstanding med-nin, her abilities far exceeding even Tsunade's own.

But power comes at a price, and every shinobi in the bingo book learned that quickly. Sakura had seen, dealt with so much. As did every shinobi. Rapists, pedophiles, arsonists. Then there were that special breed that Orochimaru was. The ones that took innocents and tortured them, slowly, meticulously, in order to achieve an end (the worst were those without a goal, who only did it for kicks).

Sakura touched Naruto's shoulder, her fingertips cold against his bare, overheated skin. He shivered.

"I will kill him," the pink-haired woman said, voice flat.

The blond fully believe she would. His betrayal had pushed him to the lengths they were at today. Naruto just chuckled and shook his head. "Don't bother. We'd be dead already if it weren't for him."

And Sakura fully believed the taller man. Sasuke had pushed them both to greatness (in the same way Orochimaru set a captive's nerve-endings on fire, just to test how long they could stay conscious) and recognition.

"Sakura, this is what we're here for. We will protect children from the horrors we have felt and seen. That is our duty, and our purpose. There is at least one child out there who will die, never personally knowing of rape and murder, gleeful torture, or bitter betrayal. This is why we kill." (It always comes full-circle, there is always a beginning and an end.)

And a slow, true smile slid across Sakura's face, and she looked as she did almost twelve years ago. "As long as there is still an innocent life to fight for, I will not break."

AN: I'm not very satisfied with this. It seems…inconsistent. I don't know. Let me know what you think. It was my first foray into darker, sex-related themes. Anyway, I'm sorry for the delays on everything, but I promise I will one day have new chapters up. I've had a long spell of writer's block and it was pretty hard to crank even this out, so bear with me. Just stick it out with me, it'll happen