A Shadow Darkly
folder
Naruto › Yaoi - Male/Male › Kakashi/Sasuke
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
15
Views:
2,178
Reviews:
32
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
Naruto › Yaoi - Male/Male › Kakashi/Sasuke
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
15
Views:
2,178
Reviews:
32
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Naruto, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
XV
XV
Kakashi’s eyes slowly opened, and he was greeted to the sight of a sterile white hospital room. He almost panicked, but a sudden movement to his right drew his gaze. Sasuke was sitting in a chair, legs tucked up beneath him as he sketched. Long strands of black fell before Sharingan eyes, covering up most of his face. But Kakashi could still see the scar crossing under his eye. Sasuke’s pencil froze as he looked up at the elder man, his face a careful neutral mask. When Kakashi relaxed himself back onto his pillows, Sasuke, too, relaxed.
“How long?” Kakashi asked, feeling the ache of muscles long since atrophied.
“Almost a month,” Sasuke replied softly. “Some of the damage was extensive.”
“And you?”
Sasuke was silent for a long while. “I’m fine. Occasional hallucinations, but Sakura says they’ll go away.”
Kakashi turned his head to watch the younger man, finding himself watched right back. Months ago, he’d destroyed this boy, the boy he had wanted to protect. Now, Sasuke forever carried a mark of Kakashi’s mistake on his body, showing the scars on his soul too.
“Sasuke, I-“
Sasuke shook his head. “Don’t. There’s no need to apologize. We’ve paid for it enough. I’ll never be what I was. Even Tsunade says that the psychological damage was far too extensive for a complete recovery.”
“You seem to be back to normal.”
Sasuke shrugged. “For now? But I could have relapses. There will be times when I cannot defy an order because of the conditioning. It’s going to be a long road, Kakashi.”
Kakashi closed his eyes and sighed. He felt Sasuke move, felt him close the distance between them. Then Sasuke was lying beside him on the bed, head on his chest. Instinctively, Kakashi wrapped his arms around the young man and felt the nukenin’s body relax.
“I’m sorry.” Kakashi whispered. “I’m sorry.”
Sasuke was silent, just breathing against Kakashi’s neck. Finally, he shifted, rising to situate himself above the silver-haired shinobi, forehead pressed to Kakashi’s, Sharingan withdrawing into ebony.
“I’ve done horrible things,” Sasuke began softly, “and I was selfish and arrogant. I gave up everything to kill the one person who sacrificed everything to save me. Any other person in your position would have killed me. There will be an ingrained need to please you because of what you did, and I’ll never be like I was. I’ll still be a dick sometimes because that’s just how I am.”
“How can you forgive me so easily?” Kakashi asked. Sasuke closed his eyes and shrugged lightly before he reopened them.
“I don’t know. Maybe Naruto rubbed off on me more than I thought. All I know, truly, and not because of any conditioning, is that I need you. It’s not love – maybe, one day I can say those words to you, but right now it’s purely for the physical. It’s just need.”
Kakashi couldn’t help his growing smile. He understood all too well what Sasuke was trying to say. Everyone needed someone, whether it was a lover or a friend. Someone to talk to, to be with, when everything became too tough. Sasuke and Kakashi complemented each other that way – they held no love for each other, only a healthy respect that could, one day, flower into that higher emotion.
But right now, in this very moment, they needed each other like oxygen was needed to breathe. Another body to hold at night, to remind themselves that they were still human. Because they were jounin. They were the jounin that most feared because they could turn off everything human about them. So Kakashi enfolded Sasuke’s hand in his own and brought it to his mouth, carefully kissing his knuckles.
He felt Sasuke relax against him, and looked up into warming ebony eyes. Slowly, Kakashi reached up to trace the scar on Sasuke’s face, caressing it in a way only Sasuke would fully understand. As their eyes locked, Kakashi could only smile.
“I need you, too.”
Kakashi’s eyes slowly opened, and he was greeted to the sight of a sterile white hospital room. He almost panicked, but a sudden movement to his right drew his gaze. Sasuke was sitting in a chair, legs tucked up beneath him as he sketched. Long strands of black fell before Sharingan eyes, covering up most of his face. But Kakashi could still see the scar crossing under his eye. Sasuke’s pencil froze as he looked up at the elder man, his face a careful neutral mask. When Kakashi relaxed himself back onto his pillows, Sasuke, too, relaxed.
“How long?” Kakashi asked, feeling the ache of muscles long since atrophied.
“Almost a month,” Sasuke replied softly. “Some of the damage was extensive.”
“And you?”
Sasuke was silent for a long while. “I’m fine. Occasional hallucinations, but Sakura says they’ll go away.”
Kakashi turned his head to watch the younger man, finding himself watched right back. Months ago, he’d destroyed this boy, the boy he had wanted to protect. Now, Sasuke forever carried a mark of Kakashi’s mistake on his body, showing the scars on his soul too.
“Sasuke, I-“
Sasuke shook his head. “Don’t. There’s no need to apologize. We’ve paid for it enough. I’ll never be what I was. Even Tsunade says that the psychological damage was far too extensive for a complete recovery.”
“You seem to be back to normal.”
Sasuke shrugged. “For now? But I could have relapses. There will be times when I cannot defy an order because of the conditioning. It’s going to be a long road, Kakashi.”
Kakashi closed his eyes and sighed. He felt Sasuke move, felt him close the distance between them. Then Sasuke was lying beside him on the bed, head on his chest. Instinctively, Kakashi wrapped his arms around the young man and felt the nukenin’s body relax.
“I’m sorry.” Kakashi whispered. “I’m sorry.”
Sasuke was silent, just breathing against Kakashi’s neck. Finally, he shifted, rising to situate himself above the silver-haired shinobi, forehead pressed to Kakashi’s, Sharingan withdrawing into ebony.
“I’ve done horrible things,” Sasuke began softly, “and I was selfish and arrogant. I gave up everything to kill the one person who sacrificed everything to save me. Any other person in your position would have killed me. There will be an ingrained need to please you because of what you did, and I’ll never be like I was. I’ll still be a dick sometimes because that’s just how I am.”
“How can you forgive me so easily?” Kakashi asked. Sasuke closed his eyes and shrugged lightly before he reopened them.
“I don’t know. Maybe Naruto rubbed off on me more than I thought. All I know, truly, and not because of any conditioning, is that I need you. It’s not love – maybe, one day I can say those words to you, but right now it’s purely for the physical. It’s just need.”
Kakashi couldn’t help his growing smile. He understood all too well what Sasuke was trying to say. Everyone needed someone, whether it was a lover or a friend. Someone to talk to, to be with, when everything became too tough. Sasuke and Kakashi complemented each other that way – they held no love for each other, only a healthy respect that could, one day, flower into that higher emotion.
But right now, in this very moment, they needed each other like oxygen was needed to breathe. Another body to hold at night, to remind themselves that they were still human. Because they were jounin. They were the jounin that most feared because they could turn off everything human about them. So Kakashi enfolded Sasuke’s hand in his own and brought it to his mouth, carefully kissing his knuckles.
He felt Sasuke relax against him, and looked up into warming ebony eyes. Slowly, Kakashi reached up to trace the scar on Sasuke’s face, caressing it in a way only Sasuke would fully understand. As their eyes locked, Kakashi could only smile.
“I need you, too.”