Memories of the Future sidestories

A/N: this oneshot is based on the song "Chiseled In Stone" by Vern Gosdin, and Sasuke's words, denoted by *, are words from the actual song. they were too good not to use.

this takes place during the story. hyuuga rei and nara shinsuke are yuki/naruto's teammates.

enjoy!


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Chiseled In Stone
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“Fine! Be that way!”

Hyuuga Rei turned from the locked door, stomping down the hallway and to the stairs. But when he saw Temari-san looking up at him as he made his way down, he slowed and calmed his steps, trying for an air of indifference.

As he walked passed her, Temari placed her hand on his shoulder, stopping him. “Don’t take it personally, Rei-kun. Shinsuke’s very much like his lazy ass father. He may be acting this way, but it’s most certainly not what he feels.”

“With all due respect, Nara-san, I think he meant every word of what he just said.” He held his cold indifference a moment longer before he sighed and deflated. “I think… Thank you very much for your hospitality, Nara-san, but I think, after this, it’s best if I live somewhere else until my parents return from their mission.”

Shinsuke’s mother, who’d been a staunch supporter of their relationship, frowned at him. “Where would you go, Rei-kun?”

He smiled wearily at her. “Yuki-chan had previously offered to put me up at the Uchiha mansion. Though, I have to wonder if she ran that by Hokage-sama.”

The beautiful woman in front of him laughed. “From the way she’s been acting lately, I’d say not.” Her chuckles died down before she turned serious once again. “Rei, think this over. Don’t do something hasty because of one little fight.”

Rei grunted, a simple dispute of the ‘little’ comment, but he just wanted to go, to get away from his problems. He’d come back later for his things, maybe with Touya-kun and Kei-kun in tow to help him out.

When he continued to say nothing, Temari let him go, and he walked to the door and out it, wondering idly where he was going, but not really caring about the answer. The chill winter wind whipped at his long hair, sending strands this way and that, into his eyes and mouth. He pushed through the wind, closing his eyes against his hair and the sting of air, and then it abruptly stopped. Rei sighed in relief and looked around him.

He’d wandered quite a bit from the Nara residence, almost near the training grounds. His cheeks burned with a slight blush as he started to think about the last time he’d been there, with Shinsuke, alone with Shinsuke, their shirts long abandoned, sweat beading upon their chiseled abs, rolling down to the hanging waistbands of their pants…

Rei shook his head of that thought, mad at himself for easily falling into thoughts about the other boy. He sighed. There had been times when his thoughts had only been for the silent lady of their team, the lovely Yuki-chan, though she could freeze any man that thought to get close to her with just a look. Not to mention both the Uchiha boys were head over heels for the girl, and frankly, no matter how vain and proud his parents were, Rei knew he stood no chance against either of them.

But ever since Yuki-chan had fainted and started to act differently, friendly even, almost belligerently so in Rei’s opinion, he’d lost some of his love-struck vision for her, seeing what a great individual, though quirky, she could be without a bias. So of course, once his attention had fallen off her, it had turned to the other person he had daily contact with, the other person to whom he was supposed to entrust his life.

Nara Shinsuke, as notoriously lazy as his genius father. And yet Rei had discovered that instead of gazing at clouds like the elder Nara, Shinsuke spent his time gazing at Rei and had become quite flustered – as flustered as a Nara could get – when he realized Rei was gazing back.

And it was on their training ground, a private session while Kakashi was off with Yuki-chan and the Hokage that Rei and Shinsuke had connected in a way they wouldn’t have ever guessed.

Rei blushed as he remembered how he’d lost control of himself and kissed the startled boy as he lay underneath the Hyuuga, pinned to the ground after an inspired flip through the air. Inspired because Shinsuke hadn’t expected taijutsu in their spar and had even accused Rei of cheating when he’d caught his breath.

Rei almost laughed until it caught up with him how he hadn’t been accused of cheating just the once. Instead, anger bitch-slapped any trace of humor that tried to sneak into his thoughts as he recalled his earlier fight with the boy.

Nara had actually accused him of being unfaithful! First he’d screamed that Rei had cheated on him, with an Uchiha of all people, and when he had finally been able to find out what the hell the other boy was talking about, he’d had to fight for a chance to explain himself.

Shinsuke had seen him with Uchiha Kei the other day, for which there was a logical explanation that didn’t involve the boy jumping to horrendous conclusions like Rei cheating on him! And when he’d finally been able to convince his boyfriend that nothing had been going on between the two, though Rei was still thoroughly of the mind that he shouldn’t have had to explain anything, he’d been accused of not loving the other boy.

Now, Rei could take a lot of things, but having his feelings denied, and to his face, was something he couldn’t forgive. Was Shinsuke that distrustful of the Hyuuga? Could Rei go on as if nothing happened between them and not wonder if the Nara boy doubted his every step?

Rei snorted bitterly at that thought, deciding in his anger that if Shinsuke wanted to be that way, then Rei would let him as he found someone else to love.

Regardless of what Temari-san thought, when a Nara put forth energy into anything, it meant they were deadly serious. Shinsuke obviously didn’t believe they had a lasting and trusting relationship.

It was over.

But even in his anger, that thought made Rei’s heart ache. Dammit, he loved the damned lazy bastard! But that apparently got him nowhere.

Rei looked up when he heard boots scuff the ground before him and found he’d wandered to the KIA stone in his inattention. His white eyes widened when he saw his company was none other than the Hokage, and the man looked as if he’d been staring at Rei for a while.

Remembering his manners, Rei bowed and murmured a frazzled, “Hokage-sama.”

The Hokage returned with a slight bow, but he didn’t say anything, just continued to look at the young Hyuuga. For a moment, those cold black eyes thawed, and Rei saw what looked to be sad sympathy in their depths. Then the Hokage turned to the stone and sighed almost inaudibly.

“You look as if you have a few things weighing heavily on your mind, Hyuuga-kun.” He was quiet, and Rei was just surprised the reserved man had spoken to a kid like him. “I’m sorry I had to send your parents away for such a long time,” the man all but whispered.

Rei stuttered a moment before regaining his ability to reply. “It’s their duty, Hokage-sama. We all know it. But that’s not what has my mind preoccupied.” He cut off, knowing the cold Uchiha would probably rather slit his own wrist than listen to a young boy’s love troubles. Then Rei mentally kicked himself for that thought. He didn’t know why the man was so cold and sad, but he’d been told as a child that the Uchiha had survived many tragedies in his life, regrettably in the man’s own opinion, if the whispered conversations around the village were to be believed.

But Rei desperately wanted to talk this out with someone, though the Hokage was probably not the best person. He really should just go to Iruka-sensei, but he found himself taking a few steps closer to the silent man anyway.

“My… friend doesn’t trust me. And it hurts.”

The Hokage didn’t say anything for a while, making Rei ashamed he’d even opened his mouth, but then a hesitant hand placed itself on his shoulder.

“I take it you care for this… friend very much?” Rei blushed as he realized he hadn’t been as smooth as he’d hoped, and the Hokage knew exactly what was going on between him and his ‘friend.’ He reluctantly nodded to the question.

The hand removed itself, and Rei thought that was it before the Hokage spoke again. “I know what that’s like,” he said quietly, like he was afraid his voice would break the night.

Rei was taken aback. The Hokage had been untrustworthy to someone?

“Not just someone. Everyone.”

Shit! Rei had spoken aloud without meaning to, but his curiosity was starting to get the better of his judgment. But before he could question the Uchiha more, those endless black eyes were on him again, though this time they were burning in anger. Rei gulped because he knew that that anger was directed at him.

“You’re out here feeling sorry for yourself when you should be grateful that when you go home tonight, that ‘friend’ will be there. He may be mad, and he may be just as hurt as you, but he’s there.”

“But-” Rei stopped when those eyes narrowed on him.

“You don’t know about lonely, or how long nights can be, until you’ve lived through the story that’s still living in me. You don’t know about sadness until you’ve face this world alone.” The Hokage looked away, his eyes on the monument. “You don’t know about lonely, until it’s chiseled in stone.”*

Rei realized then what one of the Uchiha’s tragedies had been. And here he’d never once questioned why the Uchiha children didn’t have a mother. It was because she was dead, and she was never coming back to the Hokage.

Rei almost stopped breathing when he thought about how he’d feel if Shinsuke died and left him alone. Just the thought was painful. So how must it be for the Hokage, whose soul mate, indicated by the shattered look in the man’s midnight eyes, was never going to grace his presence again?

“I’m sorry,” he choked out, trying not to cry. When he failed to get a response, he looked up, but the Hokage was no longer in front of him. He was standing on the monument’s foundation, fingers lightly tracing a name cut deep into the stone. “Hokage-sama?”

“Rei-kun.” Rei spun around to find Yuki-chan and Kakashi-sensei standing behind him. Then they both looked to the Hokage. “What’s going on, Kakashi?” Rei started at the informal way she’d addressed him.

“He comes here every now and again and talks to the stone, thinking you can hear him.”

Rei felt the situation rapidly spinning out of his realm of understanding, especially when a look of purest anguish and heartbreak took over Yuki-chan’s beautiful face.

“Some nights are okay, others are worse,” his sensei continued.

“Do you remember when we were genin, standing before this stone, and you proclaimed loudly, in your idiotic way, that your name would be on here?”

Rei turned back around, wondering to whom the Hokage was talking. He was still on the monument, though his fingers were still as they rested on the cold stone. Everything was quiet, as if the whole world was waiting for what the Uchiha would say next.

No one expected him to punch the stone so hard it cracked. “Are you happy, you fucking bastard? You’re on here! Is this what you wanted?” He was practically screaming.

“This is one of the worse nights,” Kakashi said urgently as he moved forward. Rei watched in stunned wonder as Yuki moved with him, both reaching for the screaming Uchiha.

“Why did you have to be fucking right? Why is your name on here?” The Uchiha struggled against Kakashi and Yuki’s hands, his arms stretched out, trying frantically to reach the stone and the name carved there. “It should have been me!”

His pain filled voice echoed through the clearing, and it didn’t take more then a frantic “Leave!” from Yuki-chan, tears streaming down her pale cheeks, to have Rei bounding away from that place as fast as he could. When he felt he was far enough away, he stopped and shuddered as the Hokage’s sadness rang through his ears. Tears sprang to his eyes, and his stomach roiled, wanting desperately to rid itself of his dinner.

“I… I don’t want to end up like that,” Rei whispered to himself. He knew it was a horrible thought, but the Uchiha had been almost insane in his sadness that Rei could easily believe the stories he’d heard about the man trying to kill himself. Who wouldn’t when they were that torn apart inside?

His stomach curled again, but he held himself steady as he came to a decision. He’d go back to Shinsuke, and they would work this out. If things didn’t pan out in the future, at least they would have given this a chance. And when they got themselves together, the both of them would find out what they could do for the Hokage. Because no one should have to suffer that kind of loneliness.

Not even when it’s chiseled in stone.


~owari~