The Little Things

Chapter 8 – you keep pushing

“Oh this is so much fun. Why did we come back again?” Naruto asked, flopping down on his bunk with a long-suffering sigh. Sasuke noted how much he was talking now that they were back, completely and totally relaxed in his surroundings. The change in Naruto was traceable, measurable.

“The food.”

“Don’t remind me, seems Ramen isn’t the cheapest food out there if this prison slop is anything to go by.” He grinned weakly.

“Get some sleep.”

“Chill out Sasuke. We are in Konoha now, nothing will happen.” Naruto saw how even Sasuke had tired of leaning against the only free wall space on the other side of the reinforced steel bars and had settled, grudgingly, onto the cement floor. Also reinforced. Naruto laughed to himself at Sasuke’s refusal to sit on the fairly comfortable mattress, supported on flatbed wires hung parallel to the wall. Not that it mattered, between the two of them they could still blow this cell to bits, but everyone knew that. They had the patience to stay for the time being.

“Exactly. Get some sleep.” Sasuke ground out.

“Don’t be so moody. We are Home.” Naruto smiled to himself, turning onto his back on the upper bunk, tracing the ceiling with his finger absently. The patterns he created flowed from one into another fluidly, without conscious control.

“You and fucking Home.” Sasuke muttered to himself. He should have known better to even breathe the thought, the hand stilled to a point, the finger retracted, creating a fist. He could imagine the heat in that fist, zeroing up to a fiery furnace. Made him wonder why he harassed the other man.

“You make it sound as if I’m the only one glad to be back.” Naruto said, softly. He shifted on the bed, turning onto his stomach to look over the edge down on the sulking black-haired man. His tails wove a complex pattern behind him.

“Didn’t say I wasn’t. Just not crowing about it all the time.” Sasuke held his breath, his heart hammering weakly.

“Stop it already. I’m tired.” The bright cheerfulness left Naruto abruptly; his voice carried the average of two conflicting minds merged, a deep ancient voice resonating with his last words. His mind went over the difficulties they would probably have. He’d have to readjust to a new intensity in the staring. After so long with so few people, the crowds made him skittish, longing for free open land he could run across, in search of a den buried under the roots of great trees.

Sasuke obeyed, but it was with a measured smugness that left no doubt in Naruto’s mind that Sasuke had somehow gotten more out of the exchange. Even if he was submitting easily. Naruto wondered idly if Sasuke liked to piss people off deliberately or if he was the only one he actually truly bothered to toy with.

His thoughts turned to the people they had left behind. The faces crowded into his mind, their expressions smudged, but their hair, their mannerisms were intact in the dark shadows his mind conjured as the background. Sakura and her pink hair stood out, but there, amongst the sea of faces stood Iruka, Kakashi and Jirairya. Watching him. He didn’t like the sudden merging of this people, of a group he cherished that darkened in his mind, judging, demanding, requiring of him explanations he could not begin to offer.

He wanted to see them. Desperately almost, to be so close and yet so far away frustrated him. He threw himself onto his back, irritated at how much his tails still gave away about his thoughts. He could learn to control them. He watched them, focusing on them, controlling the instinct to simply sway around prettily.

As he trained the instinct out his thoughts turned to Iruka. They had said goodbye the night before he left on his mission. The night had been clear, filled with stars that twinkled desperately for a reply from the depths of another galaxy. He held the man, who’d kept his spirits up throughout the years spent alone, in high regard. He’d search him out first…and then perhaps Sakura. Kakashi would undoubtedly show up in his own time.

A man he still didn’t understand. Even after spending so much time with him, he clothed himself in black, which hid more than a lean figure. Shrouded in secrets that clung to him like funerary incense. A sort of pathetic farcical figure, laughing and joking with an eye that hid and showed the only visible signs of pain and utter mental trauma that made a man.

He didn’t really understand Kakashi. There were the outside details anyone could understand, reasoning Kakashi’s behaviour encouraged and confirmed. But it led to no satisfying conclusion regarding his inner behaviour.

Naruto abandoned his thoughts, glad to have made some of his tails behave. That’d distract them, if they noticed them at all. Most of the council they were going to meet were… old. Out of touch with new psychology and all that. Naruto smiled grimly, flexing fangs. And they always thought he didn’t understand. Not that he didn’t encourage….

Naruto frowned.

Perhaps he understood Kakashi a bit more than he had previously thought.

Meanwhile Sasuke was stewing, slowly turning thoughts through his head. He had no doubt they would allow him back into Konoha. No real doubts. If anything, his bloodline made him invaluable. It was what had protected him. Was why he could be so arrogant and survive. It was the concessions he would have to make that bothered him. Such as his land. He wanted that land. It was his.

Naruto was a different matter though. They might keep him imprisoned indefinitely, unless Tsunade flexed her muscles on the heads of a few council members last night. She couldn’t risk too much, but in a way her power as Hokage was at its peak – she could almost dictate. With Konoha so fragile, he doubted conflict within the council was a desirable thing.

Perhaps, what bothered him truly, caused him to stew, was the very few links he had left to Konoha. He didn’t feel any kind of attachment to Konoha in name. His attachments to the real world had been limited to his estate, Itachi, Kakashi and Naruto. The former was in limbo, Itachi now dead at his hands, Kakashi a wandering spirit too footloose to hold him, too unreliable. And Naruto.

That’s what bothered him.

Naruto.

His voice had kept him fighting when he entertained giving up. Something he had to do, and Naruto’s voice had been there, the last he had heard when he left at the waterfall. It followed him around, pitch and intensity never changing much like the sun.

He’s the reason you returned.

It rubbed on him. Peeling back skin cells to bare the loam he knew sat behind taut muscles. Bone that turned to dust.

The blood he had seen told so much more, so many more stories than he could possibly imagine, each with their own endings.

Bone that turned to dust, settling into the ground and him walking back to the town, shovel in hand. You only get one chance at life, and Sasuke knew it.

Naruto was important. He was working on it, but he suspected it had all to do with the feeling of danger when fangs broke like a dam over tender unsuspecting lips. If he gagged him, he could avoid it forever.

Sasuke stewed, glumly, in the dark corner of the cell.

A slim line of a man appeared at the front of the cell, an easy smile on his face neither could decipher. They stood, patiently waiting to be let out.

“Hands stretched out at your sides.” The command didn’t fit the face, but they obeyed any way.

“Council time!” Naruto cynically jeered. The cell door was opened, and they waited for more shinobi to escort them.

“Come on.” Their leader motioned for them to step out. For a moment they were dazed, wondering why there was no escort. “Your movements are being monitored at all times, don’t be fooled. Don’t do anything stupid.”

“We have no reason to, we’ve done nothing wrong.” Naruto flung back. Sasuke let Naruto do the rebutting. Somewhat perverse, he’d done the wrong but would be let in, Naruto had done this village proud and his whole future was in the hands of the old council dragons.

Slowly they made their way out of the prison, into the boiling midday heat cool concrete had hidden. The street was empty, deceptively so. On the fringes of their sixth senses they could tell the falseness of the emptiness. Shadows were full figures prepared to do their worst.

Naruto smiled. Konoha had shaken last night when they got through unannounced. The security head was probably shitting himself round about now, and somehow that amused Naruto. As if they could stop him. No mere mortals could step in his way. His smile faltered at the images flitting through his mind, he had dredged up memories of massacres. Of sacrifices in his – no, the fox’s – name. He controlled his tails before they started to give him away, and yet the indignation clung to his mind, slithering seductively along the sides. A glimpse of what he nearly could be if he just let loose on his instincts.

The path down the road seemed so much longer than it had last night to the council house. A hasty hall with seats. Nothing as imposing as the one back in Konoha with dark drapes and smooth black metal.

Suddenly enfolded in the darkness of the town hall, their eyes adjusted, glancing quickly across the hall. Taking in the two seats, on opposite sides of the hall for them, a line of shinobi, prepared to take them down, and then the council members themselves, arranged around the regal figure of Tsunade. Her mouth was set in a grim line, and he didn’t really know what that meant.

Monsters and demons and brothers killed in honour of a vengeful clan, and they were only teenagers after all.

They seated themselves, a line of shinobi formed behind them. A drone sounded from the back of the room, and then the slam of thick oak doors closing broke through and calmed them.

The grease of weeks still clung to them, they hadn’t been given a chance to clean more than their faces. They had been used to it out there, but here, among people who were clean, stripped with the smell of soap it was just another small thing that set them apart.

The council members were buried in thick black material, allowing them to see them, but not be seen.

“Uchiha Sasuke. Please step forward.” A voice from the far right called, the voice was deep but young, a firm strength to it. Sasuke rose from his seat, an arrogant thrust to his hips.

Naruto watched as they interrogated him. Demanding to know where he had been. Sasuke answered, suppressing the bored tone in his voice that nevertheless was audible to Naruto. Nothing was left unanswered. Orochimaru. Their fight on the banks. Itachi. How he had found Naruto. How they had found Konoha. Sasuke spoke honestly, telling all. Naruto shook in his seat as the story about his temper unfolded. The room shifted slightly, the line of shinobi wavered. And Sasuke hadn’t even seen him burning. Hadn’t seen what truly happened when he was burning and Gaara hadn’t stopped him quickly enough. The burns healing slowly on Gaara’s arms after the rough glass slid off him.

“You may be seated.” The voice on the left spoke once more. Tsunade had remained silent, but now that it was his turn, he wondered how long that would last.

“Uzumaki Naruto, please rise.” The voice came from the side he was sitting on, far left. Another young voice. He didn’t know what this meant, to be honest. He stood, dancing forward a step. The line nearly broke, but held itself back. The tension rose and fell in the room, only Tsunade and Sasuke kept still.

“How are you feeling, Uzumaki?” the voice asked. Naruto resisted the urge to bounce on the balls of his feet.

“Fine.” He paused. “Thank you.”

“How did you mission go?”

“Completed to the satisfaction of the client.”

“Any complications?”

“The thief wasn’t a thief. She had a demon placed in her and was on the run. We tracked her down. She asked for asylum, agreeing to go back to Mist without us having to drag her back. One evening she snaps, and the demon takes over. We chased her…” Naruto paused, licking his fangs thoughtfully. “All of a sudden I burst into flames, I dragged on the fox’s chakra. The tails grew. My hair lengthened considerably. Gaara and I killed her. Took her back to the client.”

“What did you do then?”

“Gaara and I went looking for Konoha. We found it empty. We were there for three days when Sasuke came back and found us.” Naruto said as much as he could, but they said nothing of the fight. It would look weird. It looked weird to them now.

“From then on out you agree with everything Uchiha said in regards to your journey?”

“Yes.”

“You may be seated. Do either of you have any questions?” Naruto and Sasuke frowned, wondering why they were being allowed to ask questions. It was promising, but it could be a false hope.

“Why did you evacuate Konoha?” Naruto broke out. There was a murmur amongst them, a shift in the council. Naruto had his own suspicions, that the thoughts of a great demon returning to bring another massacre had made them move. That Tsunade had done all to protect them. Why else would they move? The loss of life had crippled their village. It could be greater if it hadn’t been for him – the fox, the fox – Naruto reminded himself.

“Too many demons running loose. You came across villages decimated. We did something before it happened to us.” There was a sombre pause. Naruto looked to his right at Sasuke, who had cleared his throat.

“Where is my estate?” The question rang out over the hall, an imperious demand. The room stilled.

“You’ve been a missing-nin for five years. Your estate was dissolved upon our move.” The voice settled itself comfortably.

“Unacceptable. Where were the Hunter-nin? You knew where I was. You all knew. I am here for my estate.” Sasuke demanded, angrily. It meant more to him, because if he didn’t have that to bind him to Konoha, there was only Naruto. And he couldn’t accept that. The room stilled, once more. The line of shinobi prepared themselves, faceless bodies ready to launch at his fury.

The council shifted, murmurs among them betraying their unease. They were still too new, not that Sasuke knew this. How far could they push their power? Sasuke spoke again.

“If I don’t have an estate, how am I to raise a family?” he hated to go back to this, but it was the fastest way to get what he wants. It seemed to work. They went back to their whispering. Tsunade ignored them.

“We will reinstate your estate. Welcome to Konoha, Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto.” The council rose and left without another backward glance. Tsunade smiled at them, and the line of shinobi broke away into small fragments. Naruto and Sasuke stood, heading together out into the 3 o’clock sunshine.

“We’re back.” Naruto said quietly, the excitement threatening to bubble out of him. They stood there, calmly, looking out across the bustle. Feeling like outsiders, not returning heroes. It was the reality of the situation. Life didn’t just stop because they went away. People grew up, got married, had children, died. Died. Like those eight markers set into fertile ground. They felt awkward, unsure of what to do, even though there was so much to do. A place to stay tonight. People to meet. Arranging an actual home.

“Lunch. We’ve missed it.” Sasuke remarked. It was the perfect opening, and Naruto sprung through it.

“Let’s have some then. My treat.” Naruto offered. He knew Sasuke had some money, but his account would have been dissolved and the money reclaimed by the council. It would be some time before Sasuke had his old riches back. Sasuke looked at him, Naruto noticing the way in which he studied him. He kept his face carefully blank, of what he didn’t know, but it struck him as important that they ate dinner together, at a table, civilly. As if no time had passed.

Not that when they were kids they ever did go out.

They walked around, looking for a place to eat. Butchery, bakery and other essentials had already sprung up to provide a basic living. They wound down through straight streets – town planning clamped down early – searching. They came upon an inn, something they hadn’t expected. Konoha seemed too new to be able to support it, but they didn’t question it any further. Side by side, as they had been throughout, they entered the establishment, adjusting to the dark smoke within clouding their vision. It was quiet in here, too early for the evening crowds, leaving only drunkards and spontaneous eaters like themselves.

A young girl stepped up to them, an apron strung tightly around her and a pencil tucked behind her ear. She faltered briefly at the sight of Naruto’s tails, but steeling herself continued on.

“Two for a table?” She asked briskly, not waiting for an answer before leading them away into the depths of the oval room. Candles haunted every table with their eerie light, and it suddenly felt too intimate. They ignored it. She thrust the menus at them before they had a chance to sit, then waited for them to arrange themselves, holding her pad of paper in a hand, the other poised to write with the pencil. “Drinks?”

“Water.” Sasuke ground out, irritated at her service.

“Fruit juice.”

“Ok.” She ran off to get the drinks. Naruto studied Sasuke, looking at pale skin and a tightly drawn face that spoke of too many nights with one eye open. Now that they were here, at home, he could analyse his behaviour towards Sasuke. The way he let himself be toyed with. The way in which Sasuke’s body had felt pressed against a wall with the door on his left.

This wasn’t really the time or place for it either. The candle light poured illusions forth.

“Want to share a hotel with me?” he threw the suggestion out onto the table, watching under hooded eyes Sasuke’s expression flicker. The rise of blood to the surface, bringing colour and humanity to his lips. He let the invitation linger another moment, letting the double entendre live out its life between them. “It’d save us both money.”

Sasuke nodded. Naruto breathed in slowly. It didn’t mean anything, this agreement between them. But its existence alone proved something.

The truth is that they weren’t ready to say goodbye to each other. They could go back to being singular, but the parting… it had to be done right. It had to be momentous, but quiet and dignified. They were too old and too tired to bother with petty fights that meant life and death at the foot of waterfalls. This battle would be fought in their minds.

He opened the menu, sparing it a brief glance. It had been so long since he had seen writing. He wondered how it was possible to adjust to life here so quickly. To take the feel of thick creamy paper for granted after just a day back.

The girl strode back to their tables, impatiently waiting for their orders. Naruto glanced around the room, taking in the lonely drunk at the bar, and behind the bartender/chef/who-knows. A fairly normal looking kid. Undoubtedly the girl liked him. Or his tails freaked her out. Both were safe bets, in his mind.

“The hot set menu for two.” Sasuke ordered smoothly, knowing Naruto hadn’t made his mind up and wouldn’t really care either.

“That’ll be 20 minutes.” She dashed off again, and suddenly Naruto knew it was definitely his tails.

“Maybe you should take to wearing a trench coat.” Sasuke dryly commented.

“I don’t want to hide them. They’ll get used to it eventually. What they weren’t counting on is that I’m used to their stares. Now it has a narrower target, nothing has really changed on my side of the deal.”

“As long as it doesn’t bother you.” It came out, even though he didn’t know why he had even started this tangent, or let himself go on with it.

“Ignorance bothers me, regardless of how used to it I am.” The tone of finality in his voice closed off the subject. Sasuke couldn’t appreciate how much Naruto had shared in that single sentence.

They gazed off into opposite directions, avoiding eye-contact, because that could be dangerous. The calm before the storm.

“So. A family, huh? Already wanting to settle down?” Naruto asked idly, curiosity setting in.

“I have to. Can’t afford to die without someone left to carry it on.” His gaze slid back to the left.

“Why worry about it? Konoha has a large stock of your genes frozen. Along with all the adult males that had been sampled before that. If you died they would start bringing back your clan.” Naruto wondered. Sasuke’s eyes flashed angrily.

“I don’t want them to be able to do that. What happens then to our tradition? The Uchiha history? Who will tell them?”

After that, what else could Naruto say? They waited in silence for their food. When it finally came, they ate quickly, avoiding conversation. The heat filled their stomachs, they leant back, enjoying the feel of food prepared by other hands.

Naruto glanced at the clock above the bar. A little after 5 o’clock. Sasuke followed his gaze.

“We need to find a place to stay tonight.” Naruto mentioned, the frisson of danger glancing his spine. How far could they push this before it broke between them?

“Pay then.”

Naruto went to the bar, tails and braid swinging gently. Sasuke watched him go. He stretched his legs thoughtfully. He felt serious about a family, but actually being a parent… it needed getting used to.

Naruto turned away from the bar, cocking his head towards the door. Seamlessly, Sasuke stood and followed him.

“I asked her about rooms in the Inn, but she said they were fully booked. She gave me directions to another Hotel though, on the other side of town.” He reported. Sasuke nodded dully, and they continued on down the streets. Naruto fidgeted, Sasuke noticed.

“Another question?” Sasuke asked, amusement tingeing his tones.

“It’s the goddamn tails, isn’t it?” Naruto broke out.

“Yes.” Sasuke waited.

“Damn it.” He ran his tongue over canines, freshly satisfied. “Do you have a girl in mind?”

Sasuke sighed.

“No. Not really.”

“What, not even Sakura?” he asked, astounded. A sign swung into view as they turned left at an intersection.

“I thought you liked her.” He stalled.

“That would have stopped you?” Curious. No answer. The hotel materialised in front of them, and they climbed the steps – rough wood, unfinished – into the foyer. A man, advanced in the years, smiled up at them.

“How can I help you?”

“I’d like to get two rooms for a night.” The man bent to look at his page of bookings. He pointed his finger at one, harrumphing to himself quietly. He scanned the page once more. Naruto had no clue what all the different symbols meant.

“I’m sorry sirs, I only have one room. I can have another bed brought up for you.” He smiled apologetically. They looked at each other, both shrugging just very slightly. It was enough.

“We’ll take it.” Naruto produced his Konoha bank card. “Here you go.” Naruto was glad the man hadn’t seen his tails. Yet.

“Please sign here.” He produced a key. Naruto looked at the bill and nearly choked.

“You’re lucky I’m going to be rich, old man.”

“Certainly.” He humoured Naruto. It was meant to be endearing, but was rather irritating at best. “Here are your keys. Third floor, room 18.”

They climbed the stairs, the steps creaking reassuringly. Hasty paint covered hallways in a semblance of civilization. People were doing their best to pretend they had never moved. And it was working for Naruto, but the realities of Sasuke’s estate bothered him. Made it nearly impossible to feel home. He unlocked the door to their room. A simple window, a bed against the wall and another door that led to the bathroom. He dimly heard the door close behind him as he went to see what their bathroom held. Toilet, shower, sink with a mirror and a washing machine. The latter seemed to explain the cost of the room.

“We have a washing machine. Excellent!” Naruto went back into the room to see Sasuke leaning against the wall next to the window, taking in the quiet life below them .

“Will Konoha ever recover?”

“More than those villages we saw.” Sasuke nodded at that. “I’m taking a shower.”

“Sure.” Sasuke was lost in his thoughts, and as he heard the shower turn on and Naruto hum a little off-key tune, he faded into memories. Sakura. Did she still mean so much to Naruto that he had dared to ask him about her. As if wanting to form a family was some dastardly plan. No. He was wrong on that note. Naruto cared about people and their feelings. He just wanted to know whether he would treat her right.

The problem was, he didn’t know if he’d treat any of his future wives right. He was traditional. He’d cherish them. He’d protect them. He’d respect them and their privacy. But love? He had stability to offer, and riches – though he didn’t want that to be the reason he was chosen. He had history, a name, good looks. He didn’t want to be chosen because of those either.

How could he treat someone else properly when he loved to fuck around with Naruto’s mind. The only friend, his best friend. The Sharingan played in his eyes, marching to Naruto’s tune. He’d had to explain that to the council.

It could wait, these thoughts could wait. The water had stopped running. The door was flung open by a good-natured Naruto, shaking his long hair free of water. It hung in a blond curtain down his back, a towel wrapped around his waist. For the first time in years Sasuke saw Naruto close to bared. It brought back the flush of rocking against a wall. His shoulders broad, a defined chest that spoke of willow strength.

“Your turn.” His voice still held the singing sway from his tune. “Throw your clothes in the machine and turn it on please.”

Sasuke sauntered past him, carrying the wild smell he had just scrubbed off himself. The wild smell of earth and pine forest.

He patted his hair dry, hoping to minimize any knots in it. He could cut his hair, but in a way he had gotten used to it, and seeing himself without it would take getting used to. And there was so much else to get used to without having his own image flitting in front of him.

Besides. He had the sneaking suspicion that if he cut it, the next time he drew on the fox’s chakra it’d grow out again, fanning wildly behind him like the tails. He didn’t want to be proven right.

He found his old tie, the elastic nearly worn out. He threw his hair into an easy pony tail, high on the back of his head. He wrapped the length of hair dangling free around itself, tucking the end into the tie. The bun held, tottering warningly. Naruto seriously reconsidered cutting his hair.

The water stopped. Then the washing machine started its spin, and Sasuke stepped out of the bathroom.

“We left our clothes at the prison.” He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose gently. Naruto shrugged.

“Yeah. Forgot about those.”

“That old man hasn’t come up with the bed.”

“There’s no phone, and I’m not going downstairs in a towel!” Naruto laughed. Sasuke joined him on the bed.

“Fine.” Sasuke looked him over. “Nice hairdo.”

“Should I cut it?” Naruto asked, self-consciously patting the bun. It had been a braid for so long that the realignment of weight on his head felt strange. Sasuke kept quiet, his eyes focusing on the pale skin on his neck that had been hidden from the sunshine. Naruto caught him looking. “You like it?”

“Looks better than that idiotic hairstyle you had when we were younger.” he said. Naruto looked offended, but lent back onto the bed, legs dangling off the side.

“Kiba—“

“Kiba only had your hairstyle because his mutt rode on his head all the time.” He pre-empted.

“That’s harsh.”

“True though.”

“What do you call your hairstyle?”

“Nothing. It’s hair.”

“If that were the case you’d shave it off. But you’re vain!” Naruto crowed. A smile quirked on Sasuke’s lips. He tried to shrug it off, but the heat of the shower had softened them both around the edges. He leant over Naruto. Sharingan eyes bored into Naruto’s.

“Don’t I look good?” Sasuke smirked. Naruto’s eyes flickered warningly. Blue-red-blue-red-blu—.

“Yeah. All the girls will be glad to have you back.” He commented, but it lacked the bantering tone they’d had earlier. Sasuke leant back. They became aware of the darkness in the room. Night had fallen during the course of their lazy conversation. Naruto yawned.

“I’ll check on our clothes, see if they’ve dried.” Sasuke drifted off. Naruto settled himself more comfortably on the bed, feeling too hot to bother with the sheets. Sasuke threw a set of boxers at Naruto through the door. They smelt clean, and still held the heat they had just escaped. He drew them on, throwing the towel over the radiator at the window.

Sasuke came back into the room and settled himself on the other side of the bed. There was a noticeable distance between them, and suddenly this seemed like a bad idea. They weren’t kids anymore, and whose fault was that anyway?

“Good Night.” Naruto said, feigning sleepiness.

“Night.” He replied.


+++++

Sometime late into the night Sasuke jerked out of his sleep, feeling a hand land on his bare stomach. The heat in the hand was slightly above what it should have been. He turned his head to his left, looking at Naruto who looked peaceful. The hand on his stomach lost its heat.

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