Fic: The Art of Coming Home
May. 17th, 2010 10:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
platedlizardFandom: Naruto
Characters/Pairing: Naruto/Sasuke, Iruka, Itachi
Rating: G, at least for now :)
Summary: After final battle Sasuke deals with blindness, depression, grief, and the art of coming home.
In the end, it was Iruka who brought him home.
Iruka stood at the edge of the battlefield, his heart in his mouth as he watched his boy, the child he had first neglected, then ignored, then nurtured, be slowly ripped apart by the forces within him. The battle had gone too far, too fast, and then the strange Uchiha had cast Sasuke-kun aside with a sneering laugh and had let the fox loose and now his boy, his child, was dying in agony before his eyes, and there was nothing Iruka could do about it.
The fox was fury and glory, and blazed more brightly than it had the day it had leveled Konoha. It was beautiful and terrible, and completely beyond comprehension. Once, long ago, Mizuki had asked him why he didn't feel any hatred toward the fox, and the question had stunned him. How could you hate a thing like that? It would be like hating a volcano, or a tornado, or a tsunami. Some things were simply too large, too awesome to hate. Some things existed beyond the limits of human comprehension.
The fox roared in triumph, but underneath its voice Iruka could hear Naruto screaming, and he realized that it was possible to hate the mountain.
Suddenly Madara was down, so swiftly Iruka didn't see the strike, and in his place stood Sasuke-kun, blood-soaked and trembling with exhaustion. That didn't stop him from catching the monster's eye, or laughing in a way that nothing to do with humor. The fox growled, and as the two became focused on the mental battlefield between them the glow of its chakra intensified, until it was like staring at the sun.
Too bright to see.
Iruka looked away. Sasuke didn't.
Sleep was preferable to reality.
Voices in the living room. One low and adult, the other loud and only marginally so.
“He's asleep,” low and placating.
“He's always sleeping,” the other whined. Sasuke lips stretched in a silent 'dobe'. “It's not good for him to sleep this much. I'm going to wake him up before he rots away.” There was a muffled protest from the older man before the room was flooded with light, making the Kyuubi pulse painfully in his vision.
The fox's hot chakra fluttered against his skin, like the breath of a roaring fire. The fox hated him, and did everything it could to let him know that at every opportunity.
“Get up, teme!” The covers were flung back. “Are you just going to lie here all day?”
Yes. Sasuke didn't bother saying it, however. Obstinately he curled up tighter and waited for the moron to go away.
If only he was so lucky.
Naruto growled and grabbed his shoulder and instantly he was enveloped by fire, as the fox's chakra burned through his sensitized chakra pathways. Sasuke gritted his teeth and forced himself to go limp, and only his training with Orochimaru kept him from throwing the fucking idiot off him and then knifing him through the throat. It wasn't Naruto's fault the fox hated him. This pain, this fire, was nothing more than Sasuke's just punishment.
That didn't make it any easier to stand.
Naruto shook him and then to Sasuke's massive relief he let go with and exasperated yell. “Fine! Be that way! If you're not up in two minutes I'm going to come back in here with a bucket of ice water and dump it all over you, and you get to clean it up!”
Fuck you, Naruto. “Iruka would really hate that,” his voice sounded harsh and cracked with disuse even to his ears.
“I don't care.” His words were belied by the slightly nervous edge to it. “You've been in bed for too long. You'll just rot away if you stay here.”
“Fuck you.” Sasuke rolled over and buried his face in his pillow. Maybe if he smothered himself the moron would go away.
“Uh huh.” Naruto punched his shoulder lightly, sending a wave of fire through him. “Comeon, you have two minutes.” He left, and the room instantly felt cold and empty.
One minute and thirty eight seconds later Sasuke pulled himself out of bed and stumbled into the living room, the sudden light causing the Kyuubi to pulse painfully once more. He grimaced and rubbed his eyes, trying once more to rub that afterimage away. It was pointless however, the image of the demon fox was burned permanently into his retinas, obscuring everything else. He could hear the water running in the bathroom.
“Hi Sasuke, glad you could join us.” Sasuke oriented himself on Iruka's voice. The chuunin was apparently seated on the couch by the TV.
“Is he up?” Naruto called from the bathroom.
“Yes Naruto, he's up.”
“Damnit!” There was the sound of what Sasuke could only assume was a bucket being dumped out in the bathtub and the water being shut off. Why those actions required that much clattering and banging around was a complete mystery to Sasuke. Sasuke carefully felt his way over to the couch, while Iruka kept things picked up Naruto had a tendency to forget that Sasuke couldn't see and left his shit everywhere. He'd tripped more than once over a chuunin vest or a set of house slippers left carelessly in the middle of the floor. This time either Naruto had remembered, or Iruka had finally beat it into his thick skull.
“Here.” Iruka said, taking his hand and guiding him to a spot between the chuunin and the arm of the couch, the better to separate the two boys. Sasuke curled his legs under him.
“Sasuke?” Iruka said. Behind them a herd of horses galloped into the kitchen and started slamming the cabinets. Either that or Naruto was making popcorn. “I know Naruto can be a bit—enthusiastic.” The microwave door slammed shut and it peeped as the time was poked into it. “But I do think he's right. Sakura said that your chakra levels have recovered.” As much as they're going to, Sasuke corrected mentally. “And sleeping all day isn't going to help you at this point.”
Sasuke shrugged uncomfortably. He knew that, everyone knew that, even the moron burning popcorn in the kitchen knew it. But that didn't keep him from feeling exhausted. And besides, sleeping made things...easier.
“You can't avoid everyone forever.”
“I know that.” Sasuke snapped.
“Tch.” Sasuke flinched a little as out of nowhere Iruka's hand settled on his head and ruffled his hair. It was difficult for him to sense the locations of other people outside of combat, their chakra didn't telegraph their intentions well when they were relaxed. He hated how vulnerable it made him feel. Sasuke stiffened and pulled away ignoring Iruka's amused snort.
In the kitchen Naruto evidently decided that the popcorn was done, and amazingly enough Sasuke couldn't smell a hint of char.
“Come to school with me tomorrow,” Iruka said, “I can always use the help and there's a couch in the teacher's lounge if you get sleepy.”
Sasuke snorted as the hot glow of the fox invaded the living room. “And do what? I can't exactly grade papers.”
“An extra body in the classroom is always useful,” Iruka said dryly.
The couch shuddered as Naruto leaped over the back and landed with a 'wuff'. “Hey, how come you never ask me to help you out?” he grumbled.
Iruka snorted, “The last thing I need is a class full of Narutos.” Naruto squawked and Sasuke felt the couch rock as the two tussled briefly. Sasuke couldn't see it, but as their chakra flared slightly he could feel the moment Iruka got Naruto pinned and proceeded to give him a noogie. He could almost feel the good humor and the brotherly, or fatherly, affection that flowed between those two, and it made his stomach twist. It was a rare moment of peace for the brothers, Father was out late working on a case and Mother was on a mission, and Anaki didn't have a mission for at least another week due to a teammate's injury. No one was watching to see if they were practicing or upholding the Uchiha Image. So here he was, face down in the dirt, feeling his brother's knuckles grind into his skull, Itachi actually laughing as he told Sasuke to eat dirt. Sasuke twisted in his brother's grip, fingers flying through his best rendition of the family's fire jitsu, knowing that he was no match for his brother but hoping that he would play along. In real time Sasuke blinked his brother's eyes, returning the world to its strange darkness. His stomach twisted as it always did when he remembered his brother, but the rage that used to follow was absent, had been absent for some time. Now there was only grief.
“Fine, fine! Uncle! I give up!” Naruto laughed, “Iruka-sensei, you're so mean!”
“This old man still has a few tricks up his sleeve.”
“You're not old!”
“Hah, that's what you think.”
Sasuke snorted softly and turned away from them, echoes of his brother ricking through him. Not that Itachi was anything like Iruka. He crossed his arms and tucked his hands against his ribs and let his head rest on the back of the couch. He could almost feel his brother at times like these, looking out through their useless eyes, watching the world through the eyes Sasuke could no longer use. He hoped the view provided Itachi a measure of peace.
The movie started and it took Sasuke a minute to realize that it was some kind of science fiction movie, Star Trek, perhaps. He tensed as he listened as the young captain sacrificed his life to save that of his wife and child. He jumped slightly when someone slung an arm around his shoulder and hugged him, but it was only Iruka.
He didn't know if that was better or worse.
Sasuke allowed the chuunin to pull him against his broad chest as he listened to the movie and ate the popcorn Naruto forced upon him. It was, he thought, a fairly good movie, but the gut-wrenching pain of one of the character's mother and world dying was too much for him. He didn't want to deal with the ghosts it dredged up, and so, almost reluctantly, he fell asleep against Iruka's shoulder.
It was better than being awake, after all.
Characters/Pairing: Naruto/Sasuke, Iruka, Itachi
Rating: G, at least for now :)
Summary: After final battle Sasuke deals with blindness, depression, grief, and the art of coming home.
In the end, it was Iruka who brought him home.
Iruka stood at the edge of the battlefield, his heart in his mouth as he watched his boy, the child he had first neglected, then ignored, then nurtured, be slowly ripped apart by the forces within him. The battle had gone too far, too fast, and then the strange Uchiha had cast Sasuke-kun aside with a sneering laugh and had let the fox loose and now his boy, his child, was dying in agony before his eyes, and there was nothing Iruka could do about it.
The fox was fury and glory, and blazed more brightly than it had the day it had leveled Konoha. It was beautiful and terrible, and completely beyond comprehension. Once, long ago, Mizuki had asked him why he didn't feel any hatred toward the fox, and the question had stunned him. How could you hate a thing like that? It would be like hating a volcano, or a tornado, or a tsunami. Some things were simply too large, too awesome to hate. Some things existed beyond the limits of human comprehension.
The fox roared in triumph, but underneath its voice Iruka could hear Naruto screaming, and he realized that it was possible to hate the mountain.
Suddenly Madara was down, so swiftly Iruka didn't see the strike, and in his place stood Sasuke-kun, blood-soaked and trembling with exhaustion. That didn't stop him from catching the monster's eye, or laughing in a way that nothing to do with humor. The fox growled, and as the two became focused on the mental battlefield between them the glow of its chakra intensified, until it was like staring at the sun.
Too bright to see.
Iruka looked away. Sasuke didn't.
Sleep was preferable to reality.
Voices in the living room. One low and adult, the other loud and only marginally so.
“He's asleep,” low and placating.
“He's always sleeping,” the other whined. Sasuke lips stretched in a silent 'dobe'. “It's not good for him to sleep this much. I'm going to wake him up before he rots away.” There was a muffled protest from the older man before the room was flooded with light, making the Kyuubi pulse painfully in his vision.
The fox's hot chakra fluttered against his skin, like the breath of a roaring fire. The fox hated him, and did everything it could to let him know that at every opportunity.
“Get up, teme!” The covers were flung back. “Are you just going to lie here all day?”
Yes. Sasuke didn't bother saying it, however. Obstinately he curled up tighter and waited for the moron to go away.
If only he was so lucky.
Naruto growled and grabbed his shoulder and instantly he was enveloped by fire, as the fox's chakra burned through his sensitized chakra pathways. Sasuke gritted his teeth and forced himself to go limp, and only his training with Orochimaru kept him from throwing the fucking idiot off him and then knifing him through the throat. It wasn't Naruto's fault the fox hated him. This pain, this fire, was nothing more than Sasuke's just punishment.
That didn't make it any easier to stand.
Naruto shook him and then to Sasuke's massive relief he let go with and exasperated yell. “Fine! Be that way! If you're not up in two minutes I'm going to come back in here with a bucket of ice water and dump it all over you, and you get to clean it up!”
Fuck you, Naruto. “Iruka would really hate that,” his voice sounded harsh and cracked with disuse even to his ears.
“I don't care.” His words were belied by the slightly nervous edge to it. “You've been in bed for too long. You'll just rot away if you stay here.”
“Fuck you.” Sasuke rolled over and buried his face in his pillow. Maybe if he smothered himself the moron would go away.
“Uh huh.” Naruto punched his shoulder lightly, sending a wave of fire through him. “Comeon, you have two minutes.” He left, and the room instantly felt cold and empty.
One minute and thirty eight seconds later Sasuke pulled himself out of bed and stumbled into the living room, the sudden light causing the Kyuubi to pulse painfully once more. He grimaced and rubbed his eyes, trying once more to rub that afterimage away. It was pointless however, the image of the demon fox was burned permanently into his retinas, obscuring everything else. He could hear the water running in the bathroom.
“Hi Sasuke, glad you could join us.” Sasuke oriented himself on Iruka's voice. The chuunin was apparently seated on the couch by the TV.
“Is he up?” Naruto called from the bathroom.
“Yes Naruto, he's up.”
“Damnit!” There was the sound of what Sasuke could only assume was a bucket being dumped out in the bathtub and the water being shut off. Why those actions required that much clattering and banging around was a complete mystery to Sasuke. Sasuke carefully felt his way over to the couch, while Iruka kept things picked up Naruto had a tendency to forget that Sasuke couldn't see and left his shit everywhere. He'd tripped more than once over a chuunin vest or a set of house slippers left carelessly in the middle of the floor. This time either Naruto had remembered, or Iruka had finally beat it into his thick skull.
“Here.” Iruka said, taking his hand and guiding him to a spot between the chuunin and the arm of the couch, the better to separate the two boys. Sasuke curled his legs under him.
“Sasuke?” Iruka said. Behind them a herd of horses galloped into the kitchen and started slamming the cabinets. Either that or Naruto was making popcorn. “I know Naruto can be a bit—enthusiastic.” The microwave door slammed shut and it peeped as the time was poked into it. “But I do think he's right. Sakura said that your chakra levels have recovered.” As much as they're going to, Sasuke corrected mentally. “And sleeping all day isn't going to help you at this point.”
Sasuke shrugged uncomfortably. He knew that, everyone knew that, even the moron burning popcorn in the kitchen knew it. But that didn't keep him from feeling exhausted. And besides, sleeping made things...easier.
“You can't avoid everyone forever.”
“I know that.” Sasuke snapped.
“Tch.” Sasuke flinched a little as out of nowhere Iruka's hand settled on his head and ruffled his hair. It was difficult for him to sense the locations of other people outside of combat, their chakra didn't telegraph their intentions well when they were relaxed. He hated how vulnerable it made him feel. Sasuke stiffened and pulled away ignoring Iruka's amused snort.
In the kitchen Naruto evidently decided that the popcorn was done, and amazingly enough Sasuke couldn't smell a hint of char.
“Come to school with me tomorrow,” Iruka said, “I can always use the help and there's a couch in the teacher's lounge if you get sleepy.”
Sasuke snorted as the hot glow of the fox invaded the living room. “And do what? I can't exactly grade papers.”
“An extra body in the classroom is always useful,” Iruka said dryly.
The couch shuddered as Naruto leaped over the back and landed with a 'wuff'. “Hey, how come you never ask me to help you out?” he grumbled.
Iruka snorted, “The last thing I need is a class full of Narutos.” Naruto squawked and Sasuke felt the couch rock as the two tussled briefly. Sasuke couldn't see it, but as their chakra flared slightly he could feel the moment Iruka got Naruto pinned and proceeded to give him a noogie. He could almost feel the good humor and the brotherly, or fatherly, affection that flowed between those two, and it made his stomach twist. It was a rare moment of peace for the brothers, Father was out late working on a case and Mother was on a mission, and Anaki didn't have a mission for at least another week due to a teammate's injury. No one was watching to see if they were practicing or upholding the Uchiha Image. So here he was, face down in the dirt, feeling his brother's knuckles grind into his skull, Itachi actually laughing as he told Sasuke to eat dirt. Sasuke twisted in his brother's grip, fingers flying through his best rendition of the family's fire jitsu, knowing that he was no match for his brother but hoping that he would play along. In real time Sasuke blinked his brother's eyes, returning the world to its strange darkness. His stomach twisted as it always did when he remembered his brother, but the rage that used to follow was absent, had been absent for some time. Now there was only grief.
“Fine, fine! Uncle! I give up!” Naruto laughed, “Iruka-sensei, you're so mean!”
“This old man still has a few tricks up his sleeve.”
“You're not old!”
“Hah, that's what you think.”
Sasuke snorted softly and turned away from them, echoes of his brother ricking through him. Not that Itachi was anything like Iruka. He crossed his arms and tucked his hands against his ribs and let his head rest on the back of the couch. He could almost feel his brother at times like these, looking out through their useless eyes, watching the world through the eyes Sasuke could no longer use. He hoped the view provided Itachi a measure of peace.
The movie started and it took Sasuke a minute to realize that it was some kind of science fiction movie, Star Trek, perhaps. He tensed as he listened as the young captain sacrificed his life to save that of his wife and child. He jumped slightly when someone slung an arm around his shoulder and hugged him, but it was only Iruka.
He didn't know if that was better or worse.
Sasuke allowed the chuunin to pull him against his broad chest as he listened to the movie and ate the popcorn Naruto forced upon him. It was, he thought, a fairly good movie, but the gut-wrenching pain of one of the character's mother and world dying was too much for him. He didn't want to deal with the ghosts it dredged up, and so, almost reluctantly, he fell asleep against Iruka's shoulder.
It was better than being awake, after all.
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Date: 2010-05-18 07:52 am (UTC)