Chapter Text
A wanted poster of Sasuke Uchiha catches his eye.
Dark eyes stare back at him, unmoving. Even in black and white print, there was a quality to those eyes that left Naruto’s heart clenching at the mere sight of him—not even the real, living and breathing version of Sasuke, but a snapshot of him flapping in the wind on some post outside a nearly empty saloon. Most people would chuck it up as a strange coincidence he’d find the wanted poster of a friend missing for years on his recent bounty, but Naruto knew there were rarely coincidences this glaring in a world as big as Kanoha.
Of course Naruto knew he’d find Sasuke eventually, no doubt had ever crossed his mind. It was only a matter of where and when.
Time did nothing to blur the memory of Sasuke from his mind. In fact, it only ever sharpened his senses—his gaze shifting whenever a man with dark hair stepped into town or zeroing in on a description of a body found in the middle of the desert that could possibly belong to his friend. Staring at the man in the poster, he was surprised how the years didn’t leave the other unrecognizable to Naruto. Whenever he thought of how Sasuke’s appearance would change with age, he could never really move past the childhood image of Sasuke etched into his memory. There was a maturity to his face now, his jaw sharp and defined, dark hair curling behind his ears.
Sasuke wasn’t smiling in the picture, but his eyes were smirking at him from beyond the page. Naruto’s eventually forces his gaze away, his eyes falling towards the bottom of the page to search for the price on Sasuke’s head.
“Holy fucking shit,” he breathes out, voice barely above a whisper. Part of him wonders if he read it wrong, if his eyes finally gave out on him, but no—he was rarely ever that lucky when it came to his search. “Who the hell did you piss off, Sasuke?”
Clear as day, the numbers remained unchanged. Five thousand dollars for the body of Sasuke Uchiha, dead or alive, it didn’t matter. With a price like that on his head, no one in their right mind would risk their life in order to bring him in, considering he knew Sasuke would rather die fighting than go in handcuffs.
Good thing Naruto has always considered a right mind to be overrated.
All he wants as soon as he caught a glimpse of the wanted poster was to hightail and book it to the last known location and ride until he finds him, according to the poster anyway. Instead he tears the paper from the post its nailed to, stuffs it into his satchel without another glance. Naruto’s been in this business long enough to know going after a wanted criminal without a plan and information could be the difference between a successful mission or a not so successful mission, even if the criminal in question is Sasuke. He’s not intending to fail this one.
The only person who’d have more intel on Sasuke than he did was Sakura, only a couple towns over according to her last letter a few months ago. From there, he’d drop off his recent bounty, gather supplies for the journey ahead, and head towards Sasuke’s last known location. Easy peasy.
“I’m not helping you in your grand journey to find Sasuke, Naruto,” Sakura answers pointedly, much to his obvious dismay. “Besides, I gave up that bounty hunting life years ago—I’m following the nurse’s route now.”
Naruto squints in her direction, unsure of he heard that right. Has it been that long since he’s been into town? So much has changed, and here he felt the same as when he first started this search. The poster had been the most recent clue for what must have been months of radio silence or weeks old inconclusive leads, and he felt the weight of it in his satchel.
“Yeah, a nurse, but never a doctor, huh?” He’s always known how to cut to the heart of with her in a way he rarely does with anyone else. “I’m not even asking you to drop everything you’re doing here to come with me, just tell me what I need to know and I’ll be back before the new year rides in. Promise.”
“ Enough with the promises, Naruto,” Sakura snaps. He stares, dumbfounded, until Sakura sighs like defeat. “Words aren’t the same as having you here in town. We miss you—I miss you. You’re chasing someone who doesn’t want to be found, so just stay home .”
There’s a moment where the mask falls. Just a moment and one can see it, the utter desperation Naruto can’t hide behind a grin or a loud voice. “You know I can’t do that.”
Both of them understood the importance of what was left unspoken.
Sakura sighs and shakes her head, and Naruto chuckles awkwardly as the familiar look of regret flashes on her face. “If you leave before nightfall, we’ll be able to catch up with them before they get out too far from the county limits.”
“Nightfall?” There’s no way he could be hearing this right. “So this sighting was recent-recent.” A beat. “We?”
He raises a brow questioningly, and when he catches the roll of her eyes in confirmation he can’t help but grin at the sudden familiarity wash over them—as if the years had melted away, back in the old days picking up bounty after bounty side-by-side.
Apparently she missed this too.
“Uzumaki, you’re the luckiest bastard I’ve ever met,” Sakura yells against the roar of the wind as their horses speed through the grasslands, “I hope you know what you’re getting into!”
Naruto bursts with laughter in response, a sense of freedom washing over him—the rush of speeding on horseback as the wind rushed through his hair, the rest of the world melted away. It was a feeling he’d chase forever if he had to.
Of course I know what I’m getting into , he muses, Why else would I be trying to save this asshole’s life?
They head west as the sun sinks behind an endless gray sky.
***
The bounty hunter has been following them for a while now.
Sasuke’s been chased around the country long enough to know when he’s being followed or not, and knows when he’s being actively hunted. He knows, also, that it’s one bounty hunter, because with the rest of Taka around him, there’s no way a sole bounty hunter could have taken Sasuke. And still, the fact that the bounty hunter is alone does little to calm Sasuke’s nerves. He hates being watched, hates the pinprick going up his neck when he knows he’s being stared at, hates feeling like prey, not predator. Sasuke is no gunslinger, but he’d take an honest-to-god duel than whatever the hell this lying in wait bullshit is, like waiting for something to snap.
It’ll be Sasuke, if the bounty hunter doesn’t have the balls to start shooting at Sasuke soon.
“We’re being followed,” Juugo says to him, riding his horse up next to his. Juugo’s voice is quiet, trying not to alert Karin and Suigetsu, which is pointless. If Sasuke already knows, then Karin and Suigetsu are probably going to realize, too.
“I know,” Sasuke says.
“Should we kill him?”
The country surrounding them is open and flat—grasslands country. Strokes of green painted across the earth, in large, generous strokes, with the occasional rocky outcropping. If they keep riding for just a while longer, they’ll reach the hills, and the surrounding forests, and they can make camp before moving on, further out west, beyond civilization.
As it is, though, something should be done about the bounty hunter. Sasuke doesn’t want to kill him now, though. Not when the country around them is so wide and open, and when gunshots could so easily carry in the air.
“No,” Sasuke says. “If he’s come alone, he’s come for me. No offense.”
“None taken,” Juugo replies. It is true. Sasuke has a bounty on his head going up to four thousand, last he saw. Juugo, Karin and Suigetsu barely hit six hundred, each. “So what should we do?”
“Make camp. Wait for him to get close and catch him. See if we can find out from him if there are any other bounty hunters on our trail, and find out how he knew where we were in the first place.” Sasuke reaches into his satchel, fishes out an oatcake, and reaches over to feed it over to his horse.
“And then?”
“And then we do whatever we want with him,” Sasuke says, wiping his hand down his pants. “Kill him, send him back to whatever civilized hole he crawled out of, I don’t care. We just have to keep moving.”
“What the hell are you two talking about?” Suigetsu yells, from the back of the formation.
“About all the money we’ll make handing you over to bounty hunters,” Sasuke answers, over his shoulders.
“Sasuke,” Karin yells, “how much longer do we have to ride? My ass is all sore!”
“Just a little more further,” Sasuke says, as loud as he can. “Up there, in between the hills!”
“Race you!” Karin shouts, shifting on her house, and suddenly, she speeds and barrels past Juugou, and Sasuke, her laughter carrying in the wind.
Suigetsu doesn’t even waste any time on complaints, as his horse suddenly picks up speed and chases after Karin, and Juugou sighs, glances at the two of them with a dejected stare Sasuke usually holds. It’s part of the reason why the two of them get along as well as they do.
“Should I be worried?” Juugo asks. “You know as well as I do that as ugly as it is, leaving witnesses behind leaves a trail for others to follow.”
“We don’t kill anyone who doesn’t need killing,” Sasuke says, plainly. “I don’t need my bounty getting any higher.”
At least, that’s what Sasuke reasons with himself anyway. If Juugo doubts him, he knows better than to voice it aloud.
They ride for at least another hour before they reach the hilltop, the forest spread beneath them in a sea of green. It’s actually a beautiful view, but he can’t let himself enjoy it for more than a few moments before he instructs the rest of Taka to help in setting up camp. Luckily it doesn’t take too long. All of them travel relatively light, sans Suigetsu who insists on carrying a heavy sword instead of pistols and daggers like the rest. Before long their tents are standing tall, the horses fed, and the promise of twilight twinkling above. All that’s left is to gather wood for the fire so they can eat something warm.
Sasuke volunteers to retrieve it, only so Suigetsu and Karin could quit arguing about who collected it last, though Sasuke distinctly remembers neither of them performing the task. He doesn’t mind. It allows him a rare moment of solitude he hasn’t had since he left Konoha behind all those years ago.
Except instead of the momentary peace he’d been expecting, the familiar sense of being watched fills his senses with a vengeance. The hairs on the back of his neck stand up, heart beating just that much faster.
Whoever’s been chasing them has finally caught up. A hungry smirk crosses Sasuke’s face.
Quickly, he sends a signal back to Taka—a whistle reminiscent to the sound of a Hawk. A couple of seconds later and three chirps respond, signaling his message has been received. All he has to do now is wait, and collect firewood of course.
A couple minutes pass by and nothing happens, until he bends down, back turned, and the nozzle of a gun presses against his spine makes him still.
“Found you,” says an all too familiar voice.
It’s Naruto. Because of course it is.
Sasuke’s not really one to believe in fate, but what else can this be? So much distance put between him and Konoha, between him and Naruto, and still, somehow, his old life manages to catch up to him. No reunions, no jokes—just a gun, pressed up against his back, and Sasuke thinks that at least Naruto learned to stay quiet when it mattered the most.
“You know,” Sasuke says. “You could just shoot me.”
“Bullets get expensive, Sasuke,” he replies, voice low and steady. There’s an ease in his words—a sense of familiarity the years hasn’t worn down yet. “I’m not here to kill you anyway. We’re leaving.”
Sasuke raises his arms, easily, lazily, like Naruto isn’t literally breathing down his neck. Juugou and Suigetsu should be around here, and they must be watching. Waiting to catch Naruto. Sasuke turns around, slowly, to look Naruto in the eye.
Time hasn’t made Naruto a stranger, not as Sasuke had hoped. His features have grown more sharper, his jaw squarer, but he still has those too-blue eyes, fringed by girlish lashes, and that open, naive roundness to his features that really never suited a bounty hunter. Still Naruto, even after all these years. Sasuke was a fool to think otherwise.
“Leaving?” Sasuke drawls, the corner of his mouth lifting up in a smirk. He steps forward, trying to close the gap between him and Naruto. A distraction. “And where shall we be going to, Mr. Uzumaki? My hanging?”
Naruto swallows, brows furrowing slightly. The determination in his gaze doesn’t shift, eyes roaming over him until they settle on a fixed point. “No, you idiot. Are your ears no good anymore? I’m trying to make sure you don’t get killed.”
Sasuke’s eyes flicker down to the gun Naruto’s holding, and then he looks at Naruto again, lifting an eyebrow. “Really? It sure doesn’t look like that from where I’m standing.”
“If only you knew what I do, but hey, we all can’t be as smart and clever as me.” He jokes, and presses the gun against his chest, finger notably far off the trigger. “Let’s go, before your ‘friends’ come looking for you. I’m not going back without you.”
“Aw, buddy,” Sasuke says, with a sigh. There—the sign he was waiting for, all this time. Suigetsu, sneaking up behind Naruto, as quiet as a snake. “You’re not going back, period .”
It happens a little too quickly for Sasuke’s liking. There’s the flash of confusion on Naruto’s face, and that very momentary panic that Sasuke feels, thinking that Naruto is going to shoot him. But it doesn’t happen. Naruto turns around, probably to shoot at Suigetsu, Sasuke disarms him, and after a brief tussle Sasuke has Naruto pinned to the ground, Naruto’s gun now pointed right back at its owner. Not even a gun against his spine keeps him from fighting, struggling against his hold, grunting with the effort of it. It’s only when Sasuke unclicks the safety does he still, breathing hard against the dirt.
Sasuke refuses to let his thoughts linger on why Naruto thought it’d be a good idea to ambush him without the intent to kill.
“Hey, Naruto,” Sasuke says, mocking, digging the nuzzle right into Naruto’s back. “Should I shoot you?”
“Prefer if you didn’t,” he responds, breathless. There’s a fiery look in his eye as he glances up at Sasuke, as if this were a game and not a moment of life and death. “Are you going to kill me, Sasuke?”
If Naruto’s afraid, he doesn’t show it.
“Are you?” Suigetsu asks.
“No,” Sasuke says, unhesitating. “Tie him up. Bring him back to camp.” He pats Naruto down, takes off Naruto’s satchel, his knife, and his holster, and pockets it for himself. “We can properly rob him once we get him into camp.”
“Okay,” Suigetsu says, and Sasuke doesn’t miss the apprehension in his voice. “You’re the boss.”
Suigetsu takes the bandana hanging from Naruto’s neck and stuffs it into his mouth, nearly catching his finger from Naruto’s teeth. It briefly reminds him of when they were kids, how Naruto never knew when to stay down after getting thoroughly pummelled in a wrestling match the other had started. How he still had all this energy after all these years were beyond him. Suigetsu’s not gentle in tying up Naruto, the knots in the rope appearing strong and sturdy. Naruto stares at Sasuke unblinking.
There’s a calmness in Naruto’s eyes, as if he expected something like this would happen.
“Don’t look at me like that,” Sasuke says. “We’re outlaws. You never thought I’d actually go with you, did you?”
Naruto’s gaze is unblinking.
“Come on,” Sasuke says, and he jostles Naruto forward, towards camp. “We got a long way ahead of us, Naruto.”
***
Naruto’s an idiot, but he’s not stupid where it counts. People underestimating him has always been his secret weapon when it came to his bounties, and, thankfully, Sasuke was no different.
There was a moment, briefly, that had him holding his breath. The thread of the end pressed hot and heavy against his back. A part of him actually believed Sasuke would actually shoot him.
Naruto’s just glad he didn’t.
Nightfall came sooner than any of them expected, and by the time they returned to Sasuke’s camp, dinner was already cooking over the fire by a couple of his lackies who stayed behind during their showdown. A ginger-haired mountain of a man, who slowly stirs the stew simmering over the fire with a gentleness that was incongruent with his frame, and some redhead with glasses, muttering under her breath as she uses a mortar and pestle to make some sort of--paste? Naruto’s not too sure, and both of them barely look up as Sasuke and his other croney return with Naruto in tow.
“Took you long enough,” the man watching the stew says.
“Could have done it faster if you and Karin decided to help,” Sasuke says, with no real vitriol in his voice. “Me and Suigetsu had to do all the hard work.”
“And do you know how hard it is for Juugo to cook?” the red-head girl, who must be Karin, says, setting her mortar and pestle down on the ground. “And you brought back some bounty hunter who we’re going to have to put into a ditch.”
“Not yet,” Sasuke says. “Not this one.”
And then they settle in. Suigetsu pushes Naruto to the center of camp, right next to the bonfire and the stew, his back pressed up against a fallen log, while Sasuke and Karin talk about something or the other. Suigetsu alternates between
There’s no sign of Orochimaru anywhere in sight. No extra tent, no empty space meant for the man who took Sasuke away from him. He’s not sure how he feels about it.
All he knows is he’s grateful Sakura’s intel was right.
Somewhere in the outskirts, covered in the darkness and trees, Sakura was watching. He could feel her gaze somewhere beyond the darkness, waiting, a common ploy they held when they worked a job together. If he manages to avoid pissing anyone off, all of this would be over in a couple of hours after everyone else had fallen asleep, and they’d make it back to Konoha before the sun set the next day. All he has to do is act captured, which, considering how the ropes were digging into his skin, shouldn’t be too difficult.
The smell of food hits his senses, and the roaring gurgle of his stomach shook his concentration. Just because he has to wait for Sakura doesn’t mean he can’t try and get a bite to eat until it’s time.
Naruto scoots his butt against the dirt, inching close enough until he can kick at Sasuke’s feet with the tip of his boot. If he didn’t kill him when Naruto had a gun pointed at him, asking for food had a fifty percent shot he’d actually get any.
“I’m hungry,” he says, though the bandana stuffed in his mouth distorts it. He gestures towards the pot hanging over fire.
“Trust me, you don’t want to eat this,” Sasuke replies, blandly. He holds the bowl out, so Naruto can see, and Sasuke knows it doesn’t matter to Naruto. Doesn’t mean he can’t be an asshole about it, though. “Look at this slop.”
“Hey, don’t insult my cooking,” Juugo says, mildly. “Let’s see you cook, Sasuke.”
“I got the meat and the vegetables,” Sasuke says. “Why should I be cooking?” He slides a look to Naruto, out of the corner of his eye. “Right, Naruto? It’s only fair.”
Naruto glances at Sasuke, squinting, speaking as clearly as he can manage, “I wouldn’t eat your cooking anyway. It’s shit.”
“Making a real case for why I should feed you in the first place,” Sasuke says. “Remember? You, me, Sakura, and Kakashi. Us kids, and Kakashi told us not to give you any lunch or else he’d stop teaching us and I fed you anyway? Good times, huh?”
Of course Naruto remembers. As if it wasn’t the first moment he realized Sasuke actually cared for him, as if he doesn’t replay those memories in his head. He settles the defiance running through him, not enough to keep it from his eyes, but hopefully enough for Sasuke to consider not letting him starve.
He huffs, glances down at the bandana, at the bowl in Sasuke’s hands, then Sasuke himself. It’s the closest to surrender he’ll come to tonight.
“If it’ll shut him up,” Suigetsu offers. “Up to you though. Personally I’d rather not give him my rations if I don’t have to.”
“If he answers my question, maybe,” Sasuke says. “You didn’t come here alone, did you?”
All eyes are on him. Naruto’s never been the best liar, always has his emotions on his sleeves and what he’s thinking plain as day on his face, but he’s not about to give up Sakura. Not when everything’s dependent on her.
“I’m alone,” Naruto answers evenly, careful to keep his expression neutral as he looks Sasuke right in the eyes. Last thing he wants is to give any sign of deception. “Thought I could catch you if you wandered off from the others, but looks like I was wrong. Bad intel, I guess.”
Sasuke smiles. Ah, shit.
“You’ve gotten better at lying, Uzumaki.” The smile disappears just as quick as it came, and Sasuke snaps his head to Suigetsu, Juugou, and Karin. “Pack up. Get ready to move. And get some shut-eye. We don’t know how many he brought here, so I want you all awake and alert and ready to split, when things go haywire. You understand me?”
Murmurs of agreement and nods spread throughout the group, no questions asked.
Damn it , Naruto glances out at the darkness surrounding them, It’s about to get messy .
The first drop of rain lands right smack on the center of his forehead. A storm is brewing in the air, and they’re about to be trapped right in the middle of it.
***
Of course Sasuke expects the incoming storm considering it’s been building all day. The crackle of electricity could be felt deep within his bones from the past few hours, so he’s not particularly surprised when the first fall of rain stops them in their tracks.
What he doesn’t expect is how quick the firefight starts.
A fire bottle greets them first, and Sasuke already knows who Naruto’s backup is. The horses go wild, threatening to run from where they’re stationed, but thankfully it appears no one is seriously hurt. It’s been years since he’s been under Kakashi’s tutelage, but he remembers how Sakura had picked up developing her first line of attack to make up for her lack of accuracy with a pistol. She had smarts and brawn, and knew how to use it back then. All these years later could’ve given plenty of time for her to reform her accuracy, and Sasuke would rather not stick around to test if his theory’s right.
“Sasuke, what the hell do we do?!” Karin yells over the explosion, gun wavering from side to side, unable to determine where the blast comes from. “I can’t see a damn thing in this weather!”
“We don’t know how many followed Naruto,” Sasuke replies, already grabbing the idiot from where his hands are tied. He ignores the glare from his blue eyes, can’t focus on it now. “Get to the randezvous point.”
“Hebi?” Suigetsu asks. “But that’s a couple day’s away from here!”
“That’s where we’re meeting!” Sasuke yells. “Don’t argue with me and go!”
“Incoming!” Juugo calls out, right in the nick of time.
The next bottle explodes with a shatter only several feet in front of them, the heat of the fire blowing in their face. A little too close for comfort. Their tents catch fire and it spreads and grows, too quickly for the rain to smother it down. It takes a moment for the others to scatter towards their horses and take off into the woods, but Sasuke can breathe a little easier knowing his teammates are heading off to safety. Lightning flashes and for a split second, Sasuke can see the barrell of the gun pointed right at Naruto.
He only has a second to react before Sakura fires off the gun, unaware the body she’s aiming at isn’t Sasuke.
Sasuke tackles Naruto to the ground as he feels something hot tear through his right side, a blinding and terrible pain erupting from the spot. A pop sound fills the air followed by thunder as Naruto cries out from the crash into the ground, and Sasuke can only hope to God nothing’s broken because that’s only going to make their situation all the more difficult. When he stares down at Naruto’s wide eyes, swirling with gratitude and fear, the fact he’s still breathing settles the raging storm within Sasuke.
“Get up,” he demands, pulling Naruto up by his suspenders with all the effort he can manage. Every part of him feels numb, adrenaline pumping through him as he all but shoves Naruto in the direction of his sword. “Move, dumbass! We’re getting out of here!”
Naruto doesn’t argue, can’t argue anyway. Sasuke lays out his hands to boost him up to straddle Sasuke’s horse, carrying the weight of him, and Sasuke does the same. Before he loses the idiot, he cuts the rope containing Naruto’s bound hands and pulls down the bandana covering his mouth.
“Why—” Is Naruto’s first word, strangled in his throat, and despite the fact rain is falling, Sasuke knows when there’s tears burning in his eyes.
“Shut up,” Sasuke retorts, effectively cutting him off before he can say something stupid or sentimental. “You better hold on.”
It’s only a second of warning before Sasuke kicks at the horse’s hind legs, but Naruto’s arms are already around his waist, grip tight. The pressure against his side reminds him of the bullet wound and Sasuke grimaces, but doesn’t let go of the reins. He has to focus on not crashing into the mass of trees as the three of them gallop deeper into the forest. Bullets whiz past them and Sasuke curses Sakura in the back of his mind.
Quick breaths hit the shell of his ear and Naruto’s voice fills his mind, “Sasuke, you’re hurt! Let me take over!”
“No!”
“Don’t be such a stubborn bastard!” Naruto yells, voice high and filled with worry. “I’m not gonna run off without you!”
Sasuke ignores him and continues riding.
After a couple minutes, they’re far enough away and in too far within the concentration of trees to continue at the speed they’re at, so Sasuke slows the pace. His heart is still beating wildly in his ears, the adrenaline making him a little dizzy, a little more aware of the pain in side, but he doesn’t relax or relent. Sakura could still be behind them, chasing, so he can’t say they’re in the clear yet. There needs to be more distance between them.
Naruto’s hold around his waist loosens, but he doesn’t remove himself from being plastered to Sasuke’s back. He feels rather than sees Naruto shifts the positions of his hands, and the pain is brought back to the forefront of his mind when his fingers skim over the center of the wound, a sharp gasp escaping him as his vision darkens at the edge.
“Sasuke, did you get hit?” Naruto asks, worry in the edge of his voice. “I thought you hurt yourself back there from getting me out of the way. Did you get shot?”
“I think so,” he replies, voice distant to his own ears. Everything feels strange, as if the world has permanently tilted to the left and he can’t find his balance. “Dunno. It happened really fast.”
“Shit, shit, fuck. Stop the horse.”
“ No .”
“I’m not fucking kidding around. Stop the fucking horse, Sasuke.”
Darkness creeps further into his line of sight, so all he sees is the direction the horse is going towards, the line of trees and bushes. All he can smell is rain and blood.
Oh, he’s going to be sick.
His hands go slack and the reins of the horse slips through his hands.
“Sasuke, stay with me!”
Naruto’s voice is the last he hears before he hits the ground.
***
They find shelter in a cave. Actually, it’s Naruto dragging an in and out of conscious Sasuke through the forest in the middle of a thunderstorm, with no clear visibility, and no idea where the hell he is. It’s sheer luck Naruto actually manages to find somewhere the rain can’t get to them, but if Sasuke cares enough to ask, he found it based off his legendary survival skills.
If he’s panicking on the inside, Sasuke doesn’t need to know that either.
He sets Sasuke down onto the cave floor as well as he can manage. The pain in his shoulder returns with a vengeance if he moves it too much in the wrong direction. As soon as he fell against the ground and heard the pop sound, he knew it’d been dislocated—he only wishes the adrenaline would last a little longer so he could put his full attention on Sasuke. A dislocated shoulder hurt like hell, but it wasn’t lethal.
A bullet wound on the other hand… He shakes his head before he can finish that particular negative train of thought. Can’t think about that now, wouldn’t do either of them any good anyway.
Quickly, Naruto lifts the soaked fabric of Sasuke’s shirt and sighs in relief.
The bullet only grazed his side, in and out, simple. It looks worse than it actually is—more blood than actual wound. Still, he isn’t about to sit around and wait for Sasuke to bleed out, or for the wound to get infected, or the inevitable sicknesses that’ll come if they stay in their drenched clothes any longer.
Sasuke’s hand snakes around Naruto’s wrist without warning, surprisingly strong. A surprised squeak leaves Naruto’s mouth at the suddenness of it.
“ Fucking Christ ,” Naruto hisses through the chittering of his teeth, but doesn’t make a move to tear his hand away. Not yet. “I thought you were passed out. You scared the shit outta me, asshole.”
“Not dead,” Sasuke croaks out, his voice hoarse and gravelly. He coughs, and winces, his hand wandering down to his side. “Unless hell has you in it.”
A chuckle escapes past Naruto’s lips again his own volition, the tension easing out of him. “Think it’d be warmer if we were in hell. Always pictured it with a little more flames, a little less rain.” He pauses for a moment, heaving a tired sigh. “You’re going to be okay, but we gotta patch you up first. Got anything to clean the wound with?”
“No,” Sasuke replies. He blinks lazily at Naruto, and squints, as if thinking. Despondently, Naruto wonders if Sasuke’s going to pass out again. “I have some--I think I have a bottle of whiskey on me. In my satchel. Or my saddlebags, either one. If you drink any of it, Naruto, I’ll kill you for real.”
“Don’t think you’re in any kind of position to be making threats, dummy,” he responds. He grabs Sasuke’s satchel from where he threw it earlier, praying to whatever higher power he didn’t break the bottle. “Considering I’m the one who dragged your sorry ass over here.”
There’s a clink as the bottle smacks against something hard in the satchel, and Naruto reaches towards the sound and finds the half-empty bottle of whiskey. All the cloths are damp from the rain, but it’s better than nothing. He pours the bottle over it, lets the cloth soak it, before hovering back over Sasuke.
“You gonna take it off or do you want me to do it?” Naruto asks, glancing down at the other’s shirt, the smirk on his face almost taunting. “Can’t be helped.”
“Shut up, dimwit,” Sasuke says, and he grits his teeth as he sits up, and lets out a low hiss of pain. He unbuttons his shirt, staring right into Naruto’s eyes, wincing just a little when the fabric of his shirt peels off of his wound. “I got shot in my side. Not my arms.”
Naruto rolls his eyes and tosses the shirt towards the rest of their things that made it through. “This is gonna hurt.”
He doesn’t bother with a warning before placing the cloth on the wound. If he gives Sasuke a countdown, it’s not going to make the pain any less. With his free hand, he offers the rest of the whiskey bottle to the other in offering.
“It’ll help,” he offers. “Not as much as left as you’d want, but hey. Now’s a good a time as any to finish it, hm?”
To his credit, Sasuke doesn’t wince or flinch when Naruto presses the whiskey-soaked-rag onto his wound. He just blinks and bites down on his lip, and when Naruto offers the bottle, Sasuke takes it and chugs down half of it and silently offers the rest of it to Naruto.
Naruto accepts it, tilting his head back as he downs the rest in one go. The burn in his throat is familiar, welcomed. He sets the bottle down and settles his gaze on Sasuke, wiping the blood from his side, and replaces the cloth when it’s more red than white. Luckily, the bleeding is beginning to slow.
Once the danger of bleeding out passes, he begrudgingly accepts there’s nothing more he can do now until morning, when Naruto can get him to a doctor in the nearest town. He sits back with a heavy sigh, and can’t help but let his gaze linger on Sasuke. It’s been a long time since it’s been just the two of them, alone without any onlookers observing without truly understanding the depth of this thing between them. Although, truthfully, Naruto can’t understand it himself most times. Every time he thought too hard about him, it had reminded him of what Sasuke had said so long ago— it was like instinct .
Naruto’s eyes travel from meeting Sasuke’s eyes, somehow even more piercing even in the dark of night, to the bridge of his nose and the curve of his mouth and lingers for a second before he realizes he’s staring . He tears his gaze away and settles on Sasuke’s shoulder instead of meeting his eyes, cheeks warm. At first he didn’t notice, but slowly his vision had adjusted to the lack of light and he could see the outlines of a mark in his peripheral, and then another, and another. It took him a moment to realize what they were.
Scars, jagged and ranging in sizes, littering the expanse of his chest. Each one telling a story of a pain Naruto wasn’t there to bear witness to or to soothe. Without thinking, his free hand reaches over to a particularly nasty one, jagged and new skin almost fake-looking, and traces it with the tip of his fingers. As if he were to put more pressure, Sasuke would cry out and scream. He doesn’t. He doesn’t even move away, doesn’t even glance down at Naruto’s fingers, ghosting over his scar. Only staring right at Naruto, his gaze heavy--or drowsy, maybe. Sasuke did lose a lot of blood.
“I got that,” Sasuke says, mumbling, “in a knife fight.” He takes Naruto’s wrist, boldly, guiding his fingers to another scar, this one on right below his sternum. “I got this when shrapnel hit me after I used some bad dynamite, and this one—” he guides Naruto’s hand, again, to his collarbone—“I got when I saved your life when we were kids.”
A shaky breath leaves past his lips then, as his gaze settles on the scar on his collarbone. His fingers trace it lightly, barely there. It feels like a dream having Sasuke this close to him again, no longer chasing a ghost of a boy he knew once. “I remember that,” he says, loud enough for Sasuke. “You called me an idiot right after, but I knew what you meant. I always do, even when you don’t.”
“That makes no sense,” Sasuke says. He lets out a slow breath. “You find anybody to replace me?”
Naruto furrows his brows, wondering where Sasuke’s train of thought led him to something as ridiculous as replacing Sasuke. Any other person would just be a mockery of the real him. “No, why would I do that? That’s stupid.”
“So you miss us being at each other’s necks like a bunch of hooligans, huh?” Sasuke asks. “Us trying to outrun and outgun and just about trying to beat each other at everything--you miss that, Naruto?”
“We had fun,” he says without missing a beat. “And we were friends, Sasuke. Before Orochimaru came, we were friends.” He pauses, head tilting slightly at Sasuke. It’s a question he already knows the answer to, but he wants to hear it from Sasuke. “Were you the one to kill him?”
“No,” Sasuke says. “A lightning strike came down just as he was riding out to hunt. Of course I killed him. What else was I gonna do with him?”
Naruto shrugs and instantly regrets it, the throbbing pain of his shoulder making a quick return, and settles himself next to Sasuke for the rest of the night. He rests his head against the slab of the cave wall behind him, tired, the years catching up to him all at once. “Why didn’t you come back after?”
When Sakura had told him Sasuke was the one to end Orochimaru’s life, he didn’t question it. Relieved, maybe. Except the weeks on end with no sign of Sasuke returning to Kanoha had twisted the relief into anxiety, the silence deafening. It wasn’t until the first wanted poster had come out did he realize Sasuke didn’t plan on coming home. He’d been naive enough to believe there was only one obstacle in his way from getting Sasuke back, but with the bastard dead, it had shattered whatever story he’d tell himself to have any of this make any sense to him.
It’s an ache that’s never really left him since.
“Why are you still with these people, Sasuke?” Naruto asks, frustration slowly building in his voice. He can’t stop staring at him. “Why the hell are you still running?”
Sasuke doesn’t say anything. He moves, slowly, until his back is rested against the walls of the cave, and he tips his head back. His eyes flutter shut, and he inhales, exhales. When he opens his eyes again, and looks at Naruto, there’s something hazy and distant about his focus on Naruto, the way his eyes are half-shut, and the way there’s something almost--no, he’s imagining it. Surely.
“You seem to think I’m running away from you,” Sasuke says. “I’m not running, Naruto. I’m chasing. I thought you of all people would understand.”
Ah , so it’s still about his brother. Naruto can’t pretend to be shocked.
“I could’ve helped you with Itachi, Sasuke,” he mutters. “If that’s the reason you couldn’t come home yet, you could’ve told me, and I would’ve been out there with you. You never came back. I thought… I thought maybe you’d forgotten about—forgotten about me. About our bond.”
There’s a rush that goes through his head as he utters those words, almost dizzy with them. They had been stuck in a loop in his head for so long now, and saying them out loud to Sasuke made him feel lightheaded. Or maybe it was the whiskey finally settling within his veins. Maybe a bit of both.
“Our bond,” Sasuke repeats, with a scoff. “Our bond , Naruto, is the one thing I’d hoped to leave behind when I left Konoha. And now I’m starting to think if I ever did leave it behind.” He reaches out, to muss up Naruto’s hair. “I should have killed you when I had the chance.”
He leans in to Sasuke’s touch, despite himself. He’s missed it more than he realizes. “But you didn’t kill me,” he points out, the corners of his lips upturning into a grin. “You don’t mean that. I don’t think you want me dead, Sasuke. Just like I don’t want you to die.”
Naruto wonders, briefly, once again if Sasuke feels what he feels.
“I want…” Naruto says, slowly, gaze searing into Sasuke’s dark eyes. He’s closer now, can make out the soft inhale and exhale of Sasuke’s breathing. “Please, come with me, Sasuke. We could be happy… together.”
“And the five thousand dollar bounty on my head? The people that want me gone? That’s just going to go away, is it?”
“I’ll protect you.” Naruto doesn’t skip a beat. “We can figure it out, together . Head out where no one knows our names. Start over.”
“And you’re going to leave everything and everyone in your life just for me? You expect me to believe that?” Sasuke says, and he lets out a soft laugh, his breath hitting Naruto in the face.
Being this close to Sasuke makes it hard to breathe. His heartbeat pounds in his ears like a drum, only gaining and gaining. “Don’t laugh at me,” he grunts out, frustrated. “Everyone said I should have let you go, leave you alone, let someone kill you off instead of bothering. But I’ve been risking my life for years to get to you, do you understand? Believe that.”
And he’s not thinking, not really, when he reaches out towards Sasuke and tangles his fingers in his hair. His whole body’s trembling, unable to control himself. The anger, the want, the desperation finally coming to a head. He crashes his lips against Sasuke’s in a kiss with too much teeth, presses close to him as if on instinct. When he pulls back, breath ragged as his forehead presses against Sasuke’s, grip in his hair only tightening.
“Do you get it now ?” Naruto’s voice is raw, brows furrowing painfully. “ Sasuke .”
“Shut up,” Sasuke says. “Shut the hell up.”
He grabs Naruto’s face, and kisses him back, with fervor, and anger, and just as much desperation. Kissing him so hard that Naruto can feel his lips start to ache with the pressure of it. Sasuke reaches up, tugging on Naruto’s hair, pulling his head back to leave hard, bruising kisses down the corner of his mouth, his jaw, his neck, pulling out soft gasps out of Naruto, clawing his desire right out of his chest.
“God damn you, Naruto,” Sasuke breathes, right against Naruto’s neck. “What the hell are you trying to do?”
Sasuke’s hot breath against the sensitive skin of Naruto’s neck raises prickly goosebumps. He’s clutching at Sasuke’s arm, fingers digging into his flesh. “I’m trying to show you...” he breathes out. Naruto shifts, one leg swooping over so he’s now straddling Sasuke, careful not to press against his wounds. “Show you what you mean to me.” A shaky breath leaves past the fox-like grin on his face, staring him down with a tantalizing gaze. “Are you going to kiss me again?”
“I’m going to do more than kiss you,” Sasuke says, and he grabs the back of Naruto’s neck, pulling his head down for another kiss, this one more aggressive and passionate, as he pants into Naruto’s mouth, his other hand going right for the front of Naruto’s pants, trying to tug them off. There’s no warning, nothing slow at all about Sasuke’s movements. Sasuke’s hand is clumsy, and Naruto can feel Sasuke’s arousal pressing right up against his thigh and—
“ Move ,” Sasuke half-begs, half-commands. He lifts his hips, or tries to, grinding up against Naruto with the sort of desperation that Naruto would never expect out of Sasuke.
He doesn’t need to be told a second time. Naruto rolls his hips downwards and gasps against Sasuke’s mouth, at how good the little bit of friction is and already wants more, always wanting when it comes to Sasuke. His fingers are shaking as he unbuttons his pants, grunting from how slow the process is, until he’s able to shove the fabric down his thighs, only the cloth of his underwear covering him, and then he’s on Sasuke again, grinding his hips down against Sasuke’s dick with a fervor to it he can’t hold back anymore. All the blood rushes from his head towards his dick, and he knows Sasuke can feel him just like Naruto can feel Sasuke’s. A bead of sweat’s already sliding down his temple.
“Like this?” Naruto grunts out, mouth hot and nipping at the skin of Sasuke’s neck, the meat of his shoulder. He can’t stop touching him once he’s started. “More?”
Sasuke’s answer isn’t any sentence. It’s him pushing his hand down Naruto’s underwear, pulling it down, until Naruto’s cock is in Sasuke’s hand, and Sasuke grips him, right down to the very base, and gives him one, long dry stroke. He takes his hand away and spits into it, and without even looking away from Naruto, he strokes him again, and this time the glide is so much slicker, so much better that Naruto can’t help the moan that makes its way out of him.
“ More ?” Sasuke repeats back at him. Mocking.
“Asshole,” he says, breathless, the only heat to his words from pleasure than anything else. The tone of Sasuke’s voice has him bucking his hips into his hand, head swimming too fast to feel any embarrassment in how much he wants. “Yeah, more. I want more.”
It’s then Naruto’s dull nails drag against Sasuke’s chest, careful to avoid the wound on his side and getting in the way of Sasuke’s grip on him, and attempts to undo the button of Sasuke’s pants—wants to see and feel all of him. At this angle, he struggles more than he likes to admit, but finally, finally, Sasuke’s free from the confines of his pants and underwear and Naruto follows Sasuke’s lead, spits into the palm of his hand, and wraps his fingers around him and slides down the length of him, wanting to make Sasuke feel as good as he does. His elbow knocks against Sasuke’s arm that’s gripping him, and Naruto moves to press his nose into Sasuke’s cheek, breath hot against the shell of Sasuke’s ear.
“At the same time, hm?” Naruto mumbles, kisses and nips at the soft skin just underneath the shell of his ear until the beginnings of a bruise shows. A sign he’s been here, a semi-permanent reminder of his presence. “What do you say, Sasuke?”
Sasuke doesn’t answer, not immediately. He drags his hand down again, and then pulls up, and squeezes Naruto, his thumb pressing down at the slit of Naruto’s cock and Naruto is just weak for it, pressing his mouth on Sasuke’s neck to keep from moaning.
“The same time,” Sasuke says, his voice shaking with effort. He moves his hand again, and that motion has Naruto groaning. “Come on. Move, idiot .”
Naruto moves like Sasuke tells him. With his hips grinding into Sasuke’s hand, his hand working up and down the length of Sasuke’s dick in his hand even after his ache begins to ache with the angle of doing this for someone else instead of himself. All of his senses are tuned in on Sasuke—the sounds of his breath hitching in his throat, the heat of his body pressed against Naruto, and even the smell of sweat and whiskey from his skin, and Naruto makes no motion to stop himself when he darts out and traces the vein of Sasuke’s neck with his tongue. He twists his wrist accidentally, but from the way Sasuke finally makes a sound in the back of his throat and twitches underneath Naruto, he only smirks and does it again.
When Naruto had allowed himself to think of Sasuke and him like this, he’s always imagined taking his time with Sasuke. Taking the time to learn what he liked, what made his body tremble. This is more intense, more ravenous and rough than anything he’s ever thought of. Heat’s already pooling in the pit of his belly, and he knows this will be over too soon, but he can’t slow down. Not now.
“Sasuke,” he moans against the underside of his jaw, and plants heated kisses along the side of his face. He wants to see his eyes. “Look at me. I—” A hitch of his breath cuts him off. “ Shit , I can’t think—”
“Stop talking,” Sasuke growls. “Just—stop.” Naruto can feel him twitching, and Sasuke’s hand is rough and calloused and so fucking warm and good, and he goes faster, harder, not stopping to let Naruto catch his own breath. He moves his hand in a way that’s too hard and too tender at the same time, twisting his fingers and pushing and pulling and squeezing, his hand only going faster and faster and growing more frantic that Naruto just blindly mimics Sasuke.
It doesn’t take long after that. Naruto’s lost in the sensations, the blinding heat sending shocks through his body and making his toes curl in his shoes, and he’s chasing Sasuke’s movements higher and higher, never yielding on his movements on Sasuke. The noises spilling from his mouth only coming further, more high-pitched, until there’s no longer any air in his lungs. His entire body stills, and he crashes his mouth against Sasuke’s again as the tremble rocks from his legs throughout the rest of his body and his hand braces out to the wall right by Sasuke’s head, the only reason he’s not collapsing in a heap on top of him. The wave of pleasure leaves him panting for breath, his body twitching long after his release.
Naruto turns the kiss from the rough class of teeth and pressure only seconds ago into something softer, his body limp and sweaty, almost floaty in the aftermath. He’s about to cup Sasuke’s face with the hand not supporting his weight, and realizes somewhat smugly he’s gotta wipe his palm from the mess Sasuke left for him. Once he wipes it off on his pants, he’s cradling Sasuke’s jaw, his thumb smoothing over taut skin of his jawline, deepening the kiss.
Part of Naruto is bitter he didn’t get to see Sasuke’s face once he tipped over the edge. He’ll make it a priority next time.
For a moment, the only sound in the cave is of their heavy breathing. Naruto’s face is pressed into Sasuke’s neck, the smell of sweat and their mess causing his stomach to swoop pathetically. He presses another kiss to where he’s left a pretty significant hickey and grins at the sharp inhale Sasuke makes when Naruto drags his teeth over it. Sasuke in retaliation gives another slow tug on his softening dick, the sensitivity eliciting a high-pitched whine from Naruto as he bows his head.
“I don’t think I can go again tonight,” Naruto mumbles, disappointingly, against Sasuke’s skin and pulls back to yawn, long and languid. All previous energy he had is draining from him at a rapid pace. When he finally takes a look at Sasuke, he can see the blown-out look on Sasuke’s face, sated and warm, the way his eyes look almost black from how much his pupils are dilated, the pink flush of his cheeks. “But when you’re looking like that, it really makes me wish I could.”
Sasuke rolls his eyes, fondness in every inch of his expression. “You just say whatever the hell first pops into your mind, don’t you?”
“Mhm,” he hums in response, and with shaky legs, moves from straddling him to sitting next to him, close enough for their bodies to be pressed together. Naruto misses the warmth. Lazily, he grabs one of their discarded garments and wipes himself clean, then Sasuke, before tossing it back into the direction where the rest of their clothes lay haphazardly. “Bet you like it, though.”
“I don’t hate it.” Sasuke shifts, carefully, until he’s laying flat on his back on the ground. It takes him a while to get comfortable, face twitching in pain until he does, and finally, he looks at peace again. When he glances up at Naruto through those dark lashes of his, warmth spreads from his cheeks to the soles of his feet, engulfing him. “Well?”
“Well what?”
“Are you going to sleep?” There’s a flicker of some emotion on Sasuke’s face before he extends an arm out, as if he’s questioning whether or not he can have Naruto in his arms. He must’ve figured if he could have Naruto panting and coming in his hold, he could have this with him too. “Or are you just going to be a creep and stare at me all night?”
Naruto follows suit, settles down until he’s tucked completely against Sasuke’s side, arm slung over his rib cage. When Sasuke’s fingers slowly move through his hair, massaging at the base of his skull, the weight of his eyelids becomes unbearable. “I’m exhausted, but I don’t wanna go to sleep.”
“Why’s that?” Sasuke asks, sleep edging into each word.
“I’ve finally got you all to myself.” Naruto against the cloth of his shirt. He can’t keep his eyes open anymore. “Don’t wanna waste it. Tomorrow we’ve gotta deal with people again when I take you to the doctor’s and it’s just—”
The hand in Naruto’s hair stills only for a moment, but Naruto makes a small noise of protest in the base of his throat and then Sasuke’s fingers are moving again with a gentleness that makes Naruto feel as if his heart were about to burst. “Sh, stop talking,” Sasuke hushes, voice soft in a way it hasn’t been for years now. “Enjoy this for right now.”
And he’s too tired to question the words right now. Naruto allows himself this moment of peace after all these years of running and chasing, lulls himself to sleep to the sound of Sasuke’s beating heart, strong and rhythmic.
It’s been a long time since he’s fallen asleep this easy.
***
Sakura’s still reeling from the firefight. It’s a miracle she managed to escape alive.
Much to her surprise, Sasuke and his gang had been expecting her. Now the entire mission was compromised and it was up to her to rescue her stupid best friend’s ass.
The last thing she remembers before everything went hazy and the world turned into a blaze of gunfire and rain and screaming had been Naruto on the back of Sasuke’s horse and he and the rest of the gang fled deeper into the forest. All she could do was stare as her best friend was swallowed into the darkness. It’s not like she could follow them, not without proper lighting to see where the hell she was going—the gang seemed to have more intimate knowledge of the area than she did, a side effect of growing too comfortable in Konoha for all these years coming back to screw her over in the worst way.
Sakura only came to make sure Naruto didn’t get himself killed. Any rational part of his brain shut down at the prospect of Sasuke. She knew if it came down to it, Naruto wouldn’t hesitate to lay down his life for Sasuke—he’d proved it time and time again every time he left her and the rest of their friends behind in Konoha to continue this endless drive to capture him, to bring him home—and she still failed.
All she can do now is head back toward the nearest town, patch herself up, and set off as soon as the storm breaks.
“If he dies,” Sakura mutters darkly, a promise, “I’ll kill you myself, Sasuke.”
***
It’s the snoring that wakes Sasuke.
For the briefest of moments, he thinks he’s back at camp and the loud breathing belongs to either Sengietsu, Karin, or Juugo waking him up as they’ve done for hundred of mornings together, and for an instant, the night before had only been a nightmare—until he moves to sit up and the pain radiating from his side makes him go dizzy, vision blurring and realizes he’s not even made an inch off the ground.
The starkest reminder is currently snoring and drooling on his chest.
Sometime during the night, Naruto must’ve ended up here, face press against the uninjured side of his body. Like this, eyes close and face soft, he looks younger, more peaceful. He remembers, vaguely, of having a conversation with Naruto, sharing the last of his whiskey, the feeling of Naruto’s fingertips tracing the scars lining his body and how he had taken Naruto’s wrist into his own hand and guided him. How Naruto’s mouth tasted of whiskey, the heat of his breath leaving goosebumps against Sasuke’s skin, the noises and strangled sound of his own name in Naruto’s voice he knows will haunt him. There was that familiar intensity Naruto held in his eyes that caught Sasuke’s attention over and over again, ever since they were kids.
Being around Naruto again has its own dangers. Naruto has always had that magnetic pull that made Sasuke drawn to him, a power to him that weakens Sasuke’s resolve, makes him careless with his choices and causes his body to move without any command from his mind. He won’t kid himself otherwise. If he hadn’t decided to keep Naruto alive, he wouldn’t have been shot—that’s a fact.
This close, Sasuke’s fighting every urge in his body to trace the shape of his jaw with his fingertips, to push the blonde hair out of Naruto’s face in order to get a better look. His hand is already outstretched towards him, to touch, before he yanks it back as if the mere act of touching Naruto could burn him, and places his clasped fist firmly on the cool rock below him.
He needs to get out of here. Now. Get back to Taka. Put as much distance between him and Naruto before Sasuke does anything as stupid and reckless as he did last night.
If he stays, Naruto will drag him back to Konoha without a doubt. And that goes against plans Sasuke is nowhere close to finishing yet. Not while Itachi is out there, somewhere, still breathing.
Slowly, Sasuke shifts from underneath Naruto’s weight, gritting his teeth as the movement reared the pain in his side from its tolerable ache. It takes him a few moments to successfully pull himself away, careful not to wake him as the other settled against the bare cave floor instead of on him. Sasuke ignores the goosebumps forming along his skin at the sudden lack of Naruto’s body heat, and shivers as air hits his bare chest. It’s still early, if he travels further west he can make it to the designated meeting place in less than two days, if he’s quick about it.
If this is the last time he sees Naruto, he allows himself this brief moment of weakness and takes him in. Memorize the sharp planes of his shoulder blades, the muscles lining his back, and how the finger shaped bruises on his hips and bites along the expanse of his neck Sasuke had left behind in the heat of the moment shift against his skin against the subtle movements of Naruto’s breaths. Not for the first time in his life, Sasuke lets himself have this—this shadow of what their lives could’ve been like had it not been for Orochimaru interfering, in another world, another time. It’s a cruel irony that he gets to have this part of Naruto when it’s already too late for either of them.
Sunlight has finally reached its way into the cave, the last of dawn finally retreating. There’s no more time for dwelling. He tears his gaze away from Naruto and searches for the shirt he’d thrown off somewhere in a frenzy, and pulls it over himself, buttons it up slowly. It takes Sasuke a few good moments until he’s able to stand, hissing with the effort of it until he finally maintains his own weight on the soles of his feet, and walks out towards the mouth of the cave. The reality of daybreak crashes over him.
Outside, his horse waits for him, tied to a slab of rock Naruto must’ve done before Sasuke regained consciousness. After he unties the horse, he uses all his strength to mount the saddle with only a hitch of his breath.
He glances back to where Naruto is sleeping soundly, still so naive, and completely unaware of everything Sasuke is now.
Then with a subtle kick of his boot against the back of his horse, and it takes off deeper into the forest and towards the town he and Taka agreed to meet in case of separation, as Naruto goes further and further behind him.
***
By the time Naruto finally wakes, there’s the familiar grogginess within every inch of his body anytime he overslept and his insides twist at the realization. He never liked when he slept in too late—it felt more like a waste when there had always been so much to do when the daylight always seemed so short in comparison.
This time he’ll make an exception. If anything it was Sasuke’s fault he had slept in so late anyway.
“Sasuke, we should get going before it gets too late,” Naruto mumbles into his own arm, the non-injured one, using it as a makeshift pillow. He yawns as he attempts to stretch his legs, eyes closed. “Or else it’s gonna take us more than a day to get back to town and find you a doctor.”
There’s no response, just the echo of his voice bouncing along the cave walls, there’s a sudden sinking in the pit of his stomach. A shiver runs through him from the chill stillness of the air surrounding him. It’s quiet. He sits up a little too fast, hands reaching out to grab at the air where Sasuke should have been.
No, no, no, he repeats in his head like a mantra as he pulls up and buttons his pants, ignoring the searing pain in his shoulder. Sasuke couldn’t have just left him here. Not after last night, not after we—
“Sasuke!” he yells, eyes burning as he rushes out towards the light. “Sasuke, answer me!”
Outside the sun hangs overhead, mocking him as Naruto realizes morning has long already passed from the golden rays peering through the leaves. Sasuke and his horse nowhere to be seen.
Naruto really was the biggest idiot.
He’d foolishly let his guard down. Somehow he believed that after he found Sasuke and with everything they talked about, everything they did together , had meant Naruto had finally gotten through to him. How naive he was to think Sasuke would give up his chase for Itachi simply because Naruto had laid everything bare to him. Why did he ever think that would have been enough to make Sasuke stay?
As long as Itachi lives, Sasuke would never stop hunting him. Naruto knew that and he still had fooled himself into believing otherwise.
A clenched fist strikes the bark of a tree. Naruto’s body is shaking too hard for him to care his knuckles are bleeding, or for the splinters poking out of his skin. Who knows how long of a headstart Sasuke had while Naruto had been sleeping? Even if he were to drop everything and track him this instant, Sasuke already had the headstart and the speed of his horse to his favor, and when the sun set, Naruto would have to stop his search. Just like that Sasuke would slip from his fingers, no telling how long it’d take before he saw him again. Weeks, maybe. Months. Years. If Sasuke lived that long anyway.
Maybe Naruto was going about this all wrong. As Sasuke had pointed out the night before, he wasn’t running away from Naruto—he was running towards a destination, a person. If Naruto could find that person, it’d lead him right to Sasuke.
All he has is a name of a town Sasuke had yelled for the rest of his gang to meet at in case they were separated. It wasn’t much of a lead, but Naruto’s worked with less in the past.
Sasuke’s never been one to make it easy on him after all.