青い骨の美 - The Beauty of Blue Bones

Chapter 9

Spring
Thursday—9:31PM

Sasuke opened his eyes and groaned as the soreness of his muscles finally reached his mind. He blinked a few times, clearing up his foggy thoughts as he pushed past his exhaustion. His mind told him to get up, but his body begged him to return to sleep the longer he laid there in a tangled mess of limbs. He pulled his arm to himself, rolling to the side until he fell to the floor without a sound.

Naruto's breathing stopped for a second, his hand reaching out to grab onto the nearest object. Grabbing onto the pillow Sasuke quickly held up for him, he nuzzled it and returned back to his land of dreams.

He didn't remember when they had fallen asleep, yet alone when they decided to latch onto each other, but Sasuke could not find it in himself to kick Naruto awake and scold him. Instead, he got off the floor and sat down on the coffee table. Resting his cheek on his hand, he studied his blond best friend as he slept.

Sasuke felt grateful.

Naruto had allowed him to stay for more than he intended to. It's been a total of six weeks since he's stepped foot into Konoha, and those weeks were some of the best Sasuke has ever had. He still hasn't been found by anyone in the village except for Kakashi who only became aware of his presence because Naruto couldn't keep his mouth shut any longer.

He sighed as he closed his eyes again. Unfortunately, that was as long as his stay was going to get, he already got tired of running and hiding whenever some of their peers wanted to crash at Naruto's place. He grew tired of things rather quickly, but he stayed because he couldn't bear to see Naruto look dejected if he told him that he was going.

He's held off his departure for too long already—Sasuke really did not like Konoha, and every moment sleeping within its walls felt as though he was being choked by survivor's guilt and anger. Besides, he couldn't handle moments like this; where Naruto would fall asleep on the couch after a night of working with Kakashi or watching movies with him. Nights where Naruto would rest his head on his shoulder and tell him to relax for a few moments only to start snoring minutes later.

Such a deep feeling formed in the pits of Sasuke's stomach that he just needed to get away for a while. It was for that reason that he untangled himself from his best friend, threw a blanket over him, made him something to eat, grabbed a pen and paper, wrote Naruto a letter and left the apartment.

It was mean of him, he knew that he would feel unsatisfied if he was on the receiving end of such a behaviour, but he knew that Naruto would understand. He always did.

Sasuke wasn't one to smoke or drink, he found those cravings unfit for a shinobi, but the desire to partake in them became overbearing the more steps he took as he walked away from Naruto's apartment.

Konoha was dead silent that night—the breeze was cool, trees adorning small buds of flowers swayed in the wind, and the cherry blossoms were beginning to bloom. He pushed his hand into his pocket as he walked down the path towards the gates, a sense of nostalgia hit him hard as he studied the road ahead of him.

He was leaving again.

It was rather comical that she was there waiting for him like she did the last time. He watched her shuffle her feet and wipe her hands against her sweater as she looked around. Once he came into view, her eyes widened and a blush that matched her hair spread across her face.

"It's really you." She whispered as she stood up and studied him. "I knew you were here since Naruto was acting very weird every time your name came up. I thought...I waited for you to approach me but you never did."

"Sakura..." He studied her face before he closed his eyes and sighed softly. "It's good to see you."

"It's good to see you too, Sasuke." His name was said with so much affection that he flinched. "I, um, are you leaving again?" It was a dumb question, he knew that she knew that, but she needed to fill the silence with something. Anything.