Second Chances

1

Sasuke laughed. Sasuke could only laugh at how pathetic he was. He didn't know why it hurt so much to hear what Naruto had said to him but it hurt.

It hurt more than  any wound he had received in battle. His heart was hurting. Sasuke could only remember his heart hurting this much once;sparingly twice.

The first when he witnessed the death if all his clan members. The second ,when his older brother had died.

Sasuke laughed again. Never did he think he would be hurting this much over a idiot like Naruto.

"Pathetic. I'm pathetic aren't I ,brother?"he mumbled as his dark eyes looked up into the dull night sky.  Sasuke never realised how similar the colour of the sky resembled his eyes.

His eyes were the night skies. Dark ,boring and dull. However Naruto's eyes were the perfect spring skies. Bright ,shimmering and in a way exciting. If one didn't know better ,they would've thought Naruto had his own sky inside of him. 

Sasuke sighed. He didn't know what to do with a heart this much in pain. "What shall I do ?"he mumbled ,"How should I fix this mess I've single handedly created?"

The answer he was hoping for never came as he continued to sit in the deafening silence the forest provided him with.

"Damn it." He finally sighed in defeat and he lay in the ground ,limbs sprawled out. Sure he was a prodigy ,top in class when he was younger and a elite ninja but what good was it now.

Staring at the night sky ,Sasuke finally let sleep consume his body. Falling into an uneasy sleep.
-x-
Sasuke found himself standing a blank space. No matter which direction he looked ,it was all black.

'Where am I? Why the hell am I here?' The first instinctive thoughts run through his head. He was in the middle of the forest just moments ago ,what the hell happened?

"The fu-" he cursed but only to catch himself. Right in front of him stood the younger version of him and his team. Team 7.

He watched as his past unfolded before him in real time. Sakura ignoring Naruto 's advances. Him ignoring Sakura's advances. Sasuke chuckled. Typical.

He watched as his past self ignored everyone who have tried to approach him.

Why? Why did he push everyone away?

And the scene changed. There Sasuke stood in pitch darkness ,looking down he realised the many strings connected to his chest.

"What are these..?"he mumbled as he reached up ,trying to either feel or pull the strings away from his chest.

He tried and his hands went right through them. He tried again. The same results. Then it struck him. Bonds. It was the bonds he had with others.

As Sasuke stood there he watched as the strings connected to him started to break one by one.

Snap. Snap. Snap. Snap.

Sasuke was horrified. He didn't know what to do. Soon all but three snapped. They stayed longer than the rest. 'Why?' He thought. Then it occurred to him. His team. Team 7. They believed in him when no one else did.

Snap.

The first of the three snapped. Kakashi-sensei.

Snap.

The next one came almost right after. Sakura.

Sasuke felt his chest tighten. "Please don't give up on me..."he heard himself whispering like a helpless child.

The last string belonged to Naruto. He never gave up on Sasuke ,no matter how much pain Sasuke inflicted on him. Sasuke was more than a friend. A brother and maybe something even more that Naruto was afraid to think of.

The back of his eyes burned. Was he about to cry? Sasuke hadn't cried since Itachi had died. It felt too foreign to him.

Had Naruto trusted and believed in him for so long? Had Naruto been the only one caring after all that had happened?

Sasuke wanted to reach out ,reach out to Naruto as he stared at the string;the bond he had with Naruto.

SNAP.

It snapped right before his eyes ,louder than the rest. He opened his mouth to scream ,tears finally racing down his cheeks.

-x-
"NO!" Sasuke screamed as he bolted upright. In front of him sat a wide eyed blonde. Shocked from the sudden outburst of the raven.

"Naruto.." Sasuke breathed out. Naruto flinched as his name was called out and this time Sasuke noticed. His heart clenched painfully. His eyes stinging.

He scooted closer to Naruto. Thankfully , this time,Naruto didnt move away but stayed put.

"Naruto. Don't. "Sasuke mumbled ,head hung low.

"Don't be like the rest Naruto.."he begged silently as defeated onyx eyes glanced at the blonde. He felt so unbelievably helpless ,worse than the night before. He couldn't understand why he was so affected by the dream.

Why was he so affected only when he realised Naruto's trust in him was broken. For crying out loud it was just a dream too !

"I don't understand..."he mumbled ,pulling at his hair in frustration as he stared at the ground.

Sasuke's blonde companion stared at him. Confused. He watched as the raven grabbed at his hair in frustration ,mumbling furiously under his breath.

Sasuke's heart was racing. What was happening to him. Why was he acting this way. He couldn't understand.

Frustrated ,he looked up at Naruto with tears threatening to fall from the corners of his eyes.

Needless to say ,Naruto was startled to see the tears from the usually stoic Uchiha.

Both of them stared at each other in silence. Then the Uchiha spoke up ,his words startling the blonde ninja even more. Words Naruto never thought he would hear spoken to him.

"I think I'm in love with you...Naruto Uzumaki. "