Heaven

Chapter 4

Disclaimer : Don't own Naruto.

Sorry for the delay.

Each scar on Juugo's body was a story.

Story of an accident that broke eight bones in his body, of an abusive father who liked inventing new ways of torture, of awful older siblings who took pleasure in his misery, of a struggle for freedom, of the price he paid for it, of a childhood he didn't want and a life he couldn't get.
...a man he was but didn't want to be and a man he wanted and struggling to be.

Though there were a few things he was and wanted to keep a constant:  a loving boyfriend, a hard-working student, an honest boy who still had a long way to go and above all... a friend. A friend to Uchiha Sasuke.

Like him, Sasuke was many things; smart, hot headed, fearless and above all...a savior. His savior, his anchor, his reason for staying.

Uchiha Sasuke was a friend.

And regular at classes... lately.

The world must be coming to an end.

"It's surprising to see you this often at school."

A glare that unnerved even the six-foot hulk of a man. "Are you complaining? "

"Not at all. All I'm trying to say is it's good to see you again. Want to hang out today?"

An arm tried to loop around the ravenette's shoulder but was ruthlessly denied a spot, a gesture that left the giant's heart heavy in his chest. "Why not? Meet me at Shanna's? "

"Where's that?"

"Konoha red light district." Suigetsu snickered from his right.

Taken aback, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water, "B-bu.. Sasuke... you do know I have a girlfriend, right? "

"And your point is?"

Juugo's lips stretched up in a sad smile.

"I see you're not in a mood to hang out today. Some other time then."

Leaving was his only option.

Uchiha Sasuke was a friend once. The guy before him wasn't even Sasuke anymore.

...

"Why do you try to kill yourself, Sasuke?

"You tell me, Hyuuga. You seem to have all the answers."

"You're confusing me with Kami, Sasuke. I'm not Kami."

"Kami? I thought it was the Moon for you."

"What difference does it make how we remember Him?"

"Gee, I wouldn't know. Why don't you ask the temple? I'm sure they'd be happy to answer."

"I am free to use my head the way I want to. They can filter my words but they can't filter my thoughts."

"So apart from your head, you're basically a puppet in Temple's hands? So I was right to assume you a fraud?"

"I'm not a fraud!"

"What are you then?"

"What's important isn't what I am but what I'm not."

"Care to enlighten me?"

"I'm not a fraud for one." A pause. "And I'm not Moon's. "

"What does that even mean? "

"For a smart guy, Sasuke, you're not that smart."

...

"What does death has to offer that life doesn't?"

"That's what I'm trying to find out. "

"I don't understand. You're offering your life for something that you don't have any knowledge of yourself. You don't even know what you're looking for."

His approach was slow, a predator nearing its pray.

"Actually I do. You see hyuuga, when you're near, it's like there's something inside of you, trapped, looking for a way out. It's almost frustrating, infuriatingly so, until it finds a release and it's so good, so delicious. You feel like soaring. That's the high of happiness - when you're nothing but a ball of everything euphoric. I want to experience this with pain as well, to see if it's just as intense, as out of the world. And if my life is the price I have to pay, so be it."

Her head rose, a tilt to the side.  Crimson blossomed like cinnamon sprinkled across her creamy skin.

She was so very beautiful.

"A-are you talking about poop?"

Sasuke laughed until his stomach ached.
...

"You're crazy, you know that? You say the craziest things." Huddled in a corner, she was tiny, almost puny; hands moving to bring a tiny flame to life.

Her voice was small too, just like everything else on her.

"So I have been told but I'd like to be called poetic instead of crazy."

"Poets are just as crazy."

Dark waterfall of hair followed as she moved from one candle to another, a thin streak of light stretched, a black canvass in background.

Mouth set in a straight line, she was in no mood to humor him, not today.

"How bad do you want it?"

"How bad do you think?" He tried to kill himself thrice, didn't he? What a silly question.

In the golden light the sparsely lit room offered, he could see the shadows dancing in her eyes. She walked serenely towards him and sat down, a perfect picture of grace.

"Be careful with what you wish for because you always get what you desire the most."

"I beg to differ, Hyuuga. The world would be a happier place if you did."

There was something in her eyes that day he couldn't quite put a finger on. It drew him in unlike anything that had drawn him to itself.

"People wish for the stupidest things most of the time. That's why the world is the way it is. Often the things we run after, the things that we think would ensure our happiness, the things that become our purpose are things that are nothing but an illusion."

A small candle resting in her palm; the creases in the skin of her hands made prominent by the small circle of its glow.

"What happened to your hands?"

She stuck with silence.

It would be a long time before he got an answer, a long time before he knew about the scars left by her chase after an illusion.

...

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tayyabalaraib.