Body Heat

12 | where you from?

{naruto}

"Your parents? Are they missing?" Sasuke's back had straightened, the care and concern so evident in his sharp attentive look made Naruto feel almost guilty for stealing this man for himself.

Naruto's words spilled forth slowly, he thought long and hard about every word he was putting out. "Well... Technically... I'm the one... who went missing. But yeah... I guess I can say... that they are... missing." Naruto's voice had then went soft; that or the wind had picked up enough to layer over his words, whipping around them as they huddled closer together instinctively. "It took me forever to find where I used to live and when I got there - nada. They were gone. No trace, no forwarding address. Nothing."

Sasuke took Naruto's hand in his and squeezed. Staying silent because somehow he knew Naruto wasn't done talking.

"I just... I can't help but think that... That they won't want to see me." Naruto's voice was a cracking, crumbling wall of very old plaster in the face of a wrecking ball. "My biggest fear is that I'll find them and have to face what they think of what I've become."

"Naruto," Sasuke offered in a soft voice. "You're an absolute moron."

Naruto flinched.

"Why do you assume the worst?" Sasuke asked as he took one of the tan, warm hands between both of his.

Naruto fought the pull of absolute desolation in the pit of his stomach. Wrestling it under control. The fight was tough, his thoughts had the jaw and grip of a reptile as it crunched down on his lungs. But Sasuke's hand was there and his breathing, the small puffs of warm breath in his direction reminded him the inhale the biting air and exhale his own warm breath.

"Yeah, you're right." he mumbled after a long, silent struggle, and if he sounded a little winded then he ignored it. "I'm just an idiot." His free hand was gripping the metal stair under him tight.

Sasuke's face tightened in a frown at the unexpected reply and direction. "How so?" he asked, as if to dip his toes in to prepare himself for the temperature of a water body.

"The chances of me finding them are minimal anyway. There is... Um, there's no sign as to where they went. They could be anywhere or even dead or... I don't know... Locked up somewhere. And here I am worrying about what they'll think... I need to focus my energy on finding them, not speculating on the trivial."

"It's not trivial, Naruto, your feelings and doubts are completely valid."

Naruto stared ahead, he felt his face crack in half, one part trying to resist the urge to crumple and failing, the other part frozen in a determined stasis.

"No, not valid, I mean natural! What-- what I meant was that it is natural." Sasuke said swiftly, an edge of panic in his voice. He reached out for Naruto's other hand, forcing him to let go of the metal. He took the hand between his with purpose. Letting the other tan hand sit on his lap.

Gently, Sasuke opened the fist, rubbing the palm to sooth the chilled sting, making sure their hands were warm and Naruto's shoulders had relaxed slightly before continuing.

"It's natural for you to worry, you had no one or nothing to reassure you. But I'm here now. And I'm probably a hundred percent biased when I say this, but still, your parents definitely want their son back, Naruto. And I'm sure they'll be proud of you no matter what."

Naruto's blue eyes stared at their hands. "I hate it when you say impossible stuff like that."

"You hate it because you're used to being too hard on yourself." Sasuke scolded him with sudden fervor. "You are an idiot who can't look in a mirror and extend to yourself the same care and understanding that you extend to strangers!"