Naruto One Shots

Sasuke Uchiha

Title: Pride

The sun was setting quickly over the horizon, causing the water in front of us to look nearly black. The air around us was cool, wet, and smelled of fresh ocean water. Waves were hitting against the rocks we were standing on causing a small mist to fall over the six of us.

Sasuke stood closer to the edge of the rocks, his shoulders tense, and slightly shaking. He was crying, genuinely upset and questioning his life choices he'd made up to this point in time. I stood not too far behind him, contemplating what my next move was, and Jugo, Karin, and Suigetsu stood a bit further behind me, all tense and completely unsure of what do in a situation like this, especially since they didn't know the reason behind their leader's despair.

To them Sasuke was a cold hearted, cold blooded killer, very serious always and never showing emotion, always stoic, except for the occasional hint of irritation or anger when something doesn't go his way. They'd never seen him cry, and I can say that I haven't either, but I've heard it only twice before. Me being a silent assassin, I hear a lot of things I'm probably not supposed to. Like the truth about Itachi Uchiha. This is the reason behind Sasuke's despair.

Tobi stood the furthest away from us all, just watching all of this happen, his mask matching the color of the sunset almost perfectly. I was always cautious around him. Anyone wearing something like that obviously had something to hide, as seen with Kakashi Hatake. I sighed heavily and continued to ponder what I'd do. Sasuke may be an asshole, but I still have a heart, and I still feel bad for him. Sasuke's shoulders began to shake a bit more noticeably, causing my fists to ball and for my teeth to grit. He was still my friend.

"Jugo, you're in charge for the time being. Take Karin and Suigetsu back with you to the hideout. You go with them too Tobi. We'll be right behind you guys soon." I demanded as I turned around to face them all. Jugo looked concerned, but also relived, Suigetsu just looked overall confused, and Karin looked absolutely irritated.

"Who the hell put you in charge?!?" Karin practically screeched with her annoyingly shrill voice. I gritted my teeth tightly but released them and placed my fingers on my temple for a moment to calm down before actually replying. When I snapped my sharp gaze up to her, she shrunk back in fear.

"Karin, I will slit your throat as easily as breathing without a second thought and no remorse. Leave now before I indulge." I replied calmly, though my eyes were almost ravenous. I absolutely despised Karin. She's loud, obnoxious, highly irritating and headache inducing, especially around Suigetsu. Within the next second, they all left without hesitation. I waited about two minutes until I actually approached Sasuke and stood next to him, though I didn't look at him.

"Sasuke, you good?" I asked lightly, slightly flicking my gaze out of the corner of my eyes to check for any reaction from him. Sasuke raised his hands to his face and wiped away at his tears quickly, the ones he didn't know that we all could see.

"I'm fine. Why don't you go back with the rest of the team?" Sasuke said, then suggested firmly. To the untrained ear, one would think that this sounds like his regular harsh, stoic voice, but my ears aren't untrained. His voice was hoarse, and it shook with every breath. I sighed heavily and finally turned my head to face him. He looked awful, well, as awful as someone with Uchiha genes could look. His cheeks were red and splotchy, his eyes were swollen and glassed over. He looked exhausted.

"Because you're clearly not okay, and I'm your friend, so I want to-" I began, but Sasuke balled his fists, clamped his eyes shut, and gritted his teeth, and finally cut me off completely.

"You're no better than Karin, leave before I kill you." Sasuke seethed and sounded as if he were about to break out into another fit of tears. I narrowed my eyes drastically and took a threatening step in his direction.

"Listen here Uchiha brat, I couldn't possible care any less about your little tough boy attitude. And the last time I checked, it was you who needed me in the first place, not the other way around. So, what I suggest you do, and mighty quick at that, is take back your petty little words before I shove them right back down your throat for you." I seethed deeply, my anger spiking. Sasuke tilted his head to the ground so I couldn't see his face.

"Tch, whatever. I meant it, so I won't be taking anything back." Sasuke mumbled, though his voice still cracked. He was crying again. I sighed exasperatedly and took a few steps closer to him, though he didn't acknowledge me in the slightest.

"You're and idiot." I mumbled as I watched him cry. He was genuinely bent out of shape about something, and I'm fairly certain that it's about Itachi Uchiha, but I'd never let him know that I knew anything about that.

"And you're- annoying." Sasuke sobbed out lightly, holding his face in his hands. It kind of weirded me out to see him like this, not gonna lie, because he was always so blank around the others, and literally everyone else to be exact. I grunted lightly as he continued to sob, I didn't know what else to do.

"Stop trying to protect your pride and let me hold you." I finally mumbled and opened my arms wide, then took a few steps closer to the broken boy. He stiffened up and took a few steps back, as if I was trying to hurt him.

"Come near me and I'll- rip your heart out." He continued to sob. I grumbled deeply and approached him again. When I seen that he actually wasn't going to try and kill me, I opened my arms up once more.

"How cute, you think I have one. Stop being a brat and tell me what's bothering you." I said, waiting on him to come to me, even though I somehow knew that there was a negative chance of that happening.
                                                                                 
"Or don't speak at all, whatever." I mumbled, and finally approached him myself. Our proximity was very close, so I opened my arms up again and cautiously wrapped them around his middle. I then placed my head on his shoulder lightly, he was so tense, he felt like a rock. He continued to stand there stiffly with his arms hanging by his side as he shook from his tears, seemingly crying harder now that I had him in an embrace. I lifted my hand up to rub his back, which he seemed to appreciate.

He slowly lifted his arms and wrapped them around my torso, then placed his face against the skin of my neck. His bodily shakes soon died down to occasional tremors as he breathed in deeply against my skin, then squeezed me once before releasing me completely. When he pulled away, he wiped my face and remained silent, but stared at me for a long moment, which made me feel very awkward, so I did what I usually do.

"I think you got snot in my hair." I mused lightly as I picked a handful of my locks up and examined them jokingly. He scoffed, though it almost sounded like a small laugh, and I could have sworn that I seen a small smirk on his face.

"Shut up, let's go back." Sasuke said, his stoic voice back on like it never even left. I scoffed this time and took a few steps forward.

"Oh, so you're not gonna rip my-" I began, but Sasuke quickly cut me off, for the second time within ten minutes might I add.

"I'm sorry." He almost mumbled, but oh did I hear it. I completely froze in place. When I got some wits about myself, I slowly turned around to look at him, but he was looking at the ocean.

"Did you just- holy shit, I must be asleep or dead or something." I mumbled, then continued walking, and finally heard his footsteps echoing behind my own.

"Don't push it." Sasuke mumbled out, sounding irritated. I laughed lightly and placed my hands behind my head in a carefree manner.

"Aye sir."