The Sharingan's Voice

Chapter 10.2 Some Confrontations

"Sasuke."

Naruto looked at him questioningly.

"My name is Sasuke."

Eyes grew wide.

"Uchiha Sasuke."

Naruto's mouth fell open for a moment while he processed what he had just heard. "...Uchiha?... The Uchiha are dead... so that would mean... you.... How...?"

"That is not important. What is important is that it's an Uchiha that you'd be fighting against."

"I... but no one has ever seen another Uchiha after the..." Naruto averted his gaze to stare at the ground in thought, still not quite believing him.

"Look at me!" He followed the voice, staring into eyes that suddenly swirled to red. Naruto reeled back, shocked.

"We exist. My brother and I are still alive. And my brother is a master at illusions, which is why, under no circumstances, should you ever look into his eyes." Naruto only stared unblinkingly, mesmerized.

"Do you understand?" Sasuke's voice was sharp, trying to cut through Naruto's daze. Said boy slowly unwound, nodding. He then sat back on the bed, leaning against the wall while trying to process the whole dimension of new information that had just been dumped on him. He whispered... and only after a while Sasuke realized that it was his first name.

"Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke..." Naruto repeated, brows furrowed as if trying hard to recall something. Then his eyes grew wide, and he stared at the other. "Oh, God... you're that kid. We went to school together, didn't we? Oh, we should tell Sakura about this. She'll be so happy! She was devastated when... God, she used to have..."

"Absolutely not. You will not tell her."

"But, she was so sad—"

"Don't tell anyone about my identity. My brother might be hunting you now, but considering the fact that he warned us and told me to protect you, I'm suspecting you're not his real target..." He still held Naruto's gaze. "...but I know he will make it believable if you force him to, so you better not compromise his efforts. If this information gets into the wrong hands, he might take drastic measures to keep his cover."

"Uh..."

"I know what my brother is capable of. And I'll remind you, he used to be a Shinobi for Konoha. He knows this village like the back of his hand."

"So, that's why you insist in me sleeping here."

"Hn." Sasuke leaned back.

Naruto straightened up. "But won't he be more likely to attack when I'm on a mission? You're not cleared for those."

"I'm working on it. Now, what is your answer?"

"Uhm... if you can get Sakura to accept Ramen in her cupboard, then yes."

"Hn, alright. Let's talk to her."

Sasuke watched as Naruto enthusiastically sprang from the bed and unlocked the door.

"Sakura-chan!"

00000

Sakura had been sitting in her room, door open, reading while waiting for the boys to re-emerge from their discussion. They had dared to lock her out, and somehow, she could hear absolutely nothing through the door. It was as if the room had been sealed off. Therefore, when she finally heard the door open, she felt relief.

"Sakura-chan!"

That was Naruto, who was bouncing through the hallway in search for her.

"I'm coming..."