My not so Distant Memory

I'm one step closer to you

Naruto took a deep breath as he closed his eyes.

"I may not ever know of the burden you carry with these memories, but please don't let yourself be held down by all of this. I know you're stronger than this."

Sasuke let himself completely fall into Naruto arms and closed his eyes.

"I know. I'm sorry, Naruto."

~

Sasuke leaned up against the red wall, while he unenthusiastically listened to Orochimaru's update on the investigations on the civilizations.

"It's been twelve days since we first got here, so thirteen days since the excavating started, and we finally were able to find some relics from 800 years ago!"

Contrasting his usual mysterious (scratch that, downright creepy) demeanor, Orochimaru was very excited. He was waving around his notebook and bouncing all over the place. He looked especially funny next to the brooding Sasuke, who was so stiff you could see the rain cloud above his head.

"Unfortunately for you, certainly not for us though, we were only able to find remnants of silverware and other utensils. But it helps as proof that people actually used to live here. One thing still confuses me though. There are very few records of a civilization ever being here back home, and the utensils' condition when uncovered was quite deteriorated and damaged, even for 800 years ago. Maybe there was some kind of war that forced everybody to evacuate? Who knows. But even still, if all of these houses and almost all records are destroyed, then why is that red tower still in good condition? And why are there all of the legal documents still there?"

Sasuke had stopped listening to the snake's rant when his news stopped concerning him and his condition. He knew it was selfish, but to be frank, he didn't really care about the civilizations, especially not to the extent Orochimaru did. All he wanted was to figure out the end to the excruciating hallucinations (that was why he came in the first place). He understood the long process of uncovering ancient relics, but the lack of information still frustrated him to no fucking end.

After what felt like hours to the raven, Orochimaru had finally finished his report. Unlike Sasuke, he was in a very chipper mood on his findings.

"Well, that's all for now Sasuke-kun, but I'll be sure that if Kabuto or I, or anyone for that matter finds something new, you'll be the first to hear about it!"

Orochimaru threw him one last wink, sending creepy shivers down his spine (do snakes even have eyelids?), and with a flap of his coat, disappeared down the hallway, and went back to his digging.

Naruto had been standing a few feet away from the pair, listening to their exchange (well, it was mostly just Orochimaru's monologue). He could see the endless frustration on Sasuke's face, and it hurt him deep inside. He couldn't, and probably wouldn't ever understand the haunting experiences Sasuke had to go through, but he could understand the agony you feel when something hurts you, and there's nothing you can do about it.

"Um, Sasuke-san, maybe today-"

Sasuke trudged past him, keeping his head faced towards the floor, so his bangs covered his face.

"Sorry, Naruto. I can't go outside with you today. Let me see the necklace again."

~

Naruto hopped from side to side, as he made his way along the shore of the lake with his usual wicker basket.

Four days since he had heard that first update from Orochimaru, Sasuke had just about closed himself off from everybody, including Naruto. While he waited for any other information from the investigation team, he spent the virtually entire day just staring at the necklace. Sometimes, he would look at the portraits, or delicately sift through the scrolls, or even pick up the pendant, but the rest of the time he just stared, as if he thought his sheer willpower would open up the gateway to the rest of the memories.