Tomorrow Will be Okay - Naruto

The entire apartment was silent. Naruto was used to the atmosphere by now, but for once it bothered him and made him feel extremely fidgety on this particular night. The windows were shut with the curtains drawn, the only light given off was from an old lamp he had kept for years on a table by the bed. It was just enough, but he couldn’t help feeling like it was still darker than usual.

Naruto had spent only a few days at home ever since his release from the hospital. After the entire ordeal at the Valley he had been too damaged to leave it right away, despite his constant whining and need to move. It had been the threat given by Tsunade that he would be strapped down which finally kept him still, but it certainly didn’t shut him up. Everyone knew that would take a miracle.

No one could really blame Naruto for wanting to leave the hospital after all that had happened. He was happy to be out and free of such a sterile and damning place. He would finally be able to get out and train again and it was one of the first things he started on even with the few remaining injuries on his person. A few of his friends scolded him for jumping right into things so quickly, but as usual, he laughed the worries off.

Training became as important as breathing to Naruto, but it wasn’t the usual exercises he had gone through in the past. There was something different he had been trying for and something that he never really planned to use for much else. He needed to learn it and make it a reality. Only then would he return to what was important and throw away his fantasy world.

All of that training came down to the one reason Naruto was standing so determined in the middle of the night, wide awake, in his bedroom. He had tried so many times so far to get it to work, but the technique never stuck and he was left with nothing to hold onto. He would get it this time. Naruto hoped he would get it this time.

“Alright! I can do this!” The pep talks usually helped get the ball rolling, and so Naruto figured once more couldn’t hurt too much. “Just concentrate, focus, and it’s simple.” He placed fingers together and tried to do his best at what he just told himself, but it was rather hard when his body was trying to tremble. “Come on, do it,” he mumbled quietly in aggravation.

Chakra was slow to build up, but Naruto was unusually patient for once and didn’t mind the difficulty. He kept his eyes shut for fear that keeping them open would mess the entire process up. The last few times he had been far too eager to see and kept them open which had been part of the reason for his failures before. He could feel the small rush of the technique going to work and fought the urge to make any sudden movements until it was actually complete.

The drain was only slight on his body, but when there was nothing else taken Naruto knew it was over and that it was safe. He didn’t even dare drop his hands yet or bat an eye open. His breath came out in a nervous rush of air into the small room as if it would disturb everything. In that moment he knew he had to do something. Time was ticking away and he couldn’t hold onto the technique for very long.

With one last heavy sigh, Naruto finally dropped his hands so they fell useless at his sides. It was harder to force the courage up to open his eyes, but after so many agonizingly long minutes he finally peeked one eye first, and then the next. His breath stopped short as soon as he saw sandled feet across from him. They were familiar and as Naruto pushed his eyes up so were the legs attached to those feet that were clothed in khaki shorts.

Naruto didn’t want to wait any longer and stopped the agonizing slowness that his eyes seemed to be forcing the moment into. With one quick jerk of his head he turned his gaze up to meet dark eyes and he almost fell to the floor right that instant. “S-Sasuke?” He couldn’t help question the name since all his other attempts had been failures, but this time it seemed to work. His genjutsu had worked and finally he had his best friend right there with him.

The body, a few feet across from him in the room, merely blinked before it seemed to take on Sasuke’s mannerisms and scoffed at how Naruto was acting at the moment. He didn’t understand what the big deal was and why should he? He had only just gotten there. Summoned through a technique to be Naruto’s security blanket for however long he was needed. “What’s your problem, idiot?”

‘He even sounds like Sasuke,’ the thought ran itself around Naruto’s head while he continued to stare before he realized that he had just been insulted. That familiar bit of rage ran through him and instantly he felt compelled to defend himself against the look alike that he had brought forth. “You’re my problem, bastard!” He pointed a finger the illusion’s way in a rude manner, but Naruto didn’t care just how he acted, as long as it got his point across.

With an easy swat the hand was pushed aside and Sasuke narrowed annoyed eyes on the blonde loudmouth across from him. “I haven’t done anything to you. I should be the one angry at you for bringing me to your room at all hours of the night.” He looked away from Naruto and around the bedroom instead to take it all in. It was small and not very extravagant to be quite honest, but Sasuke didn’t speak up on that. “What’s the deal with you?”

A confused expression came over Naruto’s face to replace his anger before realization dawned on him. Of course this double wouldn’t think of himself as such. He only knew himself as Sasuke since he had been brought to life to believe he was that one person. But he was a figment of Naruto’s imagination because of a technique. There was no telling just what this Sasuke remembered or what he knew of the past few weeks or even months. Naruto hadn’t thought that far ahead. He had just needed to see Sasuke in some way.

“I just wanted to talk to you,” the words were spoken softly compared to the harsh words from earlier. Naruto finally took a step forward and attempted to reach a hand out to try and grab for Sasuke, but he stopped short to drop his hand back down. He couldn’t touch the other boy unless he wanted to arouse some kind of suspicion.

“Whatever it was couldn’t wait until tomorrow?” Sasuke was obviously aggravated by such a thing. To be dragged to Naruto’s dumpy apartment all for some stupid talk wasn’t a good reason at all to be woken up in the middle of the night. Sasuke didn’t even wait for an answer before he was giving a quick roll of his eyes and turning away from Naruto. “I’m leaving.”

It was as if someone had slammed down on a panic button inside of Naruto’s head. He couldn’t let the only thing he had left of Sasuke escape so easily when he had just gotten it back. His heart was racing again and he gave up the silly hesitance towards touch as he stumbled towards Sasuke instead and clung tight to the back of the other boy’s shirt.

“Don’t go!” The words were desperate, but Naruto wasn’t sure how else to convey them and make them sound more real. His face was buried against the insignia that always adorned Sasuke’s back and he gave no care against nuzzling his face against the fabric as he held on tighter. “If you go away then I’ll never see you again and… and I don’t think I could stand it a second time.”

Sasuke’s hands clung tight to the windowsill he had been planning to climb out of and began to leave marks as his nails dug in deep. Dark eyes narrowed on the village beyond that was so quiet and peaceful during the night. “Tch, you’re being paranoid. Of course you’ll see me again. You’ll see me at the bridge just like you do every other day we meet. What’s your problem, Naruto?”

Naruto. Not ‘idiot’ or ‘dead-last’ just Naruto. For a second it shocked Naruto into letting go only a tiny bit from his tight grip and he lifted his head up to try and catch a glimpse of Sasuke’s face. He couldn’t see anything at all, only the usual profile and Sasuke’s bangs got in the way of his eyes. It was disappointing, but Naruto didn’t speak up on such a matter and only smiled sadly. “You really think everything will be that perfect tomorrow?”

“Now you’re just asking stupid questions.” Sasuke still refused to turn around just yet. There was no real need to. Naruto was just acting strange, that was it. “Of course nothing will be perfect, but everything will be normal. I don’t know why you’re acting like this, but us sane people would like to get some sleep. Now let me go.” He tugged his body forward to try and get free, but there was still resistance. He realized why when he was suddenly yanked by his shirt to be twisted around harshly.

Naruto pushed Sasuke against the window as hard as he could to pin the other body against the glass. The bottom half was lifted open allowing the cool air in and for Sasuke’s body to be nearly pushed outside, but Naruto made sure to keep a grip on his upper half to keep him inside. “You call me stupid! An idiot?! You’re the idiot! Nothing is going to be normal! Things will never be normal again! Never!” They were so close, staring face to face while Naruto screamed as best he could.

An impassive look had crossed over Sasuke’s face while he took the sudden verbal torture that was thrown at him. He didn’t fight against the hold on his wrists and stared back at Naruto until the other boy was done yelling. When all that could be heard was the sound of Naruto’s heavy breath and the tiniest noises from outside Sasuke finally took his chance to speak, “Nothing will be normal if I end up falling out of this window, stupid. Let me back in.”

Naruto continued to stare until his expression softened once again. His grip loosened, but he never let go completely. His hands fell down little by little to touch Sasuke’s arms and traveled towards sleeves while his body fell with them. “Sasuke,” he mumbled the boy’s name in a broken voice as he buried his face against his neck. “Are you even listening? Do you ever hear me when I talk?”

Sasuke’s face tensed up at those last words and the way they had been spoken. His eyes watched the head that was buried so close to him for what felt like forever until his mind gave in and completely gave up. “I do.” The weak hold allowed him to drop his arms away and carefully he placed a hand on top of Naruto’s head. “And I can tell you’re scared about something, but there’s no reason for it. You’re here. I’m here. And tomorrow we’ll both still be here.”

None of those words helped because none of them were true. This Sasuke knew nothing about the real world, but somehow he knew how to try his hand at comfort. At least that counted for something. It forced Naruto to lift his head enough to look back at Sasuke once more, giving the other boy a weak smile. He couldn’t give much else after all he had said earlier. “Promise?”

Dark eyes looked back and forth over Naruto’s face and for a moment Sasuke was hesitant to answer. Promises always got people in trouble, but Naruto seemed to need an answer whether it was true or not. “Mmhm.” It was all he could give, but it was as close to a conformation as he would offer. “Now let me up, Naruto, I need to leave.” To Naruto the words had a double meaning.

The smile on Naruto’s face fell as he realized it was true. It was getting late and he would need to sleep, meaning he would have to get rid of the illusion soon. But, Sasuke had promised and Naruto would make good on it.

“Stay with me,” Naruto blurted out the words. He stepped back and took Sasuke with him away from the window. He held Sasuke by the hand to bring the other boy insanely close until they were inches apart. “Please stay. I want to keep you here,” he whispered close to Sasuke’s lips. “As long as I can.”

A quick protest died on Sasuke’s lips because of the warm breath and he found himself drawn to it and stealing the smallest of kisses before either of them could pull away from it. When there was no more contact Sasuke spoke up before the intimate moment could be questioned by Naruto, or himself. “Fine, but this is the last time I’m ever going to baby sit you.”

There was clearly satisfaction on Naruto’s face among the red on his cheeks. The smile had come back knowing he would get what he wanted. With not a moment to lose he pulled Sasuke over to the bed, intending to use the boy as his pillow for the rest of the night.

The two boys crawled into bed, with no real protest from Sasuke at all, and settled down on the small bed. They didn’t even bother with the covers. Naruto was perfectly content to cling to the one thing he had lost despite the cold from the still open window and Sasuke didn’t mind the fact he had no pajamas to rest in.

A few hours lapsed and the sound of snoring could be heard throughout the room that was unmistakably Naruto’s. With it the sound of an illusion being released should have come with it, but there was nothing. Only the sound of quiet breathing and with held tears as Sasuke counted the ticking minutes until he would need to leave through that open window and make it all seem like a dream.