Return
4 years later
Konohagakure, 1847
Blinking back his tears, Naruto stood at Chiyo's graveside. He had left the boarding school as soon as he received word that Chiyo was dying, but he had arrived too late to bid the only woman he knew as a mother, a last goodbye.
Standing there, he remembered how kind and jolly the woman had always been when he was a little boy, before times got hard and the laughter forever left her eyes. Once, Naruto had thought her calloused and unfeeling. And even though he had understood Chiyo’s reasons, he had hated the old woman for selling him to Sasuke, but he had forgiven her for that long ago. He had only wished he had been able to have told her so. He murmured the words under his breath, hoping the old woman could hear them.
Naruto glanced over at the other children, who stood on the opposite side of the grave. They had grown into lovely young women and men since he had last seen them. Hinata, the eldest, was engaged to be married in the spring. Sasuke had given her a generous dowry that would enable her and her future husband to buy a small piece of land and build a home of their own.
Naruto had been surprised to see how well they all looked. Their clothes were new and fashionable.
The cottage, once little more than a hovel, was in good repair. Two large rooms had been added. A small stable had been built behind the cottage. It housed three milk cows, a goat, a sheep, and two fine horses.
When Naruto had questioned the children about the changes in their circumstances, Hinata had explained that Lord Sasuke had refurbished the cottage and built the barn. Each year he sent a generous allowance. Hinata had thanked Naruto for thinking of their needs.
"I had nothing to do with it," Naruto had replied, though of course, in a way, he had.
"But why else would he do such a thing?" Hinata had asked. "We are nothing to him." Sasuke had done it because of him, Naruto thought, and knew he could never repay the man for his kindness to his family, for the education he had provided him.
The graveside service was brief. When the last prayer had been said, each child began dropping a handful of earth on the grave, starting with the youngest until it was Naruto’s turn. Naruto knew it was a sound he would never forget.
When they were finished, Naruto led the children away from the grave.
Back at the cottage, Naruto brewed a pot of tea, then sat at the table across from Hinata. Naruto picked up his cup, holding it in both hands, hoping the warmth would ease the coldness that he'd felt inside ever since he left the boarding school.
"How is Lord Sasuke?" Naruto asked after a while.
"How should I know? I heard he left the castle shortly after he sent you to Paris.”
"He's not here?"
The coldness that had invaded his body now crept into his heart. Sasuke was gone. For four years, Naruto had dreamed of seeing the dark lord again. Such a short time they had spent together, yet Sasuke had been in his thoughts every hour of every day, in every dream at night.
"An odd man, that one," Hinata mused. "I only saw him once." Hinata shivered. "Such cold eyes. Never have I seen such cold eyes."
"Cold?" Naruto shook his head. Sasuke had not seemed cold to him. Lonely. Isolated. But not cold. Naruto had seen the warmth in those eyes. The heat of desire. The flame of passion. "Did he say where he was going? When he would be back?"
"Not that I recall," Hinata sipped her tea. "Did he ... Forgive me, Naruto. I said I wouldn't ask, but I must know. Did he defile you?"
"No. He was kind to me.” Naruto gave a sad smile.
"Kind?"
Naruto nodded. "I had the best of everything while I was with him. He sent me to the best school in Paris, made sure that I had new clothes every year. I was the only one at the school who had a room of my own. He sent me an allowance each month so I would have spending money of my own. In truth, Lord Sasuke has been most generous to me. And to you, it seems." He looked about the room.
"Aye. I’m glad you're back. Have you come home to stay?"
Naruto thought of what it would be like to live in the village again. He would miss Paris, miss his companions at school. But this was Sasuke's home. Surely one day he would return. And Naruto would be here when he did.
"Yes," he decided, "I'm here to stay." And knew that he would have stayed in any case.
Hinata smiled. Setting her cup on the table, she stood up. "I'm tired. I think I'll go lie down for a while."
"Rest well."
Several of the other children came in then. Subdued by the funeral, they sat at the table, reminiscing about Chiyo, remembering the good times and ignoring the bad. During their talks a tall older man came through the front door, startling Naruto.
“Good evening everyone,” the man with grey hair called out, kicking off his boots while closing the door behind him.
“Kakashi!” Several of the young children cried out and ran to the man. He smiled at them and held out his arms.
“Who?” Naruto mumbled to the others that were still at the table with him.
The older man walked over, extending his hand to Naruto. “Pleasure, name’s Kakashi. You must be Naruto!” He grinned warmly.
Naruto carefully extended his hand to the man.
“When mama Chiyo became ill, she hired Kakashi-sensei to help out!” One of the smaller children explained excitedly, while clasped to Kakashi’s leg.
“I am very sorry for your loss Naruto. Chiyo talked about you muchly, she was very proud of you,” Kakashi said gently.
"She never forgave herself for what she did to you," Akari remarked, one of the elder girls. "Even though the money Lord Sasuke paid her put food on our table." She paused, her fingers toying with the sash of her dress. "Was it awful… living with Lord Sasuke?"
"No." Naruto glanced around the cottage.
How different it looked. And yet, even though it was now clean and well-equipped, it still looked like a hovel when compared to the castle's opulent furnishings.
He spent a quiet evening with the children and Kakashi, reminiscing about old times, listening to their plans for the future.
Later, when everyone else had gone to bed, Naruto saddled one of the horses and rode to Castle Uchiha. The castle was as he remembered it, a stark and lonely sentinel looming over the town. The mist, ever constant, shrouded Fire Mountain, so that only the tallest spires were visible from a distance.
Sasuke wasn't there. He knew that, yet he needed to see the castle again, to walk through the gardens, to say goodbye...
Dismounting at the side gate, Naruto tethered the horse to a tree, opened the gate, and stepped into the garden. Gone were the beautiful flowers he had planted, the shrubs, the roses. The trees, once flourishing, were dry skeletons.
Heavy hearted, he wandered up and down the narrow twisting paths. All his hard work, gone for naught.
Only the maze remained, standing stark and green against the grey stone walls.
With a sigh, he made his way back to the side gate and took up his horse's reins. It was time to go. Everything he had planted, everything he had once hoped for, was gone, like a bad dream.
.
.
.
Naruto was here. Cloaked in the shadows of a never ending night, black orbs watched the blond walk along the moonlit paths. The boy had changed in the last four years. Youthful curves had hardened and matured. Naruto moved with dignity and self assurance, and he watched the boy now man, with a sense of pride, knowing that he was, in part, responsible for what Naruto had become, though Naruto’s inner beauty had always been there.
Naruto. His name rose in his mind, chasing away centuries of darkness. Naruto... Why have you returned? Come to torment me anew? To remind me of what can never be? Naruto... beloved... how I have yearned for you... dreamed of you… Naruto
“My lord?” Naruto turned around, expecting to see Sasuke standing behind him, his dark cloak swirling around him like smoke, but there was no one there.
Confused, blue eyes peered into the shadows. He had heard Sasuke’s voice so clearly, he could not have imagined it.
Dropping the horse's reins, he hurried along the narrow brick path that led to the front of the castle and pounded on the door. He waited. And listened. And knocked again.
After what seemed an interminable length of time, the door creaked open. "Good evening young master,” Iruka said.
"Iruka! What are you doing here?" The man looked much the same, he thought, though his hair seemed greyer than before, thinner with the passage of time.
Iruka lifted one brow. "Why, I live here, young master."
"But I thought Lord Sasuke had gone.”
Iruka cocked his head to one side, and Naruto had the strangest impression that he was listening to a voice only he could hear.
"Iruka? He is gone, isn't he?" Naruto asked again.
“Yes young master. He departed soon after you departed for Paris.”
“You didn’t go with him?” Naruto asked.
"No, young master. My place is here."
"Is he... Will he be coming back, do you think?"
"I cannot say, young master. Might I ask why you left Paris?"
"My mother, well not really my mother, but old lady Chiyo died. I came home for the funeral."
"I am sorry, young master. Please accept my condolences."
"Thank you, Iruka." With a sigh, he turned to go, and then he paused. "Are you quite certain he’s not here?”
"Why do you ask?"
"No reason. I mean, that is, I thought I heard him call my name."
Iruka blinked at the blond, astonishment evident in his eyes. "You heard his voice?"
Naruto nodded. "At least I thought I did. He… he sounded so sad. I suppose I must have imagined it."
"Yes, young master."
"Well, I'd better be going. If you hear from Lord Sasuke, please give him my best, and my thanks for being so kind to my family."
"I will, young master. And may I say that Paris must have agreed with you, for you have grown into a strapping young man. I know Lord Sasuke would be pleased."
"Thank you, Iruka. Good night."
"Good night, young master."
Shoulders sagging, Naruto walked down the steps to collect the horse. It was sheer nonsense, of course, thinking he had heard Sasuke’s voice. It was only that he had missed the man so much these past four years. Missed him, and dreamed of him.
Standing at the side gate, he looked up at the windows of the east tower. "Sasuke," he whispered, "I know you're here."
Hidden in the shadows of a lonely tower room, a man clad in the darkness of the night heard his plea, and wept blood red tears.
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Naruto went back the next night and the next, wandering through the gardens for an hour, hoping Sasuke would come to him, hoping he would feel the dark lord’s presence and know he was there.
But Sasuke did not seek him out.
Sometimes, as now, he sat on one of the stone benches, lost in thought as he gazed up at the east tower, wondering where Sasuke was, what he was doing, wondering at the overpowering urge that brought him to this place night after night, the certainty that Sasuke was nearby. Strange, he had no desire to come here during the day. Was it because he had never seen Sasuke when the sun was up? What a puzzle the dark lord was, a man as dark and mysterious as the night itself.
Rising, he walked toward the maze, his heartbeat increasing as he drew nearer.
"There's nothing in there to be afraid of." Naruto spoke the words aloud, hoping to bolster his flagging courage. "There's nothing there in the darkness that isn't there in the light." Yet, even as the words left his lips, he wondered if that was true.
Straightening his shoulders, he took a deep breath and stepped into the maze. Greenery rose all around him, enfolding him, embracing him.
Feeling as if he were being guided by an unseen hand, he went steadily onward, anticipation quickening his footsteps, until he reached the heart of the labyrinth.
Naruto came to an abrupt halt as he glanced around. He had expected the roses within the maze to be dead, like the ones in the gardens, but the bushes here were full and green. His blue eyed gaze lingered on the statues, the bronze wolf and the black raven captured forever in metal and marble.
Shivering, he wrapped his arms around himself. There was something ominous about the statues tonight. He had the eerie feeling that the wolf and the raven were watching him, waiting for a chance to pounce.
He was turning away when he saw a flash of movement from the corner of his eye. Naruto glanced over his shoulder, his mind telling him that he was imagining things again.
But it wasn't his imagination this time.
Sasuke materialised out of the shadows near the statue of the wolf, the moonlight shining in his thick black hair, his cloak enfolding him like a living thing.
"My lord," he murmured, suddenly breathless.
"Good evening, Naruto." His tongue lingered over his name, drawing it out, making the blond shiver, as though Sasuke had caressed him.
"You're here." Naruto glanced at the statue of the wolf. It looked different somehow. "Iruka said you weren't here."
"Why are you here, sweet Naruto?”
"Chiyo…”
Sasuke shook his head. "I know why you have come home. Why are you here?"
"I missed you, my lord. Being here, on the castle grounds, made you seem less far away."
"You missed me?"
Naruto nodded. "You find that so hard to believe?"
Sasuke laughed, but there was no humour in the sound. "I find it impossible to believe."
“Tis true, nonetheless. I am sorry if it displeases you.”
"It does not displease me, sweet Naruto," Sasuke replied quietly. "How long will you be here?"
"At the castle?"
"In Konohagakure."
"Oh. I've come home to stay."
"No. You must not."
Naruto looked up at him, surprised by the vehemence in his voice. "It seems my presence displeases you as much as my honesty, my lord."
"Nothing about you displeases me, sweet Naruto. It is only your well being I am thinking of.”
"My lord?"
"Your future, Naruto. I would see you wed someone worthy of you, someone who will cherish you, who will give you children every year, and be with you until you are old and grey.”
"You wish me to marry?" Naruto’s bottom lip quivered at the thought.
"Is it not your wish, also?"
"Yes, of course, but…”
Black orbs held ocean blue. "But?"
"I don't want to marry for wealth, my lord, but for love."
"Love." The word was a whisper, a wish unfulfilled, a dream unborn.
“Have you never been in love, my lord?”
Slowly, Sasuke shook his head, his dark eyes filled with such pain, such stark loneliness, that Naruto wanted to weep. Was it only his imagination, or did Sasuke’s cloak seem to wrap more closely around the dark lord, as if to comfort him?
"And you?" Sasuke asked. "Have you, in your few short years of life, found love?"
"Aye, my lord, though I fear they do not return my affection."
"Then they are a fool!"
A faint smile curved Naruto's lips. "On that, at least, we are agreed."
Sasuke fought back his anger. The urge to destroy the cur who failed to return Naruto’s love rose up within him, and with it an all consuming jealousy. "Who is this person?"
"Can you not guess?" Naruto replied, his voice hardly more than a whisper.
Sasuke closed his eyes, pain ripping through him. If he survived another four hundred years, he would never forget this moment, the love shining bright and clear in Naruto’s eyes, the wonder of it.
A long shuddering sigh escaped him, and then he opened his eyes.
"Go away from here, Naruto," he said, his voice brusque, his eyes as cold as black ice. "Leave my house and never come back."
Naruto recoiled as if he had been slapped, the hurt in his eyes scorching Sasuke’s soul.
"Be gone," Sasuke repeated. "Pray I never see you again."
"As you wish, my lord," Naruto said, and turning on his heel, he fled his presence without a backward glance.
Behind him, a black wolf lifted its melancholy cry to the night.