Well....
He opened his eyes, not that all surprised to see a white space in front of him. After all, he was already dead.
Wait, so am I in heaven or hell? he thought to himself.
At the corner of his eyes, he saw a figure of his best friend, Sasuke Uchiha, his back facing him. His black cloak was so long that it reached the floor.
He smiled to himself. If this was heaven, he wouldn't mind, even if it was to spend all his time with that Teme.
Wait, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion, Why is Sasuke here?
"Am I in heaven?" he asked the first question he thought of. Instead of a firm voice coming out of his mouth, however, his voice was raspy and hoarse. And his throat hurt. A lot.
Well, this was weird. Nothing was supposed to hurt when he was in heaven, was it?
Sasuke turned around, his dark eyes widening. He kept his surprise well hidden, although the blond knew him well enough to see the brief emotion on his face.
He put on a slight smile, feeling slightly victorious that he could read his friend's face better day by day. Sasuke was so reserved and it bothered Naruto, but if he was opening up bit by bit, that was a good sign, right?
"Why would I be in your heaven, dobe?" he asked, face impassive with a slight frown. Naruto grinned even wider, enjoying seeing that expression on Sasuke's face.
Naruto stuck out his tongue, and tried to sit up to taunt him further. This was a very bad decision, however, as pain began to spread throughout his whole body like fire.
He resisted the urge to cry out in pain, but his knuckles were held on the bedpost so tightly it turned white. His eyes screwed shut, and the happy feeling he felt moments ago dissipated, turning into dread.
So, this really isn't heaven, huh?
Which means that the events that happened several moments ago were still real, and he was still alive.
Very much alive.
And his friend and guardian did betray him.
Naruto laid back down on the bed, and looked at Sasuke with big, wide eyes. He felt an enormous amount of pain, and it's not just present on his physical body, rather, the memories of their attempted assasinitation against him hurt more than any of his physical wounds combined.
The raven approached him and looked at him with an unreadable expression. But below his facade, Naruto knew that he at least must have felt something.
The blond was rather shocked to see sadness, however, even if it was present on his face for just a mere moment.
Sadness? Sasuke Uchiha rarely felt that emotion. Why is it directed to him? Shouldn't anger come up first, if anything?
"I'll inform the Hokage that you have woken up. You'll be staying with me, for now. Until you heal."
Sasuke looked like he wanted to say something else, but then he held back. Instead, he did something that surprised the both of them ; he caressed that idiot Dobe's cheek.
Naruto looked surprised, at first, but gradually, he just took it in, afraid that the warmth and affection will be gone, to be replaced with something more sinister instead.
Sasuke looked at the blond, and felt heat creeping up on his face. He was bad with words, but goddammit, this was way worse. What was he going to do?
And worse, why did that idiot Dobe look so cute?
Dammit! He cursed his thoughts, and immediately pulled his hand away. Man, it must be the lack of sleep talking.
Yes, he wouldn't be having delusional thoughts about his one and only friend, would he?
Shaking his head, he looked at Naruto, who's face bore a look of confusion. Gradually, his face turned into a small smile, and he thanked Sasuke with a small voice.
The Uchiha nodded, and sped out of the room with discretion.
Yep, it's definitely the lack of sleep.
XXX
“Oi, lovebirds,” Sasuke called out, surprising both the Hokage and his best friend. Shikamaru cleared his throat and tried acting nonchalant, but there was still a tint of pink on his cheeks. He smirked, and shook his head in amusement.
“Something funny, Uchiha?” Shikamaru glared at him, while Choji grinned as if he won a big prize. Sasuke’s smirk widened, but he said nothing.
“Anyways,” Sasuke’s voice turned solemn once again. “Naruto has woken up. He seems to be pretty okay, although his wounds still need a long way to heal.”
Both of them nodded, while Sasuke’s eyes turned hooded once again. Shikamaru could sense that the Uchiha was worried about Naruto, more than usual.
"So, do you think you are able to bring him out of the quarters soon? Discreetly?" Shikamaru asked.
Sasuke nodded, and said in a tight voice, "Of course. I swear, if he dies on my hand, I would never forgive myself."
Shikamaru's eyebrows furrowed at the sudden proclamation. Sure, they were worried about Naruto, all of them are, but this seemed…. Off. It seemed very unlike Sasuke to say something like that. That sounds like something Rock Lee would say, not the cold Uchiha.
It means something was really bothering him. Maybe, he was hiding an important detail.
"Sasuke, what did you find?" The Hokage inquired.
The sudden flash of anger in the raven's eyes alarmed him, but wasn't enough to fully scare him. He was the Hokage, after all.
"Itachi Uchiha was there. That Akatsuki Traitor! It was his knife that was lodged into Naruto's heart. Whatever it is, it must be a warning. And a taunt to show his bloody victory."
Shikamaru and Choji's eyes widened at the revelation.
"We know the Akatsuki is on the move, bringing away both of Konoha's most valuable assets-"
"Traitors." Sasuke growled.
Shikamaru brought his hand up, silencing Sasuke. "Traitors," he repeated himself, and continued.
"But we didn't know that Itachi Uchiha is also on the move. Normally, the ones that cause all these troubles are normally just his underlings."
"So, it means that if the Uchiha is on the move, it means that Orochimaru must be on the move too." Choji concluded.
"Man, all these bloody Konoha traitors make me sick." Sasuke exclaimed, his fist clenched on the side of his cloak.
"And what is the other guy's name? Kisame, was it?" Shikamaru asked boredly, twiddling the pen with his fingers.
"Yeah, I heard Might Guy fought with him once. Took him down with his gates. Maybe he can also help us hunt down the Akatsuki members." Choji suggested.
"Calm down, both of you. We can't let ourselves go ahead just like that. We need a plan. And right now, our important and potentially stronger shinobi is lying on the bed, still recuperating. We let him heal first, and after that, we talk again. Alright?"
And with that, the discussion was done.
Sasuke nodded at the both of them once again, and fled the room.