Choices
"Slowly but surely I honestly believe you are not just dense, you’re simply stupid!" Sasuke blurted out, as even after two months the demon had not left him and had thoroughly spiced up his life. The few moments in which Naruto had disappeared had been limited to those in which he hunted to have something to eat or when he crawled into the cave near the hut to sleep in, sheltered from the cold.
Offended, the blond pushed his lower lip forward, folded his arms across his chest.
"If you weren‘t such a cold-blooded bastard, I wouldn’t have to put so much effort in staying!"
Silently, the Uchiha gritted his teeth. What did this guy just call him?!
"If you would just get lost, I wouldn’t have to be like that!" Sasuke replied testy.
He had really tried everything to get rid of him, had even gone so far as to throw a bucket of ice water over him to drive him away when the blond had slept in front of his door. Nothing worked.
"What's your problem? Just let me spend some time with you. After all, we are both alone and no one likes to be lonely. "
Sasuke froze at these words.
He could feel it, the honesty lying in these words. At first he had questioned the motive of the fox. The reason he was so persistent. He had always felt that more than simple gratitude was behind it. But now he sensed nothing but Naruto's desire to be close to him. This feeling, that they both could help eachother out of their loneliness.
Silently he stood in the midst of the slowly melting snow. It was spring, and as the snow melted, the wall of ice inside his heart began to grow thinner, no matter how much he fought it.
In the end, he too, was just a human being and people longed for bonds. They were not meant to be alone.
Naruto, on the other hand, had begun to develop a natural need for the Uchiha. The curiosity was still there, but now it was more than just the need to find out the truth. He had begun to feel it, his true feelings. No matter how repulsive the black-haired had been showing himself towards Naruto to drive him away, so little hatred and aversion really lay within his behavior. He resisted his own feelings. Why? The blond still did not know that. But he had made it his goal to find out.
He looked at the black-haired, who had fallen silent unexpectedly and had not moved a millimetre.
"Just do what you like." He gave up.
Sasuke could feel it. No matter what he would do, Naruto would not just disappear. Maybe he would eventually go if he got bored.
"Grouch," grunted Naruto softly, his furry ears twitching with excitement. He did it. Sasuke had turned in, if only subconsciously.
Grinning happily, he followed him into the house, looking around full of interest. The first time it had all seemed so bare and careless, but now, as the warm spring sun lit the room, it seemed somehow much friendlier.
"Are you always entering homes uninvited?", Sasuke finally tore him from his thoughts and pushed past him.
"Hu?", The blond answered surprised, as if he hadn‘t understood the question.
Sighing, the Uchiha shook his head. Somebody should say that foxes are intelligent. That was definitely not true for this one.
Silently the two sat opposite each other in the evening of this chaotic, exhausting day. Naruto had caught some fish, which were now roasting over the small hearth inside the house. It was Sasuke who broke the silence unexpectedly.
"Why is it so important to you to be part of my life? You can’t tell me it's just gratitude. No one goes that far just to be constantly rejected. "
Surprised, the fox rose his head and looked at him. Bullseye.
"Well, to be honest ..." he started softly, feeling that he had to be honest right now.
"... I was curious."
Sasuke was silent but seemed to know what interested the foxdemon.
"You are, an Uchiha, aren’t ya? But I'm not dead. I heard them talking, the villagers, and I was wondering what was behind it and apparently it was just a rumor. "
"You are incredibly stupid ...", Sasuke said dryly. He could not believe how lightly Naruto talked about these things. Didn’t the demons talk to each other about what actually happened?
"Eh ?! Why are you constantly insulting me? I'm not stupid! It makes sense!"
For you it does, Sasuke thought silently and sighed.
"The curse exists, but there is no time limit. The “when” differs for everybody and actually the curse promises disaster to those who are members of the clan or part of its history. "
It was true. There was no death curse on him, and yet, death was inevitable. Confused, Naruto looked at the black-haired boy.
"So they lied? The people from the village?" He asked softly, not sure what to do with these information.
"People only believe the things they see. There were repeated accidents near the clan and over the years this rumour developed. I don‘t care what they think so save any pity. "
The words of the black-haired were cold, emotionless. He meant it, as he said, he did not care.
"But aren‘t they like you?"
"Like me?" The Uchiha asked confused. What should that mean, like him?
"Just normal humans with the same character."
Naruto looked curiously at the black-haired, who didn‘t reply until a few seconds later.
"Are you like everyone else?"
Naruto looked uncertain at him, feeling the excited thump of his heart.
"Yes, I am a very ordinary person. I make mistakes, I have good as well as bad sides and yet people are not the same. Is not it the same with you? The fox demons? "
Naruto's eyes widened in shock. Sasuke knew it! But, since when and how?
"When I found you.", The blond got the answer immediately and stopped again. Could the black-haired read his mind?
Sasuke, on the other hand, only shook his head slightly. It had obviously been obvious by the blondes reaction.
"Every living thing on this earth has chakra, an aura. I may be blind, but I can feel it"
He continued, lowering his eyes, the small fire reflecting matt in his dull eyes.
"You ... you knew-? But why ... why did you-? "
"…save you?"
The blond nodded.
"It was a fox demon cursing your clan. If you knew I was one of them, why did you save me? You could just have let me die, but you didn‘t ... "
There was a brief moment of silence before Sasuke raised his eyes again and faced Naruto, his deep blue eyes reflecting in the blind irises.
"It's not our heritage that makes us who we are, but our character and our choices."
That was what he believed in. They could not influence how they were born, but they could decide which path they took.