Fragile Emotions
The months and years moved passed by and the longer the young fox demon lingered near his human friend, the more her was fascinated.
Contrary to all assumptions, hatred didn’t devour the boy, his disability hadn’t taken the courage to continue living in a world that despised him, treated him like a leper, and in which he had no place among his peers or among the outcasts or demons, damned to lead a life in complete solitude.
But the words of the wind spirit did not escape the fox's mind.
If he wanted to know the truth, he had to dive into Sasukes memories.
So, late in the night, he lingered over the boy's bedside again and looked down at him, indecisive as to whether he should really exploit the tiny bit of trust that had been built up in the months between them to gratify his own curiosity.
Disruption plagued the fox demon, who finally backed away and sighed softly for himself. He could not do it. He had squatted over him often, tried to seize him, and then retreated. Sasuke had become too important to deceive him. He simply couldn‘t, as much as curiosity ruined him. He could not hurt him just to satisfy his own greed.
"You want to see it ... don’t you?" The black-haired finally whispered softly, his eyes still closed.
He had noticed it, his friend's attempts many times over the last few months, but he didn‘t seem to care.
Almost every night, the fox demon had perched next to his bed, looking down at him, and yet he had never given in to that urge.
Naruto winced in shock, looked at the Uchiha, of which he had assumed he would sleep. until a few seconds ago. Incredulous he looked at the young man.
"You know it?"
"It was not hard to guess," Sasuke confessed softly, half-opening his eyelids. The gray irises shimmered slightly in the pale light of the incoming moon, reflecting only Naruto's own face.
"Who can blame you? You want to see it? Then go. ", He spoke quietly, his eyes still fixed on the ceiling. What did he have to lose? Memories that lived inside him for so long. Whether he lived through it again didn‘t matter. His heart ached painfully at the images that were slowly conjured up inside him. Images that he repressed but could never forget.
Naruto, however, hesitated. He wanted to see it, wanted to know what had happened that fateful day and yet ...
The fox demon shook his head.
No, he did not want it. Not in this way.
"I'll see it when the time comes," he replied, crawling under the blind man's blanket for a moment, wondering.
Quietly, Naruto put his head to his friend's shoulder, seeking the warmth of the human being who had become so important to him in all this time.
"Thank you."
A faint whisper, like a shallow breeze, echoed in the furry ears as Sasuke slowly closed his eyes.
Naruto could have done it and yet he had renounced for his sake the knowledge that was so present before him.
A big gesture.
Confused about himself and his own actions, Naruto began to reflect on himself. Why was it so important to him not to hurt Sasuke? Why did he put that feeling beyond his natural instinct to gain knowledge? He did not know. He simply didn‘t know it and for the first time in a long time he felt overwhelmed. What should he do? He could ask the black-haired, but a mere narrative did not reveal the truth he desired.
Truth that slowly became trivial when he thought of the human being who was affected by it. He had wanted to know it, for his own sake and yet the curiosity had given way to the feeling of not hurting this person.
A feeling the demon didn‘t know.
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"Well if I see it right, we'll starve to death," the blind young man commented dryly when he heard it splash again. Another fox demon attempt to catch a fish.
"You don‘t see anything, so be quiet! I've already done a lot here! They are just so slippery! ", The demon complained and crossed his arms.
It was spring and he had promised to catch dinner for them now that the streams were full of fish. He was not the best fish catcher, that was for sure.
"I do not have to see anything for that. The sounds you make tell me everything, "Sasuke replied, who had waited four hours for his friend to catch them fishs ti eat. In the meantime, he already had picked up roots, tubers and vegetables, started to store some supplies and put a stew on top of them.
Things that had never really caught Naruto enthusiasm.
He preferred meat, fish and ... noodle soup. The only human meal that the demon absolutely loved.
Much to the surprise of the blind, who didn’t make much out of it at all.
"Oh? Then do it youself, if you think you can do it better! ", The fox moaned and began to sulk. Should his stupid blind friend try it alone, so completely without claws and only with his hands. As if he could do it, that pretentious guy.
"Now stop sulking. You said yourself, I should do it myself. Now you can not be offended that I caught something. "
"Hellooo? I'm not offended at all, and if I am it's only because it's completely unnatural. I am a demon and you are blind. How can you catch fish that slip from my fingers ?! ", the fox complained and bit into one of the mackerels roasted over the fire.
"It's all a question of technique," the blind man replied calmly, taking another sip of soup. What did the demon believe, how else to survive? But even a blind man was not fed up with roots, and he did not get help. So there was nothing left for him to do but to learn to live with this disability.
"I don’t get it anyway."
"And you say people are weird? You're not exactly normal for a demon either. "
The black-haired began to laugh softly. No, Naruto was pretty much the first demon who did not seem to know what he was doing.
"Are you just laughing at me seriously?"
Indignant, the fox demon looked at the man who seemed to enjoy himself so delicately.
"If you can laugh at someone seriously, yes."
"HEY!"
Once again the fox pouted out his lower lip. The guy couldn’t be serious! Who did he think he was making fun of him?
"I bet I can do stuff that you can not! I'm really cool and powerful. If I have my powers, I'll prove it to you. "
"Can’t wait to see that.“
Sasuke wiped a smile from the corner of his eye, then took a breath.
He had not laughed so warmly in years. It was good. Somehow, it was liberating. Strange, after such a long time and a little irritating, but liberating.
Not only the demon had begun to feel. The human heart also seemed to slowly lower the walls. Walls that had protected him for so long.
It was quiet for a moment.
"Why ... are you still here?", The Uchiha finally broke the silence.
The words sounded soft as the fox was about to take another bite of his fish. The demon paused.
A slight smile formed on the lips of the black-haired, who noticed how his question influenced the mood.
"You've been living with me for five winters. Five years in which you were no longer guilty of me and still remained by my side. That's a lot of time for us humans. "
Naruto pricked his ears and let his fish sink for a moment.
Much time? He had never worried about that. For daemons, time passed at a different pace and so far he had always considered them as the same age.
Sasuke's body had grown, like his.
"These are my memories that you desire and yet you have not made them your own. You have renounced. Why, if that's what keeps you here? "
Again, silence entered between them.
Silence the fox could not extinguish. He did not know the answer to that question.
"You're right. I owe you nothing. I want to see your memories, but ... "
The blond raised his head and looked directly at the young man whose dim eyes reflected the fire burning in front of them.
"... not for the reason that I wanted it at the beginning anymore."
Surprised, Sasuke lifted his head. What did that mean?
"At first ... I was curious because two men in the mountains mentioned this curse. A curse whose origin is known only to your soul and whose source would give me knowledge. Knowledge means power in the world of demons and power is everything that should mean something to a demon. But…"
Easily amused, the blonde snorted over himself.
"... I do not want to know, if it were about the price of your soul."
He was fully aware of what would happen if he infiltrated that person's soul. It could break. He could kill him and this idea tied the fox demon's throat. Not because he owed his own life to him. No. For a reason he did not know. A reason that remained inexplicable to him.
It was Sasuke, however, who had lost his speech now. He did not know what he should think about this situation. A demon that put a person's feelings above power? Unthinkable in their world and yet so real.
He did not know the rules and laws of the demons, knew them only from legends and his own memories. Memories that should have taught him that he had kept away from them, and that his life was atoning for the crimes of his clan, yet it was impossible for him to push Naruto away, to keep him away, or even send him away. The fox returned. Over and over again.
"I don‘t know why I want it. I just want to be ... with you. I do not know the reason. It just feels ... right. "
The blonde moved closer, insecure how he should behave. What did people do in situations like these? He was not human. Was it right to follow his intuition and act as he pleased? Was there any right or wrong?
"I just want to be with you," the demon whispered softly, leaning his head against the blind man's shoulder, lingering as if he wanted to listening to the silent approval of the man whose warming closeness had become so important to him.
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