everything stays.

   the comment passes, naruto’s inner ‘demons’ urging him to argue with sasuke on his remarks … yet the bit of rationality that swivels within him lets the comment slide. even further does the blonde not care for the logic of how many hokages there were : instead, his grin remains plastered upon his features, blue eyes gazing upon stars that had followed the pair through their toughest journeys. with his arms upward the sky does that gaze remain fixated upon sasuke’s own …   

‘ wow. ’ explanation alone was enough for naruto’s awe, but it was the softening of sasuke’s gaze that managed to truly strike the blonde’s heart.  ‘ — — heh,    nothing could keep us worlds apart ! ’ his fist clenches, a gentle strike at the wind in an attempt at appearing somewhat motivational ( or something ).         —- and suddenly, his face flushes red.     ‘ er, i mean,    ya’know … we make a good team ! ’ he turns his face, leaving his now flustered expression a mystery ( hopefully, at least ) hands now at his side. 

still.     it proved difficult to hide such emotion from the other  —-  especially in light of such conversation that managed to tug heavily at his heart.  

‘ hey.    you missed me, right? during all that time. ’ all that time they were apart, he meant. a subtle way ( he thought ) at asking whether or not the thought of naruto went through sasuke’s mind at all.  ‘ i thought of you all the time ! ’ and just like that, his smile returns.  ‘ heh … i thought about how much stronger i was getting,    and how i would finally manage to kick your butt ! ’ 

sasuke does know. he’d thought about it often in their time apart -- far more than he’d ever acknowledged it during their time together on team seven, truthfully; it always works that way, doesn’t it? -- and wondered how long it would be before they fought side by side again. he waited for when the day would finally come, and now that it has, he almost can’t believe it. 

dark eyes blink back at him in rapid succession as the blond quickly looks away, cheeks flaring with red, and he stares at the side of his face in curiosity.

naruto’s flustered, and he doesn’t know what to do with that. by the looks of it, naruto doesn’t either. hesitantly, sasuke rolls his own head to rest flat against the ground and sets his sights up above once more, finding himself at a loss for words. they’re a good team, but they’ve never really had a way with words.

not with each other.

one point fades from relevance when another is brought up, and he might have been grateful for that -- if not for the fact that he’s caught utterly dumbfounded at his friend’s question. 

had he missed him? part of him feels offended that he even has to ask, but given where they left off... yeah, it makes sense that would need to. he’d almost forgotten how angry he had been with naruto when he told him he’d be leaving to train with one of the legendary sannin, leaving him here, when he’d been the one to reel sasuke back in! if his memory serves him right, he’d even told him not to bother coming back unless he could beat him. 

he stayed angry at him for so long. weeks, months, tireless nights of fire lit underneath him that pushed him to heights of skill he’d never dreamed of achieving; at some point, that resentment turned into longing. naruto hadn’t been there for he and sakura’s rise to chuunin, and he wasn’t there for his recent promotion, either. he wasn’t there for everything he was supposed to be, and... that felt empty. part of him thinks he deserves that, even so long after his failed defection. a large one. 

❝  ... i did,  ❞  he admits finally, gaze still and steady, locked on the sky.  ❝  with sakura training under lady tsunade and you gone, i was down two friends -- out of two total. a lot changed, after that.  ❞ pretty much everything did, he fails to say; but he knows he doesn’t need to clarify something as abundantly clear as that. i changed. 

it’s something i’ve been toying with for like, years -- pretty much ever since i made it like back on winterace and even before that, but i started planning it out and i already have about twenty chapters of material to start with? maybe give or take a little less as i go, and that’s all pre-shippuden ( and in the gap between series one and that ) .. it’s just going to be a really long, monster of a fic that puts all my ideas in one place :)c

still going to rp him, though?!?! like, nothing will ever be quite as fun for me as rp, tbh... but let me know if you guys want updates? / i’ll probably post them here anyways! but yeah. i’m probably more excited about this than anyone should be, but LOL idk!! i just wanted to share~

   his grin is wider this time.     the tone of sasuke’s voice not unusual, but still not defanged enough to motivate naruto back onto his feet. nonetheless, he’d listen to the boy’s argument … although that’s not to say that those words are making any sort of impact ( really, they’re just going through one ear and out the other ).    thus, he’d lay and enjoy this little victory ( no matter how small ) … gentle laughs sneaking past his lips as sasuke admits this defeat and sits beside the blond.

—- and the opposite, naruto himself couldn’t help but reflect in the night sky.  

‘ yeah, yeah … until dawn, got it ! ’  blah, blah, blah … ‘ they’re definitely more than just stars, ya know ! ’  simple words start a tangent : both excitement and fury managing to lace within his argument. ‘ i bet’cha that each star is a hokage … they’re all up there, watching over us. ’  and maybe not just hokages, but every kage there’s ever been !     the mere thought being enough to send naruto shooting upward ( ! ), arm outstretched and pointing up towards the sky.  

‘ —- besides, don’t you ever wonder how long those stars have been there ? ’ perhaps he is more the sentimental type than he’d like to admit …       ‘ maybe they’re the same stars that … shined up there while we were both spending all that time training. ’ this time he’s quieter, his grin vanishing for the moment as he reflects on the thought. he’d dwell in the idea from time to time ; all those nights the two spent apart, spending their separate days training in the hopes of becoming stronger. 

he’d look to sasuke, expression somewhat serious for a change.  

‘—- what do you think ? ’ the question is vague ;     no specific answer sought out other than an attempt to dig deeper into sasuke’s mind.

       how does he not know by now that a statement like that is sure to set naruto off the ground, running right into tangent territory? there’s no time to dwell on his mistake before sasuke is dumbfounded speechless with possibly the most idiotic thing naruto’s ever said -- a tough category to top, no doubt -- and his lips part, disbelief reigning heavy on his features. 

         ❝  ... there’s been five hokages, naruto. five. i know counting isn’t your strong suit, but... you have to know there is more than five stars up there, right? there aren’t even enough kage to—– fuck, nevermind it. ❞  mid explanation, his efforts already seem futile; more than that, he watches as his friend’s arm goes shooting upwards, and he cuts himself off with huff number eleven of the night and covers his face with both hands, face twisted with irritation of the highest caliber. now he wants to know how long stars have been around? 

         his head turns and tongue readies with something sharp at the end, but the moment their eyes meet, sasuke’s demeanor shifts in sync with naruto’s. blinking slowly, he hears what’s been said again, the part where he wonders if they’re the same stars ---- the obvious answer is yes, that two years are nothing compared to that of a star of the universe, but ... he knows that isn’t what he means. were we looking at the same sky? the distance was far, but how far could it have really been if they shared that same sky?

         how far could the distance between them now still be...?

         the softening of his eyes and dissipating of an otherwise permanent frown seem symbolic of, perhaps, a defensive wall lowering -- not for the first time since his return, but the clarity in it was certainly new. patience that’s never been there before. at least, not so forefront.  

   a simple mission … right ?     well, simple enough that old lady tsunade trusted sasuke and naruto enough to go out on their own ( or maybe it was that they were just that strong ! ). regardless of their hokage’s reasoning, the mission itself was simple enough … —- seek out a group of lowly bandits, and take them down ! still, the most exciting part of it was that the pair finally had a chance to reconnect after those two years. 

… even if there was that typical bickering of their’s.  

‘ we only left the village this afternoon … there’s no rush, ya’know ! ’ it had only been a few hours at most since they had left ; sasuke, being his usual self, moping at the fact that they hadn’t completed their mission yet ( per usual, naruto would be the same … perhaps it was the fact that they were together that prevented it ).       ‘ just look up at the sky ! you don’t ever see the stars this clearly in the village. ’ his grin was wide, urging sasuke to come.  

‘ c’mon, whats with you !   just relax, sasuke. ’ he’d shift his hands behind his head, throwing his weight back to lay upon the rock he had perched himself on.         @lionbarrage​ 

      while the simplicity of the mission paired with his own capability ( and even naruto’s, for that matter --- frankly, they’d faced enemies far more daunting during their first real mission as genin together in the land of waves ) was no significant source of stress, the uchiha operates at a level of tension and high guard that, if anything, has only intensified during their time apart.

       much to his dismay, it doesn’t seem like his partner has gained any sense of urgency, time management, or responsibility --- just thinking about his partner’s vices starts a shake in his fist that reverberates all the way up to the increasingly annoyed twitch in his brow. sasuke grits his teeth and balls his fist, turning halfway to look over his shoulder and he inhales in a way that says yeah, whatever he’s about to bark is going to be a bad one, but his exhale is caught in his throat at the sight of naruto -- literally -- laying down and stargazing. 

       ❝    ... are you kidding, naruto? we’re in the middle of -- !  ❞ hands gesturing towards the trail, he’s about to go into an explanation of why they should keep going, that they’re on the right track and if he just puts his head into it, they’ll be home by morning, but defeat hits expression the second naruto’s back hits that rock --- and he knows. the only way he’s getting him up from there is if he physically picks him up and takes him, and after five to six hours of bickering and travel, he’s just... not up for that.

        so, he won’t. not yet, at least. resigned and coming to the conclusion that setting up camp might give the tactical advantage in the end --- NOT that naruto’s right, mind you; the way he sees it, stargazing and reminiscing is far from a valid reason to set up camp, he’s just lucky there are other reasons they should -- he joins him, after several beats of silence and, of course, huffing in rage. sasuke lowers himself to sit stiffly next to him and ultimately lets his back hit the rock with a thud, dead eyes set above.