☻ -- ☻

       ‘ You’ve heard of me? ’  the gossip not so unreliable for his modest achievements in building an unwanted reputation of taming wild beasts with scales; dragons. The process a trial and error at first---now however...encountering prone reptiles with high maintenance attention spans likewise to a household feline---he breathed their language and lived their gestures. A part of him lives to watch the sky and clouds while shouting at the top of his lungs; unbridled. Posture straightens, a hand falls coyly against his hip. Lips plucked into an challenging snark; 

   ‘ ….What’s not to say about him? ’ his stare distant, remembrance trickling along the surface of his skin likeness to a modest rain shower cascading tree leaves in some peaceful setting. Regis withholds what he thinks he is not--head higher than any god, his wits extends further than any horizon, his kindness and leadership sharper than any blade. This feeling of respect and love won’t disappear--  ‘ He ruled over the city....he just....knew everythin’ y’know? He was a little over baring but...what parent isn’t? If I could retry it again... ’ a declining pause, brows pulling together in some second handed thought. 

     ‘ ----No. I wouldn’t. What memories I have of him are okay. The only thing I wanted more was to see him. Just the two of us instead of the council clinging to him like a bad headache. But I was too afraid to ask or persist in some ‘dad and son’ time. Then the next thing I know...I’m being shipped off to marry a childhood acquaintance and all hell let loose shortly after that. ’ the capsize of the capital, the overtake, the bloodshed, the escape, the travel, the undertone of keeping himself hidden from the nilf-government and now a makeshift ...and strange friendship with a netherworld creature on the road.

  A coy inkling flutters along the edge of his smile. It was a lighthearted tease--a flash of challenge illuminates his gaze. Shoulders arch slightly at the insinuated shrug.

        with him, she could feel completely herself. she had missed the way his voice rang, how bright his smile was.  ❝ still doesn’t change the fact that you’re still a genin, naruto. ❞ a wink and a nudge as she walked with him to the tower. the village has changed plenty with the numerous attacks, but the people were still the same. strong willed and always willing to help others. the most beautiful thing about this village was not the mountains that the hokages were graced on, or the power that it held. but the people. that was where the will of fire was held. it was where they were strongest.  ❝ ah… do you even have money for that naruto? ❞ another tease as she held the many scrolls and tried to open the door of the tower.  ❝ i’m sure if you say please, maybe she will say yes.  ❞  

       ❝ do you hear yourself talk behind that ugly shitty hand you call your father cause i don’t.❞  lounging on the couch, staring at the ceiling has been his new favorite thing to do here. the shitty bar was gone, and now they were here. sure it was slightly better, but it was still a cage. a pretty little cage for mr. handsy over there. ❝ i’m bored. what can i say. drug lords are pretty easy targets and they were almost as ugly as you are. ❞ a small grin over to the league’s new leader. just a stepping stone. he reminded himself as he lifted a hand and let his fire quirk light it on fire.  finding peace with the warmth it brought to his skin. 

       ❝ hmn? i would, but then again. i don’t want to. those nomus shit like twice. and i do mean him and all of his clones combined. and why are we just using them so rapidly. it’s getting old. release a nomu here, let the heroes come. mock the herores. nomus die. repeat. it’s BORING. you’re boring. you’re predictable. the heroes are gonna catch on soon, y’know? they aren’t complete idiots. ❞ 

         the cheeky grin, the way his blue eyes twinkled. she liked the way it looked on him, a carefree happiness. if anyone deserved to be happy, it would be him. he was always looking out for her. making sure she was okay, making sure that she had a smile on her face. he even made the stupid promise of bringing back sasuke-kun. maybe he thought that would make her happy again. to have the boy she once had a crush on back. she just wanted her team back. ❝ ah, that is true. you would be half way to suna by now if i wanted to punch you. ❞ 

        eyes lowering to look at their hands, only a couple centimeters away from each other. it would be so easy to close this distance. but it meant more than just taking his hand during a mission when they were running away. this meant something different, didn’t it?  it wasn’t going to be just a friendly hand, and yet her fingers itched to lace with his.  ❝ are you hesitating naruto? it doesn’t suit you. i quite like your rash and hardheaded demeanor more. ❞ she whispered quietly to him before she took hold of his hand, softly interlacing their fingers before she gave him a soft squeeze.  ❝ so, how far have i gone, naruto? ❞ 

         Heart rate flutters likeness to a crowd of butterflies leaving for migration; his breath catches at the gesture returned with a smile along her lips. He defiantly knew he liked her when she was smiling than the perturbed bridge of her brows and a frown. ‘ Ahahah--r---really? ’ his voice narrows sharply at the squeeze---- coughing while fringing a laugh. ‘ Outgoing is your thing, huh? ’ he returns the sentiment gently while grinning once more. He can’t retain the flash of teeth--his sunny disposition elicits said reaction. His gaze blinking to the side; ‘ That was kinda my backfall if you turned it down...y’know back panhandlin’ it off as a joke...but, uh, you did it so...’  he felt at a loss for words so he simply let a flustered display and the tender curl of his fingers speak for himself.  

       you should have just killed me. made it quick. instead of this prolonged death of the optimistic girl who once hoped that there was good in everyone. he should have killed her before the world slowly did. that would have been mercy. that would have been kindness. that would have better than being in a room with him. ❝ how many times you almost did? a hand in my chest, it didn’t matter to you, so why not aim properly. why did you miss? ❞ she seethed before she finished the her cup of tea and slammed it back down. 

       MOVED ON FROM HIM.  she should have, she wanted to. she could have been happy but she chose to cling onto a stupid hope, a stupid promise, because she was stupid. she was a stupid girl who believed that because they were a team, because of all the treasured memories they once shared when they were twelve, that they’d be able to save sasuke from whatever darkness overwhelmed him. ❝ BECAUSE I WAS STUPID! ❞ she finally snapped as she stood up, a fist slamming into the table between them, watching it crack and break in half.  ❝ i was a stupid girl that saw a sad boy. i was a stupid girl that believed in that sad boy all those years ago. i was fucking stupid to ask naruto and the rest of our friends to find you and bring you back home. i was stupid in falling in love with you. but don’t worry sasuke-kun,  ❞ his name tasted like venom in her mouth. ❝ i promise i won’t make the same mistake twice. whatever idiot thought you were good, that you were capable of love or friendship. that girl, i’ll kill with my bare hands. ❞

         her green eyes flaring with anger at the contempt in his voice . ❝ am i not owed something? maybe it is a fucking apology, maybe it is your head. but i am owe SOMETHING you never gave me an out! an out would have been pulling out my heart and showing me what a heartless monster you were. but then again, i was stupid. i was always stupid in your eyes, right? in those uchiha eyes that see everything, you just saw a stupid girl that only wanted to love you. that wanted to make you a little bit less sad. i must have looked so pathetic. i still don’t know why you’re here. why you agreed to this meeting. you could have just said no, she’s a pathetic stupid girl. i don’t want to talk to her. it wouldn’t be the first time.  ❞ 

         hand clenching tightly, she lifted her leg and pushed the chair he was sitting in hard. having him fly across the floor. a scowl on her face before she scoffed. ❝ give me a freebie punch? i’m not that little girl in the mist village anymore, sasuke-kun. i’m not that little girl that cried and begged you to stay. i’m the fucking girl that you should have killed. give me a freebie punch and naruto will never forgive me for killing his brother. don’t mock me by thinking i’m that same little girl that grew out her hair because she thought maybe that’d catch your attention. i’m not her anymore. she died over and over again because of you. ❞

Rancor is her weapon, ravenous is her anger--it radiates closer to the likeness of the sun and it’s almost blinding. The threads keeping her closed, loose until nothing left holds her thoughts and feelings together, back from his attention. His eyes taking it all in, capturing this moment for his life time as her turmoil capsizes the table and the sudden lunge at his person--the chair falls beneath him unceremoniously---he saw it, in slow motion yet his body didn’t react. He let it happen, the floor felt rougher than he remembered from those short moments where he stayed here one or two times as a child. A split second his eyes blinked, staring up at the ceiling--a reasonable amount of pain flared underneath his skin, his shoulders arched as a hand slowly came up and covered half of his face and eyes. Something tickled within his chest. It gravitated up through his throat, a laugh broke almost sharply from his tongue, it’s crude, it’s loud and behind his teeth as her words keep pouring down upon him---nature’s enragement. 

He’s being scolded, yelled at, blamed, ridiculed and threatened and yet his heart retained a steady beat, no sweat broken out across his skin, he felt indifferent from her projection. Perhaps Naruto was right...he only responded to violence and action than words and reason. He felt fractured to an extent--he should admit his mistake, apologize, feeling empathy of tormenting her, manipulating her, promising her nothing in return--he did briefly say it once to her--sorry, for everything---yet it lacked conviction on his part. Would it be worth it to say it again? Stick them with a detached agreement and truce for now? Behave while in the presence of others? He licked his lips, glancing towards her from the floor; he leaned up into a sitting position. His lips thin, expression glowering yet reproached.

‘ Yeah, ’ he admits, a finality within his voice. ‘ that girl was stupid for trusting a snake like that sad boy. Yet he can’t seem to feel anymore or give that girl what she wants. Maybe it’s better if that sad boy returns to the grass and disappears for a while. Maybe that snake thought you needed some closure to get off the chest----...yet it’s not going to solve anything after all. You attempted to love an animal and got bitten in return--I can’t heal those scars or fix the bridge that’s burned. ’ he advocates, picking himself off the floor. A sigh escapes him. ‘ I’m tired. This is going no where. ’ Projecting is what he’s good at.   He gives her a thoughtful glance. ‘ Yet I discovered today you hold your ground and deeply carved a backbone in that body. You’ve changed a lot. I was an idiot not to see it sooner. ’ the comment feels disjointed, yet he means it sincerely as he can as a late addition. ‘ If you’re done destroying his house. We also told him we would be here when he comes back from the tower. With something to eat. ’ he adjusts his clothes, removing bits of splintered wood from his pants. He partly reaches down, picking the half detained chair to an upwards placement. ‘ I plan on keeping that promise. At least for today. ’ the intention of his suggestion might feel like he’s disregarding the real tension within the room. However, he also plans to take it with him. ‘ It’s been a while since I had ramen. Of all things.’ he turns his head, eyes catching hers evenly within a challenging stare. Their friend’s favorite place...happens to also have takeout as a new option.