[fic] Cracks in the Sidewalk, part vi
Title: Cracks in the Sidewalk
Pairing: SasuNaru
Genre: AU, Multichap, Angst
Rating: Eventual R or NC-17
Summary: Naruto is a young high school student with a passion for music. From Bob Dylan to Sex Pistols to Elliott Smith, he buries himself deeper and deeper his records with every passing day. Head in the clouds, he dreams of forming a rock band of his own. Enter Sasuke, a rigid transfer student with a knack for composition. Although trained classically, he holds an untold love for rock and roll. While their love for rock n' roll brings them together, will their passions also tear them apart?
Disclaimer: Naruto characters belong to Kishimoto. Lyrics featured, unless otherwise noted, belong to their respectful artists (usually mentioned somewhere in the story).
Warning: Only imaginary people can smoke! Do not smoke! I am not glamorizing smoking! Everyone I know who has gotten hooked on cigarettes is trying to quit or has quit already! It makes you ugly and yellow up your teeth! Only in imaginary worlds does this not happen! In addition to NO SMOKING, also don't DRINK (especially if you're underage) or have anonymous sex.
Comments: I updated twice in a month! The world is ending!
Songs: This time is a jrock song, which, I felt that since they still had Japanese names...it's just natural for them to at some point be interested in jrock. This song is by Gilgamesh/Girugamesh and is called "Fukai no Yami" and it's from their album 13's Reborn. It's a great song so check it out! Please delete mp3s in 48 hours! Support the artists!
Previous Chapters:
part i
part ii
part iii
part iv
part v
* * * * * *
Cracks in the Sidewalk
part vi
* * * * * *
Sasuke was smoking a cigarette on the balcony when he saw a shivering Naruto run, sopping wet, into his apartment complex, the sloshing of the boy's shoes audible even from the fourth floor. He closed his eyes and exhaled, a dragon of smoke uncurling from his lungs. He opened his eyes and saw the dissipating apparition before him, the wreath fluttering like wings before fading into oblivion. Sasuke could hear the slap-slap of Narutos feet and the squeak-squeak of his rubber soles on the stairs. He could feel the rasp-rasp of the blond's breath as the cold trembled through his body and the puff-puff of his breath as blood raced through his warm veins.
Sasuke had only known Naruto for a few days, but he already knew many things about the boy. He knew the ghost-traces of his eyes as he looked at the stars at night and the bright-crushes of his cheeks as the discs whirled in the machines. He knew the gasp-groan of his voice as he trembled under his hands and the writhe-squirm of his body as he carved whispers into the soft ginger of his skin. He knew the wheeze-moan of his soft snore in the moonless night and the mumble-scream of his bottomless sleep. But there were some things that Sasuke didn't know about Naruto. He didn't know the grimace-smile of his lips that came with every stolen umbrella on a rainy day and the clench-clatter of his jaws as he punched the wall in grating frustration. He didn't know about the scar-tattoo that marked him like an unholy stigma at night and about the black-blue quality of his voice as he sang his own lullabies before bed.
He puffed one last time on the cigarette before a thunderous banging resounded through the apartment. He sighed and tossed the rest of the cigarette into the muddy rain. Another round of knocking rocked the apartment, forcing Sasuke into an irritated expression, his eyes narrowing, his lips pursed.
"I'm coming!" he shouted through the impatient ruckus. He crossed his living room and opened the door, revealing a dripping Naruto glaring at him through a mess of limp hair.
"You look like shit," said Sasuke, without hint of wanting to help the boy at all. If anything, his tone suggested that Naruto should stay as far from his carpeting as possible. The blond glowered at him and pushed past him, taking liberties to track mud over the carpet and plopping with a satisfied sigh onto the expensive couch. Sasuke frowned at the property damage, but quietly accepted the wet boy who was slowly seeping rainwater into his cushions.
"Why weren't you at school?" asked Naruto, shaking some of the rain from his hair, splattering the television screen with a million droplets. Sasuke grimaced and moved to the kitchen to retrieve a towel. "There was a new kid today."
"What's that got to do with me?" bit back Sasuke as he threw the cloth at Naruto's head, the bundle hitting the blond squarely in the temple. Naruto scrunched his face and shot the brunette a sour expression before slinging the towel over his head.
"He's totally cool!" babbled Naruto as he removed his ruined shoes. "He looks like Sid Vicious from the Sex Pistols! Or a Japanese rocker!"
"So he's a freak," replied Sasuke flatly, rolling his eyes. He made his way to his closet to find dry clothes for the boy, hoping that it would make the blond stop mucking around his furniture, trailing water and dirt everywhere.
"He is not!" retorted Naruto as he followed Sasuke into the bedroom, leaving a path of smudges and drips behind him. "He's a bassist!"
"A 'bastard'?" said Sasuke, raising an eyebrow. He emerged from his closet holding a pair of old shorts and a t-shirt. "Put these on before you destroy my apartment."
"Not a 'bastard,' you bastard," shouted Naruto, snatching the clothes from the boy. "A bassist!"
"So?" replied the boy emotionlessly, turning to leave. He closed his eyes as he shut the door behind him and leaned heavily against the slab of wood. He heaved a long sigh.
"I can start a band!" exclaimed Naruto through the door. Sasuke could hear the fumbling of cloth and images of bare flesh immediately flooded back to him.
"You can't start a band with just a bassist and a vocalist," shouted Sasuke, grimacing as he heard something fall inside his bedroom. It seemed that noise followed the blond everywhere. And yet, as harsh as the sounds often were, they were strangely comforting, oddly human, and bizarrely compassionate.
"This shirt is too small!" called Naruto from behind the door. "What the fuck is this? Something you wore in elementary school?"
"Small clothes for small people," replied Sasuke cooly.
"Screw you! I'm going to grow eventually!" screamed the blond. "I'm going to find another shirt!"
A rush of adrenaline coursed through Sasuke's body at those words and he immediately rushed into the room, uncaring of sunshine hair or ocean eyes or billboard smiles. He stumbled over a lamp that Naruto had knocked over and growled at the other boy, nearly lunging at the body half-buried in the closet. "Get away from there!"
The two of them fell into an odd tangle of Calvin Klein, Prada, Ralph Lauren, rain-scented hair, clumsy fingers, baited breath, and a knot of cords dressing them both like a Christmas present. Naruto winced as he knocked his head against something hard and bulky, his scalp resting on a knob-like object. Turning his head, he found himself staring at the strangest-looking guitar he had ever seen. The edges of the polished wood seemed to leave themselves in jagged edges instead of the usual smooth and sensual curve. The body of the instrument swept up in a flame-like movement and curled over itself all at once like the caricature of a hellish grin. The neck extended nobly from the infernal sweeps of the body, tall and stern, like the neck of a noblewoman dressed in pearls. And at the very top of the headstock, a star-like spiral crowned the instrument like a holiday ornament sitting smugly at the tip.* Naruto caught himself gaping at the guitar, completely dumbfounded.
"I-is that a guitar?" he asked, his voice just barely above a whisper. He groaned as the small amp bit into his head ruefully.
"Get out," grounded Sasuke through clenched teeth. "Get the fuck out." He jumped to his feet in one fluid sweep of his body and hauled the blond boy up with a brutal tug. Naruto gave a surprised yelp as he found himself barefoot and shirtless and being pushed out the door. He collided harshly into a wall before being shoved even further down the narrow hallway, bumping into corners and edges.
"W-wait!" shouted Naruto as he rushed to avoid the frantic actions of the other boy. "You play the guitar?"
"None of your goddamn business," roared Sasuke as he continued to drive the other boy out with his pushes, uncaring of the soft flesh that be scratched beneath his fingernails.
"Is that what you bought the pick for?" asked Naruto as he danced away from Sasuke's grip, his feet carrying him through the living room, his body shielding itself with a coffee table. But Sasuke only kept stalking the other boy down, intent on driving those blue eyes from his home.
"I said, none of your goddamn business!" hollered Sasuke as he grabbed the smaller boy by the arm and dragged him to the door. The blond protested at the bruising grip, biting and scratching the black-haired boy, inflicting red welts on snow-white skin.
"Why don't you play?" asked Naruto desperately, clinging to the door frame, his fingers in danger of being smashed. "Why don't you play for me?"
"The same reason why you don't sing," growled Sasuke as he slammed the door loudly, leaving the boy just enough time to withdraw his fingers.
* * * * * *
"Hey Gaara," said Naruto as he let his backpack fall heavily onto the plastic seat. He grimaced as the straps ground against the red scratches covering his arms. He shivered under the artificial draft of the school and collapsed like lead into the chair. Droplets of water rolled down the delicate curves of his face, the bridge of his nose, the pout of his mouth. A band-aid clung to his cheekbone miserably, already peeling off from the rain still in the air. His clothes were drenched in the cold autumn rain, clinging to his body heavy and gushing with water. Naruto flashed Gaara a weak smile. "What's up?"
"What happened to you?" replied Gaara, giving the boy a disapproving once-over with his slicing green eyes. His voice was blunt and cold, like a butte knife sawing through skin. Slow, messy, but ultimately sickeningly enjoyable. It made many people look at him with trembling eyes.
"Nothing," said Naruto through the water that dripped from his spiked lashes. He blinked so that he could see, ignoring the sting of acidic rain. "Just lost my umbrella, that's all."
"It got stolen from you?" prompted the redhead with a roll of his eyes. "You're weak, letting people do that to you."
"Hey! Shut up!" shouted Naruto defensively. He gripped at the soggy hem of his shirt and twisted, letting a stream of water free onto the floor. "I said I lost it, okay? That's the truth!" His blue eyes were down, unable to meet Gaara's.
"I'm not a dumbass, Uzumaki," snapped Gaara, his voice biting, warning. He glared at the other boy. "I see how everyone looks at you. Looks at us."
"Yeah, well what are you going to do about it?" challenged Naruto with a hiss, his face flushed in anger. His head snapped up to meet Gaara's stone gaze, fire burning through the cold layers of his skin.
"I'll beat them all up," replied Gaara calmly. "I'll kill anyone who tries to hurt me."
"And what about the people who want to be your friends?" asked Naruto, his eyes softening. "What are you going to do about that?"
Gaara didn't answer, just continued to blink at Naruto through his stone mask, his face never changing, his eyes never really reacting. He sat still as a statue just looking at the blond, studying his small features, his strong eyes, and his firm mouth. They didn't speak for the remainder of the class, opting instead to sit in a vibrant silence colored with quiet pondering. The teacher droned and students nodded in and out of consciousness. The tap-tap of chalk filled the room as students scribbled and doodled memories onto papers. And then the bell rang, and the room was thrown into a hum of shifting fabrics, chattering girls, rowdy boys, and the scrape of chairs against floors.
"Hey, Gaara," said Naruto, picking up his book bag. "Let me hear you play the bass sometime, okay?"
* * * * * *
"Sasuke!" shouted Naruto has he banged his fist on the metal door, the sound filling the entire stairwell. "Sasuke! Open up!"
Sasuke groaned at the bright voice ringing through the air, the blond's shouts giving him a headache. He clenched his fingers and remembered the horror of the other boy finding the guitar in his closet, the shock of another creature knowing his secrets, knowing his mind. The thing was a gift from his brother, a rare, custom-made Ganesa modeled after the one Kaoru of Dir en Grey owned*. He remembered loving his brother after receiving the thing, being unable to stop running his hands over the curves of the instrument, being powerless to stop strumming the delicate strings. He remembered spending dark nights improvising while his parents slept, sitting in his closet, hiding from the servants. He remembered running through the house with the guitar after his parents had left for business, playing it in the foyer for the first time and listening with glee to the notes bouncing from the walls. And he remembered those bitter times where he was cooped up like a pig in his room, playing dead and muted chords as he counted the hours for his parents to sleep or die. But mostly he remembered the withering inside him as time passed, as the foyer became not-enough, as the waiting became unbearable, as the instrument became an enemy to his sanity.
"Sasuke, I can see your feet from under the door!" screamed Naruto, still banging on the door. "I know you're home!"
Silence. Sasuke didn't offer anything.
"Sasuke, if you play, I'll sing," said Naruto breathlessly. "'Cause I know you really want to. You really want to play."
Silence. Sasuke didn't have anything to offer.
"And I really want to sing too."
Silence. Sasuke didn't know what to offer.
"And," continued Naruto quietly, "I don't know what this song means, but I know that you know Japanese."
Silence. Just silence.
"A-and," he was stumbling over the sounds now for reasons even he didn't know, "there's this part that's just... It's just so beautiful. So beautiful it needs a guitar."
The wind dances to these sounds
The reason and the consequences of this distance
To begin a punishment and a penance
This light accidentally disappears now...**
Naruto's patchwork Japanese rang through the stairwell, the first lines shy and quivering like a virgin at her wedding bed: pure and afraid and on the edge of something too great to fathom. The notes carried through the metal of the door and found its way to Sasuke's ears, burrowing into his heart like a parasite and sucking from him all of his resolve. He caved like a bag of bones and skin on the ground, his back to the door, his mind clutching to the melody as if it were sanity. The familiarity of the song comforted him, the chords old-time lovers to his fingers, the imprints of the strings friends to his nights.
A sound that rings frailly
The tears and this voice...a deep end
The mind confuses even the heart...
“Falling to the death”
And then Naruto's voice became strong and sturdy, long notes laden with vibrato filling the air. And Sasuke followed that voice with his heart, tracing the line of notes, his own breath hitching when the melody flew a stray high note burning like a star. He listened to the drag of the long notes, finding comfort in the consistancy of Naruto's singing. It was that consistancy that made Sasuke rise to his feet, albeit unsteadily, and walk grimly to his closet. His fingers grasped the neck of the guitar and he lifted the small amp from the back, dragging the myriad of cords behind him like the train of a wedding gown.
Taking advantage of this voice...you smile whispering
Feelings that leave, wilting of rivalries
Chilling this voice and these thoughts that I believed were right
Making me fall
And he fell into line with the limping notes, surprising himself how easily the sounds came to him, how natural the combination between his strings and Naruto's voice seemed. It surprised him how good it felt, how it felt like he was melting into his place next to Naruto, like he had always belonged there. How he was slowly opening, and, for once, he didn't seem to be afraid.
The leaves of the trees die, falling subtly….
Screaming with this voice that scatters them…in this deep darkness
“To keep on believing.”
Naruto smiled as he heard Sasuke fall into place with him, the mash of voice and instrument in perfect harmony. He marveled at the sound of the guitar, the notes floating to him like clouds. Effortless. Beautiful.
Depressing...depressing...
I’m sinking into this deep darkness...
Falling into a bottomless hole, just a body that died...
Sasuke opened the door, his right hand grasping the guitar firmly by the neck, the cords pooling at his feet. Naruto gave him a soft smile, a real smile, not the advertisement smiles he usually gave, but a genuine smile.
"You sang the words all wrong," whispered Sasuke, his words lacking edge. "Don't butcher Japanese like that."
And Naruto just laughed. A bright, ringing laugh that circled like halos.
* I really don't know much about guitars so I had to look up information from wikipedia @_@. This is Kaoru's guitar link, and I thought that it looked awesome hahaha.
** Naruto is singing in Japanese...but that'd be sort of boring to write out for everyone since most don't speak Japanese fluently...so I put up the translation instead. Translation thanks to fukai_no_yami who first translated it to Spanish and to deepblack who translated the Spanish to English XD.
Pairing: SasuNaru
Genre: AU, Multichap, Angst
Rating: Eventual R or NC-17
Summary: Naruto is a young high school student with a passion for music. From Bob Dylan to Sex Pistols to Elliott Smith, he buries himself deeper and deeper his records with every passing day. Head in the clouds, he dreams of forming a rock band of his own. Enter Sasuke, a rigid transfer student with a knack for composition. Although trained classically, he holds an untold love for rock and roll. While their love for rock n' roll brings them together, will their passions also tear them apart?
Disclaimer: Naruto characters belong to Kishimoto. Lyrics featured, unless otherwise noted, belong to their respectful artists (usually mentioned somewhere in the story).
Warning: Only imaginary people can smoke! Do not smoke! I am not glamorizing smoking! Everyone I know who has gotten hooked on cigarettes is trying to quit or has quit already! It makes you ugly and yellow up your teeth! Only in imaginary worlds does this not happen! In addition to NO SMOKING, also don't DRINK (especially if you're underage) or have anonymous sex.
Comments: I updated twice in a month! The world is ending!
Songs: This time is a jrock song, which, I felt that since they still had Japanese names...it's just natural for them to at some point be interested in jrock. This song is by Gilgamesh/Girugamesh and is called "Fukai no Yami" and it's from their album 13's Reborn. It's a great song so check it out! Please delete mp3s in 48 hours! Support the artists!
Previous Chapters:
part i
part ii
part iii
part iv
part v
* * * * * *
Cracks in the Sidewalk
part vi
* * * * * *
Sasuke was smoking a cigarette on the balcony when he saw a shivering Naruto run, sopping wet, into his apartment complex, the sloshing of the boy's shoes audible even from the fourth floor. He closed his eyes and exhaled, a dragon of smoke uncurling from his lungs. He opened his eyes and saw the dissipating apparition before him, the wreath fluttering like wings before fading into oblivion. Sasuke could hear the slap-slap of Narutos feet and the squeak-squeak of his rubber soles on the stairs. He could feel the rasp-rasp of the blond's breath as the cold trembled through his body and the puff-puff of his breath as blood raced through his warm veins.
Sasuke had only known Naruto for a few days, but he already knew many things about the boy. He knew the ghost-traces of his eyes as he looked at the stars at night and the bright-crushes of his cheeks as the discs whirled in the machines. He knew the gasp-groan of his voice as he trembled under his hands and the writhe-squirm of his body as he carved whispers into the soft ginger of his skin. He knew the wheeze-moan of his soft snore in the moonless night and the mumble-scream of his bottomless sleep. But there were some things that Sasuke didn't know about Naruto. He didn't know the grimace-smile of his lips that came with every stolen umbrella on a rainy day and the clench-clatter of his jaws as he punched the wall in grating frustration. He didn't know about the scar-tattoo that marked him like an unholy stigma at night and about the black-blue quality of his voice as he sang his own lullabies before bed.
He puffed one last time on the cigarette before a thunderous banging resounded through the apartment. He sighed and tossed the rest of the cigarette into the muddy rain. Another round of knocking rocked the apartment, forcing Sasuke into an irritated expression, his eyes narrowing, his lips pursed.
"I'm coming!" he shouted through the impatient ruckus. He crossed his living room and opened the door, revealing a dripping Naruto glaring at him through a mess of limp hair.
"You look like shit," said Sasuke, without hint of wanting to help the boy at all. If anything, his tone suggested that Naruto should stay as far from his carpeting as possible. The blond glowered at him and pushed past him, taking liberties to track mud over the carpet and plopping with a satisfied sigh onto the expensive couch. Sasuke frowned at the property damage, but quietly accepted the wet boy who was slowly seeping rainwater into his cushions.
"Why weren't you at school?" asked Naruto, shaking some of the rain from his hair, splattering the television screen with a million droplets. Sasuke grimaced and moved to the kitchen to retrieve a towel. "There was a new kid today."
"What's that got to do with me?" bit back Sasuke as he threw the cloth at Naruto's head, the bundle hitting the blond squarely in the temple. Naruto scrunched his face and shot the brunette a sour expression before slinging the towel over his head.
"He's totally cool!" babbled Naruto as he removed his ruined shoes. "He looks like Sid Vicious from the Sex Pistols! Or a Japanese rocker!"
"So he's a freak," replied Sasuke flatly, rolling his eyes. He made his way to his closet to find dry clothes for the boy, hoping that it would make the blond stop mucking around his furniture, trailing water and dirt everywhere.
"He is not!" retorted Naruto as he followed Sasuke into the bedroom, leaving a path of smudges and drips behind him. "He's a bassist!"
"A 'bastard'?" said Sasuke, raising an eyebrow. He emerged from his closet holding a pair of old shorts and a t-shirt. "Put these on before you destroy my apartment."
"Not a 'bastard,' you bastard," shouted Naruto, snatching the clothes from the boy. "A bassist!"
"So?" replied the boy emotionlessly, turning to leave. He closed his eyes as he shut the door behind him and leaned heavily against the slab of wood. He heaved a long sigh.
"I can start a band!" exclaimed Naruto through the door. Sasuke could hear the fumbling of cloth and images of bare flesh immediately flooded back to him.
"You can't start a band with just a bassist and a vocalist," shouted Sasuke, grimacing as he heard something fall inside his bedroom. It seemed that noise followed the blond everywhere. And yet, as harsh as the sounds often were, they were strangely comforting, oddly human, and bizarrely compassionate.
"This shirt is too small!" called Naruto from behind the door. "What the fuck is this? Something you wore in elementary school?"
"Small clothes for small people," replied Sasuke cooly.
"Screw you! I'm going to grow eventually!" screamed the blond. "I'm going to find another shirt!"
A rush of adrenaline coursed through Sasuke's body at those words and he immediately rushed into the room, uncaring of sunshine hair or ocean eyes or billboard smiles. He stumbled over a lamp that Naruto had knocked over and growled at the other boy, nearly lunging at the body half-buried in the closet. "Get away from there!"
The two of them fell into an odd tangle of Calvin Klein, Prada, Ralph Lauren, rain-scented hair, clumsy fingers, baited breath, and a knot of cords dressing them both like a Christmas present. Naruto winced as he knocked his head against something hard and bulky, his scalp resting on a knob-like object. Turning his head, he found himself staring at the strangest-looking guitar he had ever seen. The edges of the polished wood seemed to leave themselves in jagged edges instead of the usual smooth and sensual curve. The body of the instrument swept up in a flame-like movement and curled over itself all at once like the caricature of a hellish grin. The neck extended nobly from the infernal sweeps of the body, tall and stern, like the neck of a noblewoman dressed in pearls. And at the very top of the headstock, a star-like spiral crowned the instrument like a holiday ornament sitting smugly at the tip.* Naruto caught himself gaping at the guitar, completely dumbfounded.
"I-is that a guitar?" he asked, his voice just barely above a whisper. He groaned as the small amp bit into his head ruefully.
"Get out," grounded Sasuke through clenched teeth. "Get the fuck out." He jumped to his feet in one fluid sweep of his body and hauled the blond boy up with a brutal tug. Naruto gave a surprised yelp as he found himself barefoot and shirtless and being pushed out the door. He collided harshly into a wall before being shoved even further down the narrow hallway, bumping into corners and edges.
"W-wait!" shouted Naruto as he rushed to avoid the frantic actions of the other boy. "You play the guitar?"
"None of your goddamn business," roared Sasuke as he continued to drive the other boy out with his pushes, uncaring of the soft flesh that be scratched beneath his fingernails.
"Is that what you bought the pick for?" asked Naruto as he danced away from Sasuke's grip, his feet carrying him through the living room, his body shielding itself with a coffee table. But Sasuke only kept stalking the other boy down, intent on driving those blue eyes from his home.
"I said, none of your goddamn business!" hollered Sasuke as he grabbed the smaller boy by the arm and dragged him to the door. The blond protested at the bruising grip, biting and scratching the black-haired boy, inflicting red welts on snow-white skin.
"Why don't you play?" asked Naruto desperately, clinging to the door frame, his fingers in danger of being smashed. "Why don't you play for me?"
"The same reason why you don't sing," growled Sasuke as he slammed the door loudly, leaving the boy just enough time to withdraw his fingers.
* * * * * *
"Hey Gaara," said Naruto as he let his backpack fall heavily onto the plastic seat. He grimaced as the straps ground against the red scratches covering his arms. He shivered under the artificial draft of the school and collapsed like lead into the chair. Droplets of water rolled down the delicate curves of his face, the bridge of his nose, the pout of his mouth. A band-aid clung to his cheekbone miserably, already peeling off from the rain still in the air. His clothes were drenched in the cold autumn rain, clinging to his body heavy and gushing with water. Naruto flashed Gaara a weak smile. "What's up?"
"What happened to you?" replied Gaara, giving the boy a disapproving once-over with his slicing green eyes. His voice was blunt and cold, like a butte knife sawing through skin. Slow, messy, but ultimately sickeningly enjoyable. It made many people look at him with trembling eyes.
"Nothing," said Naruto through the water that dripped from his spiked lashes. He blinked so that he could see, ignoring the sting of acidic rain. "Just lost my umbrella, that's all."
"It got stolen from you?" prompted the redhead with a roll of his eyes. "You're weak, letting people do that to you."
"Hey! Shut up!" shouted Naruto defensively. He gripped at the soggy hem of his shirt and twisted, letting a stream of water free onto the floor. "I said I lost it, okay? That's the truth!" His blue eyes were down, unable to meet Gaara's.
"I'm not a dumbass, Uzumaki," snapped Gaara, his voice biting, warning. He glared at the other boy. "I see how everyone looks at you. Looks at us."
"Yeah, well what are you going to do about it?" challenged Naruto with a hiss, his face flushed in anger. His head snapped up to meet Gaara's stone gaze, fire burning through the cold layers of his skin.
"I'll beat them all up," replied Gaara calmly. "I'll kill anyone who tries to hurt me."
"And what about the people who want to be your friends?" asked Naruto, his eyes softening. "What are you going to do about that?"
Gaara didn't answer, just continued to blink at Naruto through his stone mask, his face never changing, his eyes never really reacting. He sat still as a statue just looking at the blond, studying his small features, his strong eyes, and his firm mouth. They didn't speak for the remainder of the class, opting instead to sit in a vibrant silence colored with quiet pondering. The teacher droned and students nodded in and out of consciousness. The tap-tap of chalk filled the room as students scribbled and doodled memories onto papers. And then the bell rang, and the room was thrown into a hum of shifting fabrics, chattering girls, rowdy boys, and the scrape of chairs against floors.
"Hey, Gaara," said Naruto, picking up his book bag. "Let me hear you play the bass sometime, okay?"
* * * * * *
"Sasuke!" shouted Naruto has he banged his fist on the metal door, the sound filling the entire stairwell. "Sasuke! Open up!"
Sasuke groaned at the bright voice ringing through the air, the blond's shouts giving him a headache. He clenched his fingers and remembered the horror of the other boy finding the guitar in his closet, the shock of another creature knowing his secrets, knowing his mind. The thing was a gift from his brother, a rare, custom-made Ganesa modeled after the one Kaoru of Dir en Grey owned*. He remembered loving his brother after receiving the thing, being unable to stop running his hands over the curves of the instrument, being powerless to stop strumming the delicate strings. He remembered spending dark nights improvising while his parents slept, sitting in his closet, hiding from the servants. He remembered running through the house with the guitar after his parents had left for business, playing it in the foyer for the first time and listening with glee to the notes bouncing from the walls. And he remembered those bitter times where he was cooped up like a pig in his room, playing dead and muted chords as he counted the hours for his parents to sleep or die. But mostly he remembered the withering inside him as time passed, as the foyer became not-enough, as the waiting became unbearable, as the instrument became an enemy to his sanity.
"Sasuke, I can see your feet from under the door!" screamed Naruto, still banging on the door. "I know you're home!"
Silence. Sasuke didn't offer anything.
"Sasuke, if you play, I'll sing," said Naruto breathlessly. "'Cause I know you really want to. You really want to play."
Silence. Sasuke didn't have anything to offer.
"And I really want to sing too."
Silence. Sasuke didn't know what to offer.
"And," continued Naruto quietly, "I don't know what this song means, but I know that you know Japanese."
Silence. Just silence.
"A-and," he was stumbling over the sounds now for reasons even he didn't know, "there's this part that's just... It's just so beautiful. So beautiful it needs a guitar."
The wind dances to these sounds
The reason and the consequences of this distance
To begin a punishment and a penance
This light accidentally disappears now...**
Naruto's patchwork Japanese rang through the stairwell, the first lines shy and quivering like a virgin at her wedding bed: pure and afraid and on the edge of something too great to fathom. The notes carried through the metal of the door and found its way to Sasuke's ears, burrowing into his heart like a parasite and sucking from him all of his resolve. He caved like a bag of bones and skin on the ground, his back to the door, his mind clutching to the melody as if it were sanity. The familiarity of the song comforted him, the chords old-time lovers to his fingers, the imprints of the strings friends to his nights.
A sound that rings frailly
The tears and this voice...a deep end
The mind confuses even the heart...
“Falling to the death”
And then Naruto's voice became strong and sturdy, long notes laden with vibrato filling the air. And Sasuke followed that voice with his heart, tracing the line of notes, his own breath hitching when the melody flew a stray high note burning like a star. He listened to the drag of the long notes, finding comfort in the consistancy of Naruto's singing. It was that consistancy that made Sasuke rise to his feet, albeit unsteadily, and walk grimly to his closet. His fingers grasped the neck of the guitar and he lifted the small amp from the back, dragging the myriad of cords behind him like the train of a wedding gown.
Taking advantage of this voice...you smile whispering
Feelings that leave, wilting of rivalries
Chilling this voice and these thoughts that I believed were right
Making me fall
And he fell into line with the limping notes, surprising himself how easily the sounds came to him, how natural the combination between his strings and Naruto's voice seemed. It surprised him how good it felt, how it felt like he was melting into his place next to Naruto, like he had always belonged there. How he was slowly opening, and, for once, he didn't seem to be afraid.
The leaves of the trees die, falling subtly….
Screaming with this voice that scatters them…in this deep darkness
“To keep on believing.”
Naruto smiled as he heard Sasuke fall into place with him, the mash of voice and instrument in perfect harmony. He marveled at the sound of the guitar, the notes floating to him like clouds. Effortless. Beautiful.
Depressing...depressing...
I’m sinking into this deep darkness...
Falling into a bottomless hole, just a body that died...
Sasuke opened the door, his right hand grasping the guitar firmly by the neck, the cords pooling at his feet. Naruto gave him a soft smile, a real smile, not the advertisement smiles he usually gave, but a genuine smile.
"You sang the words all wrong," whispered Sasuke, his words lacking edge. "Don't butcher Japanese like that."
And Naruto just laughed. A bright, ringing laugh that circled like halos.
* I really don't know much about guitars so I had to look up information from wikipedia @_@. This is Kaoru's guitar link, and I thought that it looked awesome hahaha.
** Naruto is singing in Japanese...but that'd be sort of boring to write out for everyone since most don't speak Japanese fluently...so I put up the translation instead. Translation thanks to fukai_no_yami who first translated it to Spanish and to deepblack who translated the Spanish to English XD.