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Constellations (complete)	By : momhuey8 Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male > Naruto/Sasuke Views: 1362 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 18
- 19
- 20
While Neji sat across the room studying mission reports, Sasuke sat in his usual spot, in a chair by the bed while Naruto slept. He had Naruto’s hand pressed to his cheek and his eyes were closed as he let his chakra wander, placing and identifying residents of Konoha.
Shino and Kiba were together at the training grounds, probably getting in a night spar.
Ino was at her parents’ house and by their placement and mood, were probably sitting around the table playing cards.
He was surprised how many people were home, alone; Kakashi, Tsunade, Iruka, Guy, Lee, Hinata, TenTen, Choji, Shizune, Sai, Shikamaru.
They were lonely.
He sighed in silent gratitude that he was not one of them.
He felt Naruto squeeze his hand.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you,” Sasuke murmured.
“S’okay,” Naruto said, yawning. “Missed you.”
“Mm. Missed you, too.” Sasuke leaned close and rested his hand on an unmarred patch of skin below Naruto’s heart.
Naruto reached for Sasuke’s hand and that’s when he saw the stitches under Sasuke’s sleeve.
Naruto picked up his hand and pulled the sleeve back. Sasuke’s look became mutinous.
“Promise me you won’t do this again.”
“No,” Sasuke said. “This is the last time I start over. I can’t lose everything precious to me again.” He pushed his sleeve back down. “Wherever you go, I go.”
“Sasuke…”
“No. If you want me to stay alive, you have to stay alive.”
The next morning, Tsunade said that she wanted to see Naruto out of the bed. Lying for extended periods was unhealthy she explained, and anyway, they wanted to get clean bedding under their patient.
“Would you like a bath?” Sasuke asked with a glance at Tsunade to make sure this was okay.
“Really? Clean hair, too?” Naruto’s eyes lit.
“Will you help?” Sasuke asked Neji.
“Of course,” Neji bowed.
While Tsunade retrieved buckets and cloths because she didn’t want Naruto’s wounds, especially his leg, immersed, Neji and Sasuke worked to get Naruto out of bed.
Sasuke and Neji let themselves be used as crutches and helped Naruto relieve himself. All three males were panting and leaning on each other by the time they had Naruto naked and settled on a stool in the shower stall, his leg protected from too much moisture.
“I’m so sorry guys. I hate being a pain in the ass.”
“Idiot,” Sasuke said from behind starting to gingerly work lather into Naruto’s hair. He was careful around the many stitches and bumps he felt on Naruto’s scalp, but Naruto was stiff and Sasuke could tell he was holding his breath.
“Look at me,” Neji said from in front of Naruto. “I can take the pain for a time.”
“Neji,” Naruto said. “No, it’s not...”
“I ask that you allow me to do this.” Neji’s voice was humble.
“There’s no need…”
“Do you understand how Byakugan works? This will not harm me in the slightest.”
Naruto looked skeptical. Sasuke stood still behind him, waiting.
“Please. You, both of you, have saved the world. I wish…I need to make some tiny contribution.” Neji looked at Naruto. “I need to help you.”
Naruto was silent a moment, then sighed. “Okay.”
He looked into Neji’s eyes and just as in the battle with Kyuubi, Naruto’s pain disappeared. His body relaxed and his breathing eased.
“Fuck, this is amazing. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“All is well,” Neji answered.
Sasuke worked quickly washing Naruto’s hair and body, rinsing and patting dry around the stitches and contusions. As he worked, he watched Neji. It was clear from Neji’s demeanor that he was now the owner of all Naruto’s pain. Every swipe with a cloth, every brush against the green and yellow swellings dotting his body, caused Neji’s jaw to clench and the muscles in his shoulders to tighten.
Neji finally released Naruto when they had him back in bed, tucked into cool, crisp sheets, his teeth brushed and his hair drying in its usual fluffy mass.
“Ah,” he sighed with a serene smile. “I feel almost human again.” Within minutes he was fast asleep.
Neji moved to his usual place against the wall, and after making sure Naruto was tucked in, Sasuke joined him.
“You lied to Naruto.”
Neji raised a brow. “I would never lie to Naruto.”
“You did. You lied about how Byakugan works.” Sasuke paused. “Okay, you lied by omission. Either way, I know you took his pain into your own body.”
“It is insignificant. I regret that I can’t keep it for him forever.”
“Is it bad?”
Neji nodded. “He has many injuries. Broken ribs, internal injuries, surface wounds. I believe his skull is cracked. And his leg…” Neji shuddered.
Sasuke pushed Neji’s hair back off his cheek. “Thank you.”
The next week, Naruto got another bath and another set of clean sheets. The demon was recovering slowly and it showed as the smaller visible wounds started healing more quickly. He was staying awake for longer stretches and Sasuke had gone home twice more, bringing back the shoji board, a couple of books and a deck of cards to help keep all three teens occupied.
He’d surprised all of them by bringing the box of civilian toys and his heart swelled as he saw the delight on both faces as they discovered the marbles and puzzles and small wooden soldiers contained therein.
By the end of the week, Naruto was sitting in a chair long enough to eat his meals with the other two.
Sasuke was enjoying this cocoon of peace and safety. He had not liked going home these last days. As he’d opened his front door and crossed the threshold, he’d been struck by the tomb-like feel of his own home.
The building had been cold and shadowed, the air stale, the utter silence oppressive. He didn’t know how he’d lived there after his family had been gone, and knew that he could never live there alone again.
It came to him the difference between a house and a home. A house was a pile of wood and nails. A home was…Naruto. This hospital room could be his house, as along he had Naruto there with him.
One of the days, Neji had made arrangements to go to his own apartment for fresh supplies. He’d been more subdued than usual when he returned and Sasuke, in a moment of insight, had imagined that Neji’s apartment was as cold and unwelcoming as the empty building he’d left earlier that morning.
His eyes burned as he thought of the end of this idyll and his new friend returning to his lonely, utilitarian structure, alone. It made him ache to think of Neji joining the ranks of Konoha’s lonely.
It was dark and Neji and Sasuke were sitting side by side leaning against the wall. Neji’s eyes were closed; Sasuke was studying him.
“I wonder why Uchihas didn’t opt to use a seal like Hyuuga.” Sasuke knew Neji was awake.
“I don’t know. I suppose for the same reason they didn’t move to a class structure as Hyuuga did.”
“It seems wrong.”
“We are taught that it is for the protection of the individual, the clan and the village.”
Sasuke looked doubtful.
“In the event of capture, this can save us from prolonged torture at the hands of an enemy,” Neji said. “It prevents a weaker being from divulging important information that could endanger the whole clan. Or Konoha.”
“Maybe,” Sasuke said. “I just can’t imagine doing that to a family member.”
“It is not employed lightly. In my lifetime, it has only been used once.”
Sasuke looked at him.
“My father.”
“I’m sorry.”
The two sat in silence for a while.
“Can I see it? See how it works? Inside?”
“Of course,” Neji answered.
A few minutes later, Sasuke was standing in Neji’s mind. He was struck by the absolute serenity he found there. The pathways were organized and uncluttered. It was quiet and utterly still.
The seal was a large presence in Neji’s mind. It was a thick strand from some external source to the brain stem. Sasuke could easily imagine the right pulse of chakra could act as a quick and, probably, painless, execution. Or an excruciating torture.
It made Sasuke sick to his stomach. He loathed the notion of anyone trying to control him on any level and he felt that each day he managed to survive the things life threw at him gave him the right to fight for his existence to the best of his ability. The idea of someone taking away his right to fight and overcome appalled him.
Finally he pulled out of Neji’s mind.
“Your mind is the most remarkable thing.”
“Indeed?”
“Yeah. It’s like…being underwater. I’ve been in monasteries that weren’t as tranquil and peaceful. It’s very…restful.”
Sasuke smirked.
“I’ve tried to provoke you a couple of times and figured you were trying to infuriate me by not rising to it.”
Neji’s lips twitched. “And now?”
“You just don’t get angry, do you?”
“Not too often.”
“Does that extend to pleasure and happiness also? No extremes of any kind?”
Neji’s face fell. “I…I don’t know.”
- 18
- 19
- 20
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Constellations (complete)