Stay right there:

Will you take me back?

Uchiha Sasuke lived underground for a whole year. The sunlight hadn't touched his skin and he craved for the endless blue above, the wisps of curly white softness, and the sweetness of the air. He did not dare go outside, for he knew that if he stepped out for a minute he might not come back, because he didn't want to stay in the ugliness that was the Sound. The dull ache in his chest, the whispered memory of pink and yellow, some gray thrown in the mixture.

…

He would beg sleep to take him away whenever the voice of a certain blonde asked him to come back. Every night and every waking hour he heard it. He heard it in himself.

…

He heard it when Naruto came to take him back. The blue eyes pleaded and he would drown in his misery. There was no way he could ever go back, not while a certain evil still walked the Earth…. and not after what he has done. He had left what was precious to him behind.

-Even if he wanted it more than he wanted the sun and the sky and the air, more than he wanted revenge.

There was no turning back.

…

There was the instance Naruto fell into the Lair and broke his leg while searching for an entrance to sneak in. Sasuke took care of him for a month. Taking the opportunity to enjoy the brilliant blue that put the sky to shame.

But even though Naruto smiled and laughed softly with him.

Sasuke never said a word.

Naruto healed fast but broken bones were not easy to fix. The blonde never once complained about the circumstance and never answered to the occasional searching voices above their heads. Sakura and other ninjas walked and searched for the missing ninja, mourning the fact that they have lost a member of their village once again.

Not once did Sasuke react when Naruto caressed his hair discreetly, while the Uchiha helped him around. The blonde lingered with his arm around his Best friend's shoulder, and pretended to lean against the pale Shinobi as if his leg hurt too much to stand on. His whiskered cheek rubbed against soft black locks, occasionally a pale cheek, that had started to dust with pink.

And Sasuke let him.

Even though he knew Naruto's leg was already healed.

….

Sasuke hated the loneliness, the echoes of his heartbeats and stiffening darkness. Naruto brightened the room; he warmed him as he wrapped his tan arms around him. The Uchiha pretended he didn't notice when the blonde curled beside him while he slept, only sneaking away when he thought Sasuke was about to wake up.

During that month, Sasuke felt a smile tug at his lips for the first time in a year. Naruto snuck hugs between fake groans of pain.

Apparently his healed leg hurt even more when Sasuke was not around to help him move.

Sasuke didn't mention that he knew. And that Naruto could easily use a clone justu to help himself.

Because Sasuke loved to be in the brilliance that was Naruto's presence.

He was like the Sun his heart much yearned to be bask in its warmth.

….

Training with the Snake-Sennin was unbearable. Hateful insults and curses threatened to escape his pink lips as it stacked over each other in his throat. The sennin pushed him to the limit; he pushed him to where he feared he would not return. His heart wanted to go back to his quarter and sit with Naruto, even if he never spoke a word. He would just listen to the blonde talk nonsense and laugh at his own jokes, enjoying himself.

The pair noticed the missing steps of the usual search groups making their rounds. The yells for Naruto jut stopped coming.

It was as if their entire time spent together was pretended. Because broken legs didn't take a year to mend. But Sasuke's heart did.

His heart was mended and his wounds almost disappeared. Who would have guessed only time with Naruto would heal his past.

Revenge receded in the priority line. It stood second for the first time in Sasuke's life.

Finally, something else mattered.

….

Naruto held his hand, his grip tightening in comfort as they walked quietly out of the lair.

The blonde was not taking him home; he was taking him to a new place.

A place where they could start over. Where their names wouldn't be the traitor and the demon.

With the bandage that Sasuke wrapped around his not-so-injured leg Naruto led the way.

Sasuke agreed to go. He was done and he was ready to begin, because Naruto was there. And Naruto was the air he needed.