Perdí mi sonrisa (I Lost My Smile)

I lost my smile.

I lost my smile about eight years ago, when I lost everything. My parents, my clan, my life…my brother.

I think Naruto found it. He smiles twice as much as he should. I should know, I'm stuck with him often enough. I know he doesn't have any parents, like me, so why does he smile so much? I wonder how strange he would think I am if I asked for it back. It was mine to start with.

Then again, maybe it was Iruka-sensei who found it. He smiles much more than he used to. He used to grouch a lot around Naruto, but now…it's like he's Naruto's father. That's how he acts. That couldn't make him smile as much as he does. He must have found mine.

I'm blaming them but, in reality, I'd say it was Itachi. He didn't find it though. He stole it, when he stole everything else. I hate him…I try to hate him. The reason he murdered our clan, that can't be all. There has to be more. Has to be. Because he could? No. There must be more. When I find him, he'll tell me, because I will be strong enough to make him. And if he doesn't…well I'm an avenger. I don't think he can give me back my smile though. It's lost.

"Oiii! Sasuke!"

Naruto. Smiling. I pushed off from the bridge railing to meet him. We don't have a mission or training today, both because of the thick snow covering the village. Even so, on my days off I usually find myself in his company. Naruto was blowing his hands and rubbing them together to keep warm. The snow had stopped falling, but it was still below freezing.

"Idiot, why don't you have gloves on?"

He looks surprised for a moment, like he hadn't even considered wearing them, before he shrugged and shoved his hands in the pockets of his jacket.

"I don't own a pair. Hey, Kiba and Lee said we could go tobogganing with them if we catch up to them at the Hokage monument at twelve! I thought that would be fun!"

"Do you not own a watch either? It's past twelve."

Naruto's face fell with disappointment. I sighed.

"Well, the girls invited us ice-skating…"

Well, they had invited me but Naruto was shaking his head anyway.

"No, I passed Shikamaru on the way here. He said they left about an hour ago."

And then I saw it in his eyes. That if he hadn't bothered with me, he could be screaming down the hill with his less sane friends or helping Sakura up every time she slipped. If he hadn't met with me, he could be having fun. It rarely snowed this much in Konoha. We'd be lucky if it hadn't melted by tomorrow morning.

I don't feel like a waste of space too often, but with the way Naruto stared in to the distance wistfully at nothing I could see, that's exactly how I felt. He was missing out on having a blast with his friends. It's not like I had anything exciting in mind when I suggested we hang out. The snow didn't really appeal to me, so it didn't cross my mind that Naruto would want to participate in the winter activities. Genius, I am, apparently.

"You can go find the girls or Kiba and Lee if you want."

His gaze flicked to me before he forced himself to grin. I hate it when he does that. It has the tendency to actually make me feel bad.

"Nah, doesn't matter. Dog Breath and Bushy Brow would have worn away the good snow already, and by the time we got to the rink the girls would have had enough."

I shrugged. He was right.

"Plus I said I'd hang out with you."

Naruto forced a light tone, trying to sound chipper. To me, he just sounded resigned. I felt pretty shit. Sometimes his loyalty is troublesome. But I don't mope over feeling crap, I do something about it. I turned and began along the path that headed back in to the village.

"Come on then."

After a moment he fell in to step beside me.

"Where we going?"

He sounded curious now. I smirked, that was a start.

"Surprise."

He hmphed and we walked in silence until I paused outside a shop in the main street. I nodded, this was the place. I pushed open the door and began searching for what I wanted, Naruto right behind me even though he was complaining.

"Shopping? We're going shopping?! Sasuke, this is really boring!"

I ignored him. He was just whingeing anyway. I stopped. And looked. Perfect. Naruto was too busy complaining still to realise I had what I wanted. When we left the store I handed the bag to Naruto, directing him to our next destination.

"What the hell, bastard! You bought whatever the hell it is! You carry your own goddamn bag!"

I rolled my eyes as the bag was thrust back in to my hands, and shoved it back at him.

"It's for you, idiot."

"…Huh?"

We kept walking as he delved in to the bag. He wasn't saying anything. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye but almost stumbled when he grabbed me around the neck in a short one-armed hug. I pushed him off with a smirk.

"You like them then?"

His smile threatened to split his face in half as he held his hands up, happily admiring his new gloves. Black with orange fingers. I knew they were made for him as soon as I spotted them. No one else would wear them.

"Sasuke-"

"Come on."

I didn't want him to thank me. Though I did wonder if this was the first gift he had ever received. I couldn't remember him getting presents on any holidays at the Academy. They were only gloves, not anything fancy or expensive. But with the way he was smiling they could've been made of golden silk.

"Where are we going?"

I stopped and looked around.

"Here."

"Here?"

I nodded. We were back where we started, a small clearing beside our usual meeting place. The grass was covered in fairly deep snow still, though it was beginning to melt in the midday sun. I flopped on my back, moving my arms and legs up and down, open and closed. It's been years since I've done this.

"What in the hell are you doing, Sasuke?"

I glanced at Naruto and felt my lips quirk at his confused and amused expression. I climbed to my feet carefully, not wanting to ruin my work, and stepped out of the image.

"Wow! That's cool! It looks just like an angel! I wanna try!"

He flopped in the snow, flicking up a light cloud of soft snow specks as he moved his arms and legs furiously. He jumped up and admired his work with a loud whoop, bellyflopping in the snow again to make another. And another. God help me, I've made a monster. I shook the white flecks out of my hair, remembering why I didn't make snow angels often as my hair felt uncomfortably cold and soggy.

SMACK.

"What the hell, Naruto?!"

I glared at him but he merely laughed, unaffected, as he moulded a second snowball in his palms. I narrowed my eyes. This meant war. I ducked, grabbing handfuls of snow as Naruto's snowball sailed past. I threw mine while he seemed distracted making another, but he dodged it easily. I smirked as I moulded some more snow in my hands, preparing to throw.

"Sharingan!"

"Hey! No fair, bastard! That's chea-"

I chuckled as my snowball hit its mark, knocking Naruto off balance as well as giving him a faceful of ice. After that our snowball fight escalated, but of course I won. Perhaps Sharingan was a slightly unfair advantage. We sprawled beneath a tree an hour later, tired and a little breathless from our fight. It had been a while since I felt light like this. Since I had fun. Maybe the snow isn't so bad. I glanced at Naruto, and was taken aback to meet his smiling gaze. He sighed and closed his eyes, still smiling as he halfheartedly made a snow angel where he lay.

"Today's been fun, Sasuke."

I felt even lighter.

Sure, I may have lost my smile. But if Naruto is happy, he smiles for the both of us.