Same Soul • Sasunaru

18. Blind.

Naruto's POV
Parallel Universe. "Earth"
Konoha
Post-4th Shinobi War
Age 18.

Maybe the universe will give us another chance.

•○•○•○•

"S-Sasuke!" I sob, running aimlessly throughout the hallways of the Hidden Leaf's high security prison. My footsteps are loud as the clash among the concrete floor with every step: alarming the other inmates that I pass by. But I can care less about what others think right now; all I need is to see Sasuke. I haven't seen him in almost a year. He was locked up after our last battle with eachother due to his defiance and plan of destruction to the Leaf Village. It pains me everyday to realize how much I hurt him that day--we both lost our arms but he also lost his dignity. I hope that now he can clear his name, and become a better man.

A jonin keeping security measures on Sasuke's solitary prison cell greets me; the flourescent lighting from the ceiling exaggerating the dark circles underneath his eyes. "I will let you in to see him only because of Lord Sixth's request. I understand he was your teammate, but you must take caution. He's dangerous," he warns me, with a genuine glance in his eyes. He removes a set of keys from the loop of his belt and begins to file through them. One he retrieves it, the jonin turns behind him to unlock the cell.

My heart races nervously as he pulls the metal door towards him to reveal a pale, raven-headed boy in a dark and empty room. He has no bed, no chairs, no nothing. He only has the clothes on his back, the bricks surrounding him, and the cool contrete beneath his feet. I clutch my fist tightly to my side in thought of the conditions he's been kept in all this time. Now he sits in the far corner of his cell shivering as he holds his palm onto his head in pain. He's restrained in a beige straitjacket enforced by leather belts wrapped around his arms. His eyes are covered by a black mask tied tightly over his eyes to keep him from using any dojutsu.

I put slowly into the space, and Sasuke doesn't do much as move. The only sense he's allowed to use right now is his hearing, and he's very well taking advantage of it. The jonin guard tells me I have five minutes, and he locks the cell door behind me. I make my way towards Sasuke with hesiance: wondering if he knows it's me. If he knows the sound of my footsteps, if he knows the sound of my breath and the essence of my very presence.

I crouch down on my knees infront of him and I observe him closely. I miss looking into his eyes, yet the mask lets me focus on the lower half of his face. I lean closer; letting my warm breath trickle on his cool skin. In response, he leans back further against the corner of the brick walls in fear of the unknown. "Who's there? State your name," he commands of me. The sound of his smooth deep voice excites me, and makes me content to the point where my whiskers strectch up my face with my wide smile.

I don't want to tell him that it's me: I want him to guess. I lay my hand on his shoulder with care; wishing that I can hold the hands that's packed tightly away underneath his straitjacket. His face remains emotionless to my touch, but the change on his breathing tells me that he's in a mental battle with himself. Eventually he haults his breathing to speak. "Naruto? Is it really you?"

I reach over his body to untie the knot holding the black mask over his eyes. It drops slowly to the floor and reveals a very different pair of eyes: one of them a chocolate brown, the other a purple rinnegan. These eyes are widened in shock and excitement of seeing my face.

The sight of the eyes I've missed so much leads me to hold him in a tight and meaningful embrace. My hug knocks the wind out of him as I slam my face onto his chest and dampen the fabric of the jacket with my tears. He can't hug me back, so instead he rest his head on my shoulder and sits there quietly; his light breathing tickling my ear. "I haven't been able to see in a year...the light burns," he tells me. I push his shoulders away so I can see his face infront of mine. His eyes water from the bright fluorescent lights, and he squints his eyelids to protect his pupils from overexposure.