Rain battered the room's windows, and the darkness was sometimes illuminated by a flash of lightning. The thunder that followed was loud enough to make the windows clatter in their frames.
Perfect weather for Kirin, Sasuke thought.
He lay on his bed and stared numbly outside, counting the seconds between the lightning and the thunder. His whole body was a mass of pain, and the headache still hadn't eased. He could feel how swollen his face still was.
But the worst, definitely the worst, was Sasuke's left arm. Or what remained of it, anyway. He'd broken bones, gotten badly beat up, stabbed through his heart, and the agonizing, endless pain in the stump… No matter how he tried to position himself, the pain didn't get any better. It was insistent, throbbing pain, accompanied by the weird sense that his arm still was there.
When Sasuke tried to move his fingers, it only sent another stab of pain up to his shoulder. What remained from his arm ended at the elbow—everything below it had pretty much disintegrated. He truly didn't have half of his arm left. It was a terrifying thought for a shinobi, whose entire life depended on the body working as it was supposed to.
Sasuke had the vague memory that someone had spoken something about prosthetics, but he'd been too distracted to pay much attention to it. His chakra was still lower than it had ever been, and he'd been forced to close his left eye—the Rinnegan was powerful, but it had also been badly over-used and felt sensitive. Sasuke could have asked for an eye patch, but he hadn't spoken anything to anyone else than Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi. He still wasn't quite sure if he hadn't died after all.
If the pain was any indication, he was definitely alive.
Sasuke wasn't even restrained. He didn't have a single chakra seal anywhere on his body. He was, pretty much, Konoha's most searched criminal/terrorist, and there he was, sleeping in a hospital bed like whoever else would have, sharing the room with Konoha's most celebrated hero.
Naruto had passed out the second he'd gone to bed, but that hadn't been surprising. He had always been like that—asleep in seconds once he laid his head on the pillow. He had complained vocally about the pain all the way from the battle site to Konoha, where they had been brought to the hospital.
Funnily enough, neither of them had suffered any bad injuries, save for their exploded arms. They were bruised and exhausted, sure. That was the physical side, though.
It was the psychological side that was a bit more difficult.
Naruto had still been asleep when Sasuke had gotten his first panic attack. It had only been a lucky break Sakura had been finishing up with his arm, and she'd seen instantly how Sasuke had started to breathe faster, how he'd started to tremble.
Sasuke didn't even remember anything he'd thought at that moment, but the panic had completely emptied his brain of anything else.
Sakura hadn't asked anything. She hadn't scolded him. She'd only sat down on a chair beside his bed, taken his only hand in hers and told him to look her in the eyes and follow her words. Sasuke had, and after an agonizingly long moment, the panic had settled.
Sasuke had done so much terrible things to her. He had been fully intent on killing her, because she'd been in his way. She'd represented that part of his life he had wanted so badly to forget.
"It's okay, Sasuke-kun," Sakura had whispered. "It'll be okay."
Sasuke had thanked her quietly, and after giving him a quick kiss on the cheek, she had left.
Sasuke wanted to sleep, he closed his right eye too and tried to will himself into slumber, but every time he did, the flashbacks flooded his mind, strong enough to force him to open his eyes again. He couldn't think of Itachi, yet he did anyway, and most of the night he kept staring outside, soundless tears falling on his cheeks, a grief in his heart that was so heavy he doubted he could ever be free from it.
Things had changed so quickly. Too quickly. Sasuke had learned so many new things about his clan and about his brother that it was all a jumbled mess in his head. He was still angry and bitter at Konoha. He couldn't understand how Itachi had agreed to do all of that and how the government had allowed, even encouraged it.
From all the shitty things he'd done, he still didn't regret what had happened with Danzo. He wasn't sure he could have gone on if that man had continued to live.
Sasuke had been set on destroying the village and everyone in it, the grief and rage completely eating away every other thought from his head.
He didn't feel that now. There was still bitterness and anger, but the dark chasm wasn't there, the chasm he had been trying to drown himself ever since Itachi had spared him alone and told him to hate hate hate—
Sasuke could think more clearly now. He felt lighter, freer, than he had only a while ago. He was ready to face the consequences of his actions.
Naruto had sacrificed so, so much for him, almost died, just to get him back. Naruto had never given up. He'd always believed that he'd get Sasuke back home—he'd always believed in that speck of light still left in Sasuke's darkness. And then, finally, Naruto had found that light and made it bigger.
Sasuke groaned and sat up on the bed. He was so tired, but he couldn't sleep, at all. He considered if he should find a nurse and ask for a powerful sleeping pill, even though he disliked the idea.
He lowered his bare feet to the cold floor and circled around the curtain that separated his bed from Naruto's.
Naruto was fast asleep, the stump of his right arm carefully bandaged. His face looked terrible—his left eye was bruised and swollen almost shut. He was probably healing slower because Kurama was still sleeping.
Sasuke stood there and just watched. He had to. It was so unbelievable that they were both here, in Konoha, which was still rebuilding after Pain's attack. The war itself hadn't damaged it, which was nothing short of a miracle.
He wondered if the Uchiha District was still there. He wondered if he could bring himself to go there. Just thinking about it made his stomach lurch, so… maybe it was something to be done later.
First Sasuke needed to find someone who could help him sleep or he would go crazy. He walked past Naruto's bed, and right at that moment, the thunder exploded right above the hospital.
Naruto jerked awake with a strangled shout, and Sasuke didn't have enough time to duck back into his bed.
They stared at each other for a long moment, Naruto breathing heavily, his eyes wild, before he woke up more and remembered where he was.
"Ow," Naruto said and gave an annoyed look to his arm. "I didn't expect it would hurt this much. I almost destroyed this hand with Rasenshuriken once, but even that pain was small compared to this." Then he seemed to fully realize who he was talking to, and he jumped into a sitting position. "Wait. Why are you up?"
"I can't sleep," Sasuke muttered. The words bubbled right on his tongue, he wanted to speak them, and if there was someone he should, it was Naruto. "I keep getting too vivid flashbacks every time I close my eyes. The downside of the Sharingan." He laughed darkly.
"I keep seeing my Mom and Dad," Naruto said quietly. "I dreamed about them just now, y'know? How they look like. What they said to me. I never got to know them, properly, but… now that I have, it's almost worse than not knowing anything." He wiped his eyes angrily.
"I know," Sasuke said, barely audibly.
"I understood something back then, when we fought for the first time… but I really didn't understand all of it," Naruto admitted. "To see what I could've had and… then losing it…"
Sasuke's throat felt tight. "Yeah," he whispered.
"It's really storming out there," Naruto laughed hollowly when another lightning flashed and thunder rumbled.
"It is," Sasuke agreed.
An awkward silence fell between them. Sasuke had so much he wanted to say, but at the same time, he wanted to be quiet. He didn't want to speak ever again.
"It will be alright," Naruto said. "I know shit about trials and all that, but… considering how all of us would've died without you, it's pretty safe to assume you'll get a pardon."
Oh, right. The trial. Sasuke had completely forgotten about it. Another thing to get anxious about. He wasn't that worried about the outcome, though—he had decided to face it, and he would. Even if it meant getting sent to prison for the next fifty years. If it meant getting executed.
"They won't kill you," Naruto added.
Sasuke scowled at him.
"I didn't read your thoughts, if that's what you were worried about," Naruto said, rolling his eyes. "I'm not a Yamanaka. It's all over your face. That you're afraid of it."
"I'm not afraid," Sasuke denied instantly, but he couldn't convince himself either. He was afraid. More afraid than he wanted to admit. So he tried to think about everything else than the trial, that he would be forced to see the very same Council members who had sacrificed Itachi without any regrets. He would have to agree to show his mind for the truth, and it terrified him even more.
Naruto smiled sadly at him. "You're allowed to feel like that, Sasuke," he said. "You're allowed to feel like shit, to be unsure. You're allowed to all of it. There's no need to bottle things anymore."
Sasuke's eyes stung. Why did Naruto always say the exact things he needed to hear, even though he didn't really want to?
"Dumbass," he said, his voice cracking.
"Come here, you jerk," Naruto said with a goading grin.
Sasuke moved before he had made a conscious decision to do so. He stopped beside Naruto's bed, to the side with Naruto's left arm.
"Sit," Naruto said patiently.
"I'm not a dog," Sasuke snapped, but bit his lip.
"Would you be so kind and sit down, Sasuke-san?" Naruto said again, cackling.
Sasuke's face went hot but he did sit down at the foot of Naruto's bed, his back against the footboard.
"Are you comfortable there?" Naruto asked him.
"As much as it's possible," Sasuke said. "Did this have a point?"
"Yeah, trying to make us both relax," Naruto said and he covered Sasuke's feet with his blanket. "We don't need to speak. Sometimes just sharing the same space with another person helps a lot."
Naruto's feet were warm against Sasuke. He felt their weight on the bed. Naruto had settled on his back again, but he was peering at Sasuke. "Your arm," he said. "Does it hurt?"
"It does," Sasuke grimaced. "A lot."
Naruto moved his left hand and touched Sasuke's feet under the blanket. There was the smallest burst of chakra that ran up his leg, all the way to the left shoulder and the stump. It eased the pain a bit, but not all of it. "Better?" he said.
Sasuke smiled softly. "Better."
Naruto grinned and closed his eyes. Sasuke sat there, listening to the storm and Naruto's steady breathing, and finally drifted off.
***
Sasuke woke up early in the morning, his neck stiff and his headache even worse after sleeping in a bad position. The storm had passed and the rising sun was throwing its first rays into the room, painting it in gold.
He slipped out of Naruto's bed and quickly went to his own—he didn't want to be found like that by the nurses (or anyone else, for that matter).
Sasuke napped until the door to the room was slid open.
"Okay, rise and shine, boys," Sakura said cheerfully. Naruto woke up, again, with a strangled noise and then instantly started babbling to Sakura about his stump hurting and his head hurting and that he'd slept very badly.
"Just calm down, I'm about to give you some medicine," Sakura laughed. Then she appeared on the other side of the curtain. "Good morning, Sasuke-kun. How are you feeling?"
"Shitty," Sasuke said curtly. He took the medicine Sakura offered and hoped it would help with his headache.
"Another nurse will bring you breakfast soon," Sakura said as she checked the bandages on Sasuke's arm and then moved on to Naruto's. "Kakashi-sensei and Ibiki-san will come after that."
"Why is that Ibiki guy coming?" Naruto asked, his voice high and alarmed.
"I'm not entirely sure, but it's about Sasuke-kun's trial," Sakura said, and she couldn't completely hide the worried tone from her voice. Sasuke heard her moving again and then the curtain was drawn away, so that Naruto and Sasuke could now see each other.
"You look like crap," Sasuke said.
"So do you," Naruto retorted.
They completely ignored what had happened at night.
After the not-so-good hospital breakfast, Kakashi did come, followed by a tall man, dressed in a long black coat and the headband covering his entire head.
Sasuke's heart jumped. He remembered Ibiki, and he knew what he could do. Sasuke also made another observation, one that he hadn't thought of before: would they throw him in jail until the trial?
"Before I start talking, Naruto has to promise me he'll stay quiet and doesn't interrupt me," Ibiki said gruffly. "I want to get this over with."
"What—" Naruto started.
"There are some matters we need to discuss, and if you want it to go smoothly, you need to pay attention and listen," Kakashi said. He was unusually serious, his dark eyes on Sasuke, and he felt like a genin again. Probably not so surprising, when being so closely scrutinized by one's former teacher.
"It's okay, Naruto," Sasuke said tiredly. "Just let them talk."
Naruto looked like he wanted to argue, but he did close his mouth.
"Uchiha Sasuke," Ibiki said. "You're being accused of acts of terrorism, kidnapping and murdering a high-ranking Konoha official. Your trial is to be held one week from now, where it will be decided what is to be done with you. Do you have any questions?"
"Uh," Sasuke said, swallowing. His mouth was terribly dry, fear making his skin prickly, but he forced the next words out, "Could there be an… screening… from my memories? Just to…" Sasuke shook, he bit his tongue and forced himself to stay calm. "The truth is there," he said quietly.
"We can have a neutral person doing the screening," Kakashi said. "Someone from the Yamanaka, but of course, not Ino."
"Are you sure it's okay, Sasuke?" Naruto demanded. "I mean…"
"It's necessary," Sasuke said tonelessly. If he wanted any mercy, he needed to be honest, and let them get everything from his mind; they would know everything about Itachi, and what Konoha had done to his family.
"Do you agree to be completely chakra-sealed during the screening?" Ibiki asked him. "To show everything as they are?"
Sasuke nodded. "I do."
"Very well," Ibiki said. "I'll arrange it. There's one other thing. Usually you should be put to jail to wait for the trial. However, after talking with Kakashi, I'm willing to give you a chance. Do you agree to stay under house arrest at Uzumaki Naruto's house until your trial?"
Sasuke glanced at Naruto, Naruto glanced back, face flushed from surprise.
"You will have limited freedom of movement and your chakra will be sealed during that time," Kakashi said. "And Naruto will take full responsibility for your actions. If you break your terms, even a little, Naruto will get punished alongside you."
"I agree," Sasuke said without even thinking about it. It was a lot better option than jail.
"Sakura said that you'll be free to leave in the afternoon if there are no setbacks," Kakashi said, his eyes moving between his old students. "If you're ready, Sasuke, Ibiki will seal your chakra now, and you both will sign the agreement for house arrest."
Sasuke didn't even bother asking Naruto's opinion. He already knew it. He could feel his friend's excitement.
"Okay," he said. "I'm ready."
Sealing his chakra didn't feel as horrible as it could've felt, because his reserves were so low. He could see the effect in his left eye, though—its vision dimmed, and it felt like a, well, normal eye. He did feel weirdly empty without chakra thrumming through his veins, but it was only for a week.
Hopefully, only for a week.
Then both he and Naruto signed the papers, and they got permission to leave the hospital once Sakura—or Tsunade—let them go.
"Well," Naruto said after Kakashi and Ibiki left, "We'll be roommates."
"It would seem so," Sasuke said. He felt sick.
The week ahead would be long.