Reprieve

--------------------------------

...So I turn to you my love for the solace that is there
And offer any cherished thing for a slight reprieve
- Solace (Fuel)

--------------------------------

It was a strange thing really, the way the moon played symphonies of light atop the village, shining softly through the windows of its many buildings and onto the slumbering inhabitants. The pale blue silk of its light was like balm for the injured souls, the shadows, a steady reminder of the night, all a mysterious dance of moon and sky like two midnight lovers meeting in slow ecstasy.

In a small, sparse, but comfortable apartment, two dark eyes peered out at the soft night goddess, studying its pearly smoothness, his own pale features surrounded by deep blue hair a reflection in miniature. He watched the way the clouds surrounded her like doting servants and wondered briefly if she were lonely so high atop her pedestal, worshipped, and yet forgotten in the wake of serving her. He reached one hand outwards in appease towards his goddess, and she seemed to caress his fingers with her translucent light. He hadn't forgotten her, not when he understood how she felt. He had always been at home in the night with the moon as his companion. Cradled always within her embrace, he felt safe enough to put away his mask of indifference, and show his true face to the world, without the constant presence of his worshippers to dictate his expression.

He heard the soft counting after a short while, the one other occupant in the room trailing fingers along the rumpled sheets of the bed. He was looking away, into the shadows of the open bedroom door as the boy kneeling by the window turned to regard him, his right hand over his stomach, his left stroking up and down on the sheets as he lay there. He was topless, a grey blanket around his waist, and Sasuke knew that beneath it he was naked. He studied the features of the other boy, for once a blank mask, his golden hair ethereal in the moon's approving glow, like silk and honey. Sasuke watched the deliberate movement of the boy's lips as he recited his numerals from one to ten and then back again, repeating it like a mantra.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke asked, crossing his arms on the windowsill, leaning his head against them. He watched as Naruto's lips stopped moving, his left hand now pulling the sheets into bunches, twisting them into little hills.

"I could ask you the same thing." Naruto said, uncharacteristically quiet and pensive. Sasuke sighed, his heart clenching. He had been hoping against hope that the results wouldn't turn out like this. Why did it have to be this way?

"Giving my regards to the moon," Sasuke replied, gauging Naruto for response. On seeing none, he continued, "Why were you counting?"

Naruto's hand stilled against the sheets, and his other hand took up a light stroke around his navel, tracing the pattern surrounding it by memory. They were both quiet this night, speaking in hushed voices as if afraid of cracking the strange stillness that had settled over them. Naruto's response was nearly inaudible and Sasuke had to strain to hear it.

"I'm waiting to wake up," he said, and Sasuke nearly felt his heart shatter. He wanted to scream at the other boy that he was already awake and that what had happened, happened, and there was nothing they could do about it. He wanted to shake him into understanding, but he did not move and he did not speak. His body was frozen in place. Sasuke hadn't meant for things to go this far.

They had been arguing as usual, although the tension between them had been unusually thick earlier that day. The pains and bottled emotions had finally come back to them full force, and clenched teeth and fists clashed in desperation. Their near deadly battle weeks previous, and Sasuke's near consorting with the enemy had put them both on edge, and they had tried to push those emotions aside, but the weight of it was too much to deny. They hadn't been using any jutsu, just pure hand-to-hand sprawl, and Naruto had slipped and Sasuke had caught him, and suddenly they were kissing frantically, trying to devour each other's essence.

It happened in a blur, one minute they were in a clearing, midforest, the next they were within Sasuke's bedroom, time, insignificant somehow and easily forgotten. Naruto had seemed to regain his senses while Sasuke had been clawing at his clothing, and the blonde had shouted at him to stop, but Sasuke couldn't. Nor, really, could Naruto, or he would have easily stopped him on his own. And Sasuke had held him uncomfortably tight, squeezing as if letting go meant death. He had struggled Naruto onto the bed, ripping his own clothes off hurriedly, wanting to feel skin to skin.

They were back to front, on their sides, and Sasuke's hands traced paths along Naruto's body, memorizing what he couldn't see from behind, and it had been sweltering, suffocating, Naruto twisting as if trying to get away and get more at the same time. The blonde's harsh, shuddery pants, his body racking as orgasm gripped him, did not go unnoticed. Sasuke had rolled him onto his back, hooked the boy's knees over his shoulders, and had taken him without mercy, as if he had already drowned himself in a deafening desire. He recalled vividly the way Naruto's hands had spasmed as he released again, and spent Sasuke had collapsed on top of him.

Breathing harshly, he had buried his face into the smaller boy's neck, inhaling his scent like oxygen. He had never felt anything more intense in his entire existence, but Naruto's silent tears told him that somehow, what they'd done had been a mistake, that it had been too soon for both of them. The dark haired boy had rocked him to sleep, his mind whirring over the consequences of their actions, and now, here they were, being bathed by the moonlight.

"You're not asleep," Sasuke said, hoping desperately for something that he knew nothing of, "this isn't a dream..." But Naruto turned away, rolling onto his side and away from Sasuke's measuring gaze. The sheets dragged and Sasuke could see the expanse of the other's back, trailing down to his buttocks and legs, and desperately he wanted, but he wasn't quite sure what. He clenched his fists and offered a silent prayer to the night's lone sentinel before closing his eyes.

"It's alright," the dark haired boy said, a cloud's shadow covering his face, briefly, "when you wake up in the morning, you'll be in your own bed, and nothing will have changed..." He squeezed his eyes against the onslaught of tears, his voice trailing to a whisper. "Tomorrow will continue, and today never happened."

He could feel they way the other's body relaxed, and something cold stabbed at his insides. He could hear the other's breathing slow, eventually, to that of slumber, and knew it would soon be time for him to return the golden boy to where he belonged, but somehow tonight, a strange thing had happened.

Once a prisoner tastes freedom, it is hard for him to ever want to return to captivity, but Sasuke was a patient person. He could wait for it. He would serve his time, offer up his penance and destroy the shackles he called 'brother', and then...

He opened his eyes, and the other boy's form was drenched in moonlight. His final reward. He would teach Naruto, and be taught by him about freedom and happiness and love, and together they'd make their way to eternity. Sasuke smiled and the moon smiled with him, he could go back to the way things were on the outside, but inside he was changed. He gathered Naruto up, his steps heavy with purpose, and headed into the night, while the moon gave him her blessing.

AN: I was reading some really good SasuNaru fiction here on (sorry for the lack of reviews, I still think you guys are amazing), when I was inspired to write this. I originally intended to end it happily rather than with a question mark, but I follow where my fingers take me.