[the silver lining.]

His question was a valid one, but would he appreciate the answer? He could easily fabricate a lie, saying that he felt a debt to the other. In a way that would not be a complete lie either. When they had first met, they had the same wish. They wanted to kill those who had made them suffer through the pain known as loneliness, they wanted power and would do anything to get it. They walked the same roads, just as Gaara and Naruto had.

In the end he chose to walk with his fellow Jinchūriki. By then he had treaded through the darkness for so long that he understood Sasuke far more than he did Naruto. He had to work harder, and prove he was not a blood thirsty monster. He was still proving it now too, and until he righted all the wrongs he had committed in the past, he knew that his own inner demons would devour him alive.

Thus, he understood what the other was going through. He did not know what it was like to lose one’s entire clan, but he was well aware of what it felt like to live through a crushing lie. To spend years believing one thing only to be told the truth years later. The effect could be crushing. It had been enough to bring Gaara to tears when he learned his truth, so he could only imagine how Sasuke had felt.

“At first I had done it for Naruto.” He confessed. “He had spent the last few years trying to bring you back here. I wanted to give one last attempt to bring you back on his behalf.” He closed his eyes for a moment, as if thinking. “But you and I are truly alike. We know similar pain, and while I do not know how I could have ended yours, I had hoped that I would have been able to show you the light, as Naruto had for me.” His eyes reopened, and he gave a small circular gesture with his hand. “I could have very well been on the same path as you if Naruto did not acknowledge my existence. It is because of that, that I thought i could have helped you.”

Sasuke’s expression remained detached, though he was paying very close attention to each word the sand ninja spoke. The answer had both been expected and unexpected—he had thought that Naruto had been a part of it, for sure, but for Gaara to have seen himself in Sasuke…

He could understand, but somehow it still surprised him. His hands slid from his pockets, his arms lifting to cross over his chest as he took it all in.  

The redhead had said they shared similar pain. While Sasuke did not know the full details, he remembered enough from his time before his defection to get the gist of it.

Sasuke felt something like guilt churn in his stomach, unwelcome and familiar as it made itself at home.

“Naruto’s a stubborn idiot,” he said at last, tone quiet—calm. “… But so am I, I guess.”

A self-deriding snort left him, trailed by several moments of contemplative silence. He weighed the words on his tongue before speaking, swallowing subtly—whether it was the guilt or his pride, he still wasn’t sure.

“… Thank you.” He offered finally, looking anywhere but at the Kazekage. He always did have an issue looking someone in the eye with these things.

Keeping my back turned has always been much easier.

[the silver lining.]

There was one thing still within his eyes that made Gaara want to be on the defensive. Even though he was very tamed by now, there were still sparks of hate or something very close to it. Gaara himself had his own layer of hate he suppressed. Everyone was permitted to have their demons, but Sauske was one that had given in to that turmoil. He could very easily fall into it again.

As far as he could tell he was still very isolated. He did not know how the village was taking to him being back, but the loneliness he could feel was surrounding the young avenger. Gaara would not be able to help much, though Naruto was probably going to attach to Sasuke’s hip until he had it drilled into his head that he had friends and comrades that were worth caring for.

It was something that the blond was known for. He could change a person from one encounter. If it had not been for him, Gaara knew that the Akatsuki would have left him for dead once Shukaku was extracted. No one would have cared, and Gaara’s existence would have faded. But Naruto proved to give Gaara what he had been denied the night Yashamaru destroyed his childhood. Had Naruto not given him the sliver of silver lighting, he would have fallen into eternal darkness long ago.

Now that he was on the road to light, he was becoming an even stronger shinobi. His will out-powered the Ichibi, he beat his father, and created bonds with people beyond himself that solidified his existence far more than killing ever had. Sure he did not understand half the relationships he was putting himself into but did that matter? He was still emotionally inept and socially awkward, though he could still carry on personal conversations, even if it did show every once in a while.

“I see.” came his quiet response. “I will not keep you.” He turned his body ever so slightly, gesturing with his arm. He did not know what more he ought to say to the sole survivor of the Uchiha Clan. This truly was an awkward exchange, even if it was a civil one.

The situation was growing more awkward by the moment, and Sasuke wasn’t sure if it was because they were both quite talentless in this area or if it was just because it was him being spoken to.

People often didn’t know what to say to him, these days—didn’t know how to try. The only ones who didn’t give up on him were the stubborn idiots who had never stopped chasing his shadows. They would have chased him till the end; he knew this, though to whose end he wasn’t sure.

And even then, he didn’t want to know. He was still readjusting, and while he hadn’t gotten as far as he could of overtime or done as much as he could of to improve things, he found that at the end of it, this place—this village…

It was still his home. He had nowhere else to run to.

Even if he did—did he want to? Would he leave if he could?

No, he realized. For as much as this village owed to him, he owed them back in equal measures. This peace was what Itachi had laid his life down for—this harmony that his little brother could thrive and grow in.

Who was he to throw that away?

He came back to attention when Gaara spoke to him again, the offered dismissal tempting and unsurprising. But, his train of thoughts had reminded him of something—of the summit, and the kage’s words.

“Gaara,” he said suddenly, voice steady despite the unsure undertones that layered his words. “Back then. Why did you try to help me?”

1) Give me a pairing.

2) Give me an AU setting.

3) I will write you a three-sentence fic.

[the silver lining.]

A brush of wind swept through the Kazekage’s hair as he watched the other begin to advance. One arm uncrossed itself and tucked a few stray hairs behind his ear, his expression never changing. His bright sea foam orbs stayed on the onyx of the Uchiha, searching them for any signs of ill intent.

The need for power was still there, the loneliness had yet to be completely diminished. They still had the same eyes and now it seemed like they were both attempting to fill their depths with the silver lining Gaara knew had to exist. While the younger needed to have the sense beaten into him, Sasuke had done it all on his own. He searched and prodded for information until he came to his own conclusion. While Gaara did not approve of his methods, in the end it turned out for the better, and things were becoming peaceful within the raven’s mind.

However that did not mean that Gaara would leave him to his own devices. Much like how the elders of his village tested him, the Kazekage would keep an eye on him until he was certain nothing would become of it. Sasuke had harmed Naruto so much in the past – Gaara would be damned if he let him do it again. Naruto had been through enough. He deserved his friend back and Gaara would willfully bury him in a mix of sand and gold if it would keep Sasuke within the village now.

The words he spoke were truly no surprise – normally Gaara would be within the Hokage tower and then depart without dilly dalling throughout the village. But Temari and Kankuro had requested it, and there were a few friends that Gaara wanted to see before he left. Not that he was going to admit that to him of all people. “I suppose it is.” The Uchiha had to know of the alliance between Fire and Wind. Gaara and his siblings had been there when they tried to bring Sasuke back when he first abandoned the village, and then he had seen him in the Kage Summit… But he was not going to think about that. That was only going to make him feel more agitated.

“Just finishing.” He answered. He knew that they were going to have to go back to Sunagakure before too long. As much as they needed to be there to finalize the alliance, the Hidden Sand was still attempting to heal from the war. “Where are you headed?” He kept his tone casual and non-accusatory. Casual conversation was not his best skill, but by the looks of things it was not Sasuke’s either.

It seemed while some things had changed, others hadn’t—the Kazekage’s searching, impassive gaze being one of those things. Though Sasuke never enjoyed being analyzed in such a way, he did not squirm; he held fast, returning the stare.

He had heard about the alliance when he was away from the villages, as well as the red haired jinchuuriki’s elevated status—both things that had grown more and more steady as the years passed, it seemed.

Peace. Change.

Another of Naruto’s miracles.

Well, maybe not entirely Naruto’s, Sasuke mused as he assessed Gaara.

The other had learned to find his place in the world with a will all his own. It was something he could respect; it was something he, too, was trying to achieve, though trusting these people again was hard.

And it’s just as hard for them, he thought. Maybe even more so.

And a small, quivering bitterness he’d stomped down to the deepest recesses of his heart the past year and a half hated that.

“… I was just heading for the Hokage’s tower,” he answered after a moment. “To pick up my earnings.”

A pause. His hands clenched and unclenched in his pockets awkwardly.

“For dinner,” he added, almost an afterthought.