A young boy was running through an open field, the sky above him stretching into eternity while the few clouds painted a picture of candy floss. The sun was dancing on his hair and in his eyes turning them into golden warmth and glittering ocean blue. There was a smile on his face that seemed almost unconscious , drawn by an artist and left forgotten to remain forever in that perfect picture.

Happiness radiated from him and no sorrow could touch him because he was on his way to his best friend and rival to tell him about the best news he had heard all month. It even came close to that one time when his Mom promised him Ramen as dinner for an entire week for actually completing the chores she herself never wanted to do.

The flowers that had just begun blooming and their scent and colour chased away the cold greyness of winter, melting the dark quiet of it like it did the snow and he had just been told that he had finally passed the Academy exams turning him into a real ninja. Now his friend would have no reason to tease him anymore and he could work at beating his pompous ego into the dust. It wasn’t Naruto’s fault that his Mom preferred being a Kunoichi to staying at home thus turning him into an only child. Not everyone had a genius brother they could annoy into training them.

Already could he see the distant roofs of the Uchiha district that always looked like menacing shadows on the outskirts of Konoha seemingly threatening the rest of the village into submission.

When Naruto was younger and went to visit it for the first time with his Dad he refused to even set foot past the gates claiming they would swallow him like a monster with a never-ending abyss as a mouth. Of course, that changed once he met the bastard, his great rival and best friend (he still denied the latter if asked about it) Uchiha Sasuke. He would never show any kind of fear in front of him, always competing with him and trying to prove how much better he was. What still irked him was that Sasuke used to simply ignore him, not even taking him seriously in favour of striving after his brother, always watching his back as he slowly disappeared from sight. But Naruto, who would never stand for anyone not noticing him, just played so many pranks on the bastard that he simply had no chance but to acknowledge him and turn from admiring his brother to beating up his annoying friend.

The blond still broke out in earth shattering laughter when he thought about little Sasuke covered in pink glitter walking through half the village on his way home and glaring at everyone he met. But back then the Uchiha glare of doom was still in the early stages so it did nothing but make people hide their smile of amusement behind their hands.

Only the wind caressing his hair brought Naruto back to the present and let him notice that he had stopped running and was grinning to himself while gazing at his friend’s house that stood in the distance.

He quickly looked in all directions fearing that Sasuke would somehow appear and insult him about his lack of focus again but for once luck was on his side instead and there was nothing but the wind and the sun turning the world into a painting of light and colours.

His life was a happy one and he never even thought to question it. Because, really how could it ever be any different?

t was hot. The sun was burning the earth to dust and bathed the world in her hard glare of light. Sweat was dripping into his eyes and plastered his hair to his neck. Both him and his partner had lost their shirts a long time ago during the long and gruelling training session they would not skip for anything in the world because asking for a day’s break would mean only one thing, weakness.

The one thing neither would ever show in front of the other. Lately their interactions had changed though. The fights became more violent, the looks longer and the tension thicker. It was as if the heat had trapped them in their own world where nothing mattered but the rising excitement of touching the other even if only with fists and chakra. Sasuke had turned fourteen just a few weeks ago and both he and Naruto had passed the Chuunin exams around the same time.

That was when it first happened. Drunk on Sake and life, enclosed in the never ending heat of summer they had stumbled into the alley behind the bar they had been celebrating at. Sasuke could still remember how the wall, soiled with the grime of humanity, had scraped his back through the thin cotton shirt he had been wearing. Since Naruto’s parents had adopted him several years ago, their only son not accepting that his best friend would ever have to be alone, the two of them had learned to share if it was necessary.

But that night it went beyond the brother-like bond they had built. Their mouths had been crushed together, sloppy and inexperienced and full of burning heat. They had melted together ignoring everything around them but the taste, smell and above all feel of the other. Sasuke could still remember how his blond friend’s rough skin had felt beneath his hands staining him with the addicting sensation of his lust. That night it had stopped at a kiss, two, three kisses before they separated and pretended nothing had changed.

Five weeks and many almost kisses later the heat and violent nature of their relationship had finally taken it’s toll and they were once again pressed against each other, so close Sasuke could not say where he ended and his friend begun. They were grinding and biting and getting lost in the scorching heat of their arousal. One of Naruto’s hands had found its way between their bodies taking the lead in this uneven dance of summer heat. His other hand was clutching at Sasuke’s hair, clenching and unclenching, causing pain that only seemed to enhance the feeling of this first time of being with each other. Their chests were slick with sweat that stuck them together without a chance of escape.

A moan rose above the pants filling the air but Sasuke could not say who it had come from because Naruto and him had become one, every shudder, every kiss and every tiny sensation shared by both of them. He knew the blond was close because he himself was too and in that moment he knew there was on one else he would ever want as much as he did his best friend. No one could ever bath him in the light he so needed to escape the black abyss created by the loss of everyone he had loved. With Naruto nothing was ever black, he would not let it be because his love turned everything a glaring, hot and warm.

White.

In that moment thunder finally crashed above them marking the end of the heat and the beginning of autumn.

Once had this dream
Crashed down in Oz
Not black and white
But where the colors are


The warmth of the last sunrays from summer still lingered in the earth as Sasuke lay on the ground after another difficult training session with his brother. All around him the world was tinted red but for once it wasn’t the familiar sight of blood but the thousands of leaves still hanging onto their last breath of life. The fight against his brother had been lost once again and he really didn’t feel like going home to confront his father’s blank gaze passing over him like he was nothing but a ghost waiting to disappear.

Sighing he stood up and slowly made his way back to the village hoping to avoid meeting anyone from his family any time soon.

It was uncharacteristically quiet in the forest surrounding him as if all life living in it was mourning for the future, a quiet song of sadness for all the souls that would be lost in the throes of death without hope of ever escaping again.

When he reached the gates of Konoha a sudden and joyful laugh filled the air with life and his heart with a quiet ache he couldn’t quite understand. A flash of blond caught his eyes and a blinding orange wouldn’t let them go again. Uzumaki Naruto. One of his old classmates, the loser and orphan of the class who he had never even talked to before. Once when he was younger, more innocent and less bitter he had wanted to approach this bright boy, fascinated by the golden rays of sunshine that seemed to surround him every day. He had looked so warm.

But when he had asked his father if it was possible for him to invite Naruto for a training session on the Uchiha compound Uchiha Fugaku had only gone very quiet and then forbidden him to ever even talk to the younger boy.

Sometimes Sasuke wished that for once he had not asked for his father’s permission. As he watched Naruto laughing with his team mates it was one of those times. They were obviously on their way to a long term mission with the bags they were carrying. He observed the way the autumn sun reflected in blue eyes turning them into a kaleidoscope of azure, wondering just how he could still be so loud, so full of joy when he had been alone for all his life. He stood there watching the blond for several minutes completely forgetting about entering the village in front of him when Naruto suddenly turned and caught sight of him. Sasuke froze and he could see the surprise showing in the blue eyes only to be replaced by a glare.

“What do you want, bastard?” he almost growled at him, his eyes turning to slits and his mouth transforming into a scowl.

Taken back from the hostility being shown to him Sasuke glared right back and only answered with a nonchalant grunt that obviously only angered the blond more.

“Are you too good to talk to me or what? Who do you think you are?” even though Naruto seemed to harbour some grudge against him there was really only one thing in Sasuke’s mind.

Naruto’s anger was magnificent. It made his eyes dance with fire and his whole being vibrate with life in a way that Sasuke had never seen in anyone else especially a member of his family. He wanted to catch that fire and lock it away from this world to only ever be looked upon by him and no one else. That overwhelming feeling of being alive was wasted on a world that thrived on death and the greyness of a cold heart.

Nothing of his fascination with this bright boy showed through of course. Only the slight tilt of his head and the faint flicker in his eyes told of his feelings and there was nobody in this world who was able to read him like that.

“I have no reason to answer an idiot like you.” his mouth had curved into a smirk and his fascination only grew when Naruto began to make his way over to him, his fist clenched tightly at his side and ready to strike at any moment. His body seemed to thrum with life, anger and frustration and Sasuke had never seen anything so full of burning heat and colour. Naruto’s team mates chose that moment to hold their hot-headed team member back and tried to get him to calm down.

Sasuke observed them for a bit longer not even registering what exactly they were saying to the blond until he abruptly turned his back to them to enter the gate into Konoha. He didn’t have time for stupid distractions like this anyway.

--

Several weeks later while he was delivering a S-class mission report to the Hokage he found out that Naruto’s team had indeed left for a mission that day. It had been a trap that left no survivors.

--

When he stepped out of the door that day he stopped for a few moments to look up at the sky. The sun was cold in it’s beauty so opposite to the blood that had stained the earth only hours before. The smell of snow already lay in the air and the last leaves had spent their breath falling to their death in a storm of bloody red and dirty yellow. He could feel his hands itching to wash them of the decay that had touched them on his mission, like it had touched them so many times before. Sasuke ignored it and for a moment thought of the man , boy really, who had died today. A golden sun flashed in front of his eyes blinding him in glorious beauty. Eyes the colour of a summer day, so unfitting for the cold autumn day on which they closed for the last time and a ever-present smile, sometimes real and often without a thought. He had never really known him, had only talked to him once in all the years but it still felt as if he had lost something important. Something precious that should be cherished and could never be recovered. He wondered why. He didn’t miss anything in his life, he was the perfect Shinobi , the perfect Uchiha. Closing his eyes he let the cold air in his lungs stinging them in perfect cruelty. It didn’t matter. He was going to strive towards perfection, towards surpassing his brother and nothing could change that. Not the blood on his hands or the dreams of stolen springs and love.

His eyes opened again and he walked away from the warmth of the room behind him shivering under the first snow of the year.