[Sasuke's mind jumps back to the instant he had first felt the beginning of illness, behind his best friend's Door in the Shadowlands. The triggering of the soulmate bond upon contact with Naruto's tether had felt like a physical blow. And the immediacy, afterward, of his symptoms.
The color of the petals in the dirt, hidden by his shoe. The rush of warmth and affection tunneled to him through Naruto's inner self. What does the word 'friend' mean to you? He had asked those words, a desperate fumble in the dark to comprehend how someone could do all of the things Naruto did for him, against all odds. It made no sense. It doesn't make sense even now.
Horror is next on his face, dawning wide in the gulf of his own denial. It's not possible. There's no way.]
You're wrong. [The words are rasped as he takes a step back, clearing his throat against sudden blockage.] You're— that's completely... [Stupid. Absurd. Ridiculous.] How would that even happen? It's just a trick. It's not—
[Real, it's not based on someone's cultural beliefs, it can't be. But Sasuke never gets that far, devolving into a coughing fit more intense than the last, head hanging down as he attempts to clear the floral particle matter in his chest. More petals: a burst of yellow fluttering to the earth, accompanied by browner florets, splattered with blood. He feels suddenly too weak and hot as he drops to his knees.]
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The color of the petals in the dirt, hidden by his shoe. The rush of warmth and affection tunneled to him through Naruto's inner self. What does the word 'friend' mean to you? He had asked those words, a desperate fumble in the dark to comprehend how someone could do all of the things Naruto did for him, against all odds. It made no sense. It doesn't make sense even now.
Horror is next on his face, dawning wide in the gulf of his own denial. It's not possible. There's no way.]
You're wrong. [The words are rasped as he takes a step back, clearing his throat against sudden blockage.] You're— that's completely... [Stupid. Absurd. Ridiculous.] How would that even happen? It's just a trick. It's not—
[Real, it's not based on someone's cultural beliefs, it can't be. But Sasuke never gets that far, devolving into a coughing fit more intense than the last, head hanging down as he attempts to clear the floral particle matter in his chest. More petals: a burst of yellow fluttering to the earth, accompanied by browner florets, splattered with blood. He feels suddenly too weak and hot as he drops to his knees.]