There were days when they wondered if they really needed to understand life, if it wasn't enough to just want to live it.
Chapter III
O7. Home
"It was an ordinary day. I remember driving the same way as always in direction towards my office. I was listening to music, I think it was Frank Sinatra with New York, New York. Suddenly, there was light. There were screams, noises that began breaking at my eardrums and a constant pain in my head. I couldn't orient my self. I fainted. The next thing I knew was that I was in a hospital and that my mother was at my side looking at me with red, tired eyes and holding my right hand in her own as if she were afraid I would disappear at any moment." Sasuke says. "Do you know what the most incredible thing of all is was? That when I woke up, they told me I had gotten a concussion from a car accident, one that I didn't even remember having. That's not what had scared me though, but the fact that I saw everything as if I were spectating a black and white movie."
Naruto is silent. It's abnormal to see him in such state but he is too absorbed in Sasuke's story that talking seems unthinkable at the moment.
"They told me that I'd be fine after a few days, that my vision would recover but that they would do some tests on me in a few weeks just in case. However, the first signs that something was very wrong with me and that the diagnosis could be wrong, was the fact that the signs no longer appeared to be written in Japanese, but in Greek. When I had told the doctor, he looked at me in such a way that I thought he thought I had gone crazy... I didn't blame him though, because even I had considered it myself. Later on, I had trouble figuring out if the traffic light was green or red. Light was much more difficult to perceive and getting out of the house became feeling to me like an abomination." The Uchiha says while he looks at his hands. "My life as I knew it was getting complicated and there was nothing I could do to stop it. My mother ever spent hours here arranging the furniture and food so that I wouldn't have problems in moving around or confusing the containers of ketchup and mustard."
The blond couldn't find the right words; he doesn't know what to say to him to comfort him. So, he continued keeping silence, fixedly staring at the other as if saying "I'm still here, tell me everything you want, I will not leave. I will not abandon you like colour did."
"People tried to help me, giving me words of encouragement. From friends to family. They told me many times that they understood what I was going through, that it was painful, but that I should keep going and I only wanted to yell at them that they were a bunch of liars, idiots! That they didn't understand what it meant to lose what gave your existence meaning. To me, the idea of not being able to see color again was like death in life."
"The first time I made my way here, I reflected over the fact of losing the ability to perceive color. I thought that if I were in your shoes, I would consider death as a much pleasant option." Naruto comments out of nowhere. "But now that I think about it... it's something stupid. Us humans are always fatalistic when given bad news. We keep thinking over and over, why us? Why not someone else? That we have lived as decently as we can and that it's an injustice. We forget that there is more than one reason to move forward not only for us, but for all those who love us."
"We like the drama. Why do you think Shakespeare was and is so popular?" Sasuke asked with a side-grin.
"We like tragedy."
"And simple things."
"Like music, food, and painting," Naruto concludes.
"I repeat, you can be clever when you try." Sasuke says.
"Do you always have to ruin the mood by bringing out your damned side out?"
"If I didn't, I wouldn't be me."
Naruto laughs.
"Bastard."
O8. Music
Naruto has brought more flowers. And also, an album of Frank Sinatra. Without asking the Uchiha for permission, he puts it on as soon as they're seated in the living room of the house. The other doesn't say anything because he's begun getting accustomed to the constant intrusion of the boy in his house.
Sasuke closes his eyes once he sits on one of the sofas. The sounds seem more vivid than before when he was complete. My Way resonates throughout the room and he can only smile. He opens his eyes when he feels Naruto take his hands in his as he is pulling him to get up.
"Let's dance!" The excited blond says.
"I don't know how to dance," Sasuke says with a grin.
"Then we're just going to spin!"
The raven frowns as he tries to avoid getting up from his comfortable seat but Naruto has more strength than he looks, so Naruto ends up obligating him to stand.
"Why do I have to...?" Sasuke can't even finish his question. Naruto has begun to spin and he follows by pure inertia.
"Fun, isn't it, Sasuke?!"
The Uchiha sighs and tries to place his attention back on the song, but he can't because Naruto has started to laugh and that seems much more interesting to listen to. He really is more perceptive to sounds now, and discovers that, without displeasure, he likes some more than others.
O9. Cats
Naruto has once again brought flowers and another music album. But that's not all; he comes accompanied by two cats.
"This one is named Yin and this one is Yang," He presents them while he takes them out of their transport cage.
"I'll take a guess as to why you named them that. Yin, because he's a black cat, and Yang, because he's white." Sasuke says.
"Have you ever thought about becoming the next Sherlock Holmes?" Naruto asks, drawing in a sarcastic tone.
"Many times," Sasuke answers in the same tone. He contemplates the cats with a bit of fascination as he has no difficulty discerning their colors.
"I thought I'd bring them over because they wouldn't bother you. Their names give an idea of the coloration of their hair, besides, don't you think the black one has an angry face? He reminds me of you, I could almost rename him as Sasuke Yin."
"Then I'll rename the white one to Naruto Yang, only to go along."
"Not very creative, eh? I expected something better from the acclaimed Uchiha Sasuke."
The aforementioned laughs under his breath.
Naruto opens his eyes, surprised at such a gesture. He has the impression that Sasuke's laugh is the type that appears once every thousand years; something like comets and that he should be considered lucky.
"I think I'll make a wish..."
Sasuke stops laughing and looks at Naruto with a raised eyebrow; he doesn't understand the other's words.
Final Notes:
In a letter received by Dr. Oliver Sacks from Jonathan I., the 65-year-old painter relates:
"(...)
On January 2 of this year, I was driving my car and crashed with a small truck on the passenger side of my vehicle.
In the emergency room of the hospital, I was told that I had a concussion. While they were revising my vision, I discovered that I was unable to distinguish letters or colors. My vision was such that I seemed to be watching television in black and white.
At the end of a few days, I was able to distinguish the letters, but I am completely blind to color."
From another part, Oliver Sacks narrates:
"At the table (Jonathan I.) also had to adopt fixed positions, practices, and rituals, otherwise he would confuse mustard with mayonnaise, or ketchup with jam."
أنت تقرأ
Mr. Monster & Mr. Sunshine || HeissenSaudade » vonlane
قصص الهواة"There were smells. There were noises. There were people. There were animals. There were flowers. There was anger. But there was no color." . . Uchiha Sasuke lost the ability to perceive color. All he had left was an imperfect vision that showed hi...
