When Sasuke Met Naruto (SasuNaru)

- Chapter 39 -

The raven-haired teen shook his head. "No, I don't resent you. But you can't replace what I had – it's like you're a piece from a different puzzle. It's like it's complete, but it doesn't match. It's not the same. Nothing can bring back what I've lost."

Orochimaru rubbed his chin as he considered the metaphor. "And what about Shikamaru and Kakashi? Are they different pieces as well?"

"Exactly. They fit into my life, but I can still feel that emptiness. And I know how vulnerable that puzzle is. All it takes is one blow to send the pieces flying into the air. The more pieces there are, the more vulnerable to puzzle becomes."

"And what about Naruto?"

"Him too."

O nodded before reaching over for his guitar on the adjoining seat. He plucked a string. "You know – I don't agree with your analogy at all, Sasuke. I think it's horribly flawed, and, really, it's beneath you. I know you're better than something as weak as that, even first thing in the morning."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow doubtfully. "Is that so? Like you could do any better."

"Well, let me give it a shot here. Have you ever played the game Katamari Damacy?"

"The game with the ball?"

"That's the one. See, imagine your soul is like a plain old katamari. There's nothing on it yet – it's just a ball. That's how you're born. If you try to do anything, though, your little katamari soul will attach itself to any relationship it can find. Your parents, for example. Your possessions. Your friends. Your pets. They're all little objects building up on your bare katamari."

"You're seriously making this argument?"

Orochimaru laughed. "Keep an open mind here. Now, of course, just because you have a relationship stuck to your katamari soul doesn't mean that it's going to stay there forever. As more aspects of the relationship pile atop one another, adding layer after layer to your katamari, it becomes stronger, but it can also become a hindrance. It's hard to move emotionally when your katamari can't roll forward because it's so lopsided. And then, when some terrible event comes and strikes your katamari soul, tearing that key relationship from you, it's truly crippling. You have nothing left to cling to – you have to start from scratch."

"So what are you suggesting?"

Plucking another string, Orochimaru continued. "I'm saying that the reason you were hurt so terribly before was because you didn't have many strong relationships in your life. It was just you and your family, and when that was taken away from you, it left you emotionally vulnerable. You had no one to trust except maybe Kakashi – he was a definite, albeit weak influence in your early life."

"But now I'm building up again. Rolling up more relationships in my 'katamari soul,' as you'd say," Sasuke said, with appropriate air quotes.

"Yes – over the years you've rebuilt, but it's been lopsided again. It's only been a few of us – me, Kakashi, Shikamaru. Now you've met Naruto, and you realize that your relationship with him in particular is the most powerful. You don't want that relationship to be destroyed, though, so you're trying to avoid it, to push it away."

Sasuke was silent.

"You admit it, then? You're just stalling, trying to ignore the facts."

"What do you want me to do? I... I can't live without him," the Uchiha said, his voice breaking as tears formed in his eyes.

"Then why are you trying to?" Orochimaru challenged, seizing the teen's shoulders. "That's what you're doing, you realize that, right? You're trying to live without Naruto voluntarily, so you won't be hurt by having him torn from your side."