Same Soul • Sasunaru

28. Wanderlust.

Sasuke's POV
Boston, MA
The next morning

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A ray of sunlight beaming across my eyes like a blindfold wakes me up from my sleep. When I feel the sheets moving to the sound of light breathing, I turn over frantically in the bed to see the back of someone's blond locks of hair. I close my eyes and make a smug grin; remembering what happened last night. Truly all I've ever wanted was to love him in every way possible: and right now, I think I have.

I cuddle up behind his bare back to take in his warmth and wrap my arm around his shoulder. "Good-morning, my sunshine~" I murmur; my lips brushing his skin as I speak. "You must not be much of a morning person."

"O-One extra large bowl of pork ramen, Pops," he slurs in his sleep with a deeper voice than usual. He shifts around frantically under the sheets in response to the growing sunlight coming in from the windows. No, he's not a morning person. It's weird he'd dream about ramen after a night like that, though. I suppose he loves noodles more than me.

The strong smell of red wine strikes my nose the second I sit up in bed and let my feet dangle over the ground. There's still broken glass on the floor, and I never know when my parents could show up, so I need to clean it promptly. But before I could stand up to grab a broom, my cellphone vibrates on the nightstand beside me.

It must be Itachi this time...

I grab my phone and slide the screen to answer while quietly sneaking around the shards of glass to the kitchenette at the other side of the studio apartment. "The hell do you want, Nii-san?!" I hiss to the phone as I lean against the cold granite counter tops. "If this is about Naruto, he isn't missing. In fact, he's here in Boston with me: safe and sound."

Itachi stays silent over the line for a few seconds before replying. I don't know if it's in anger or confusion, but something's wrong.

"Don't be such a brat, Sasuke. Naruto is back home with Minato. He and Kakashi reached out to the press in order to claim his father's innocence, then made a sucky story up about his parent's 'everlasting love'. The people of Osaka actually believe it, and the Akatsuki's plan was a failure."

I grip my hands onto the other edge of the countertop with my eyes wide open. "Don't tell me what your next plan is, brother..."

He swallows hard before answering my question. "Yes, Sasuke. We must kill Minato Namikaze."

I swallow hard with my eyes wide open; the phone shaking frantically in my hard as I hold it up to my ear. There are a few things I'm worried about; and it's not just Minato. "If Kakashi has Naruto...then who's the guy in my apartment?"

Itachi chuckles deviously over the line in response to my arrogance. "It's not my duty to undo my brother's naïve drunk decisions. But I can assure you, the real boy is in the hands of his parents and Hatake-san: I made sure so myself. Whatever boy you claim to have in that tenement is a fake."

"W-What?! You must be bluffing—"

He cuts me off with an evil chuckle laced in his words before hanging up. "Good luck with that, little brother."

Before I have any chance to logically think things over, I grab a steak knife from the kitchen drawer behind me. I don't know if I trust Itachi's words, but if he's right, there's an intruder in my bed. He looks exactly like him...is he a twin? A doppelgänger?

As soon as I turn the corner at the doorway of the kitchen, a muscular blond way taller than I am stands before me; allowing me to crash into his chest. He backs away frantically in reaction to the weapon in my hand. "S-Sasuke-kun, why are you holding a knife like that?"

I look down to the blade in my hand without a hint of emotion on my face. "You're an imposter..." I mumble; lifting my head up to examine the man who stands before me. He's much taller than I am, and the muscles on his arms and abdomens protrude much more than before. His hair is shorter to compliment his broad jawline, and his large eyes are no more. His right arm is completely wrapped in a bandage; yet, whiskers still remain on the sides of his cheeks. He's almost Naruto...but he's not. This man is nearly 10 years old then I am.

"I see..." the blond mumbles as he takes his blue bell eyes away from the knife and across the studio to the full length mirror in the living space. The doppelgänger slowly puts towards his reflection with a scared expression on his face. "It looks like my transformation jutsu wore off while I was asleep." He flashes his teeth and squints his eyes shut with a wide smile; his cheeks filling with color and his nails gently scratching the back of his neck in unease. What the hell is a transformation jutsu...did he drug me or something?

"You bastard!" I bark while adjusting the knife's angled position in my hand to follow his every step. "I can't believe you tricked me! I really thought you were someone else, but it looks like you put drugs in my wine to make me believe so."

With my words, his irises flicker in the direction of my own. The sudden change of his emotions causes me to take him seriously. "You should really put down the knife, Uchiha Sasuke. It wasn't my intent to trick you. I am, in fact, Naruto after all. Just not the blond brat you're used to knowing."

"I...I don't trust you!" I yell, targeting the knife towards the center of his rib cage. The blade passes through between his fingertips, and is stopped forcefully at the handle by his hand. Blood starts to pour from the sliced web in the center of his fingers as his fingers brush over my knuckles in defense.

Without me blinking once, he swiftly retrieves the knife with his other hand and tosses it onto the ground. "That really stings, dattebayo." His face turns serious from playful really quickly; his icy eyes seeming to darken.

"You need to go back home to Osaka, Sasuke."