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The airships were overhead again.

Naruto leaned back on his palms. Spring was his favorite season: cool breezes, warming days. The valeblossoms had begun budding, cloying the air with sugary-light pink petals. 

But what Naruto loved most about spring wasn’t the flowers. It wasn’t the fresh water in public spigots, or the newly-greened grass speckling the desert cliffs. 

It was the skies.

Two tradeships shot overhead. Their polished hulls gleamed beneath the sun like gems, jetstreams rippling the air. 

“Naruto! Here you are.”

He tipped his head back. Sakura leaned over him, short hair shading tanned cheeks. She raised an eyebrow.

“You missed lunch. You never do that. Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” His eyes slid past her. There went another ship—purple, flitting like a butterfly. “Just.. watching the skies.”

Sakura plunked down beside him and nudged a wrap into his hands. “For you, then. Kiba was going to eat it.”

“Thanks.” 

Naruto bit into the sandwich. Cured meat and cheese bloomed on his tongue, swathed in crushed chickpeas and tomato. He chewed slowly, savoring the precious vegetables, watching for more skyships. The afternoon rush was abating.

Sakura leaned her chin on one hand, following his gaze. “Still stuck on that dream of yours?” Naruto nodded. 

The two of them—dust-filthy orphans in threadbare cottons and worn-through sandals—were no strange sight in the capital. They lived day by day off of fallen coin and stolen goods, scrambling for city scraps. They were nothing but ants in Suna, another pair of lost souls with families taken by the sickness. 

But they could be more. So much more, if only Naruto could make it out. The world could be theirs. It would be. 

All they needed was a ship.

“Always,” he said.

Sakura is going to kill me. 

The lead was too good to be true. Kiba had talked up a big game—sneak in during the fête, exit through the sewers—and Naruto had believed. He’d made it sound so easy.

And now he was screwed.

Another explosion rang overhead. The walls trembled, dust raining onto him. He could hear men screaming, the telltale clang of clashing weapons. 

Naruto scrambled over the rug. Treasure splayed all around him in dizzying gold and silver, turquoise-inlet and jewel-encrusted riches heaping against the walls. There was so much— too much. He wouldn’t be able to carry it all.

“Shit,” he hissed. “Shit, crap, f—”

The walls shook even harder. He ducked, falling to cover his head. Stones came loose from the ceiling around him. 

And then: the secret door opening behind him.

“Oh dear,” someone said. “It seems we had the same idea.”

Naruto peeked through his fingers. A white-haired man with a terrific eye patch stared down at him, hip cocked, eyebrows high. Gods, he had a gun in his hand. 

And then someone else shifted behind him, and Naruto’s jaw popped open. Was that—?

“No way! I got here first! I—” He scrambled up, remembering himself; there was no way he was leaving empty-handed. He’d been so close to getting away—he needed the money, he needed a ship—

“You have something that’s mine,” the white-haired man said. He stretched out a hand covered in rings. “If you’d hand it over—”

“Fair’s fair,” Naruto snapped. The words rang hollow. Where was his weapon? “I found it.”

A third explosion seized around them. Walls shook; ceiling tiles shattered. Naruto crumpled forward again, fingers wrapped around his neck. He started shakily counting: one, two, three..

At the tenth count the shaking stopped. The room was choked with debris and dust. Naruto lifted his head, arm pressed to his mouth. The others looked up from where they’d knelt beside him. 

And then, amidst the dust, the familiar clang of approaching armor. 

“Kakashi.” That was the other one. “It’s high time we left.”

“I agree.” The white-haired man—Kakashi—sighed. “What a pity. Exit stage left, as they say.”

The other one turned to Naruto. He couldn’t help the way he froze under that blood-red gaze; his body flushed hot, limbs stiffening. A soldier outside shouted; he looked away, lip curled contemptuously. 

“The gods do not smile on us.” 

Kakashi barked a laugh. “I like it better that way.”

Naruto didn’t have time for this. His fingers curled over a heavy stone in his pocket—a smooth thing, bright blue and oddly warm—and he ran, bursting through a new hole in the wall’s foundation. 

Shouts echoed behind him; beyond, the screams of dying men. Soldiers ran in squadrons through the palace’s halls. Massive shadows blocked the moon—skyships, their cannons trained towards the courtyards below.

Naruto’s heart beating a hummingbird’s rhythm. The air was orange with smoke, thick enough to poison, but he couldn’t stop for air. He had to go.

A black shape darted in front of him—a hoverbike, controls gleaming luridly through the smoke. He sat at the helm, greaves gleaming, red eyes flashing. Naruto skidded to a halt.

“You have something that belongs to me,” Kakashi growled. “It’s the end of the line. Hand it over!” 

“No!”

Shouts behind them—soldiers on the walkway, running straight for them. Kakashi swore and lunged forward. Fingers squeezed his wrist; he stumbled forward, legs banging into metal. The bike’s engine hummed beneath them, flaring blue against the darkness. The stone in his pocket burned.

“Sasuke!” Kakashi snapped. “Get us out of here!”

They skidded. Soldiers shouted. The skyship above groaned, a horrible noise, cannons firing fiery light—

“Now!”

Heat licked at Naruto’s skin. He was burning, incinerated in the smoke, lighter than he’d ever been; he screamed into the weightlessness, struggling blindly; the fingers around his arm dug deeper, he was bleeding, the stone in his pocket— 

And then: nothing.

“Do you think he’s dead?”

“We can only hope.”

“Ah. Always the optimist, you are.”

Naruto groaned. Gods above. 

Everything hurt. He could feel his limbs throbbing, a steady one-two punch behind his eyes. Stinging pain lanced from his right thigh and fingers, shooting up his shoulder to his neck. His eyes burned even closed.

He coughed.

“Not so dead after all, then.”

Naruto cracked open an eye. Two pairs of eyes stared down at him. 

“What..” He blinked; coughed again. His throat felt raw. “What happened?”

“You were hit by flying debris,” Kakashi cheerfully informed him. “Thanks for that. You make an excellent meat shield.”

“What—” Naruto’s eyes widened. Sakura. “Oh no. I have to—” He jerked up; pain flared from every limb. He sank back with a groan.

“You’re not going anywhere.” Kakashi jerked a thumb. “Sasuke just spent a half hour patching you up. You’re welcome, by the way. You used up three health potions I could have saved for a week.”

Naruto’s eyes flicked to the black-haired boy. Sasuke. He looked hardly older than Naruto, but that didn’t mean anything. Not with his gleaming red eyes, his high-boned cheeks, his long lashes—or the pair of speckled, black rabbit ears sticking a hand’s-length out of his head. 

“Not many viera where you come from?” Kakashi asked dryly. Naruto tore his eyes away, flushing. 

“Sorry,” he mumbled. “I’ve just—never seen a boy viera before.”

Sasuke’s eyes narrowed. “As you shouldn’t,” he said, and gods above if he didn’t have a lilting accent to match. “The Men of the Wood are not for hume eyes to witness.”

Naruto didn’t have anything to say to that.

“I reckon the city gates are closed for the next couple days,” Kakashi said. “They’ve got to sift through the rubble for prisoners and all that. Pick up body chunks.”

Naruto paled at the thought. Oh, gods, Sakura wasn’t just going to kill him. She’d follow him into the afterlife and murder him there, too.

“I’m a goner,” he groaned, closing his eyes. “Shit.”

“Cheer up. It could be worse. You could be one of those body chunks.”

He groaned even louder.

“We’ve no time to coddle a babe.” Sasuke’s voice was laced with scorn. “Kakashi. We’d best leave him at the gates and make for the skies. There’s nothing left for us here.”

“Cold words from one scarcely older than he, don’t you think?”

Naruto’s eyes popped open. “The—wait. Are you guys sky pirates?”

“The name’s Kakashi,” Kakashi said loftily. “And here I thought you had working ears, thief.”

“Naruto.”

“Very well. Naruto. You wish to return to the capital?”

“I—” No. Yes. Gods above, two sky pirates before him! Naruto’s thoughts scrambled frantically. “There’s someone there. Someone I promised I wouldn’t leave without.”

“Promises,” Kakashi mused. “Dangerous things. But what shall you do afterwards?”

Hope fluttered in Naruto’s chest. He sat up slowly, fingers curling into his breeches. Surely—

Maybe— 

“I don’t know,” he admitted. His mouth was dry. “I was hoping.. I mean, what I really want is a skyship of my own.”

Silence. Sasuke’s eyes flit to Kakashi. Kakashi rubbed a hand over his jaw. The desert breeze whistled around them, kicking up dust.

“Well,” Kakashi began carefully.

“No,” Sasuke snapped. “Have you forgotten your apprentice so quickly? Or your obligations? Kakashi, he’s hardly a man. What use have you for him?”

“Surely no less than I’ve for you,” Kakashi retorted. He stood, scratching at wayward white hair. “Let me think. You’re going back for whom, exactly? A lover?”

Naruto flushed at the thought. “No. My.. sister.”

“A sister.” Kakashi nodded thoughtfully. “And does she possess any particular talents?”

“Sakura?” The hope in Naruto’s chest clamored at his throat. He swallowed hard. “She’s the best healer I know. If I saw her, she’d be able to patch me up in half the time and twice as good. Not that your help wasn’t appreciated,” he tacked on hastily.  

“A healer,” Kakashi mused. “Interesting.”

“Kakashi,” Sasuke warned.

“Sasuke,” the man mimicked. “Come now. You’d do well to mingle with your age, don’t you think?”

“Becoming a family man?” The viera quipped dryly. “I never suspected you the type.”

“Perish the thought. I simply bore of your sullen silence.” Kakashi nodded sharply. “Very well then. The deed’s done—for now.” He extended a hand to Naruto, eyebrows waggling. “Arise, young Naruto.”

Naruto’s heart hammered behind his ribs. “Is this real?” he choked. “ Are you really taking me on?”

“For a fortnight,” Kakashi replied. “We’ve need for the hands. You’d do best to pull your weight, however, or I’ll leave you at port.”

Naruto stared open-mouthed. All these years of dreaming—all the night’s he’d stolen and scuffled and hoped— 

He didn’t want to be anyone’s apprentice; he wanted his own ship. But if he didn’t take this chance, who knew when he’d next be able to try?

“You’re on,” he rasped, eyes suddenly hot. His fingers squeezed around Kakashi’s.

The smile the sky pirate gave was blinding.

“Fucking bastard,” Naruto snarled. “I’ll kill him the first chance I get.”

A passing woman glared and covered her son’s ears. Naruto scowled and tucked his chin closer to his chest.

“Careful now,” Sasuke drawled behind him. “”Whine any further and you’ll become a stray.”

“Better than sharing a cabin with you,” he grumbled. “At least then I could sleep in peace.”

It wasn’t fair. Not that Naruto had expected sky pirating to be all sugar and rainbows—he wanted the risk, the mystery of flying the open skies—but they’d been stranded at Suna’s Outpost for over a week while The Cerberus was undergoing repairs. He’d been a sky pirate for a week (a week!) and hadn’t seen a lick of the sky. 

Instead, Kakashi had got them a two-room affair in the local hostel. The boys became messengers on loan for the local soldiers as repayment. It was bad enough living under the Imperials—high-and-mighty, big-headed louts they were—but to work for them? Naruto could feel his parents rolling in their graves.

The wonder of the world beyond the capital had quickly waned. Suna’s Outpost, a nearby military holding, was no better than the city. If anything, it was even more boring. At least in the capital Naruto could rely on thievery for a little excitement. But here?

“Word for you, ser.” 

“Out with it then.” The stall-owner didn’t even look at him. “I’ve not got all day.”

Naruto ground his molars together. “Sasori says your latest shipment to the fortress is late, ser. You’d best make repayment on the double unless you want your goods traded for another’s.”

“What?” Now the man was looking. He glared over the stall with bushy eyebrows, rotting teeth fouling the air. “But I paid for this spot! Who else is going to feed Sasori his wild plums, the crocs?”

And to think Naruto felt unwanted before. If looks could kill, he’d be dead eighty times over already. “Not my place to say,” he managed through a gritted smile.” I’m just the messenger.”

“Right, well. Piss on Sasori’s shoes.” The man spat a grey globule into the dirt. “Tell him I got an extra crate coming by nightfall. Damned Imperials.”

“Yes, ser.” 

He hovered, hoping. And wasn’t that the worst part, waiting for someone to throw him a bone? He couldn’t even knick it from them!

The man didn’t look up again. “Away with you, rat.” Sasuke sniggered.

Naruto’s fists curled. His temper flared in his chest, hot-bright and poisonous. Damn Kakashi and his stupid ship. Damn Sasuke and his incessant jibes. What was all this for? 

He tore away from the bazaar without a backward glance. He was sick of it. Sick! He was going to go give the sky pirate a damned piece of his mind.

Just you wait, Kakashi. When I get my hands on you I’ll— 

“Message for you, ser!”

Naruto’s head whipped around. “What?”

The little boy visibly cringed. “I, ah. Sorry. Message for you. From a man with an eye patch. Said you knew him.”

Naruto stopped. He could feel Sasuke tensing behind him.

“What did he say?” he asked.

The boy’s lips pursed. “He said.. He said ‘the hawks are swooping, best to take wing.’ Whatever that means.”

Naruto’s eyes widened. Sasuke was already pushing ahead, hands on his knives. His eyes gleamed dangerously in the alley’s light. “Did he say anything else?”

“N-no, sers,” the boy stammered. His eyes were full moons, wet with fearful tears. “Just that you’d best take heed right away!”

“That’ll be all,” Naruto butt in. “Thanks.”

The boy nearly fell in his haste to get away.

Naruto turned to Sasuke. The viera was a fearsome sight, all red eyes and bared teeth. His gaze was fixed on a memory Naruto didn’t know; his fingers, working over the hilt of his elaborate knives.

“What does it mean?” Naruto demanded. “What do we do now?”

“It means,” Sasuke said, pulling a blade free, “that your Sakura will have to wait.”

They made straight for The Cerberus.

The desert wind whipped wildly. Tumbleweeds fought for open plains; in the distance, a flock of cockatrices screeched and ran for cover. The sky was greying, clouds blackening with the promise of rain. Naruto’s heart thumped wildly.

Kakashi hadn’t kept The Cerberus in town. Naruto couldn’t discern why, before—why they’d tucked her into desert crags, why they’d walked miles and rubbed with dust before entering town. Now it was all painfully clear.

He’d planned for this.

Her engines were already humming by the time they arrived. Dust clouded around her, cacti bending under the strain, but in the epicenter, The Cerberus was a beauty to behold. 

Naruto had never seen anything like her. She was almost a fighter jet—there were the folding wings, the balanced motors, the retractable torpedoes—but she was lovely, embossed in blue and gold, with a purple-glass cockpit nestled in her center. She was more than utility; she was a bird.

But there was no time to revel. 

“Kakashi!” Sasuke snapped. “What’ve you done?”

“Why must it be my fault?” Kakashi threw up his hands. “No matter. Get to the cockpit. I’d rather not wait for our friends to arrive.”

“What happened?” Naruto demanded, following. The ship’s stairs retracted behind him, closing up. “Where are we going?”

“Imperials have caught sight of suspicious persons. ” Kakashi said shortly. “They’ve been hunting the outposts for any potential allies of the Resistance—that’d be us, in their books. Can you fly, Naruto?”

“I—no.” They passed through the hull—Naruto counted four lining doors—and the cockpit doors parted. Naruto blinked, dazzled with the sudden array of machinery. “Wait, are we in league with the Resistance?”

“Who’s to say?” Kakashi replied grimly. “Buckle up. We’re airborne in four if I have it my way.”

“Kakashi,” a low voice growled from the speakers. “Intruders at twelve o’clock, eighteen paces out.”

“Make that three,” Sasuke snapped. He strapped himself in with startling celerity, fingers racing over the controls. “I’ve had my fill of hume prisons.”

“Oh, come now, that was one time—”

“Activating invisibility barrier,” the speakers announced. “Standing by for liftoff.”

Naruto’s fingers wouldn’t stop shaking. He gripped his seatbelt with white knuckles as the cockpit lit up, blue lights flaring to life, radars bursting into existence, a map of the world spreading across the ceiling. The Cerberus was alive.

And he was in it.

“Say, Naruto?”

He tore his gaze from the ceiling. “Y-yes?”

“You wouldn’t happen to have motion ills, would you?”

“I—have no idea.” The ship began rumbling. Dust clouded higher, blocking their view. “I’ve never flown before.”

“I see.” Kakashi’s hands danced over the controls, flipping switches with blinding speed. “Then you’d best hold on. Takeoff can be.. Exciting.”

Shouts echoed over the hills. Sasuke swore in a foreign tongue. Kakashi laughed, loud and wild, and leaned forward. His lone eye danced with light, his smile lopsided.

“Hold on!” he hooted, and jammed the thrusters forward.

The Cerberus flew.

Naruto slammed backwards. A stray wrench flew past his ear. Kakashi whooped, hands blurring; the world turned sideways. 

“Barrier raising in three,” the speaker droned.

They shot skyward. The world was blue. Kakashi was chuckling, Sasuke barking orders underneath. All Naruto could clearly hear was his blood rushing through his ears.

“Two.”

“Set navigation to Kumogakure!” Sasuke snapped. The map above them flared gold, a spike of light blinking over the sea. 

“One.”

The ship jerked forward—and slowed. Naruto’s seatbelt burned from holding him in; his feet smacked on the floorboards, a sandal skittering free.

Ahead of the cockpit, The Cerberus winked out of existence.

“Invisibility barrier raised,” the speaker announced. “A close call, Kakashi. You nearly imprisoned us again.”

“One time!” Kakashi complained. “It was one time!”

“What—” Naruto swallowed, fighting back chattering teeth. Every limb was shaking. “What just happened?”

“We’ve entered flight proper.” Sasuke typed something on a floating screen. “The invisibility barrier will keep us safe until we leave Sunan airspace.” 

Naruto’s jaw dropped. “We’re leaving the country? What about Sakura?”

“We’ll send for her another time,” the viera replied flatly. “Stay your hume impatience. We’ve more pressing matters to attend to.”

“What Sasuke means is that we need to steer clear until the Imperial’s investigation tires. Wouldn’t help to turn ourselves in, now would it?” Kakashi wrinkled his nose. “I despise Imperial prisons. They never clean the latrines.”

“Estimate is four hours,” Sasuke reported. “We’d best check the hull integrity in the meantime. Pakkun?”

“Blasters set to sixty-percent. The engine’s clean as a whistle, no thanks to Kakashi.”

The man in question waved a hand. “I was buying us information. Just as valuable as engine parts, wouldn’t you say?”

“Info or not, we can’t fly without a working ship. Think of that next time before you scrape us over an embankment.”

“A simple oversight,” Kakashi sniffed. “I’m going back for a piss. Sasuke?”

“On pilot.”

“Excellent.” Kakashi unbuckled himself and stood, stretching. "Come, Naruto. Let me show you to your quarters.”

The Cerberus, Naruto decided an hour later, was otherworldly.

He’d never been close enough to an airship to look in one. There were so many things he wanted to learn about: the controls, the upkeep, the speed, the stories—

“There isn’t enough time before Kumo for everything, ” Kakashi chuckled. “If you’ve come for the gossip, you’re better off asking Pakkun when he’s got a free moment. He favors telling tales more than I.”

“Pakkun,” Naruto echoed. The voice over the speaker. “Your..?”

“Mechanic,” a familiar voice growled.

Naruto swung around. There was nobody there.

“Down here.”

He blinked, eyes falling to the floor. His jaw dropped.

“Don’t tell me,” Kakashi joked. “No moogles in your capital, either?” He swallowed Naruto’s dumbfounded silence. “Oh dear. You really are a sheltered thing, aren’t you?”

“It’s not that,” Naruto said hesitantly. “He’s just..” The ugliest moogle I’ve ever seen. Weren’t moogles supposed to be cute? Mouse-like? Pakkun looked more like a haggard dog.

“You’re not so pretty yourself,” Pakkun grunted, reading his mind. The blue pom-pom on his head bobbed. “Engine’s all set for now, chief.”

Kakashi beamed. “My light and savior.” 

Naruto watched the moogle trundle away. “Amazing,” he murmured. “Your ship is full of people as strange as you.”

“Careful with your accusations. You’re on it too, aren’t you?”

He looked up. Kakashi’s eyebrow cocked, rising over his eye patch.

“Yeah.” His lips twisted into a smile. “I am.”

The rest of their flight was quiet. Pakkun had disappeared to gods-knew-where (Naruto was going to have to watch where he was walking, now). Kakashi, having taken his announced piss, retired to his quarters for the time being. That left Naruto to his own devices.

He drifted back to the cockpit. Even with Sasuke there, the siren song of endless clouds and open earth called to him.

The sight took his breath away. 

The sky was brighter, somehow—all rich, sapphire plains and clouds whiter than he’d ever seen. The dusty tint Sunan skies carried didn’t spread here; instead the world flourished, blooming blue-teal-white like a pure, crystalline flower. 

It’s alive. The waves beneath moved as one, rippling like a snake’s scales. The ocean is alive.

“Does it ever get old?” 

Sasuke didn’t look up. “No.”

Naruto nodded slowly. 

“I.. was the same, when I first saw it.” Sasuke’s head bowed; dark bangs covered his cheeks. “It’s unlike anything your desert has, is it not?”

“No. I’ve never seen it all before.” Naruto wet his lips, tasting their careful truce. “I’ve seen how big it is on a map before, but seeing it.. I never knew anything could be so big.” 

Sasuke grunted. “You’ve not seen the Wood. Her boughs rival any ocean in their glory.”

“A forest as big as the ocean?”

“Mayhaps bigger, if humes could map it all.”

Naruto’s eyes widened. “And you lived there?”

“Of course.”

“Wow.” He stared out over the sea. “You’re so lucky. All I ever lived in was a sewer.”

Sasuke’s fingers curled tightly over the controls. “Yes,” he murmured. “I was.”

“So then, if you love it so much, why’d you leave?”

It was the wrong thing to ask. Sasuke’s head whipped like a striking snake, fangs bared, scarlet eyes flashing. 

“I’ve no need to explain myself,” he hissed. “You press too far, hume. Keep your questions, or lose your tongue.”

Naruto scowled. “I was just asking! What’s your problem?”

But Sasuke was already turning away again. He’d become stone in his seat, an obsidian chip in the open blue. 

They didn’t speak together for the rest of the flight. 

In the distance was a speck.

Naruto frowned. He couldn’t see very well, but it looked like a chunk of land. In the middle of the sky. Floating. 

“I’m going crazy,” he muttered. “There’s no way..”

“Status report,” Kakashi said, buckling himself in. “We should be skirting purvama by now.”

“Twelve knots out.” Sasuke tapped on a radar. The speck in the distance ahead of them expanded, enlarging on a massive screen. 

Naruto’s jaw dropped.

“How?” he breathed. “That’s impossible.”

It was a floating island—a massive, polished city amidst green hills. There were domes and towers touching the clouds; there were bridges, long and scallop-fenced, stretching over open air. Naruto could even see people scurrying around like ants.

“Ah, Naruto.” Kakashi pushed in on a thruster. The engine growled beneath them. “First lesson of sky pirating: nothing is impossible.” He gestured at the screen. “Kumogakure awaits.”

"That’s Kumo? When you mentioned The Village Hidden in the Clouds, I didn’t think you were being literal.”

Kakashi smirked. “Yes, well. You’d best learn not to assume anything in these parts. Kumogakurans speak only in plain terms.” He leaned back in his seat. “A rough bunch, they are.”

“With no interest in Sunan politics,” Sasuke said. “As we need.”

“Just so. Naruto?”

Naruto was still staring at the screen. The city seemed to practically spill off its floating island, all golden stone and gleaming dome-tops and— was that a waterfall pouring over the side?

“Yeah?” he mumbled, dazed.

“You’ll want to change.” 

He blinked, tearing his eyes away. “What? What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?”

Kakashi turned around in his seat. Sasuke snorted. Naruto flushed hot, glaring down at his thread-bares.

“It’s not fitting of our company, you see. You’re very, ah. Obviously Sunan.”

“Obviously a street rat,” Sasuke corrected. “If you’re going to represent us, you need to fit in with our image. ”

“What, as a bunch of assholes?” Naruto retorted. “Am I going to have to walk around in all black, too?”

Kakashi waved a hand. “Now, now. No need to point fingers. Think of it as extra interest on your apprenticeship.” He paused. “Also, you stink.” 

Naruto scowled. He ripped his gaze from the floating island—purvama— and jerked to his feet. “Fine. You have something for me?”

“In your room. We should be there once you’ve finished.”

It was understandable; he did stink. He knew he did. But that didn’t matter in Suna, where filthy orphans were everywhere. The realization that he stuck out so obviously among his new peers prickled his pride. He wanted to be a proper sky pirate.

But did Kakashi have to phrase it like that?

“Fine.” He got to his feet. “But I’m not walking around looking like Sasuke.”

The viera didn’t even look up. “As you shouldn’t. You aren’t worthy of the Wood’s garb.”

Naruto made a rude gesture at his back. Bastard. 

Still, he couldn’t deny the thrill of looking in the mirror a half hour later—years of dust scrubbed away, his hair clean and shiny— looking like a real sky pirate.

Smooth black pants. Polished silver greaves. An open black vest with copper thread and matching orange kerchief. 

“Look at me now, Sakura,” he whispered to the mirror. “I said I would do it, wouldn’t I?”

The pirate in the mirror grinned.

The next few weeks were unlike anything he’d ever known. 

Life in the capital had been slow. Exciting when there was crime, maybe, but always the same. Naruto’s walks around the city were circuitous. The same places, the same daily jobs. The same few coins in his pocket. The same ache in his stomach—of hunger, of dreams—that felt like another limb.

Sky pirating was nothing like that. 

Kumogakure. The Kiri Skysea. Jomae Jungle. The world was full of wonders Naruto hadn’t even dreamed of, full of monsters and people he could never have imagined. One day he was fishing in a river of rainbows; another, scaling a jungle cliffside for an ancient ruin. Rumors flowed like coins between their fingers at Kakashi’s behest, dazzling Naruto’s waking moments.

“How much further?” 

“Soon.” Kakashi wiped his brow. “We’re searching for the Phase 3 dig tunnels.”

Naruto wiped his blade against his leg. Thick, viscous ooze dripped to the earth—remnants of an unlucky ghoul. They’d been seeing a lot of them today. 

Sasuke checked the map. “Another turn at the crossroads, perhaps.” He frowned, rubbing his thumb over a mark. “In the future, don’t eat over our only map.”

They’d been in the abandoned mines for hours now. Naruto desperately ached for the sky; the air was cold, stale, stinking of bloated corpses and poisonous mold. The Mist here was thick enough to be visible, shimmering over the walls like gossamer slime. The air tasted like blood.

But it would be worth it. According to their source in the Land of Waves, the mines here housed an incredible prize untouched by hume hands. The Cerberus was unmoored and sailing within the hour. 

Every day was an adventure, now. Naruto couldn’t believe his luck.

“What do you think it’ll be?” he wondered aloud for the eightieth time. 

“A hidden ore deposit,” Kakashi suggested. “A mountain of gold.”

“A muzzle,” Sasuke muttered.

“Now, now.” Kakashi wagged his finger. “Maybe it’ll be a good sense of humor, hm? We can only hope.”

They trudged onward. The tunnels were beginning to lose their structure, hewed stones crumbling into mud that sucked at their feet. Even so, Sasuke still insisted on leading the way, sandals slapping softly through the earth. 

Naruto fell into step with Kakashi. “Why do you put up with him anyway?”

“Who, Sasuke?” The sky pirate peeked ahead through his eyelashes. “He’s not so difficult once you know all of his tricks.” He cocked his head. “I’ve memorized all of them by now.”

Naruto pondered this. “So you’ve been with him for a while.”

“Five years.”

“Five—” He blinked. “But that would mean you’ve known him since he was little.”

“No smaller than any other thirteen-year-old, I’d wager.”

Naruto tried to imagine a smaller Sasuke. The idea made his lips quirk—then another thought occurred, and the smile died away.

Viera weren’t meant to leave the Wood. Even Naruto, sheltered city boy as he was, knew all about vieran pride—they loved their people above all else, hiding in secret villages for centuries. For a viera to leave the Wood—especially one so young— 

“What happened?” 

“He found me,” Kakashi said simply. “That’s all I can say. It’s his story to tell.”

Naruto frowned. His eyes trailed to Sasuke ahead: pale against the dark earth, polished weapons gleaming below silky black hair. He was wholly unlike any viera Naruto had ever seen.

If you loved it so much, then why did you leave?

The incredible prize was hellbent on murdering them.

Naruto lunged sideways. Black magic exploded from where he’d just stood, choking the air with smoldering flames. The demon esper screamed. 

It was an ugly, horrible creature. Its exposed rib cage stretched like a centipede’s; its gnarled hands twisted like dead trees. A head—a human skull—swayed with the weight of massive ram horns. The female corpse hung over its shoulder like a rotting wing moaned and screamed, her eyes long-rotted, her mouth full of broken teeth. 

It’s him, Naruto knew. The esper screamed again, hands clawing. He’s the one raising the dead. 

On cue, a rotting hand erupted from the soil beneath him. Sharp nails ripped into his leg like butter.

“Shit!” His sword fell. The corpse, half-emerged, groaned and exploded into gore. “Awful things. You should’ve stayed dead!”

“Don’t stop moving!” Kakashi shouted. He fired a shot, nailing the esper’s shoulder. The cavern shuddered with the weight of its screams. 

An arrow whistled dangerously close to Naruto’s cheek. He jerked back. Sasuke danced gracefully by, dodging and weaving like a snake. His eyes were ablaze. 

“It’s slowing!” Another arrow flew. “Strike quickly!”

The esper tipped back its head and laughed. The Mist purpled around them, churning thicker and thicker until it was impossible to see. Ghouls clamored with bony fingers, scraping at Naruto’s flesh. He cut and cut, desperate to escape, but there were so many— 

“Naruto!”

The world turned purple. 

Naruto sucked in a breath. His chest burned. The light was everywhere, the Mist, climbing down his throat to squeeze his heart— 

Death, the esper whispered. The woman on its shoulder threw her head back and screamed.

“No!” 

A jolt—elbows flying, his body falling forward. Stones bit at Naruto’s arms, scraping his cheeks open, his ears were ringing with her screams— 

What—

Everything happened so fast.

He rolled over. Sasuke fell to his knees, eyes wide, mouth open. Mist poured from his open mouth. Kakashi lunged behind him, gun raised. The shot exploded from his barrel like a star.  

The esper shrieked. 

Mist roiled and quaked. The ghoul at Naruto’s shoulder moaned and fell to pieces, splattering him with clotted blood. The esper rose and rose, arms spreading, the woman’s corpse flailing like a worm, hair floating above her— 

And it shattered: crystals raining, sharp as glass, cutting into everything. The mines shuddered and groaned, rocks falling from the ceiling, but all Naruto could see was Sasuke lying there like a broken doll. He wouldn’t get up. Why wouldn’t he get up?

“Sasuke!” he screamed. “Sasuke—”

“Naruto!” Kakashi leapt forward, pulling Sasuke into his arms. “Grab the stone!” 

The stone. Naruto swung around, reaching blindly for the crystal. The heat beneath his fingers was familiar somehow, the blistering pain an echo of another time— 

They ran. The mines crumbled behind them, stones swallowing the world, and they ran. 

Sasuke wouldn’t wake up.

“I’ve tried all I know,” Kakashi said. “His heart’s beating, but he won’t awaken. I fear it’s the Mist sickness.”

Naruto stared numbly. Sasuke looked so much smaller tucked into his sheets, his weapons and greaves pulled away. His chest rose and fell almost imperceptibly.  

“How do you cure it?” he whispered. “I don’t..”

“It’s an illness of the spirit.” Kakashi crossed his arms. He looked as exhausted as Naruto felt—all thick cuts and bruises, skin torn by ghoulish fingers. “Whatever that esper did—that black magic it used—sapped away his internal mana.” He tapped Sasuke’s chest. “He won’t wake until we find an ether concoction that works.”

“So we find one.”

“Ah,” Kakashi sighed. “If only it were that easy. We need to find someone who knows how to make ether potions. I’m afraid my connections lack in such matters.. It will have to be someone else.”

Someone else. “But that could take days!” Naruto protested. He hated the fear in his throat, the burning in his eyes. “Sasuke needs help now.” 

It was unnatural. The way he lay there, living dead beneath the sheets, made Naruto’s skin crawl. He wanted Sasuke to open his eyes; he wanted him to laugh, to make jabs and roll his eyes. This stillness..

Naruto froze. An idea ticked in his brain like a single raindrop falling to pool—rippling, forming. His thoughts raced. He sat back, staring unseeing, knowing what had to be done.

He stood and looked at Kakashi. “I know where we need to go.”

The first thing Sakura did was punch him.

“You jerk!” she spit. Her fist swung again. “I was worried sick! First the explosions, then Kiba saying you were inside! You never came back, never wrote, never sent any sort of sign—”

“Sakura,” Naruto moaned. He could already feel an egg-sized lump forming. “I wanted to, honest!”

“You no-good, thieving, awful—” Her eyes caught on the man behind him. “Naruto. What did you do?”

“Ah.. well.” He cleared his throat, stepping out of punching range. “This is Kakashi. He’s—he’s the one who got me out of the palace. I’ve been in his care.”

Sakura’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. Naruto imagined what he must look like to her now: him, freshly-clothed and bandaged, with a sword; Kakashi, lean and foreboding with his black eyepatch and pistol. Her lips thinned.

“A sky pirate,” she said. “You’ve been hanging with sky pirates.”

“They have a ship,” he supplied helpfully. “Sakura, I’ve been to places you can’t imagine! Just wait until you see—”

“Naruto.” His heart sank. “He’s a thief. Look at him!”

“A common accusation,” Kakashi remarked. “I prefer to think of myself as an opportunist.”

“A thief,” Sakura repeated stubbornly. “You’ve been flying around with cutpurses while I thought you were dead! Naruto, what happened to your promise?”

“I didn’t forget,” he croaked. He leaned in—never mind punching range—and grasped her hand. The calluses under his fingers felt so familiar, so much like home, that his eyes burned. “Sakura, that’s why I came back.”

She looked at him with wide green eyes—and squeezed them shut. Fingers wrapped around Naruto’s neck, pulling him close, and why had Naruto never noticed before how thin she was?

“Never again,” she whispered against his neck. “Don’t scare me like that, okay?”

He swallowed hard. “Never,” he promised. “I actually was hoping.. that you’d come with us.”

Sakura pulled back. Her eyelashes were wet, her eyes glistening like polished sea glass. “You idiot,” she huffed. “As if I’d ever let you go without me. You’d probably end up in a coma or something.”

Naruto winced. “Um, about that..”

“Ah, is the reunion over?” Kakashi stepped forward. “Miss Haruno. Naruto here tells me of a special talent you possess. I’d like to take you on—on one condition.”

Sakura’s fingers wound tight in Naruto’s. She glared up at Kakashi like she didn’t give a rat’s ass who he was or what he did. Pride swelled in Naruto’s chest. She always had been the strongest of them.

“Name your price,” she said, “and I’ll pay it.”

Kakashi smiled. “Just what I wanted to hear.”

Sakura had been working for hours.

Naruto paced back and forth. He’d been banished from Sasuke’s room after ten minutes for exactly this, but he couldn’t help it. What if Sasuke never woke up? What if he did—and he was changed? 

“I’ll do all I can,” Sakura had promised. Her eyes traced over Sasuke’s ears, the hollows of his eyes. “But if I’m going to fix this, you need to leave me in peace.”

Naruto recognized that look. Once Sakura decided something, nothing would stop her from her goal. She would fix Sasuke. She had to. He— 

Naruto stopped, frowning. The blond in his bedroom mirror scowled back at him.

“He’s insufferable,” he muttered. “I’m worried about him because he’s a teammate. That’s normal, isn’t it? I just want things to be right.”

His reflection didn’t look convinced.

“Ah. Naruto?”

“Shit!” He whirled around. His cheeks flushed hot at the sight of Kakashi, eyebrows raised. “Give a guy a warning, would you?”

“I apologize,” Kakashi said. “I didn’t realize you were having an important conversation. Should I inform you of Sasuke’s awakening at another time?”

“What?” Naruto eyes widened. “He’s awake?”  

“Just a few minutes ago. Sakura—”

But it was too late. Naruto was already out the door.

Sasuke looked like death warmed over. Bruises bloomed beneath his eyes; his lips were so chapped, they cracked and bled. He coughed like his lungs were full of gunk, and his voice scraped over every lilting syllable like rocks down a ravine.

But he was awake.

“Gods above,” Naruto breathed. He sank into the spare chair on jellied legs. “You’re alive.”

Sasuke glared over his comforter. “Did you hope to be rid of me so quickly?”

“What? Can’t a guy be glad about you not dying?” Naruto rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t stop the overwhelming relief that soared through his veins. Sasuke was the same. 

Naruto laughed breathlessly. The sound felt wet in his throat. “Sakura.. Thank you.”

The look Sakura gave him was unreadable—eyebrows rising, lips parting. Her eyes flit between him and Sasuke before settling on the poultice bowl in her hands.

“Of course,” she finally said. “I said I would do it, didn’t I?” She paused. “I, ah. I need to take a short break. You’ll keep him company, won’t you?” She darted out without waiting for a response.

Naruto’s eyes trailed back to the bed. Sasuke stared back at him. 

“Your sister,” the viera began. He coughed. “Even by hume standards she doesn’t look like you.”

“No,” Naruto agreed. “We aren’t actually related.”

Sasuke pondered that for a moment. “You’ve no family blood left, then.”

“No.” The admission didn’t bother Naruto any longer—it’d been too long for him to stay bitter. “Sakura and the others, we made our own family.” He half-shrugged. “Does it matter if she’s actually related to me?”

Sasuke turned to look out the window. Beneath his gauntness, Naruto gleaned an aching longing.

“No,” he murmured. “I suppose not.”

Silence stretched between them. A question of his own bubbled on Naruto’s lips, waiting to fall forwards. He  took a breath. Was now the right time? When would there ever be one?

He had to know.

“Why’d you do it?” he asked. Sasuke turned back to him. “Pushing me out of the way, I mean. Why?”

The viera cocked his head. His long ears twitched, rubbing together absentmindedly. Sunset was coming on, dyeing the clouds gold and peach; the buttery color bathed Sasuke’s face gently, coloring him where sickness had stolen his flush.

“Because,” he murmured, “I’ve never seen anyone else so desperately wish to fly.”

And at that moment, Naruto understood.

He swallowed hard. His hands were shaking again; his heart, beating a hummingbird’s rhythm. 

“Thank you,” he whispered. 

Things had begun to change.

Naruto couldn’t put his finger on what it was. Was it his dinner rations being padded by Sasuke’s leftovers? Was it Sasuke showing him how to properly sharpen and clean his blade? Was it him taking the time to teach Naruto the airship controls?

Respect, Naruto decided. He’s finally starting to respect me.

And not a moment too soon. Sakura—what with being his sister— had a never-ending stream of embarrassing stories to tell. Not that Naruto didn’t love having her aboard; he loved sharing their adventures, her patching them up, being able to see her smile under the open blue sky.

But did she have to be so embarrassing?

“You know,” she said, magic thrumming from her fingertips, “these monsters remind me of when you were six.”

Naruto sliced through a massive toad. The animal belched, spilling acid in its death throes. He whipped around and glared. “Don’t.”

“Aw, why not?” Ice crystals exploded out of another monster’s maw. “It’s funny!”

“Nobody needs to know that,” Naruto muttered. He ducked under a vicious swing and jabbed forward. 

“Sure they do. You were so cute—well, right up until you threw up all those worms—”

“Sakura!”

“Pfft.” Naruto’s head whipped around. Sasuke was covering his mouth with one hand, ears waggling about. His eyes danced with mirth. “A bug-eater, you say?”

“Oh, definitely.” Sakura nodded. “He had this idea that if he ate enough he’d turn into a toad too—”

“Stop, stop, stop!” Naruto waved his sword threateningly. “I’ll run you through, you traitor!”

“As if you could handle me,” Sakura retorted. “Roach-eater!”

“What?” he squawked. “I did not eat roaches!”

Sasuke burst into laughter, then—a low, rasping melody that forced a flush to Naruto’s cheeks. He bit his lip, swallowing his own smile. Sakura beamed. Even Kakashi was chuckling.

“I didn’t,” he repeated softly. Gods above, did Sasuke have to laugh like that? He tore his gaze away and stomped down the beach. “I’m scouting ahead!”

“Don’t eat any bugs you find!” Sakura hollered. 

Naruto scowled darkly. “Stupid Sakura and her stupid stories,” he muttered under his breath. “Stupid bugs. Stupid Sasuke.”

But for all his grumbling, he couldn’t get the sound of Sasuke’s laughter out of his head. 

Things took a major turn when they reached Konoha.

Sasuke’s grumpiness was no abnormality. Naruto was used to his mild jabs, the way his words whipped quick and sharp. What he wasn’t used to was the way Sasuke tensed like a tightened bow string as they flew for the trees. By the time they landed at the forest’s edge, he’d gone utterly mute.

“What’s with Sasuke?” Naruto whispered to Kakashi. The sky pirate glanced at Sasuke, who was furiously polishing his bow for the fifth time.

“Some things are best left pondered,” he said, and refused to elaborate.

Sasuke’s mood worsened the further they traveled. Konoha was beautiful, an anomaly in the world Naruto’s Sunan lifestyle had painted. He’d never seen grass so green, nor trees so tall. The air tasted rich with life; the birds sung overhead long into the night. Sasuke’s bitterness was utterly incongruous beneath the boughs.

What’s plaguing him? Naruto wondered. He watched Sasuke stare into the fire. The viera hadn’t moved in nearly an hour, since Kakashi and Sakura had retired to their tents.

“Sasuke.”

He didn’t even look up. “You wish to pester me?”

“I—no.” Naruto wet his lips. “Something’s bothering you. What is it?”

Sasuke’s eyes narrowed. “My concerns are not your toys to play with.”

“That wasn’t my intention,” he growled irritably. “I’m trying to be a good teammate. You’re walking around like you’ve got a whole tree up your ass. It’s making everyone uncomfortable.”

“Forgive me for disturbing you then.” Sasuke’s voice was so cold, mocking in a way it hadn’t been for months. “I’ll retire elsewhere.” He rose to his feet.

“Wait— stop.” Naruto jerked up and scrambled around the fire. “Wait. I said it all wrong.”

“As you are wont to do.” Sasuke’s lip curled. “I’ve never seen a hume so mired with mistakes.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment. Asshole.” Naruto glared. “But no matter what you say, I’m going to keep asking. Everyone’s been dancing around this, this issue of yours. Kakashi won’t tell me, and Sakura is too polite to ask, so I’m going to. What’s your problem? Is it something I did?”

For a moment, Sasuke almost hit him. The way he bared his teeth, eyes bright as the fire, fingers curled towards his bow—Naruto believed it. Their rivalry was finally coming to blows after months of temper.

And then.. Sasuke spun away. His shoulders heaved; his whole body trembled. Naruto held his breath. 

“You would never understand,” Sasuke growled. “You’ve a family of your own.”

I’ve known him for five years.

The Men of the Wood are not for hume eyes.

If you loved it so much, then why’d you leave?

“Sasuke,” Naruto breathed. He didn’t dare touch him, but he took a tiny step. “Why did you leave the Wood?”

Sasuke stared out into the darkness for so long, Naruto was sure he wouldn’t answer. And yet— 

“To find someone long gone.” 

Naruto exhaled sharply. “Your—family?”

Sasuke’s voice was dry as paper. “My brother.”

Silence stretched between them. Sasuke turned, eyes bright as the full moon. They weren’t wet—Naruto never believed they would be—but the look of agony within them stabbed straight through Naruto’s heart. 

“Once a viera leaves the Wood,” he said, “they can never return. There is no space within Her heart to forgive those abandoning.

“I knew what it meant when Itachi left. But I had no choice. Where else was I to go?” His fists curled tight. “What other family did I have to rely on?”

“He left you,” Naruto realized.

Sasuke’s chin raised. “Itachi tired of the Wood’s stagnancy. Too many still centuries . He was determined to find a purpose, even if it meant losing everything he should have cared for.” His eyes narrowed, hands trembling. “Even if it meant losing me.

“Whether he has achieved it, I know not. I am still lost to him—just as I am lost to the Wood.” He cast an arm out, stretching to the trees above. “She speaks, and I cannot hear her! I am deaf, deaf to all that I had..” His eyes squeezed shut. “She hates me. I know She does.”

What was there to say? What could he do?

“I’m sorry,” Naruto whispered. “I didn’t..”

“How could you?” Sasuke’s laugh chafed cruelly. “Even now, I follow the Wood’s ways. Never to speak out, never to lose myself..” His eyes opened then, horribly bright. “I have no home, no bonds to anchor myself. I may never rest knowing I abandoned her willingly, for nothing.”

“That’s not true,” Naruto said fiercely. “That’s not true! You have us! We’re your family. After all..” He swallowed hard, willing strength into his voice. “After all, wasn’t it you who agreed blood doesn’t matter?”

“Don’t presume to know what I have lost,” Sasuke snapped. “Could you bear having Sakura torn from you? Your own language? Your own spirit?” His voice strained desperately. “There is a reason Men of the Wood never stray. We are volatile, tempestuous creatures. We cannot live without the Wood’s guidance for fear of madness. What am I, then, that I may fly away from her so easily? What have I become?”

“Your own person,” Naruto whispered.

Sasuke looked at him then—really looked at him. They were nearly nose-to-nose. Naruto could count every one of the viera’s dark eyelashes, every ridge within his scarlet eyes.

“You’re Sasuke,” he said. “A sky pirate. A free bird. Word or not, you could never lose that part of yourself.”

They looked at each other. Sasuke’s chest heaved against his own, brushing with every breath. Naruto could feel his warmth as acutely as his own clothes—closer, even. He was nearly close enough to become him.

“A free bird,” Sasuke echoed brokenly. His eyes cast skyward. “If only I’d known becoming one would take so much.”

I’ve never seen anyone else so desperately wish to fly.

“Do you regret it?” Naruto asked. “If you could take it all back—would you?” 

Sasuke lowered his chin. The light in his eyes had softened, fire calmed to embers. His ears shaded his own face from the moonlight, dyeing him the color of night. He looked so deeply, indescribably sad— but there was something else, a gentle wing taking flight within.  

“No,” he murmured. “I wouldn’t.”

“Alright, spill,” Sakura said one day. “What’s gotten into you two?”

Naruto stared down the sights of his arrow. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The wyvern over the Steppes screamed. Its wing-beats were loud enough to thrum even from Naruto’s distance, heavy flaps that moved the trees. Drool dripped from its jaws. 

Ugh. Ugly beast.

“Naruto,” Sakura repeated. “Anyone with eyes can see something’s going on.”

He held his breath. Just a little to the left..

“Are you two boning?”

Twang! The arrow flew—straight into a tree. The wyvern screamed and careened off the cliffside. Naruto whipped around, glaring. 

“You made me lose a good arrow! I’ve been trying to line up that shot for ages.” His eyes narrowed. “And no, we are not boning. Who even says that anyway, Kiba?”

“You seem awfully defensive about it,” Sakura pointed out loftily. “Maybe I wouldn’t be suspicious if you just told me things.”

“Nosy know-it-all.”

“Big-mouthed bug-brain.” 

“Oh, for—” He sighed. “Are you ever going to let me live that down?”

“Maybe,” Sakura said sweetly. “If you tell me what’s going on with you and Sasuke.”

“I already told you, nothing’s going on!” Naruto glared at his bow grip and readjusted. “Nothing at all.”

And really, wasn’t that the problem?

It’s not like Naruto was hoping for anything. He wasn’t! He was just doing what he always did: arguing with Sasuke, throwing food at him during dinner, pushing his buttons on purpose just a little to see how he’d react..

“You’re like a little kid with his first crush,” Sakura deadpanned. “It’s kind of sad to watch. Please do something about it before I squish your faces together, alright?”

Naruto recoiled in horror. “You wouldn’t!”

“I would.” She cocked her head. “Well, maybe I would. I do like having both hands, though.”

“Don’t be stupid,” Naruto mumbled. He lined up his sights again, this time on a hare. “As if Sasuke would let you anyway.”

Sakura snorted loudly. “Oh, is that the problem? You think he doesn’t want to?” 

“Trying to catch dinner,” Naruto reminded her loudly. “Could you give me some peace and quiet?”

“Naruto,” she laughed. “Try using your eyes for once, okay? I promise he’s in just as deep. Why don’t you try making a move or something?”

He inhaled. Released. The arrow whizzed through the air—and landed true.

He turned back to Sakura. Her arms were crossed; one eyebrow was raised in a perfect mimic of Kakashi’s. He hated that they both gave him that look.

“There’s nothing to look for,” Naruto informed her. “Sasuke is just being the same as always.”

“And so are you,” she pointed out. “Nothing will change if you don’t try. I know you want to.”

He spun around and made for his catch. So what if he’d noticed lately how beautiful Sasuke was? So what if Sasuke’s jabs had lately filled his gut with butterflies? So what if he wanted to make him laugh all the time? 

We’re teammates, Naruto told himself firmly. Teammates. 

Why, then, did the idea of doing nothing bother him so much?

The Imperials had finally found them.

“Stay our course!” Kakashi snapped. The right thruster groaned under his weight. “Pakkun! Status on our peripheral engines?”

“Left wing is at 94% capacity.” The skyship shuddered violently, nosediving to avoid a full-on collision. Shrapnel rained onto the cockpit window. “Make that 90%.”

“Gods above,” the sky pirate snarled. “Why now of all times?”

Sasuke slammed his fist onto a button. Torpedoes erupted from the front cannons in a fiery blaze. Naruto blinked away stars; he’d forgotten his goggles somewhere. His bed, maybe? The latrine? It was too late now.

Far too late.

“Kakashi!” Sasuke’s fingers raced over the keys. “I can’t keep them at bay!”

“Incoming! There’s—”

The cockpit jolted forward. Every vertebrae in Naruto’s neck popped at once; he chomped hard, filling his mouth with blood. 

Smoke began filling the air.

“Internal fans compromised,” Pakkun choked. “Right wing capacity dropping to 45%.”

“Kakashi!” Sakura burst through the cockpit doors, scrabbling for purchase along the back wall. “The hull’s dented. They’re blasting a hole straight through her!”

“Gods above.” Kakashi jerked forward, yanking on the controls. The Cerberus shot straight up. “What do they want from us?”

Naruto’s fingers bit into his seatbelt. For the Imperials to find them now, after all they’d been through together, was a cruel joke. Who’d tipped them off? How did they know where to find them?

Why now?

“Ceasefire,” Sakura yelled desperately. “Call for ceasefire! We’re in international skies!”

“We’re long past the point of ceasefire!” Sasuke snarled. “Their intercoms shut off—they will not heed us!”

“Kakashi!”

Another hit. 

The radars were screaming, beeping wildly. Screens flickered in and out of existence; the control panels lit and shuddered like dying lights. Pakkun’s voice broke over the speakers, but he was garbled, unintelligible, and the cabin was filling with so much smoke— 

“This isn’t how I wanted it to end,” Kakashi cried. “I’m not done yet! We still had so much—”

“Kakashi,” Sasuke snarled. “Don’t you dare give up now!”

The Cerberus shuddered violently. Sakura screamed; bloody fingers clamored for Naruto’s seat. He pulled her in tight, face buried in her hair. Her breathing was so loud, a desperate, shallow rasp like a dying animal— 

“Gods above,” she rasped in his ear. “Blessed ancestors, take me willingly into your light..”

“Naruto!”

He looked up.

Sasuke had turned his seat. His goggles were pushed up into tangled hair; his eyes streamed from smoke, twin fires in the dark. The loss on his face ate at Naruto’s insides more than any poison, more than any agony he’d ever known. 

So much time. So much time, and all they’d done was waste it circling each other. It wasn’t fair, it wasn’t fair, it wasn’t— 

I’m sorry, the viera’s mouth said, but Naruto couldn’t hear him anymore.

The Cerberus screamed.

The control panels went dark.

Light burst forward, exploding from the hull—from the cabins, where Naruto had kept two twin crystals locked in a chest—  

And then: silence.

The world was golden.

The world was golden, and he was golden, floating within.

Naruto.

What a soft place to lay. He was so comfortable.

You’re already going to sleep?

Just a few more minutes, he thought distantly. I want to rest for just a little longer.

You can’t.

I can. Who says I can’t? You?

Your mother.

I don’t have one. Not since..

Warmth at his fingertips—a hand, impossibly soft, wrapped around his. The sweet scent of valeblossoms.

You will always have a family if you know where to look. 

Fingers in his hair. A beautiful voice humming, oddly familiar and so full of sorrow. Tears sprang to his eyes even through the warmth. He burned inside.

You can feel it, can’t you? They’re looking for you.

I’m not ready, he thought frantically. I don’t know if I can wake up.

You must. The voice hardened; fingers tightened in his. Your wings are calling, and so you must.

And then the song changed, and Naruto realized he knew the lyrics. 

A bird takes wing

 upon the spring

 to find a world to call its own..

He opened his eyes.

The crystals were gone.

It wasn’t the first thing Naruto noticed. It wasn’t even the fifth, or the tenth. There were a thousand other discoveries to be had before he realized the crystals were missing, and by then, it was too late.

Not that he was bothered by it too much.

“All that treasure,” he moaned. “All that gold. I could’ve had my own skyship by now!”

“Ah,” Kakashi said, “but then where would we be?”

“Visiting me, of course.”

Sakura snorted. “The second you get your own ship is when I actually start to worry. Who’s going to be your mechanic? Your second-in-command?”

“Easy. I’ll just buy out Pakkun once he’s done repairing The Cerberus.”

“I beg your pardon? Get your own moogle!”

They dissolved into bickering and laughter. Naruto tipped his head back, smiling, and basked in the warm sun.

Word on the wind was that Suna’s Resistance was gaining ground. The Imperials were on the defensive after the mysterious disappearance of their main fleet—an event that Naruto was sure he had nothing to do with. You know, if anyone asked.

Mist works in mysterious ways, Sasuke had said. All we can do is thank the gods it worked in our favor.

The rightful prince Gaara was making his move in a week’s time. Naruto didn’t know where he’d be then, but if Kakashi’s thoughtful glances towards the east were anything to go by, they’d be finding some excitement soon enough. 

Things were changing for the better—Naruto could feel it. All that was left was..

“Hey, Naruto.” 

He blinked away sunspots. “Wha?”

Sakura jerked her chin. He followed her gaze towards the desert cliff’s crest—to one viera, watching the sun’s set.

Naruto glared at her. She smiled back and had the audacity to wink before taking her cactus pads back to camp.  

Meddling sisters..

Naruto scaled the cliffside easily. Half a year’s sky pirating already bore fruit; he found himself stronger and more agile than ever before. He could cut a crowd of demons down in a minute, or shoot a stray vulture from half a knot’s distance. 

But what sky pirating didn’t prepare him for was the unpredictable emotions of a single viera.

Sasuke sat cross-legged. The sky’s fiery blaze lit his hair to smoldering ink; his eyes, to burning rubies. He bathed in its warm glow like a coal come to life, nestled between the late-summer blooms and swaying shrubs.

He was beautiful.

Naruto swallowed. He sat as close as he dared and surreptitiously wiped his palms on his pants. Sasuke sighed quietly.

“Is something wrong?”

“Hmm. I wonder.” 

He cocked his head. Sasuke wouldn’t look at him, but his lips were upturned ever so gently. Naruto’s heart ached.

“You could tell me,” he suggested.

“I could,” Sasuke agreed. “But I fear it would do no good. You see, I’m having difficulties with a certain hume. He seems more dense than I thought capable—a daunting feat.”

Naruto frowned. “That does sound like a problem.” 

“Quite,” Sasuke agreed dryly. “He’s insufferably thick-headed, and has the loudest mouth I’ve ever heard. I fear one day a bug will fly in and choke him to death.”

He paused, gaze softening. “But I would not prefer him any other way. He is.. As he should be.”

Something ugly spiked under Naruto’s sternum. “Oh?” He struggled to keep his voice even. “He must be something to keep your attention.”

“He is,” Sasuke said quietly. “He is unlike any hume I’ve ever known. I think, however, I’d like to know him even better.”

Naruto ignored his churning stomach. “You should tell him then,” he made himself say. “He’d probably be flattered to hear that from you. You’re perfect as it is.”

“You don’t say.” Sasuke huffed a laugh. “But I already have. And still, he doesn’t listen.”

“What?” Naruto’s head whipped around. “What kind of asshole—Hey! What’s so funny?”

Sasuke lowered a hand from his mouth. His eyes were twin crescents, crinkled at the corners from smiling. His teeth were perfectly white; his lips, captivating as he said:

“Must I do everything around here?”

“Wh—mmph!” 

Warmth. Softness. Soft lips, Sasuke was kissing him— 

Naruto jerked back. He could feel an awful flush coming on, the kind that turned his skin tomato-red and made him horribly sweaty. He bit his lip, eyes trained on the viera’s perfect mouth.

“You insufferable hume,” Sasuke said. “What more must I do to catch your attention?”

Naruto stared open-mouthed. The evening breeze was beginning to kick, brushing over the soft hair of Sasuke’s ears, mussing his hair into lovely tangles. He was pink too, but wonderfully so, like a budding valeblossom under the sun. He was—Sasuke.

Naruto scrambled to find his words. “You could.. Kiss me again?”

Sasuke huffed a laugh. 

He leaned in again—and this time, Naruto was ready. Their mouths fit perfectly, just as their hands did, and the shapes of their chests when they pressed close together. 

Naruto could feel the incredible softness of his skin, his hair, his ears. Sasuke tasted like sweet fruit and something else, something wholly him. He decided he would never get enough of it. He would never get enough of him.

And Naruto could swear, right then—his heart stretched its wings and began to fly.