CHAPTER I: WHO LOVES LIVES

Now he had fallen. His weakness had triumphed over his body. He lay motionless on the floor, just waiting for the black man with the scythe and hood to lead him into the depths of hell. The whole time he believed he was in her.
His eyesight grew paler and paler. His breathing is even and much calmer. Too calm. He lost all hope of rescue, because who would find him in such a remote forest? There was no one here but him and death.
Suddenly, however, he felt a tender hand on his cheek. It was warm and that skin felt like silk. He took a deep breath and heard the soothing smell of this skin. He had already forgotten his pain and even when the stranger picked him up, he was unable to open his eyes for fear that the pain would otherwise tear him apart. His arm was carefully placed around the stranger's neck and now he was carried like a small child.Halfway through, Sasuke lost consciousness and didn't wake up again until an eternity later. But he couldn't open his eyes. Suddenly he felt the warmth and security in his heart. He felt soft fabric under his left hand. And under his right ...
"What…?" he produced with an effort. He moved his hand and felt something slide through his fingers that felt like pure silk. But then he realized that it was hair. He ran over the stranger's head and touched the skin, it was soft and so delicate. He didn't know who it was, but he only wanted one thing: that this person stayed with him. He slowly fell asleep again.
He woke up a few hours later and was able to open his eyes fully. He looked around and immediately noticed that he was alone again. Then it came back to him immediately. He was turned away. Abandoned by his own brother. He had already suppressed it and yet it fell like scales from his eyes.He looked around again and found himself still alone.
"Alone…"
Slowly he let himself fall back into his pillow and stared into space. He clawed the fabric beneath him.
"I don't want to be alone ... please ..." he thought.
Suddenly he heard a noise that sounded like a door opening. He closed his eyes and waited. Then someone came into the room and put something on the small table next to Sasuke's bed. This someone sat down on the edge of the bed. The dripping of water could be heard and shortly afterwards the young ninja felt something pleasantly warm on his skin. He had been freezing the whole time and the warm water was all too good for him. The stranger gently stroked his cheek, forehead and neck with the silk scarf.
"Who are you?" Sasuke asked in an almost whisper. But he got no answer. One last time the stranger stroked his forehead with the silk scarf and cleaned Sasuke's skin with it. Then the young Uchiha heard how the cloth was put down and felt how the stranger got up and wanted to leave.But at the last second, Sasuke blindly grabbed the stranger's hand and caught them too.
"Do not go…"
He still kept his eyes closed and he waited to see what would happen next.
He had expected a lot, but what happened next, he had not expected. Something very gentle touched his lips and Sasuke's body flowed through the warmth that emanated from that kiss. His heart was healed a little.
When the stranger broke away from Sasuke, he opened his eyes and looked into what was probably the most beautiful pair of eyes he had ever seen. Even Itachi's eyes couldn't keep up. He looked at the stranger as if spellbound.
"Nice that you are better." said the stranger in a tender voice. Then he got up and went to the door.
"What is your name?!" Sasuke wanted to know again. He had straightened up a little so he could see the boy. He was exceedingly beautiful. He had long, brown hair, and two strands were tied together at the bottom in the front.His long hair at the back was tied in a plait. Sasuke's gaze stayed on him.
"Haku." said the boy curtly and then left the room. Sasuke was left alone again. Still staring at the door, he realized he was being left alone again. Now he lay there, in this huge room and with nothing more than shorts, he was just kissed by a boy in order to lock in the darkness of his heart for a while.
"Come ... back ..." he whispered. Then he sank back into his bed without giving a thought to where he was and how he was going to get out of here.
Gradually it got dark and Sasuke woke up in his bed for the third time. The sun had already set and only a small shimmer of red could be seen in the sky.
The young ninja sat up straight and looked at the sky. Then he realized that he was not alone in the room. The stranger named Haku, as he remembered, was sitting in an armchair across from the bed.He looked at Sasuke with a grin.
"Your name is Sasuke, isn't it?" said Haku. The addressee looked at him in surprise.
"Where from ..." he managed, but his throat hurt. He hadn't had a drink in hours, so his throat was pretty dry.
"When you are thirsty, there is a jug of water next to you."
Sasuke looked at the bedside table and next to the mug was a full glass of water. He took it and emptied it without stopping. When he was finished, he put the glass back and stayed in position.
"Where am I here? Did you bring me here?" Sasuke asked the stranger.
"I found you in the forest. You looked pretty exhausted. Although, that would be an understatement. You looked more like half-dead." answered Haku. He gave a short giggle.
Sasuke gave him an angry look.
"So you think that's funny, yeah ?!" he snapped.
"I'm sorry, but I really don't laugh at your condition. But how should I say ..."
Sasuke raised one of his eyebrows and looked questioningly at Haku."Then what about?" he wanted to know curiously.
"You just looked pretty ... well, beautiful. Forgive me if that sounds insulting to you. But your snow-white skin and your black hair ... just incredibly beautiful. Like a doll. You looked so helpless ..." Haku gave Sasuke a rather strange look at. But this one turned slightly red in the face and just looked elsewhere so that Haku wouldn't see his red shimmer.
"And ... where exactly am I here?" he asked after a moment's hesitation.
"Well, with me. This is a pretty small village on the Konoha-Gakure coast. It is actually mostly inhabited by Nukenin ..." he said calmly. Sasuke gave him a critical look.
"Nukenin? And ..." he began. He thought of his brother. What if he lived here too?
"Your brother doesn't live here, if that's what you mean ..." Haku smiled. Now Sasuke was finally insecure.
> Can he read minds or what ?! he asked himself.
Haku got up and took a glass from the cupboard next to the door.Then he poured himself water from the jug that was next to Sasuke's bed. Sasuke didn't take his eyes off him. Suddenly he didn't feel so safe anymore. Rather, he felt a little uncomfortable. Then he suddenly remembered. Someone had kissed him. And that someone looked a lot like Haku. Sasuke backed away from Haku out of reflex and looked at him puzzled.
"What's going on? Have you seen a ghost?" asked Haku, amused.
> And I kissed someone like that ?! How drunk was I ?! he asked himself for fun.
"I shouldn't have done that ..." Haku said and sat down on the bed. Then he put his arms on his legs and leaned his head on the back of his hands.
"W ... what?" asked Sasuke, who was still a little absent.
"I think the kiss was a mistake. I should have controlled myself. But at that moment I couldn't help it."
Sasuke blushed a little again. And again he turned his head away so that Haku wouldn't see him like that."Why do you always turn away when you show feelings?"
The young Uchiha looked up.
"It doesn't matter if you show feelings. Just because you're an Uchiha?" Haku grinned into space.
"How do you know so much about me ?!" said Sasuke in a slightly angry voice.
The nuke nin looked at him and shrugged. Sasuke looked at him too. But his gaze changed. Sasuke seemed to be under a kind of spell and couldn't look away anymore. Or so he believed. Haku found this increasingly amusing, but remained serious.
Suddenly the door opened. A blonde ninja with long, wavy hair that was tied in a braid stepped in and eyed them both. Haku was the first to look at the door. Then Sasuke's gaze followed.
"Master Haku ... I should inform you that there was a break-in."
"A burglary?" asked Haku and got up.
"Various houses were broken into. Apparently the person in charge was looking for something.Or someone. "Said the nuke nin and bowed.
"If you would follow me ..."
Haku and the ninja left the room and Sasuke was left alone again. Then he got up and went to the window. Well, actually it wasn't a window at all. Just a free space in the wooden wall.
When he looked out, he saw many ninja gathered around a fire. Some of them wore masks, others just the Konoha headbands. But then he noticed something strange.
"They are ..." he began.
The headbands of the ninja were not embossed with the Konoha mark. It was the characters of the ninja from the fog realm.
"Haku is a Nukenin. But not from Konoha?"
He hesitated, but then went to the door and opened it. He quietly crept out of the room and soon came to a staircase. Apparently he was in a tree house, because the stairs led down steeply. He climbed down carefully and looked around. Nobody to see. Then he noticed that he was unarmed and only in shorts."Damn!" he cursed and disappeared back upstairs. Once there, he was already facing Haku again, who grinned at him in a rather amused manner.
"Looking for something to wear, huh? Wait, I'll get you a few things from me." he said and strolled past Sasuke into a smaller room.
> How did he get up here so quickly ?! Sasuke asked himself.
A little later Haku showed up with clothes and handed them to Sasuke.
"It should fit. If not, you have to stay like this ..." he joked.
Sasuke only grinned fleetingly and pulled the top on. Then he slipped into his pants. Haku watched him happily. When Sasuke finished, he looked at Haku