Be My Haven

Chapter 1: In Sickness and In Health

Sasuke stared into the mirror, stared into his eyes of the deepest black; silently he willed his reflection to change to that of the one he loved. But the image never changed. He heaved a deep sigh as he shook his head, running pale elegant fingers through his coal black hair. A wave of heat washed over him and he suddenly felt the need to throw up. Pushing away the nausea with deep breaths he glanced at the door with wary eyes. He needed to get out of the bathroom before Itachi came to check on him, but his legs felt like they had been reduced to jelly. Sasuke couldn't move he was shaking so bad. With gritted teeth he made his way to the door, forcing his body to move by sheer will alone. He wasn't going to give in to weakness; he was going to go to school, was going to keep his grades up. He had to. He had to surpass Itachi; he didn't want to be in his older brother's shadow. Sasuke reached for the doorknob, ignoring the crash of vertigo that hit him, to turn it and open the door. And there he was; the person that plagued his every thought, the one that made him drive himself to exhaustion to be perfect. A growl rattled in his sore throat as he glared at Itachi who gazed back with equally black eyes. Once again he ignored the spinning world as he made an attempt to push pass his brother. But Itachi apparently wasn't going to have that as he grabbed Sasuke's wrist, causing the younger Uchiha to come to a stop. Sasuke felt a heat that wasn't from his illness wash over his form.

"Don't touch me," he snarled, pulling out of Itachi's grasp.

The quickness of the movement made him wobble before he steadied himself. Itachi looked at him worriedly.

"You're burning up. You need to stay home Sasuke."

Sasuke paid no attention as he once again tried to push past Itachi, this time succeeding in his goal. As quickly as he dared he strode to the kitchen to grab his backpack before walking out the door. He wouldn't give in to sickness or heartache. Itachi couldn't find out anything. Itachi would be disgusted by it. And Itachi was all that Sasuke had after the death of their parents when he was 8. Within minutes he reached the high school and walked into the tall building. As soon as he passed the threshold everybody's eyes turned to him. He was the most popular, hottest, cutest, smartest, coolest guy in school. Sasuke groaned under his breath. This was going to be a long day. He made his way to his locker- 723, and opened it after twisting in the combination. He pulled out his Advanced Algebra 3 textbook from the neat enclosure and was just about to close the door when he heard the loud, obnoxious voice of his best friend calling his name. He thumped his head against the side of the locker, making his headache even worse and closed the door to glare at his blond friend who was….oh-my-god….skipping towards him, clinging to the hand of Gaara Subaku. The two were third and second to his greatness respectively and had been an item since their freshmen year when Gaara had transferred here with his two elder siblings. Now in their junior year the two opposites were practically inseparable. Neither was seen without the other in tow. Sasuke sighed; it was going to be a very long day.

"Sasuke-teme! What's up?" Naruto basically screamed in his ear.

For a millisecond Sasuke had the urge to punch the blond dobe, but that would mean picking a fight with Gaara, who was a very, and I mean very, protective seme. Plus he didn't wish to tarnish that friendship, nor did he want to feel the wrath of the red-head who had been known to send people to the hospital for making a bruise on his happy-go-lucky lover. Sasuke nodded to the stoic insomniac and looked at Naruto.

"What do you want, Dobe?" He asked.

Naruto gazed at him, his look becoming that of a concerned friend. "You look like shit, Teme. Did you have a bad night?"

Sasuke glared Naruto, silently cursing him for being so perceptive. But he was one of the extremely few people who knew how smart Naruto actually was. Shikamaru, Haku, Himself, and of course Gaara were the only ones in that group. Of course none of them could blame Naruto, who was the scrape-goat of Konoha, for pretending to be dumb so people wouldn't hurt him. He felt sorry for the orphan.

"I'm fine, Naruto. Just leave me alone," he demanded in a raspy voice.

Naruto's eyes narrowed and he nudged Gaara. Within seconds Sasuke found himself pinned to the lockers by Gaara, who seemed so much stronger than usual today. Oh, how he hoped this strength was just his imagination, he really didn't want to be seen as weak. That was one of his greatest fears. He shivered subtly as Naruto put a wrist to his forehead before feeling his cheek with the back of his hand. Naruto 'tsked' at him and glared. Gaara glanced at Naruto then back at him. Those black lined aqua eyes stared at him intently, piercing him with a cold stare that actually put the fear of god in him. He gulped and glared back, his badass attitude ruined when he began to cough repeatedly. Naruto placed a hand on one of Gaara's, who let go with a nod. Naruto then took the opportunity of Sasuke's new found freedom to rear back and slug him in the cheek. Sasuke stumbled to the side and fell on his ass. He snarled at Naruto he stared down at him in disappointment. Gaara was actually chuckling quietly.

"The Uchiha got his ass handed to him," Gaara sneered.

Sasuke snarled at him, but it proved ineffective. Naruto crouched down and grabbed a fistful of the front of Sasuke's shirt to pull him close. Sasuke couldn't look anywhere else but into those intense bright blue orbs that seemed to stare into his very soul.

"It seems that today you're the dobe, Sasuke. I'm smart enough to stay at home when I'm sick. Is it because of your brother?"

Sasuke looked at the sly grin with wide eyes. How had he known? Just barely he heard Gaara snicker as the foreign student sent death glares at any who dared venture forth, even the faculty kept their distance. But it was the look on Naruto's smug face that held all of the young Uchiha's attention. The bastard had known about the feelings he harbored for his elder brother? How was that possible? He never told a soul. Never let any expression on his face except for his trademark smirks and occasional pissed off glare.

"Wel? D.O.B.E," Naruto mocked with too much enjoyment.

The little masochist had it coming to him. Sasuke knew it. The stupid….er….not-so-stupid Uzumaki was going to piss on the wrong tree and get his brains scattered on the floor because of it. He already knew that the creepy chemistry teacher Mr. Orochimaru already had his piercing gaze on Naruto. But what went on within that demented mind he didn't know, so he kept quiet about it. But that was getting off subject.

"How….."

"….Did I know? Come on Sasu-nii, we've been best buddies since preschool. I can read you like an open book when no one else can, except maybe your brother. Hmm speaking of your brother…."

Sasuke's obsidian eyes darted around when Naruto left the sentence hang in the air. Itachi was here? Where? He couldn't see him. He wanted a peek of that tall, lean body; wanted to just chance an unnoticed caress to those well-toned muscles that existed on that fair form of his aniki. Then rage pooled within his gut, mixing distastefully with his illness, as he realized that he'd been tricked. He bared his teeth at the prankster, who's cerulean eyes were filled with mirth and triumph. Naruto leaned forward and Sasuke felt his ear twitched as those soft lips flittingly brushed against it.

"Should I tell him? I can keep the secret from everyone else and so can Gaara, but I think I should tell Itachi about your 'infatuation'," Naruto whispered softly to where only he could hear.

His eyes went wide as Naruto pulled away. The blond wouldn't betray him like that would he? Sure he poked fun all the time and insulted his intelligence. But as Naruto had said before they'd been friends since preschool. They were practically like brothers. And Sasuke looked at Naruto like a younger sibling while the latter thought of the former as an older sibling. But his heart hurt at the thought that Naruto would do something as twisted as reveal one of his darkest secrets. Sasuke could feel his heart fluttering rapidly in his chest as the trembling he had warded off earlier came back full force, making his body jerk violently. Naruto let go of him with a yelp when their foreheads collided with a painful crack. Sasuke didn't try to steady himself as Naruto did. Oh no. He instead let the invading darkness come and take him away into sweet oblivion, even as he saw the blurred image of Naruto hovering over him. He laughed at himself inwardly; Naruto hadn't planned on Itachi, he was threatening that he, himself, needed to do it and do it soon. Before he was overcome by more grief and pain.

Psycho: hmmm....i think this story may turn out well. eh, sasuke?

Sasuke:... *glares*

Psycho: that don't work on me pretty boy.

Naruto: please review so Sasuke can get closer to getting la-mph! *attacked by Sasuke*

Gaara: UCHIHA!!!! *grabs Sasuke by his hair to pull him off of Naruto

Psycho: *looks at reader apologetically* boys...can't live with them can't live without them.... *turns are hard gaze to the trio* GUYS CALM DOWN OR SO HELP ME I'LL DO SOMETHING I MAY REGRET!

Trio: *stops in their tracks* gomen nasai

Psycho: *smiling brightly* that's better