Disclaimer, I don't own Naruto.
Naruto parked his car in the driveway of a rather intimidatingly somber mansion. Only the tinted windows softly illuminating from the second story expressed signs of life. He pulled the keys and listened to the purring engine cut into a clean silence. He pushed the door open and stepped out, chest hanging low with burden. For a minute he hesitated from taking anymore steps and decided to lean against the side of the car. Tilting his head, he gazed at the weakly lit windows; then, at the winking stars struggling furiously with the shadows of the clouds. From where he stood, the glow emitted by the shy moon hovering above reflected off his golden strands of his hair brilliantly. Cerulean eyes, contrasting radiantly with the ghostly yellow bloom, shone with explosions of emotions. Fear, anxiety, concern and doubt buzzed within the vivid iris; but, excitement and elation subtly highlighted the upsetting emotions.
"I hope Sasuke can accept both of us," his voice was weak and unsure. He trusted Sasuke, but his confidence still faltered.
Despite the utter dread enveloping his heart, a spread of warmth and joy filled his stomach. Naruto's face bloomed into a delightfully wide grin and he erupted in a little happy dance; or a messy combination of disorganized limbs and unnecessary jumping. Anyone who might've caught glimpse of the expressive act would've probably thought the person was either choking, mentally insane or both. His flailing eventually halted when his limbs began to feel weighted with exhaustion and his hand decidedly settled on his stomach; smiling tenderly at one specific area.
Naruto took a deep breath and mustered enough courage to continue walking towards the mahogany double doors. He fished for the keys in the pockets of his pants and unlocked the doors. When he pushed through the wooden slabs, he instantly knew something was askew. The lights were off, but he could clearly make out the outlines of clothing littering the floor; some he could identify to be Sasuke's, but others were unfamiliar pink and crimson bundles. He was suspicious of Sasuke's uncharacteristic sloppiness; but, the rosy garments, looking dubiously like women's clothing, worried him more.16
He withdrew his eyes from the scattered clothing and redirected them upstairs where he could've sworn he'd heard a noise. With considerable precaution, he snaked up the spiral staircase and lurked quietly towards the master bedroom.
The noises were much more prominent now and Naruto paled when he found them to be moans. Alarm formed a painful lump in his throat and the jittery elation he held minutes ago vanished along with hesitant hopes. His brain screamed to run away, to leave right now at this very moment; but his body debated and refused logic, so he continued shuffling his feet to the bedroom.
Slowly, he twisted the silver knob of the dark oak and peeked inside. The smell of sex immediately filled his nostrils and high-pitched moans accenting deep groans violated his ears. Naruto pursed his lips into a tight line, not trusting them to confine any stray words. Indescribable pain sparked in his chest, the abrupt rush of intense emotions and adrenaline made him feel nauseous.
Sasuke-his love, his heart, his fucking fiancé-was stark naked in their bed and screwing his co-worker...his best friend.
Apparently, the two were so engrossed in swallowing up each others' mouths that they didn't notice Naruto standing in the doorway. So, he straightened up his shoulders as best as he could and made himself present.
"Why?" His voice came out broken and soft, but otherwise rewarded him attention from his audience.
Sasuke and Sakura immediately stopped their actions and looked at the trembling blond. Silence blanketed over the three as the guilty couple attempted to unlock their tongues and find the right words.
"Why?" Naruto repeated, but this time firmness backing up his voice.
Sasuke started getting up, carefully pulling himself out of Sakura, and grabbed his underwear hanging sheepishly at the edge of the bed. Naruto got the gist and pointed a finger towards his direction, "Don't you fucking dare come near me. Just answer the damn question where you are."
The raven flinched, the voice was calm, but it was unbearably cold and unforgiving. He sat down next to the anxious pinkette in order to fully face the other. This was not supposed to be how Naruto would find out. He promised himself he was going to tell him today, his shame was starting to catch up on him. Intuitively, life translated 'today' as 'at-the-moment-where-he's-in-bed-with-his-fiancé's-best-friend'.
"I'm sorry Naruto. I-"
"I am not enough for you anymore?"
"Naru-"
"How long?"
Sasuke pressed his mouth into a thin line and looked away, "Five months..."
It took every fiber in Naruto's being not to throw a fist at his face, instead he just settled with a heavy sigh and clenched teeth.
"Naruto, I'm sorry," this time it was Sakura, "I didn't mean... Well... I-We have no control over who we love, I'm sorry. Please don't get mad, Naruto," she opened her mouth to say more to fill the silent air, but bit back her words when Sasuke gave her a look.
Sasuke watched Naruto with hidden emotions and sighed. Once again, he threw off the covers hiding the lower portion of his body and began approaching him; however, this time the blond didn't protest. Instead, he faced the floor; his golden bangs hiding whatever emotion had morphed on his face
It wasn't until Sasuke was about to touch his shoulder did he move. Without looking back, Naruto ran out of the room and out of the house all together. He didn't even bother giving a second thought when Sasuke yelled out his name and briefly chased him down the hall. He just kept running to an unknown location, anywhere was better. The muscles in his legs screamed in protest and after a while, eventually grew numb. But, the pain in his chest ceased to grow, fueling his exhausted legs with adrenaline and persuading them to continue taking step after step. The misery he felt was unbearable. His heart had just been shredded and burned to ash, the throbbing claws digging their nails deep and engraving the pain into him thoroughly. 1
He wasn't sure how long he'd been running; but, Naruto eventually grew wary of his surroundings when intense light blinded him. The silvery vehicle came to an abrupt stop and Naruto froze. Apparently, he had reached the end of a long straight and had begun crossing an intersecting road. The driver stepped out of the sterling car in a hurry and began making his way towards him. Naruto drew back for a second until he was able to study the hastily approaching person, "Neji?"
The Hyuuga grabbed his arm and pulled him to the passenger side of the car, away from the road and any impending vehicles, "Naruto? What are you doing alone this late? What's going on? What happened?"
Naruto almost smiled, leave it to Neji to immediately smother him with questions about his well-being, but the ache stopped any slight upturn of his lips. He remained silent, inspecting the individual pieces of gravel on the road, tilting his head even lower and allowing the atrociously wind-blown locks to cover his face. He didn't want Neji to take notice of the tears that managed to escape his control.
Neji, however, took note of the quivering lip and unusual red puffiness peeking from underneath his bangs. He pulled his shuddering friend into a tight embrace, not caring about the wet stain that began to form on the chest of his suit. Naruto accepted the warmth of his friend with open arms and openly wept. His shoulders shivered and he occasionally gave out a few whimpers and some rather sleazy sniffs. Neji sank against the silvery car when he felt Naruto's knees begin to weaken, mentally noting himself to treat the cleaners when he saw the collection of dust around the edges of his suit. He flicked away the thought and looked down sadly at the bundle of tears in his arms. Naruto had curled up against his chest, his head tucked down with both hands resting on both side of his upper rib cage. He tried to comfort him by quietly shushing and running a hand through the silky locks, carefully untangling any stubborn twist. Once the sobs had simmered down to weak sniffles and soft hiccups, Neji tried to get up.
"Nghh..."
"Come on, you'll get a cold if we stay here any longer. I'll take you home. I'm sure Sasuke's starting to worry," Neji said rubbing Naruto's back.
Naruto tensed up and began to pushing away from the arms holding him close to a tear soaked collar. However, his pounding headache hindered his already depleted strength and his actions of defiance did little to nothing.
"No! I don't want to go back to that asshole's house!" He yelled pounding his weak fists at the restraining chest.
Neji scrunched his eyebrows and narrowed his eyes, then tightened his grip on Naruto's waist.
"Did Sasuke do anything to you?" His voice was stern, any thought of the blond getting hurt in hands of that pretentious jackass made his blood ice in anger. The fists stopped hammering and the kicks discontinued at the question. Neji just looked at Naruto waiting for an answer, waiting for an opening to pummel the Uchiha. 5
"Please, don't bring me back there Neji. Can you please just...drop me off at Iruka and Kakashi's place?" The response was merely a quiet whisper, but the pleading tone dripped heavily from his reply. 3
Neji sighed and began to stand up with Naruto in his arms; once again, Naruto began to protest.
"Don't worry; I won't take you back to that jerk. You can stay with me."
Naruto looked up in surprise and sneezed. Neji smiled warmly, even chuckled lightly, "I don't think Kakashi will appreciate it if you decide to crash at their place. He's practically like a rabbit in heat during the holidays. I think it's best for you to let the couple have their own time."
Both shivered slightly at the memory of walking in on Kakashi's 'surprise' for Iruka last Christmas. If it weren't for his current situation, Naruto would've laughed upon remembering the look on Neji and Sasuke's faces that stuck the entire day.
"Plus it's always little lonely during Christmas at my place," he added. 2
Naruto smiled and nodded, "Okay..."
Neji removed his arms encircling the other and opened the passenger door, "Come on, it's freezing cold here," he gestured to leather seat, "the weatherman said it might snow tonight and I don't want to get trapped on the road."
Naruto gave a small nod, careful not to do anything too quick that might encourage the growing pulse in his skull.
The ride to the Hyuuga house was silent. Naruto was too tired to speak and upon witnessing his distress, Neji decided not to start a conversation either. Neji drove his car past the spindled gate, up to the wide driveway of his house and parked his vehicle in front of the garage. Naruto marveled at the sight of the enormous house. He's only been here a set number of times; most of them occurring when he was only a teenager. Though it was not nearly as large as the Uchiha compound, it was still fairly stunning.
The mansion had a simple, modern design; square and sleek. The exterior was coated in pure white and the majority of the walls were covered in windows and the arms of thin vines. White and purple chrysanthemums decorating the sides helped draw a more exquisite and exotic kind of beauty to the house. The only thing that he questioned was the presence of a leaning ladder and tarps covering a large portion of the second story.
"What's with the equipment?"
Neji pulled at the keys and turned to acknowledge the ladder Naruto pointed at, "Oh, yeah. Excuse the mess. I've been renovating the house."
Naruto responded with a small hum and inclined his head. Neji was the first to step out of the car. He walked briefly to the passenger side and opened the door for the latter, extending a hand. As he stepped out, he promptly enveloped an arm around Naruto's waist without a second thought.
"Neji, it's okay. I'm fine," he squirmed around the sudden grasp. 1
"Sorry," Neji withdrew his arms gently and mentally slapped himself. 4
Naruto smiled at the flush that swiftly brushed across the Hyuuga's face and placed a hand on his arm,"Thanks for the thought."
Together, they followed the trail leading to a pair of opaque glass doors; a clatter of keys and the clicking of a latch unlocks the path. They navigate through the eerily lit halls, coming across a few construction tools, before arriving at the living room. The spacious area contained a white couch slightly encompassing an oval glass coffee table. Decoration was minimal, nothing surpassing a simple abstract painting or a potted plant. Naruto eyed the fireplace near the separate loveseat, then shifted to the flat screen TV pinned to the wall. He looked up and noticed a crystal chandelier suspended above the room. Without artificial light reflecting off the clear gems, a haunted shine coming from the moon peeking above the high windows capped the room in an ethereal glow. 4
"Have you eaten dinner yet?"
"...I didn't get the chance to."
Quiet and emotionless; Neji could easily tell that whatever thoughts running through the blond's head at the moment were the reasons behind his emotional collapse.
"You can just sit here for a second," he slowly unhooked their arms, immediately missing the warmth, and pointed to the couch, "I'll get you something to eat. Let me turn on the lights first though."
"Wait-"
"Hm?"
"Can you light the fireplace instead? It's a little cold here," Naruto paused for a second, "well, if it isn't too much to ask."
"Nah, it's fine," Neji waved his hand and crouched down to ignite the logs,"I usually turn off the AC during winter, so I can understand if you're near freezing."
Naruto nods, sinks to his level and extends his hands when flames begin engulfing and filling the firebox. Neji unfolds his legs and stares at the messy mop of flaxen hair for a minute before walking off to get the blond new clothes and some food. When he comes back, he's noticed that Naruto had changed location and was now lying on the couch nearest to the fireplace, his face hidden by cushions and shoulders subtly quivering. Quietly, hoping not to scare him, he sets the pajamas and ramen on the table and settles himself on the edge of the love seat.
Naruto slowly turns over, facing Neji and looking straight into his eyes, invoking a gripping emotion in the brunette's chest. Tears were smeared across his cheeks, clinging to the ivory curly lashes, and the new bubbling droplets made the blue of his eyes more intense and mirror-like. His lips were more raw and plump; probably from being chewed on repeatedly. Lengths of blond hair stuck to his face and framed his cheeks, making them a bit more round and childlike. The turmoil written across his face reverted him back to looking like a lost child. Neji ached seeing him with such a hopeless expression. If he could, he would take all the burden from his shoulders and carry it for him instead.
Naruto threw his arms around Neji's collar, burying his face in the nook of his neck. There was slight discomfort at the fleeting shift of gravity, but Neji swiftly recovered his balance and wrapped his arms around Naruto's waist. He rubbed his back, patting out any grounded sobs, and started to whisper pacifying words in his ears. For a while, the two just stayed in that position, neither one wanting to break free from the other's warmth.
When Naruto's blubbering was reduced to weak snivels, he pulled away, albeit hesitantly.
"A little better now?"
Naruto rubbed the remaining tears from his eyes and smiled weakly, "Yeah, sorry about that, I think you may need to change your clothes though," he motioned to the soaked area on the other's shirt.
Neji picked at his collar and laughed, "Heh, I've been in worse."
"Really, you should be worrying more about yourself," he pointed to the bowl and clothing sitting unattended, "you should eat up. I made some miso-flavored ramen. The pajamas might be a little big by the way."
Naruto grinned, more broadly and sincere this time, "Thank you, Neji."
"No problem. The bathroom's down the hall we entered if you want to freshen up. It's the first door you'll see."
Naruto gave another quick smile and started filling his stomach with the lukewarm soup, only sniffling and hiccuping every once in awhile. Soon Naruto's body was replenished with food and liberated from sweat and tears. He felt warm and fresh in the silk pajamas Neji lent him. Though, he was quite surprised that the Hyuuga even had such colors in his closet. The pajamas were large, the shirt almost slipped off his shoulder on more than one occasion and the pants partially hid his feet, but that was expectable. What surprised him were tender green of the pants and bright orange of the shirt; two colors he would never suspect to see in his friend's wardrobe. He doesn't mean to complain, but he wouldn't be surprised if he ventured in his friend's closet and was only met with shades of purple, gray and a whole lot of black and white. Naturally, Naruto just shrugged and thanked Neji continuously for the pampering. 2
Neji himself had taken a shower, while Naruto was eating, and was comfortably dressed in his gray shirt and black cotton pants. Together they relaxed in front of the fireplace, sharing a large, heavy blanket and enjoying the pleasant silence.
"Neji?" 4
"Hmm?"
"What should I do? I can't stay here, but I can't go back to Sasuke either."
Neji looked at the blond, "Why? What happened?"
Naruto looked down at his lap and started twisting the ring wrapped around his finger, picking at the diamonds and reminiscing bitterly.
"He doesn't love me anymore."
"Naruto, that bastard loves you more than anything in the entire world," he ignored the lump in his throat choking his words, "there's nothing he wouldn't do for you." 1
"Neji, Sasuke left me."
"He...he doesn't love me anymore."
It took a second for Naruto's words to entirely register into his mind. Somehow the thought of Sasuke actually leaving Naruto was so incomprehensible that his mind started to lag. Neji looked straight into the other eyes and watched sapphire illuminating truth. His muscles grew taut and his breathing had begun to quicken; not noticeably, but enough for air to begin echoing in his ears. He wanted to get up drive to Uchiha's house and plant a sweet punch on his pompous face. How could he dare do something so disgusting-so unforgivable-after what happened?
Naruto promised he literally physically witnessed Neji's blood pressure increase, so he placed his hand on his arm to soothe the accumulating anger, "Neji please calm down, It's all right."
All of his rage melted away the moment Neji saw Naruto's tenderness. He took a deep breath and twiddled away his fury.
"I... I also need to tell you something."
Neji clasped his hand around Naruto's, engulfing the slender tan fingers in his own, "You can trust me. I'll help you with anything."
Naruto took a moment to compose himself.
"I'm pregnant."
Sasuke got him pregnant! Lololololololol