Warnings: This story contains Yaoi, or boy love, whatever you like to call it
Authors note: This story was written for the 'Song challenge' in Y!Gallery. I hope you all enjoy it and as always comments are greatly appreciated.
I don't own Naruto or any other character mentioned on this story, and most importantly I do not get any money out of this.
The music created a lulling atmosphere in Naruto's new apartment. The one he rented now after one of his best relationships ever if not the only, had ended. He had been the one to break up, but he still felt miserable.
He couldn't imagine how everything had come to this.
It was true the spark had been absent for a long time now, but he wasn't one to say it wasn't his fault. He had started to drift apart no matter how his boyfriend, ex-boyfriend his mind corrected him, tried to mend matters.
Looking back on his relationship he couldn't believe how everything had changed in a few months before graduating college.
He wasn't rich, so getting a schoolarship in one of the most prestigious and expensive college in the country had been a real challenge just for the sake of being with his other. They even shared a room in the dormitories thanks to the pull of string his boy- ex-boyfriend had thanks to his name. Because really, who could deny anything to someone who had the prestigious Uchiha last name on his papers.
Uchiha Sasuke had been his everything for almost six years.
For five years the two of them had been inseparable, having met in high school they started hating each other, a hate that soon transformed from rivalry to friendship, ending up in love for each other. Wherever Sasuke was Naruto was and vice versa, rare where the moments where they wouldn't be seen together, always busy mostly making out or only hanging out.
Naruto had gotten to know Sasuke on a deeper level, in a form no one would even imagine the raven to be. Even though the raven always had that cold aura and seemed like he was above everyone else, Naruto knew the truth.
How Sasuke was insecure about himself, how everyone else opinion of him could make the raven crumble in thousands of pieces, always trying to impress his family failing to do so on occasions making him feel he didn't deserve the Uchiha name. Sasuke was everything but confident on himself. Or at least he had been like that before their relationship.
And the only ones who truly saw Sasuke for who he really was were him and Itachi, his older brother. An older brother that would surely be knocking on his door, sooner or later, with a gun ready to shoot him repeatedly when he found out what he had done to Sasuke.
But what could he do when the spark was gone. The last year of college had changed their life like nothing else. The time they spent together became less and less and wherever they were together it felt strange to be with the other. The fights with each other and absences on his part had lead to a break up.
He wouldn't say he regretted it. Hell, he even felt they could still be friends after this messy relationship and break up. How wrong he had been.
Two days after they broke up Naruto decided to stop skipping classes.
He was on his way to the second building where he had labs when he saw Sasuke walking his way, the raven looked at him and the blond saw him with the intentions of saying something but Naruto ignored him. He kept walking not looking at him and didn't turn around when Sasuke called his name once, and it was like that three more times during the week until Sasuke realized what he was doing.
He asked Sakura to go get his things from their shared dorm. He actually had been surprised when she came back with everything in one piece. Had it been the other way around some of the thing would even be repairable
She told him Sasuke already had packed everything and was only waiting for him to go. And how disappointed the raven had been when he saw who was going to gather his things. It made him feel guilty but who was he to face the raven.
From then on whenever they crossed paths they would blatantly ignore the presence of the other. In the classes they shared they would sit in opposite's sides of the room.
So it came as a surprise when by the end of the month Sasuke dropped college.
Nobody knew why the raven would do that. His grades where perfect, and everyone already knew he would be choosen as valedictorian for the graduation ceremony. Naruto wanted to find out why the raven left, but he didn't have the courage to call him or go to his manor.
A few days later he found out what happened trough the news.
"I would like to thank everyone here today for your attendance. I called for this media press to clear all the rumors about my retirement and the new changes to the company that come with it." Fugaku cleared his throat "From tomorrow morning the direction of Uchiha Inc. will be done by my oldest son, Uchiha Itachi, as I will be leaving the company after thirty years of working on it"
"After all this years of saying that your son Sasuke was the best candidate to run the company, what made you change your mind about this Mr. Uchiha?"
"My son spoke to me and said he didn't want to be the next CEO of the company nor have any involvement with the family business"
"Is that true, or is it because he left college before graduating two weeks ago?" a new reporter asked
"I see you did your homework, but no, the decision of leaving the company was his alone"
"So you are saying Itachi is just a replacement for him?"
"Itachi has his own qualities. The fact that I always had a preference for Sasuke was because I saw myself on my youngest son. But that doesn't mean I will force him into something he doesn't want. The same goes for Itachi; he accepted the position on his own. If he where to decide he doesn't want it anymore I will support his decision just like am doing with Sasuke, who has other dreams and ambitions he wants to pursue, and I will appreciate the respect you show to him for his decisions."
"Do you know what is going to do Sasuke now that he doesn't have involvement with Uchiha Inc.?"
"He discussed some things with me, but at the end he will have to see where he wants to go. I will support him in any possible way; but part of growing up is making mistakes. As his father and I speak for his mother and brother too, we will always be there for him to offer advice when needed."
"What changes do you expect to see on the company with Itachi directing it now?"
"Itachi has his own view of business…"
Months passed and Sasuke became old news for the newspapers that would then focus on Itachi alone and the changes he was doing to the company. He lost the ravens whereabouts after that.
The new song on the player made him cringe. That had been the song the raven had dedicated to him when both started dating, whenever things went wrong or he would feel sad the raven would sing it to him making him forget everything. Now it just made him realize just how much he missed Sasuke.
"Naruto! Wait a minute!" The blond turned back from the elevator to see Kiba running to him. He had met the brunet after graduating college in the publishing company he had been working for three years now.
"Oh hey Kiba, what's up?"
"You know Ino's birthday is tomorrow right?"
"Yeah, she kept telling everyone to don't forget her present" the blond chuckled remembering the mangaka enthusiasm about her upcoming birthday
"Ha ha you are right I still need to buy her present I don't know what should be good."
"A sketchbook with the autograph of the mangaka you are working with would be great. I heard she is a huge fan of him" the elevator arrived and both men entered pushing the basement button.
"That's a good idea" the brunet rubbed his chin "I have to see him later to discuss a few things about the current storyboard, I think I will ask him then"
"She will be trilled, you may even get a kiss for that" the blond joked getting a glare from Kiba
"It's not me the one who needs a kiss from someone" Kiba mumbled and Naruto let the moment slide "but that's not why I was looking for you"
"Then what is it?"
"Sakura wanted to throw her a surprise party tomorrow night"
"Here? I mean, it won't be much of a surprise considering Ino will be all day long here tomorrow."
"No moron, not here" Naruto felt a pang on his heart at being called the old nickname he had come to like "She says that one of her co-workers recommended her a bar downtown, I think she mentioned its sort of new and hard to find if you don't know where it is" the elevator stopped and some persons entered the elevator pushing Kiba and Naruto to the back of it "But I already have a flyer with a map on it, Sakura says she's going to take Ino there but we should be already there to surprise her"
Kiba started rummaging on his briefcase looking for the flyer Sakura had given him.
"Here, it says they even have live music every Friday" he handed the flyer to Naruto "and once you look at the map it's not so hard to get there"
Naruto hummed in agreement after taking a quick look to the map. It was quite easy to get there, only a few blocks away from the mall, but it was true that if you didn't knew where it was exactly you could get lost between all the turns and alleys that were on that part of the town "At what time does she expect us to be there"
"Well, she told me she would bring Ino around nine" both got out from the elevator when they reached the basement where the parking lot was. "So I think eight would be cool to just hang out with the others for a while"
"Ok eight it is" the blond unlocked his car tossing his briefcase in the passenger seat "Hey can I get a ride with you tomorrow? I need to get the car into the garage to get the lights repaired"
"Sure, but I can't get you back home"
"Don't worry, I can call a cab. I know we live in opposite sides of the city"
The brunet unlocked his car that was just beside the blond. "Then see you tomorrow"
"Bye" both entered their cars and Naruto was the first to leave the parking lot.
Naruto arrived at his house twenty minutes later after making a quick stop to charge gas and upon entering he tossed his things in the living room table flopping on his back on the sofa, he closed his eyes and felt a sudden weight pressing his stomach. His eyes opened and a pair of black eyes stared at him.
"So you finally appear Mana" Naruto smiled to his little schnauzer that was comfortably sitting on him. Usually the dog would be waiting for him at the door ready for his daily walk but there were day were he would suddenly appear where Naruto was.
Naruto scratched Mana's ear and the dog moved its tail excitedly "Sorry baby, am exhausted, I'll walk you later".
The dog's ears flattened on its head and gave the blond a sad look with his dark big puppy eyes. "Oy, don't give me that look, you know I can't resist it"
The dog whined softly and Naruto groaned taking the dog in his arms and going to the door "I swear you are going to be the death of me one day"
Leaving the dog in the ground Naruto took Mana's lead and the dog's ball and when he opened the door the dog jumped excitedly only waiting for Naruto to put the lead.
The walk around the block helped Naruto keep his mind of work, and when they arrived to the park Naruto took off the leash throwing the ball so Mana would run for it bringing it back to him to keep playing.
After thirty minutes or so Naruto was getting sleepy so he put the lead on Mana again and went back to the apartment. Inside he left the things in the entrance on their respective places and while Mana went directly you the kitchen here its bed was Naruto went upstairs to his own room changing fairly quickly into his night clothes he laid down on his bed falling asleep almost instantly.
The next day passed way to fast for Naruto, after leaving his car in the garage he took the subway to work and arrived just in time for his first meeting of the day and before he knew it Kiba was knocking on his stall telling him to hurry or they wouldn't make it on time. The drive was fairly quiet neither of them trying to fill the silence with chit chat; deadlines always drained every person to their souls; the editors had it harder with being pressured from all departments.
Kiba told him the others were most likely to be there already so they should just look for them. And sure enough when they entered Kiba noticed right away some of their friends and Ino's. The table they were in was almost beside the stage where a local band was already playing. He sat on one of the available chairs with his back to the stage, but he was grateful for the mirrors that were on the walls covering them from half to top because he didn't have to turn around to see the show.
Ino came with Sakura around nine thirty and the place was getting more crowded, it seemed the last band that would be playing was a well known one. When Naruto had gone to the bathroom he had overheard a pair of girls saying how the vocalist and the drummer where so good looking and what not.
By eleven the bar was full and there was a line outside of it to enter, but Ino and the others paid no mind to it with all the alcohol that kept coming to their table. Good thing everyone could hold their liquor pretty well.
Naruto went to the bathroom when his phone started ringing, and was inside discussing some things with the writer he was working with. He spent there almost fifteen minutes until the writer finally accepted to have a meeting the next day to discuss what he wanted to change about the new book release date.
When he came out of the bathroom Sakura was waiting for him there with a nervous smile on her face.
"Hey Naruto, could you go with me to the store" she spinned him so his back was to the bar and the stage.
"Why?"
"I need to buy cigarettes"
"You don't smoke Sakura" Naruto frowned. A new song started and Naruto recognized the intro. He didn't hate the song, but he didn't like it either. It reminded him so much of what he had done.
Sakura grabbed him the arm and started making her way to the entrance dragging him along "They are for Kiba, he wanted to go but he is so smashed I doubt he would get to the store"
"Ok ok no need to drag me"
"Just hurry up Naruto we..."her voice died in her throat when the vocalist on stage started singing.
"Now and then I think of when we were together…like when you said you felt so happy you could die…"
Naruto stopped abruptly when the voice reached his ears. He knew that voice very well. He felt eyes digging on his back but he was afraid of turning around and seeing the face of the person the voice belonged to.
"Told myself that you were right for me…but felt so lonely in your company...but that was love and it's an ache I still remember…"
Naruto finally turned around looking straight to the dark eyes that were looking at him from the stage.
His world seemed to freeze when he saw Sasuke for the first time after three years. The man had changed he could say that much. His hair was spikier and the bangs in his face where longer. He was taller too and even with all the clothes the raven had on Naruto could say he had lost weight from the last time he had seen him.
The song continued and Naruto couldn't take off his eyes of Sasuke as the raven didn't take them from him. The music only adding a sound around him but the raven voice kept him hypnotized.
He had always adored the voice Sasuke had when singing; it couldn't be compared to anything in the world for Naruto. Deep, seductive and hypnotizing, was how he had once described to Sasuke how it sounded to him. The raven had laughed about that denying the fact that his voice could make any person orgasm with just the command. Few had been the times when Sasuke had abused of that gift of him to make Naruto beg for more or just to get his way with something.
But this time Sasuke sounded pained and hurt with every word that came from his mouth. And Naruto knew the song was dedicated to him. A nudge on his shoulder made him lose contact with Sasuke's eyes but he still felt his sight on him.
"We don't need to stay if you don't feel like it" Sakura told him looking at the door and then back at him
"Don't worry…am fine" the blond smiled at her and he made his way to the table not looking at Sasuke until he was sited on his place looking at him trough the mirrors.
Sasuke didn't turn to face him but Naruto could see the raven looking at him from the corner of his eyes from time to time.
The band continued playing for another hour or more, Naruto wasn't paying attention any longer to the clock but when the band announced the next song would be the last he managed to sneak out of Sakura´s radar and got out of the bar going to the back of it where he was sure Sasuke would be coming out from.
He heard the music fade and after a few minutes it started again but he knew it had to be another band. He waited ten more minutes before the door opened Sasuke walking in front of him without acknowledging his presence.
"So this is what you do now, Sasuke? Play in some local bar" Naruto said to him and the raven halted a few steps away from him "I must say I am surprised about the turn of events here, you were the smart one"
"Did you enjoy the show? I sang especially for you that first song" the raven said sarcastically and chuckled turnig around clapping his hands "but I must admit I'm the one surprised here, you actually remember my name"
"Why is that so surprising? I mean how could I forget about you?" Naruto asked feeling hurt by the statement.
"You seemed to be capable of that three years ago" the glare Naruto received made him avoid the ravens gaze
"It was different that time…"
"Why? Was it because you broke up with me? Because we were no longer the friends you wanted us to be?" the raven walked to him until they were only a feet apart from each other "Or maybe because you were a coward and couldn't face me after your little adventure with god knows who?"
Naruto turned to look at him wide eyed. "Who…told you?"
"Nobody needed to tell me. I could see it myself Naruto."
"Sorry I…never meant for that to happen…"
"Sorry won't change the fact that you cut me off. And, I quote gotye, make out like it never happened and that we were nothing. Do you know how many times I had to stop Itachi from doing something reckless?" Sasuke said with anger in his voice "You were important to him too, and you ditched us like we didn't exist."
"I never did that"
"So avoiding for a month and then change your number was just a coincidence. Spare me your stupid excuses will you, I understood that day in college that your idea of still being friends was just something you said to make me feel better"
"Sasuke I really want to be your friend…this last three years have been hell…I miss my best friend" and it was true. Naruto had met other people and had made new friends. But none of them could compare to what sasuke had been to him before their relationship "maybe we can…work things out, be friends again"
"Maybe you didn't get it before when I sang but get this in your head Naruto, now you're just somebody that I used to know" sasuke said and the door opened again, the guitarist of Sasuke's band coming out "I don't need you nor your friendship, you lost that privilege long ago"
"Hey Sasuke, is everything alright?" the silver haired guy asked looking from the raven to the blond.
"Yes" Sasuke turned his eyes to the man that had spoken and smirked "What took you so long, Suigetsu?"
"Deidara and Kisame won't go back with us; they stayed with some guys inside"
"I see" the raven walked to Suigetsu knowing full well Naruto was watching his every move and without hesitance he kissed the man for a full minute before parting to get some needed air. "That means we have the apartment for our selves"
"Hmmm, you seem to have an idea in mind" the man smirked lustfuly nibbling the ravens chin going to his neck "I just hope is a kinky one"
"Maybe…" the raven smirked too but turned to the blond again pushing suigetsu back from his neck "I bet Sakura is waiting for you inside, don't keep her waiting. Let's go suigetsu."
Naruto stood there looking to the back of the alley when Sasuke and Suigetsu passed by him getting into the busy street disappearing from there.
The blond felt weak and hung his head in denial. He had avoided dating for these past three years always with the excuse that he didn't want to get hurt at the end, but now after seeing the raven kiss someone else he couldn't lie to himself any more. He hadn't realized how much he still loved the raven after all these years.
He had thought he missed Sasuke as his best friend, but now he realized it he missed the raven in a much deeper level. Any hope of ever getting his friend back had been crushed with the raven statement.
He came out from the alley and texted sakura that he would go home already. And that he would later pay her his share of the bill.
During his walk home it had started raining, but he didn't pay attention to it, the pain he felt inside was much worse than the coldness his body felt.
The words 'you're just somebody that I used to know' kept resounding on his ears and then he was gratefull for the rain, that way his tears mixed with the rain drops on his face masking them from the world.