Last night while driving home from work I was listening to my newest Nickelback CD and as I listened song number 6 began to play, and as it played this story began to play out in front of my mind's eye just like a movie timed to the lyrics, not quite an amv but close. Well as not to drag on my intro here, it's good to be back for a bit after two years of silence. :) Hope you all like!

AU!

Character Abuse!

Shonen -Ai!

Naru/Sasu

Well, I know the feeling
Of finding yourself stuck out on the ledge
And there ain't no healing
From cutting yourself with the jagged edge

The sky was a mixture of warm beautiful pastel like colors as the sun began to set behind the tall trees of the surrounding mountains. A sunset like this was common here in Konoha, a small city lost deep within the mountains of Japan far off from the mainland and bright, over powering, lights. Here you could see all of the stars, and the pure brightness of the moon. It was always so beautiful here, at least that's what a young man with sun kissed skin and whiskered cheeks thought as he stood on the roof of the local high school.

"Hey you!" a voice called from below where the tanned boy stood. "Why are you up there again? The teachers have been looking for you in detention! You're so annoying Naruto!"

The boy in question, Naruto, looked down to see bright green eyes glaring up at him through wild pink bangs, "oi, hey to you too Sakura!"

"Don't oi me! Get down here! I'm tired of listening to Kakashi whine about you!" the girl puffed out her reddening cheeks as she stormed off back into the building.

Naruto sighed as he ran his hands through his bright golden locks of hair, "why can't they just leave me be?" He smiled to himself as he walked towards the door to the stairs, the image of a whining Kakashi and an angered Sakura stuck in his mind, just in time to be hit in the face with said door as it suddenly opened.

"OW!" he yelled out as he rubbed his, now, very soar nose.

"Do you always have to be that loud? I hardly hit you..." a calm voice interrupted the boy's cries of pain, "...dope."

Naruto was instantly angered by the voice as he glared at the person that had just spoken to him, "don't dope me you asshole, you should be apologizing for assaulting me with the door!"

"Shut up," was Naruto's only given response.

"Sasuke, you are a real asshole you know that!" the blonde cried out as the brunette stalked past him, "GAH!"

Sasuke just ignored the other boy and kept walking to where he normally sat and waited for his older brother to pick him up. 'Why does he always have to over react... ?'

Naruto squinted his eyes at the other boy, trying to glare at him as hard as he could, but seeing as he got zero reaction he gave in and sighed. Just then he began thanking whatever gods were around that Sasuke was too far off to hear his defeated sigh, he knew if the other had heard him he'd never hear the end of him.

Naruto chuckled to himself as he began to turn towards the door, but he paused for a moment to look back at Sasuke. He nearly froze when he saw the young man by himself, lightly bathed in the setting sun light. The normally pale skin had shaded to a pinkish color from the sky, his eyes glistened from the remaining sunlight, and his hair was moving softly with the help of the weak breeze. "wow..." was all that Naruto could utter before he quickly disappeared behind the metal door, a small blush creeping up to his cheeks.

Sasuke glanced up quickly at the sound of the shutting door. He just blinked a few times, 'was the dope really still up here that whole time?'

Naruto leaned against the other side of the door, the chill of the metal seeping through his shirt to cause goose bumps on his skin. "What was that just now?" He pondered to himself, out loud, as he just thought of the way Sasuke's eyes had been glowing just then. He had already admitted to himself that he liked boys a long time ago, and he had also already admitted that Sasuke was beautiful as well, but never before had the other boy's mere appearance stopped him in his tracks.

Naruto then suddenly shook his head from side to side, trying to shake the image of the other from his mind. "Gotta get going... b-before Sakura kills me..."

The weak breeze had picked up just a little bit as Sasuke sat alone on the rooftop, staring at the parking lot of the school, waiting to see the familiar car of his brother. As he stared he thought of reasons why the stupid blonde could have hesitated so long before leaving, he must have stood there a good five minutes before exiting. 'What was the dope doing?' He knew it was probably nothing, just the blonde being blonde.

His last thought made him chuckle, it caused him to remember the time that he had used a dumb blonde joke on Naruto, it made him so mad. He knew the boy wasn't all dumb, but he also wasn't nearly has intelligent as he himself.

Just then a small rumble of thunder echoed through the sky, causing Sasuke to look up, the once clear sky had begun to fill with threatening clouds, 'c'mon Itachi...'

It'd been a good fifteen to twenty minutes since Naruto had left the rooftop, he had returned to the detention room just in time to meet the face of a very angry Iruka, his homeroom teacher. After a while of yelling and punishment threats and school assignments and then sympathizing he was released to leave for home before the storm.

Naruto was currently stepping out into the hard blasts of wind and chilling raindrops as the storm began. Just as he was far enough to see the majority of the school, Iruka stepped out and shouted at him. "Naruto!" his teacher called, "do NOT forget your homework tomorrow or you'll be back in detention again!"

Naruto just sighed and waved at his teacher while roiling his eyes, but just as he rolled his eyes upwards he caught a glimpse of someone, or something, on the roof. 'That couldn't still be...' he muttered quietly.

Turning around, Naruto headed back into the school and straight to the roof, by the time he arrived the storm had already kicked in and the rain was pouring down.

The splattering of the rain drops made it hard to see, but from where he stood, beneath the safety of the covered door, he could see a small body curled up, face hidden beneath pale arms.

"Sasuke," the blond muttered, "...Sasuke!"

The second mention of his name caused Sasuke to look up, this time knowing it wasn't his imagination. He was slightly stunned to see Naruto standing under the small cover to the door, staring right at him, motioning for him to come near. Sasuke didn't move.

'Damn-it Sasuke,' Naruto thought as he stepped out into the rain and ran towards the other boy, not even a jacket on to protect him from the elements. "C'mon"

Sasuke stared at the hand that was being held out towards him as if it were some disease or something horrific. '...but' was all he could think as Naruto roughly grabbed him and pulled him into the stairwell.

"Sasuke, what the hell?" was the first thing the blonde yelled at him, "why were you outside in the rain!"

The brunette pushed his wet bangs out of him face and looked up towards the slightly taller boy, making the blonde, once more, freeze.

Without Sasuke's notice, Naruto's eye's widened as he looked at the soaked boy, his hair was flat and his clothes clung to him as if clinging for life. Naruto could see a look of depression and anger in the other's eyes, and all he wanted to do was hold the brunette and make him feel better. It appeared that his older brother had once again forgotten about him.

"Let's go," Naruto spoke with bitter resentment and with zero space for protest, "I'm taking you home, c'mon"

Sasuke stared at the blonde's back as he walked off down the stairs, reluctant to follow.

The walk to the Uchiha manor was long and miserable; the storm had pickup further, causing the duo to get even more soaked than they had already been. Sasuke just kept his head down where has Naruto kept his eyes forward, angered at the older Uchiha. Sure he didn't like Sasuke all that much, but he also hated people that abandon their own family just a bit more.

The two finally approached the front door of the manor and just as Sasuke was about to open the door, it was flung open by a very angry, very drunk, Itachi.

'Not again,' was all the younger Uchiha could think as Naruto jumped back.

Before anyone could think, or even knew what happened, Sasuke was thrown to the ground by a hard punch to the face from his older brother, his supposed Guardian.

"What the hell!" Naruto screamed as he ran over to the Sasuke, and then glared up to Itachi, the older Uchiha looked no different from when he opened the door. Without a word the older man walked off.

"Leave..." Sasuke muttered as he stood, holding his face, "just please leave..."

Naruto stood and just watched in silence as his rival walked into the house where than man had just escaped to. The door shut quietly and a moment later all he could hear was a loud thud slamming against the door. His heart sank. 'Sasuke...'

Sasuke took a deep breath as his back hit against the hard wood of his front door, his brother was drunk once again, which always meant that he was going to get hurt. Every time, he would find some way to hurt him, just because something didn't go his way or because he was bored. It had been this way since their parents had died, it had been years. Sasuke was beginning to get used to the treatment, he dreamed nightly of his loving brother and parents. He would always awaken with tears knowing that his dreams were the past and he would never see his brother's smile again, or feel love from him.

Sasuke had managed to stand and slide his way past his brother and into his room where he had locked the door. He was now curled on his bed, listening to the thunder echoing from the heavens, and his drunken brother's fists slamming against his door. Every other night it was like this, always this.

Always.