Sasuke was being moody. Well, moodier than usual, in Naruto's opinion. He asked Sakura about it, but she just dismissed him, saying, "If he's being moody, Naruto, it's your fault." And with that she slugged him and flounced off. But Naruto was not that easily cowed. Sasuke was always dissappearing at practice, and then returning a few minutes later. It was hard to catch him at it, but on occassion either Naruto or Sakura would notice, and Sasuke, being Sasuke, would say nothing about it.
Even though Sasuke was an annoying bastard, Naruto had a soft spot for him, and so he felt obligated to look into this strange behavior. It took a few months to manage it, and as the time passed, Sasuke's strange behavior increased. He started acting more reckless during missions, even getting hurt on occassion when he could easily have avoided it. It pissed Naruto off, did that bastard want to get himself killed?
In fact, that wasn't too far from the case. One day when Sasuke dissappeared a little longer than usual, Naruto managed to follow him while Sakura stood arguing with Ino, who had been passing by. He slipped in and out of the shadows of the trees, looking for a sign of Sasuke, when he suddenly came upon him. Naruto stood shocked behind a forked tree, looking out where the tree separated into two.
Sasuke sat on the ground a few feet from him, his back against another tree, cutting his forearm with a kunai knife. His arms, free now of the bandages or cloth Sasuke always kept them swathed in, were covered in scars and fresh cuts. Sasuke just sat there, unaware of Naruto, watching his arm bleed for a moment, before he grabbed the knife and slashed brutally at his already mutilated arm.
Naruto leapt out of his hiding place then, and snatched the knife out of Sasuke's hand. "Sasuke, you idiot!! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Naruto screeched as he dropped to his knees and grabbed Sasuke's arm. It was obvious that Sasuke had been doing this for a while, his arm was criss-crossed in old white scars and newer red ones, along with bloody cuts.
Sasuke just sat there for a moment, his head hanging, as if he were too worn out to care what happened to him anymore. Naruto calmed down a little as he looked at his friend, who seemed so pathetic just now, that he didn't have the heart to keep yelling. Instead he clasped Sasuke's hands in his own, and waited for the dark haired boy to look up.
"Sasuke, why would you do this to yourself? You're bleeding all over. Why don't you come back to the village with me, and we'll get you cleaned up?" Naruto was getting close to panic as he said this, Sasuke was still sitting there, unresponsive. Sasuke shook his head when Naruto suggested going back to the village, and Naruto took that at as a good sign. Sasuke knew he was there, at least.
Sasuke was dimly aware of a pair of warm, soft hands holding his own. He gradually became aware that someone was suggesting they go back to the village. He couldn't seem to speak just yet, so he shook his head 'no'. The last thing he wanted was for everyone to know that he was different. Different in a way he doubted anyone else was. It was one thing to hurt yourself slightly to help regain your focus in the heat of battle, it was another to hurt yourself for no apparant reason.
Naruto was at a loss for what to do next. He didn't have any bandages on him at the moment, he had run out a few days before and hadn't gotten around to getting more. Sasuke wasn't bleeding badly enough to really need the bandages, but the sight of blood was bothering Naruto. Something inside him felt...twitchy. It didn't feel quite normal, and he got a feeling it might be because of the sight of blood. Or maybe it was because it was Sasuke's blood, and not his own? But he'd seen Sasuke bleed before, he'd been injured on plenty of missions, and Naruto had never had this feeling before. Whatever the feeling was, it made Naruto nervous.
Sasuke had finally become completely aware of his surroundings, and he was mortified that it had been Naruto who found him. If it had been Kakashi or Sakura, he would have known his secret was safe at least, but Naruto was such a loudmouth. How could he be sure that the damn social butterfly would keep his mouth shut? Still, at least he done the right thing, waited until Sasuke was aware, staying with him and holding his hands. It was kind of nice to have someone be there for you, though it wasn't something he could get used to. No, he would never let himself get used to such things again, it just hurt more when they were taken away.
Naruto sat still, waiting for Sasuke to say something, not sure what to do. He couldn't just leave him alone like this, but he was sure Sasuke would be pretty pissed off when he realized exactly just what was going on. It surprised him when Sasuke spoke, but he didn't say a word, just listened.
"Dobe, do you know why I do this to myself? I do it," Sasuke elaborated slowly, hoping Naruto would understand where he was coming from, "so I can live. It..." Sasuke stumbled, how to explain it? "It centers me. Do you get it?" Sasuke seriously doubted he did, judging from the puzzled and...hurt look on Naruto's face. What business did he have looking like that? It made Sasuke feel like hurting him, and it made him feel like crying. The feeling pissed him off. He hadn't cried since that night, he wasn't about to start now.
Naruto didn't realize what he was doing until it was too late. He pulled Sasuke's hands to his lips and kissed them. It broke his heart to see Sasuke driven to measures like this to survive. He nuzzled Sasuke's hands, still not realizing what he was doing, not believing that this was really happening. If this were real, Sasuke would have beaten him to a pulp by now, not just sat there, a tear running down his cheek. Naruto kissed away that tear, and was shocked when Sasuke laid his head on Naruto's shoulder, and let Naruto put his arms around him.
Sasuke was utterly defeated when Naruto kissed away that tear. There was no helping it, he just couldn't stand being alone anymore. He needed someone, and a small, denied and ignored part of his heart was glad it was Naruto. He hadn't wanted to live any longer, not alone, but he had never allowed himself to hope things would ever be otherwise. When a small part of his mind had whispered that Naruto would keep him company, that he didn't have to be lonely, Sasuke had ignored it. When his most cherished and denied hope was realized with that one small gesture, Sasuke felt as if thousands of angels had torn him apart.
Naruto held Sasuke as he wept on his shoulder. He wasn't sure why Sasuke was crying, but he had sense enough not to ask. Holding Sasuke close was a dream come true. He would never have admitted he liked the guy, much less admitted that he was interested in him as more than a friend. But a part of him knew, had always known, that his feelings for the class heartthrob were a bit different than his feelings for anyone else.
After a while Sasuke realized he was crying, and after a little longer he clamed down. It took him a moment to realize his arms were wrapped tightly around Naruto's shoulders, and that Naruto was stroking his hair and back in a soothing fashion. He didn't move for a few moments, he didn't want this to end. Then he pulled back, and gazed at Naruto for a moment. He was so cute, with those big blue eyes. None of thier other classmates had blue eyes. He wanted so desperately to tell Naruto how beautiful his eyes were. Instead Sasuke jerked away and sprinted home. He would never let himself get close to anyone, and he feared he was already too close to Naruto.
Naruto sat there, stunned. Sasuke was so confusing sometimes. One moment he had held on to Naruto for dear life and wept on his shoulder, the next he had run away away as fast as he could. His arm warmers were still sitting on the ground, along with the bloody kunai knife. Naruto picked it up and licked it. The blood was dried on, but it was still sweet on his tongue. "Now Sasuke is a part of me forever", Thought Naruto, then he picked up the arm warmers and stuck them in his pocket with the knife. As he turned to head for home, a thought struck him. "I have to train with Sasuke tomorrow. Oh. My. God."