A/N: Trigger warning: anorexia, depression, mentions of self-harm and suicide. A whole mess of mental health issues for both our boys here, but especially Sasuke. I MAKE NO PROMISES OF A HAPPY ENDING!

Explicit sexual content in future chapters.

This is quite a bit different than my usual fics so just a heads up for the very different writing style and Naruto's extra-dirty mouth and general whorish-ness...

And a huge thank you to the marvelous Letsusura on tumblr for the original prompt and accompanying image!

"So you haven't been having much luck this week, I hear," said his god-awful councillor, tapping a pen against the side of his chair, staring over at him intently.

Naruto grinned, stretching his arms up behind his head and leaning back against the couch. "Oh, I've been having heaps of luck this week! Just wait until I tell you about this one guy-"

"-that is not the kind of luck I was talking about," the councillor interrupted, his irritated gaze scanning over Naruto's slouched position on the couch. "And I believed we've already discussed the dress-code."

Naruto's grin widened. It wasn't his fault his shirt kept riding up. It's not like he was doing it on purpose. It's not like he was forcing the man to look. He should just keep those pretty brown eyes to himself if it really bothered him.

He pushed himself off the back of the couch and leaned forward towards the guy's chair in one smooth motion. "Hey, do you want to hear a joke?" he said, lowering his voice.

"We only have three more sessions allocated," the councillor said to him with a sigh. "I don't believe we've made much progress, unfortunately."

Eh, yes, very unfortunate. This guy was just so uptight, and it was a pity. He wasn't all that bad-looking, and Naruto was pretty open-minded, after all; don't go after the straight ones, people always said, they suck in bed. But hey, you had to give people a chance. They might surprise you.

"Well, maybe it's not really a joke, as such," Naruto went on, slipping off his jacket. "Is it hot in here, or is it just me? Anyway, I thought this one was pretty funny-"

His councillor sure was gripping that pen of his hard. Oh, was his tank-top too revealing? As if this guy hadn't turned up the heating on purpose. That was a pretty sneaky trick, though it was also a very useful one, he'd used it a few times himself. Well, he wasn't wearing anything under these jeans, so. That could be fun.

"Mr. Uzumaki," the guy said, leaning forward. "I must insist-"

"No need to be so formal," Naruto said. "Anyway, it starts off with, I'll bet you work at a chicken farm-"

"If you're not going to take this seriously, then I'm afraid I'll have to-"

"-because you sure do know how to raise a cock-"

And then next thing Naruto knew, he was being thrown out of the guy's office without any warning whatsoever. He pouted. His jacket was still in there. Honestly, it was just a joke.

He sighed. Some guys were just way too uptight. But he'd seen this one spending his lunch break at that café down the street, maybe Naruto would stop by some time.

Naruto sauntered over to the reception desk. "Hey, so, I guess I need a new councillor," he said to the pretty blonde behind the counter. What was his name? Mmm…he couldn't remember. It might come to him, later.

The blonde peered back at him from behind his computer. "That was the last one, Naruto," he said with a grin. "Strike out, did you? I told you there was no way you'd get him."

Naruto threw him a sulky frown. "I haven't struck out yet," he insisted. "Not everyone's as easy as you."

The blonde laughed. "You're still required to complete another three sessions, though. Hmm…there's a new girl starting next week."

"A girl?" Naruto said, wrinkling his nose. "Oh well. Sign me up."

The door behind him opened and Naruto whipped around, thinking it must be his councillor- sorry, ex-councillor, emerging from his lair.

Ah, no, that's not the uptight brunette with the surprisingly built body. That's a pretty little raven, with a very un-built body. One might even call him slender. Hmm.

"Oi, who's that," he murmured to the receptionist.

"Confidentiality, Naruto," the receptionist said. "I do have some rules I follow, you know."

"Sure you do," Naruto said back, looking away from him, hoping to catch the other's eye. He was new. He was lovely. Just look at that hair, Naruto thought to himself, wondering if it was as soft as it looked.

The pretty raven glanced over at them briefly as he crossed the room towards the exit. Looks like he wasn't coming over to check in with the receptionist before he left. That wouldn't do.

Naruto turned away and leant over the top of the counter, knowing full well the view that would give the other boy, and reached down to tug the receptionist towards him by his shirt. Ignoring his squeak of surprise, he pulled the blonde forward to place a soft, lingering kiss on his lips, nibbling his bottom lip ever-so-gently before letting him go.

"Naruto!" the blonde hissed as he fell back on his chair. "Not while I'm at work!"

He giggled, and turned around. Ah, success, he was being watched. The dark-haired boy was staring back at him, arms folded across his chest. Er, well, he looked rather un-impressed. And then he turned and left.

Naruto sighed. If he followed him now, it meant leaving his jacket behind in that guy's office, but, there was something in the boy's eyes-

"See ya next time," he said to the receptionist, rushing out the door behind his next target. He was gorgeous, and he was new, and that means he'll be mine.

So it turned out blondie did have some principals after all; no matter how hard Naruto tried, he just couldn't pry the name of that dark-hard beauty out of him. He hadn't budged an inch, even when Naruto did that thing with his tongue, and that was reserved for special occasions exclusively. What a waste.

If only he'd caught him that day! But he'd disappeared into thin air, and Naruto hadn't stopped thinking about him since. It was maddening.

Fucking a name out of blondie hadn't worked, so Naruto had taken to stopping by the clinic each day after school and hanging out in the waiting room. This wasn't the kind of place people came to just once; the lovely raven would be back, and Naruto would be here, ready.

It took a week, but it finally happened. He walked into the clinic and there he was, sitting there across the room, absorbed in a book. Naruto froze, and actually felt his pulse start to race. Just from looking at him? What the fuck was happening to him?!

Get your head in the game you pansy, Naruto told himself. Get a name and a phone number and get the hell out. Should be easy, right?

He took a deep breath and attempted to cross the room casually, ignoring the knowing stares of blondie behind the desk. This was his moment; he had earned this. Settling into the next seat, he glanced over at the dark-haired boy- no, scratch that; he down-right stared, running his eyes down the length of his slim body from top to toe.

Had he been this good-looking last week?! He was gorgeous. And it wasn't just his hair, which close-up looked even softer and more tug-able than before, properly long enough for Naruto to tangle his fingers through. Yeah okay, so he had a thing for hair, so what? And his skin, so pale it was almost translucent- and oh, wow, his eyes.

Damn, people should not be this beautiful. Yes, it was maddening. …especially since the boy was completely, utterly, ignoring him.

There's no way he hadn't noticed Naruto sitting down next to him. What the hell? People just didn't ignore Naruto. It wasn't done.

Fine, next step. He cleared his throat and eased over towards him, leaning on the armrest between them. "…hi," Naruto purred. "What're you in for?"

And eventually, finally, the raven looked at him, giving him the briefest of glances before turning back to his book.

The game was on.

"Prison humour, you know," Naruto added, undeterred.

The boy sighed, and shifted in his seat to rest on the other side, away from Naruto. Ouch.

That must have been one amazing book, the way he was staring at it. As if a book could compete with him. But hell, it wasn't even in English- it was just covered in some scrawling, scratchy lines, completely undecipherable. And he wasn't pretending to read, as far as Naruto could tell, from the way his eyes were moving across the page, steady and intent.

Oh, his eyes. So dark they were almost black, and with lashes for days. This boy was a marvel.

"What language is that?" Naruto asked. "Chinese?"

Those dark eyes flicked back to him, and narrowed. "…Japanese," he murmured, in a voice deeper than Naruto would have expected.

Victory! He speaks!

Naruto grinned. Got you, he thought. "And you can really read that?"

"…obviously," the boy snapped in annoyance. "I'm reading it, aren't I?"

Naruto bit back a retort. Okay, the kitten had some bite. That was fine. That was good. And hey, he was smart. It was kinda a turn-on, actually. He didn't usually go for smart. But variety was the spice of life, as they say!

Time to turn this up a notch. "So what's your name?" he asked, leaning further over towards his target, and slipping off his jacket as he did so. He let it fall to the floor between their feet.

The boy just sighed and shifted again, closed his book, and glared at him.

…shit, if Naruto hadn't been attracted to him before, he sure as hell was now! Those dark eyes were burning underneath his lashes!

"Not gonna tell me?" he went on, more determined than ever.

"Why should I?" the boy hissed at him. He turned his face to glare at the receptionist, who was still staring at them both, and then turned his scowl back on Naruto.

Naruto retreated back to the other side of the chair, fidgeting, and wilting under the raven's eyes of judgement. The boy was so slim and tiny, Naruto probably could have thrown him over his shoulder easily, and yet there was such a smouldering intensity in his eyes that for a moment, he was truly intimidated. "Ah, so, you do remember me," he managed to squeak out.

The boy slipped his book into his bag and prepared to get up. Naruto stared to panic. No! He'd already waited a week, he would die without some kind of victory!

"…come on, just tell me your name!" he said, a slight hint of pleading coming into his voice.

"Sasuke," called a voice from across the room. "Shall we get started?"

Naruto blinked. Was that it? Was that his name?!

Oh yes, it was! The dark-haired beauty named Sasuke threw him one more withering stare before standing up and moving away from him.

…Sasuke…

Naruto was stunned. …that had not gone according to plan. This kind of thing just didn't happen to him! He bit back a groan and fell back on the seat, but kept his eyes wide open and watched the slender, beautiful boy float away until he'd disappeared through his councillor's door.

…shit, he thought to himself. I am so fucked.

Naruto dragged himself home to his apartment. He was not the kind of guy who just struck out. And hey, his ex-councillor didn't count, alright? Naruto had just gotten too bored of him. And yeah, to be fair, he had wasted a lot of time when he was younger going after the wrong kinds of boys. Straight ones. Smart ones. Ones with families and future career plans and all that shit. They were a complete waste of time, though with the skills he had now, if he went back in time, he was sure he could-

He sighed. But anyway. Here was this heavenly, gorgeous, feisty boy he'd spent a grand total of five minutes with, he was hooked, and he'd been soundly rejected.

He pushed open his front door, dumping his bag down and wandering into the kitchen. "I'm home," he murmured to Sai, who was standing in front of the oven wearing that ridiculous fluffy apron Naruto had bought him without any embarrassment, as usual.

Sai took one look at him and narrowed his eyes. "What's that expression on your face?" he asked. "That's new."

"Ah, well, this is called defeat," he muttered, falling into a chair at the kitchen table.

"You still can't find your dream boy?" Sai asked, pulling a pair of plates out of a cupboard.

"I found him. Didn't do any good. I found out his name, though."

"I have to work tonight," Sai said, bringing over their dinner. "So if you want to talk about it-"

"-ah, no, it's fine," he said. "Um, what's this…?" he asked, looking down at his plate dubiously, and then looking over to the bench to see which cookbook Sai was re-creating this week.

"It's called 'chicken cordon-bleu'. We didn't have any chicken, but we had some fish, so-"

"Ah, okay, looks great, thanks babe," he said, digging in before Sai could continue. "Anyway I'll probably be out late myself so don't worry about it."

"Going out for some anonymous sex?" Sai asked, with his usual blank expression.

Naruto coughed and sputtered, and turned bright red. Of course there was no point feeling shame in front of Sai- it wasn't an emotion he understood. "Ah, yeah, something like that," he mumbled, and resumed eating.

"I won't be back until tomorrow night," Sai told him.

Naruto knew better than to ask what he was up to tonight. It was enough that he eared great money doing it, and was more than willing to use that money to support them both, in accordance with the rules of 'best friends for life' as Naruto had explained them to him. So Naruto didn't have to work, he just had to go to school.

You might even call them dream roommates, since Sai's cooking would probably destroy anyone else, he thought to himself as he finished his dinner. Ah, but he tries so hard, he thought with a fond grin.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Sai said to him later on as he was leaving.

"Have fun," Naruto said with a wave, finishing the washing up.

Once Sai was gone he let out an exasperated sigh and shook his head, trying to shake off images of the pretty raven. No, it's Sasuke, he thought. He wiped his hands and then flopped down onto the couch, taking out his phone to flip through his contacts. He could probably do a little better than anonymous sex tonight. Hmm, who hadn't he pissed off lately…ah, but it was just so much work.

He dropped his phone down and stared up the roof, thinking about how Sasuke had been so absorbed in that book. Naruto had never understood the appeal himself, though he wasn't above reading a magazine or two, maybe some comics, if he was really bored, and if they had naked men in them. Naruto thought back to the way Sasuke's eyes had taken in the words on the page, steadily moving from left to right and then down, his eyelashes moving softly, his gaze so focused and intent.

He imagined what it would be like to be thing the dark-haired beauty was so focused on. If he was here right now, sitting on top of him, settled onto his hips; his eyes running over his body, taking in the sight of him. Naruto felt himself blushing red again. Really, Naruto? Snap out of it.

But then again. Remember his hands? Oh, so pretty. Those long, elegant fingers, unbuttoning Naruto's shirt and pushing it aside, a faint hint of impatience that he was trying to hide; tracing his hands down the side of his face, across his throat, down his chest. Dark eyes burning as he slowly, reverently, slid down the zipper of Naruto's jeans.

Damn, he was panting. It didn't matter that the Sasuke on top of him was completely imaginary. Naruto was responding to him anyway. Really, though? Right here?

Oh, fuck it. He didn't feel like going out tonight anyway. He shrugged off his jacket and slipped his jeans over his hips, groaning softly as the rough fabric ran over his already-hardening length. He reached under the couch cushions for his stash of lube. Hey, don't judge, just try it, Naruto had lube and things hidden all over this apartment and it was very convenient, and Sai couldn't care less so why should anyone else?

He bit back a groan as the cold liquid hit his cock; he ran both hands up and down himself quickly, but gently, just warming up. Would Sasuke know what to do? Well, the Sasuke above him now sure did, breathing softly as he traced his fingers from the top of Naruto's cock down to the base and up again, licking his lips as he ran a thumb back and forth across the tip.

What the fuck is wrong with you, he said to himself; there's any number of pretty and pale boys you could have on top you right now. Ah, no, but no-one was as pretty as Sasuke. No-one else had those eyes burning right through him, that scowl, that judgement, that withering stare setting him on fire.

Naruto moaned and gripped himself tighter as the thought sent another jolt of pleasure running through him. And suddenly the image floated away as he felt a wave of frustration, of annoyance, at himself for failing to entice the boy. With one firm hand running up and down his cock and the other gripping the head, he panted and gasped for air, rubbing faster, harder now, let's just get this done, there was no point in it all, Sasuke hadn't been interested.

He let out a groan as he came into his hands and fell back onto the couch, squeezing his eyes shut and stroking himself softly as his muscles unclenched and his pulse came back down to normal.

...that was sick, Naruto, he told himself, so sternly that he suddenly started laughing. Oh, yeah, maybe, but it had felt good. He took off his shirt and used it to clean himself up, then slipped his jeans back on and rolled onto his stomach, cuddling into the couch and enjoying his post-orgasm high.

On the floor beside him his phone lit up and vibrated with a message, and he leaned over to read it. Coming out tonight? –Dan, it read. Who the hell was Dan?

Not Sasuke, he thought, and that was really all that mattered.

…I am beyond pathetic.

Yeah, it was pathetic, but Naruto just couldn't get him out of his head. All that night and the next morning, and especially in the shower before school, he was thinking about Sasuke. About his hair. About his pretty pale skin and eyelashes. About his slim waist and hips, and the line of his back and legs as he walked away from him.

Oh god, I fucking hate myself for this, he thought to himself. At least the distraction wouldn't interfere with his schoolwork; his grades couldn't get much worse anyway. He daydreamed his way through his morning classes, running over every detail he could remember of his 'dream boy', as Sai had put it, until by lunchtime he had convinced himself he was in love.

"I'm in love," he whined to Ino as she sat down at the table next to him.

"Congratulations," she growled at him, slamming her lunch down. "I'm about to burn this whole school down!"

He sighed. "Okay, you win. What's wrong?"

"I'm fucking sick of this high school crap, that's what," she hissed, her hands curled up into tight fists and her cheeks turning red in fury. "You know that new girl?"

Hmm…oh, right. "Pinkie?" he asked. "The one you're crushing on?"

"I am not," she growled. "She's totally weird. And she's a pushover. She made it way too easy for those guys-"

"What guys?" he interrupted.

"You know, Sasori and his crew. They took her phone and said they were gonna hack it, and post her texts and pics all over the internet."

"Ah, that high school crap," he said with a wince. "But as if those guys could hack anything."

"Well, she obviously thought they could, she was a total mess, crying in the change rooms."

Naruto nodded, with a knowing expression on his face. "And so you went to comfort her, and then-"

"-I did not!" Ino declared. "I am just so over this place!"

"Yeah, well, me too," he said. "Turn around. Have you got a brush?"

She sighed. "I don't think you're taking me seriously," she grumbled, pulling a comb out of her bag and undoing her hair.

Naruto grinned and starting playing with her long blonde hair. "Don't you want to hear about my problems now?" he teased.

"I highly doubt you're in love. You don't do love," she said, starting to eat her lunch.

"Well, maybe I do now!" he retorted, starting to braid her hair. "He's gorgeous. You'd probably fall for him yourself. His name is Sasuke-"

"What?!" she shrieked, pulling away from him and whipping around. "Sasuke Uchiha?!"

He blinked. "Uh. I don't know?" Wait, wait, did she know him?

"Dark hair. About our age. Freakishly skinny-"

Oh my god. "That's the one," he said, feeling his pulse start to race. "You know who he is? Tell me!"

She frowned. "He's in my calculus class-"

"Wait, he goes to this school? Are you kidding me? As if I wouldn't have noticed him before!" He started looking around him wildly, as if he might appear at any moment.

"He's hardly ever here. Naruto, you need to be careful-"

"-and I wouldn't say he's freakishly skinny, that's a bit mean, you know," he grumbled

"Well, his kind hide it pretty well." She grabbed onto his hands and brought her face closer to his. "Naruto, listen to me-"

"Hey, Ino, what do you mean his kind?" he asked with a frown. That was even meaner.

She gave him a look. "Where did you even meet him?"

…oh. Oh. "So, wait, what are you saying? That he's- um…?"

"Look, I don't know, I'm just guessing but yeah, he's probably anorexic or something."

What did that even mean? "You mean like where you throw up all the time?"

She narrowed her eyes and scoffed. "That's bulimia, Naruto, honestly. Look, forget I said anything, all I'm saying is just be careful-"

"When am I not careful?" he said with a pout. His big declaration of love was not going as planned. Ino should be happy for him. Sasuke turning out to be a student here should be a good thing.

"Oh, sweetie," she said. "Let's just hang on until we're out of this place, okay? The real world has to be better than this."

By the end of the day, Naruto was exhausted. He kept looking around him everywhere he went, convinced Sasuke would just magically appear somewhere. But maybe it wasn't the same Sasuke. As if it could be! Yeah, sure, 'Sasuke' wasn't exactly a common name, but if he really was a student at this school, there's no way Naruto wouldn't have noticed him. No way.

And…and Ino had said all that…stuff about him. Sasuke wasn't that kind of guy, Naruto could tell.

Um, well, he thought he could tell. Maybe. But hey, there were heaps of reasons why someone might be at a mental-health clinic, right? Naruto went there, and there wasn't anything wrong with him.

Classes finally ended and Naruto made his was out of school, dragging his feet, pushing his way through the swarms of hyper teenagers. God, he really did hate this place. But he had to graduate, it was part of the deal.

He headed towards the parking lot to take his short-cut home, and the crowd thinned. He contemplated stopping by the clinic. Sasuke probably wouldn't be there two days in a row, but he might be. Or maybe he should go home and take a nap. Maybe a nap with a happy ending.

As he rounded the building he saw a line of guys smoking. Naruto was trying to quit himself, the coughing was really unattractive, and- hey, wait. It's that guy. Sasori. He narrowed his eyes and stopped walking, feeling his adrenalin start to spike. Oh my god, don't do it, he told himself.

…no, I'm gonna do it. I'm really gonna do it. He could already feel his muscles tensing up. It had been way too long.

He dumped his bag down and sauntered over to them, making a quick note of how many there were. No problem.

"Hey, look, it's the orphan," one of them called as he approached.

He ignored that, and stalked straight over to the red-head. "I heard you took the new girl's phone," he said, voice calm and level.

Sasori threw away his smoke and stared back at him. "You wanna see her nudes?" he said. "She acts like a mouse, but those kinds of girls, you know, underneath-"

"I'm taking the whole phone back," Naruto interrupted. "Hand it over."

He scoffed, and his two friends laughed. "Is she paying you?"

"No," Naruto said, "but I figured you'd say no, and it would give me the chance to beat the shit out of someone." Honesty was a great policy, and one he always tried to stick to.

One of his friends, a ratty-looking blonde, stepped in between them. "Hey, asswipe, you can just fuck off-"

Naruto moved swiftly towards the blonde, grabbing his right arm and pushing him forward straight into the brick wall, pinning his arm behind him. "Just try something," Naruto hissed into his face. "Please."

"Hey, what the fuck-" Sasori growled, placing his hand on Naruto's shoulder.

Naruto kneed the blonde hard in the stomach and, once he'd slipped down the wall, spun around and punched the red-head in the gut so fast, he was still mid-sentence when he crumpled to the floor.

The third boy gaped at him and took a step back, hands raised. That made Naruto grin. "Leave," he said to him, "and take that one with you."

"Hey-" squeaked Sasori from the ground.

"Shut it," Naruto said, turning around to pull the blonde up and push him towards his friend.

Wide-eyed, they both turned tail and rushed off, barely glancing at their friend on the ground. Wimps, he thought.

"So," said Naruto, looking down. "Do you want to give me the phone now, or do you wanna give me some more practice? It's been a while, but I think I could probably show you a few things."

Sasori glared up at him, and pushed himself to his feet, wobbling a little. "Look," he said. "You should have just offered to pay me. But now-"

Naruto made to move towards him, and Sasori reacted straight away, stepping away from him and closer to the wall. Big mistake. Naruto feinted left and then rushed towards him, forcing him right up against the wall and shooting his arm out to circle his hand around Sasori's neck.

"Listen," he hissed, slowly raising his arm and forcing Sasori up onto his toes. "Give me the phone now, or I'll rip your balls off-"

"Shove it," Sasori spat, his voice barely more than a harsh whisper.

"-and stick them so far down your throat, they'll be calling you deep-throat for the rest of your life."

Sasori's hands were clawing at Naruto's skin, but there was no way he was escaping Naruto's grasp; he had really strong arms. It wasn't bragging, it was just the truth. With the blonde still glaring at him and making no effort to speak, Naruto lifted him higher until his feet were dangling.

"Tell me where it is," Naruto hissed. "Now."

Sasori started gasping and panting for air. "Okay, okay!" he forced out.

Naruto lowered his arms and loosened his grip, but didn't let go. "Where is it?" he demanded.

"Pocket," Sasori squeaked out.

Naruto quickly examined the guy's pocket with his left hand while keeping his right tightly around his throat. He soon found a pink phone that probably wasn't Sasori's; he slipped it into his own pocket and then, taking a step away from the wall, let go.

Sasori slumped against the wall and glared daggers at him.

Naruto just gave him a bright smile. "Thanks!" he beamed. "I really appreciate it!"

"Listen, you fucker-"

"-yeah, yeah, love you too, I'll see you later!" he said, giving him a quick wave before moving smoothly but swiftly away, picking up his bag as he went.

Oh, that felt great. He didn't feel good about feeling that way, but sometimes you just had to let it out, you know?

Then he turned a corner and ran straight into Sasuke.

…and he was looking even more unimpressed than ever.

He froze. Shit! He didn't see that, did he?

…uh, apparently he did. Arms folded across his chest, he ran his eyes down from Naruto's face to his hands.

"Sasuke," he mumbled. "Uh, hey, so, about that-"

Sasuke turned and started walking away.

No!

"Hey wait, Sasuke!" He rushed to catch up and slipped in front of him, reaching out to grab his wrist.

"Let me go," the dark-haired boy growled, trying to wrench his arm away, eyes narrowed and burning. "Now."

Naruto snatched his hand away and then held both arms up in front of him. "Ah, shit, sorry, I didn't mean to-"

Sasuke looked away and took a step forward.

Naruto moved in front of him, blocking his escape. "No, wait! I just want to-"

"-to what?" Sasuke interrupted, glaring at him. "What do you want from me?! I know you were coming to the clinic every day-"

"Ah, well, about that-" Naruto squeaked out, wilting under his stare. "I- hey, are you okay?!"

Sasuke had suddenly turned even whiter than he usually was, and stumbled when he tried to take a step forward.

"Just stay away from me-" he managed to get out, before falling forward in a dead faint.

"Sasuke!" Naruto cried out, rushing forward to catch him before he hit the ground. "Sasuke?!"

...to be continued...