Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other relative characters portrayed in this fanfic. They are all property of Masashi Kishimoto.

Warning: This fic contains Yaoi, basically ItachixNaruto with a li'l bit of SasuxHina (afterwards). You no like, you no read.


Chapter 2 ~ Atleast.


Night came and went but Naruto just watched the sun rise from his bed. He barely got some sleep with forbidden thoughts plaguing him in his helplessness. He remembered the empty place on his bed. Normally, when he woke up he'd at the very least find Itachi reading the newspaper with a cup of hot beverage and glance at him in a way that made him mushy. Well, at least he got to snuggle close when he came home late. Right now, he felt too fatigued and lazy to even wake up, never mind his morning routine but a sudden thought anomaly charged his nerves as he sat up.

But No! He wasn't getting up for anything or anyone. 'I wouldn't get back with him even if he comes here right through that blasted door!' He gave himself a firm nod crossing his arms across his chest in approval, and then a thought crept in.

'What if he really does come in through the door?' Fixated with a look of shock on his face he slapped himself mentally for such a blonde move. This was the worst breakup ever, even though he was the seeming victim here; even if he left without a goodbye note or a call and just hauled his ass out the door. 'Well, serves him right.' He tried to smile in an evil manner but he gave up rather quickly; he couldn't. "Curse my goodwill." He grumbled at his misfortune as he paced the room, oak floorboards creaking beneath his feet. 'There's only one solution', he stopped pacing to stare at the reflection in the mirror.

The person in front of him had a dishevelled appearance, in more ways than one. His hair was its natural mess reflecting in the window-filtered sunlight but his messed up face gave it all away. He had bags underneath his eyes and his eyes were still a bit puffy and red from crying. He glanced momentarily at the somehow still damp pillow and then his alarm clock which read - 09:07 AM. He was engorged in short lived relief. Then he remembered his phone call yesterday, 'I had a flight today, Crap! Crap! Crap!' He lit up like a frenzied firebug on the fourth of July. He scrambled towards the shower, minutes later he was out and fixing himself something to quieten his grumbling stomach.

'I need help', he thought absentmindedly scratching his head while pouring hot water for his daily dose of insta-ramen.

He was just about to take the first bite (or slurp) when the phone rang. If he wasn't already in anxious gloom, Naruto would never admit it but he jumped at the loud intrusion. Treading slowly, but carefully he got up from where he deposited himself at the sofa and picked up the receiver, fingers crossed he won't hear the voice he was dreading.

"Dobe." There was the trademark Uchiha grunt.

Naruto heaved a sigh of relief but a wave of disappointment guiltily washed him over.

"Sasuke." He uttered in grudging demeanour.

The lack of an equally insulting response irked the duck-butt raven but he continued in his mocking tone.

"Hn, you ran away didn't you?"

"What? Pssht, Teme! What made you think that?" He walked up to the window and peeped out. Once he felt safe, he continued. "Uzumaki Naruto never RUNS AWAY from any unfinished business, believe it!" The blond gave himself a pat on the back for pulling that off but he was cut short with a blunt reply.

"The fact that I'm calling at your apartment phone and you picked up, because your phone is, 'conveniently', switched off is proof enough." Sasuke was getting worried but he was annoyed just as same.

"Fine! So maybe you're right but I'm still not running away. I just..know how it is now. It's better this way. I'm heading back to Konoha today. Dad's there right now." With each word, Naruto could feel his spirits dampening. He ran his free hand through his hair and bit his lip for a response he could not predict.

The Uchiha sighed in response. "So I guess it's permanent this time, huh!?"

"..Yeah."

"You hesitated."

"No, I was checking my flight, lay off! As it is, Dad's not gonna let me live this one down. He won the bet anyway." There was a sigh of defeat.

This caused Sasuke to snort. He'd have to ask him about this bet later on. "No backup plans?"

"None."

"Well, if it makes any difference, I have a feeling Mom's going to make me head there too, soon enough."

"Oh, Mikoto hasn't quit on the 'prospective' bride thing, has she?"

"You bet. So, tell me you didn't leave a note. My brother may be an emotionless bastard on the surface but he's still human."

"Yeah, Yeah, No...I will call him..as soon as I.." He trailed off looking at the jacket on his couch that held the photo...only.. 'Wait, crap!' The jacket wasn't there he had put it in to wash since he was leaving today. 'The photo!' The blond felt tempted to leave the phone but something held him back.

"I'll call him when I'm at a safe distance. Don't ask, you already know why."

Sasuke nodded silently then remembered he was on the phone. "Yeah, but don't forget and see you soon."

Sasuke clicked the end button; this was probably for the best. He remembered those handful times when Naruto 'ran away' and stumbled at his doorstep, not being able to take the relationship anymore. A cup of coffee and a series of rants later, he would be lured back in unconsciously by a reminder of his brother's hidden truths.

He felt an oncoming flashback –

It was late night and Sasuke was heading to sleep after his night routine when someone decided to abuse his doorbell, raping his ears in the middle of the freaking night. The raven haired Uchiha knew there was only one person who would do so and it was the second time this month. He sighed stepping towards the front entrance and held it wide open. Naruto fell through the door, not expecting it to give way when he was about to shove through, it was possible, he knew, doesn't matter if he'd have to break 2 inches of hardwood. He cursed his luck.

"Not again, Naruto." Sasuke huffed at the blond who was lying flat on the floor, his feet behind the threshold, staring at the carpet at eye level, finding it oddly intriguing in his state of helplessness. Sasuke stood next to him crossing his arms against his chest, daring him not to move.

Moments later, the blond raised one hand up requiring assistance from his stupidity. "A little help here?"

He helped him up nevertheless but he wasn't blinded by his usual thousand watt smile. He shot him a glare but the blond was pretty much immune to it now. He knew he had to get to the bottom of it as usual and get it over with so he could get some sleep so he proceeded to brew coffee for him.

Soon enough, both of them were settled with their tea and coffee in the living room. Naruto was tracing his cup with a finger, he looked crestfallen. The Uchiha host was thinking of what to say but he made it easier for him.

"'suke, am I being an attention whore?" Sasuke was glaring at the needless slur of his name but took a sip from his twinning's tea. He knew better than to answer that rhetorical question, he sat as a silent spectator to this unfolding disaster that eventually blew up in his face.

"I mean, ever since I fixed my schedule. I thought we'd have more time for each other. But Itachi started coming in later than usual since last week, I know he has 'important business things' but I'm not a goddamn trophy wife. I still wait for him you know, every night, but would it hurt to show up early every once in a while. …Was this a mistake?" The last words were hard to decipher.

'Coming to my house? Yes, indeed.' Sasuke was thinking to himself but seeing the blond's face broke his chain of thoughts. "Huh!? Oh no, you know better than that, Naruto..."

"Yeah, I know he has these hectic weeks but the man never takes a vacation, I mean, NEVER." He was pouting now and held the coffee to his lips but hissed when it burned his tongue. He put it back down.

"But then I think, maybe I should think of a better way instead of ranting about it. It's not like he's married to me...he obviously still likes me enough to see my face each day and smile back ..and.." This time Naruto took a daring sip and gulped twice or thrice, steeling himself from the extremity. Sasuke watched him in cloaked amusement.

"I think I should find us a way out of this rough patch, yeah?" He looked to his best friend who gave him an affirmative nod. He narrowed his eyes. "Are you mocking me?"
"Would I?" The raven haired mumbled shifting his gaze elsewhere and taking a sip of his beverage.

The blond ignored it and continued mining for his epiphany in that dark cave of doom he referred to as his life. "I should just talk to him and set this straight!" He sat up in joy like he had struck Gold.

Sasuke recalled more ranting and blabber after that that resulted in him waking up late for his business meeting next day. He also remembered pushing him out his house with a shove never too hard, blue eyes beaming with their usual confidence and spontaneity. He smiled remembering the enthusiasm signatory of his best friend, the blazing ball of sunshine; Naruto Uzumaki. Even as he stood on his doorstep then, "I will turn this around, Believe it!" He was flashed his thumbs up sign and last thing he remembered was slamming the door on his needless cheerfulness at 1'o'clock on a weekday.

Coming back to the present as the flashback faded – He shook his head in amusement. Well, he won't be able to run back now, he seemed unusually decisive. He would probably blow his cover after 2 years but who cares now? It didn't matter anyway.

"Sasuke dear.." A voice derailed his train of thoughts. "Be right there, mother."

His eyes did a mental roll and he walked to the source of his voice, giving in to another one of his mother's antics.

Naruto was scurrying back and forth like a mouse...it was 11:30 and his flight was scheduled at 12:15. Even though it was a 10 minute drive to the airport he had to hurry. He had ditched his normal laid-back attire for a proper one when he remembered he still had to evade any attention from the press. He was getting really tired but he figured he could always compromise. Hence, he decided to throw on an Orange hoodie and ripped denims from his chaos-closet. He slipped on his favorite pair of checkered Vans and grabbed his Ray Bans on his way out of the bedroom, checking one last time in the mirror to tame his hair from their usual state of disarray. 'At least my eyes will be covered', he beamed at his sullen reflection.

Naruto had set his suitcase in the living room and was busy still stuffing it with a few add-ons in the out pockets when someone knocked on his door. He stared at the ornate doorknob as it began turning in slow horror. When the door opened he was still debating if he should jump out and escape through his window, 'the ground wasn't that far off anyway, was it?'


A/N: Can you guess who that is?