A/N : Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed! I'd reply to everyone individually... but since you all technically said the same exact thing: I'm really sorry about the cliffy, I just had to put it there. D: To your relief, here's chapter two! Enjoi. :D


Honey

BloodyItachix3

Chapter Two : Drowning in Regret


His eyes traced down Naruto's chest to his skinny arms, still holding them down. "Oh my god..." the sight in front of him was absolutely repulsive, almost terrifying. One of the last things he wanted to see on anyone... including the blond he loved to torture.

Several, no, an extremely large series of screaming scars, cuts, gashes, and bruises ran up and down Naruto's once beautiful sun-kissed arms. Two of them were new or they had been torn open because they had still been leaking blood through the gauze bandages wrapped around them. Others, scabbed and flaking screamed out or shrieking pale white scars disturbed the Uchiha. His left arm was far worse than his right. Sasuke's eyes widened as his mind absorbed the sight. Naruto looked like someone was horribly abusing him and he was slowly, but surely dying.

Loosening his grip on Naruto, Sasuke embraced the blond, despite the fact that he was--being at the very top of the school's 'food chain'--showing an incredibly large amount of sympathy to him. He didn't know what was going through his own mind.

Shyly, Naruto gently pushed Sasuke off a ways to cover his wounds back up with the red sweatshirt. Sasuke now understood why the sweatshirt was red in the first place. If someone hadn't studied the sleeves then they wouldn't notice the blood stains. But why were the cuts there?

"I'm sorry..." Naruto smiled, forcing a laugh.

"You have nothing to be sorry about, dobe." muttered Sasuke, still in shock. "D-Does your family... abuse you?"

"N-No. Of course not. My parents really love me." Naruto replied. "Only you and Sakura know anyways."

"What then? If I'm one of the only two who actually have seen your wounds, I'd want to know why they're there."

The blond seemed very hesitant. "No. I can't." he rubbed his aching arms. Everything seemed to cool down rapidly for him.

"Well then... do you get bullied when you aren't in school?" questioned the Uchiha, not using his common sense.

"No, DUH!" Naruto growled, shooting an icy glare at Sasuke. "You think that being tortured in school is just it? Hell no! I wish it was. But guess what, you torture me out of school too!"

Wildly flushing, Sasuke scratched his head. "What?! Fine! So is that it?"

Rolling his eyes, Naruto pulled the sweatshirt tighter on his body. "Nope. Not it. And no matter what I'm never going to tell you. You can spread all the rumors, abuse me more, but no matter what I'll never tell you."

Frustration annoyed Sasuke straight to the core. Crossing his arms, he turned his back toward the angry blond. "Usuratonkachi!"

"Teme!"

Shizune, the nurse, walked in. "Okay, Naruto-kun. You're mother is coming to pick you up." She gave both him and Sasuke different notes. "Sasuke-kun, you can head back to class now."

Reluctantly, Sasuke nodded and took one long look at the blond before leaving.

--

"Hey you!" Sasuke exclaimed as loud as possible, pointing a finger across the north courtyard. Everyone seemed to turn around thinking he was yelling at them, yet the one he was pointing directly at was Haruno Sakura. Furiously, Sasuke waved at her.

"M-Me?" Sakura replied, gesturing toward herself. The Uchiha nodded, crossing his arms. "Y-You serious?!" her heart was skipping. The most popular guy and the guy of her dreams was asking her of all people to talk to. As quickly as possible, Sakura rushed over to his side ignoring all his other fan girls growling in jealously.

"Of course. Who else would I holler at?!"

Looking at him as if he was stupid(due to the several thirty fan girls in the courtyard), Sakura was forced into an empty computer lab classroom. Flicking on the lights, Sasuke crossed his arms and leaned on the front door to prevent anyone from opening it.

Oh. My. God. I'm in a room alone with Uchiha Sasuke! This is like the best moment of my life--

"You're Naruto's best friend, right?"

The girl seemed hesitant, a disappointed expression stuck to her face. "Yeah. What is it to you?"

Insecurely glancing around the room, Sasuke leaned toward her. His voice was deadly silent. "He told me you know his arms bare an unbelievable amount of wounds and scars?" he breathed.

A shocked mixed with surprised look crossed Sakura's face. "W-wait, how do you know?! He's extremely good at hiding those wounds. A-And of all people... why would he show you?"

"I saw them this morning during fitness class." he said. "He fainted and Jiraiya-sensei made me take him to the infirmary. S-So I kind of stripped him from his sweatshirt since his body overheated. Look, it was the teacher's orders and the right thing to do."

"You took advantage of Naruto while he was unconscious?!" hysterically cried Sakura. "What kind of sick, twisted mind do you have?!"

Shaking his head desperately, Sasuke groaned. "N-No! It's not like that! He was awake! I totally just had to calm him down a bit and then I took it off for him because his body--I swear--was over one hundred degrees.

Her expression stated that she didn't believe a single bit of that.

"Anyways..." he trailed off as her glare hardened. It took him a moment to find his voice once more. Eerie images of Naruto's destroyed arms flashed in his mind as if he were to die and seeing flashbacks. "Tell me what the wounds are there for. He looks like he might die any moment."

"What? So you can spread your idiotic nonsense of rumors again?!"

"N-No! Of course not!" Sasuke stammered. Hesitantly, he held out his pinky finger. "For once in my life, I put myself in Naruto's shoes... something I think I should have done long ago. I can't really imagine how scary it is to have those on your body, and not knowing the actual reason makes it difficult to picture his life. Well... since I already know they exist, you two shouldn't have to hide the reason from me. I swear on my life and maybe more that only the three of us will know."

Eyeing his pinky, Sakura rolled her eyes at him. "It's something you wouldn't want to know. Your life would be easier not knowing a thing about them." she traced her fingers along the top row of a black keyboard. "And being Naruto's best friend, I should keep his promise not to tell anyone what he does and why. Besides, isn't it the thrill you get from knowing something no one else knows that you really want?"

"Just tell me!"

Maybe... just maybe if I tell him... he'll stop spreading rumors and then even better stop torturing Naruto-kun. Then they'll be friends possibly and with that I may have a chance to be with Sasuke. Locking pinky fingers with him, she released an exaggerated sigh. Despite Sasuke's narrowed eyes, she was dreadfully reluctant.

Frowning, Sasuke crossed his arms once more. "Oh my god! Is it that hard to just tell me?!"

Her voice was even more silent than falling snow.

"...You."

"Wait... what?" whispered the Uchiha, unable to believe what he had just heard.

Biting softly on her lower lip, the bubble-gum pink haired girl spoke up. "I'm being completely honest with you. Didn't you notice his left arm is almost three times worse than his right?" she waited for Sasuke's delayed nod. "His right arms is covered in self-inflicted cuts because he gets bullied all the time. He told me himself 'I don't want the pain in my heart, so I'll put it on my body...' and 'If I cut myself, everything gets better, even if it is just for the moment. Besides, I need to punish myself for whatever I did wrong.' And his left arm. His left arm is dedicated to you. He cuts because of everything you do to him. Hurting his own self was the only way he could compromise mentally for the pain you cause him, according to how he puts it. Remember the left was the only one bleeding, a majority of them deep and long? You torture him the worst of all people. So stop it, stop being an ass to him."

"I don't believe you. You can't be serious. It wasn't even that bad!" he felt as if his body was flooding with regret and on the verge of exploding. What he wanted least was her assurance it was true. "N-No. I didn't do that!"

"I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun. But... it's true. Your personal entertainment is killing him inside. If he dies one day, I don't know if anyone will look at you the same. Doesn't your precious reputation mean so much?"

"You've got to be kidding me!" Sasuke exclaimed, not knowing what to say anymore.

Sakura didn't reply as she shoved past him out the door.

Slumping down on the floor, Sasuke clutched his aching head. Tears, endless tears, streamed down his face. The Uchiha had no idea what was getting into him. "I-I'm sorry, Naruto-kun. I understand why you didn't want me to know." the last time he had ever sobbed like this was then his mother was murdered. "I'm worse than Otou-san. He may have murdered Okaa-san... yet I feel slowly killing Naruto like this is like even worse than him. It wasn't like father's instant kill... but even more wicked. Letting the torture seep in little by little. And he is what I promised myself I would never be. I broke it... I broke it."

He rose, wiping off his eye and clenching a fist so hard his nails dug into his flesh. "D-Damn it. What am I doing? I can't ruin my perfect life by making his better! He never did anything to deserve that." the Uchiha threw open the door, blinded by the intense sunshine. "I'm never going to be nice to Uzumaki Naruto in any way, shape or form!"

--

Knock, knock.

An unbelievably beautiful, red haired lady opened the door to a house nearly twice as large as Sasuke's. Her bluish-green eyes widened at the sight of a teenager she didn't know holding out a large bouquet of a dozen crimson roses out toward her. As he realized it wasn't Naruto, Sasuke flushed wildly as he uncomfortably pulled the roses away from her.

"Oh, hello there. Did you accidentally come to the wrong house? Don't worry, the pretty girl in the neighborhood is two doors down." her voice was as musical as ringing bells.

"N-No. These are for Naruto-kun, Kushina-san." Sasuke bowed his head, clutching tightly onto the roses so he could barely feel the sharp thorns through the plastic.

Naruto's mother gave him an awkward expression. "Thank you? Well, that's really sweet of you. I'll call him over... Naruto-kun!! You have a guest!"

"Uh... it's okay!" exclaimed Sasuke.

"Hold up! I needa put on my boxers!" Naruto's voice yelled.

In panic, Sasuke shoved the roses into her arms. "Just tell hime someone from school wanted to give them to him because he fainted earlier!"

Naruto rushed down the huge flight of white stairs, a towel concealing his wounded arms and wearing orange sweatpants. "Who is it?"

Smiling, Kushina glanced back out the door again only to realize Sasuke was running hastily down the street. She held the crimson roses toward him. "Um... there was this boy from your school who wanted to give these to you. He left, though." she paused. "That's so cute! No ones ever done that for you all these sixteen years! Is he your boyfriend?"

"Okaa-san! Of course not. What's wrong with you?"

She pouted. "Well. That'd be really adorable if he was. You know your father used to come to my door to give me flowers when I was sick?"

"Okaa-san!"

"That boy was really handsome, too. You don't come across that very often, you know?"

All the blood rushed to Naruto's tanned cheeks. "Ah! You're embarrassing! Okaa-san, I don't like guys!" taking the roses, Naruto deeply inhaled the scent.

A familiar smell, a cologne mixed with something fruity, filled his nose. He knew only one person who smelled like this.

"Did he have black hair?"

--


Sorry if this chapter was kinda different. Sasuke went a little OoC.

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