A/N: Thank you so much for those who took the time and read this story! Your words encouraged me enough to write this chapter in a few days and now it's update time :D

Okay, not gonna lie. All of the characters here are OCC and I deeply apologize for that. I just couldn't imagine them differently.

Anyway, I'm kind of not too sure about this chapter, but oh well, it doesn't matter now.

Hope this one is still worth the while!

II. Une présence insupportable

I see nothing in your eyes,
And the more I see the less I like.
Is it over yet, in my head?
I know nothing of your kind,
And I won't reveal your evil mind.
Is it over yet? I can't win

Breaking Benjamin~Breath

Sleep never showed up on Sasuke's doorstep.

He spent the whole night deeply immersed in his endless swirls of thoughts, going through circles in his head over the same point again and again and again.

He still couldn't believe that he just met his mother's fiancé. That things were indeed about to change. But he wasn't sure if they will be for the better or the worse.

He couldn't really point out what it was about Kaname that seemed too fishy to him. As silly as it sounds, Sasuke sincerely hoped he could internally talk with his guts to address the problem. He was sure their help would be very much needed. At least he would know what was so ominous and sinister about that man. And he would work on the solutions instead.

He jumped when his phone buzzed loudly through the once silent room. With a sigh, he rolled over his stomach and grabbed the phone from his nightstand, hands still shaky from the scare jump of earlier.

He frowned. It was Naruto.

'S'uke ur asleep?'

Sasuke's brow twitched. Apparently his theory that his friends were actually demons roaming the earth as humans wasn't that highly unlikely. And the fuck was up with that English though.

He texted back 'Well, I WAS, you dipshit.' he wasn't sure why he lied, but he knew for sure that if he told him the truth, that he couldn't sleep at all, Naruto wouldn't let him be without knowing the reason behind his insomnia. He wasn't sure he wanted to share that bit of information just yet.

He was startled again when he received Naruto's next message. 'with how fast u just texted me i doubt u were asleep in the first place'

Damn him that Naruto, Sasuke thought to himself. The brunet even scanned briefly his room, wondering if Naruto was indeed somewhere in the vicinity.

'Anyway, you wanted something?'

'yeah, I wanted to ask u 'bout that person u were s'pposed to meet today,so who was it and how did'it go'

Sasuke suddenly got nervous. The train of thoughts he'd had earlier drained him to the point of exhaustion, and he wanted nothing more than to blurt all his worries out and to actually speak things up with Naruto. But on the other hand, he still believed that he was merely being a drama queen, that this situation was getting more attention than it deserved, so instead, he sealed his mouth shut, and answered Naruto with, 'Tell you tomorrow asshole, goodnight.' And with that, he shut off his phone at once, and threw it unceremoniously on the ground.

In his semi dark room, dimly illuminated by the moonlight, he grabbed his bed sheets, pulled them over his face, and twisted his body repeatedly to get the most comfortable position. A leg bent up to his chest, and the other stretched down. An arm placed under his pillow to give some leverage to his head, while the other arm was sent carelessly to the bed side. He sighed in contentment and closed his eyes. He couldn't stop that stupid feeling of guilt that was gnawing at his mind.

Some time later, the unexpected beeping of the alarm clock woke Sasuke with a start, and caused him to fall off the bed.

/./Impulse/./

Sasuke had a terrible night. He doubted his day would be any better.

"Oh my God, Sasuke. What's wrong with your face!? You look like hell."

His friends were not helping his case in the least bit.

"No need to state the obvious, Sakura." he snapped at the Haruno, as she and Naruto stood side by side, looking intently at him, scrutinizing his face. They acted as if he just popped up a second head.

Naruto himself had been determined to throw a tantrum on Sasuke for leaving him hanging yesterday, but all thoughts of that vanished. "I used to believe that Hell did not exist. Now I'm not too sure." the look that the brunet shot the Uzumaki was so heated it could melt ice.

Sasuke didn't waste his breath on the Uzumaki. Instead, he pushed his way through them, purposefully hitting Naruto's side hard, and continued walking to school. The last place he ever wanted to be.

He knew he looked like hell, as his friends so loved to put it. He knew his face was pale, rather paler than usual, and he was way too conscious of his bloodshot eyes. But he couldn't help it. It wasn't his fault the damned sleep did not come the previous night, and definitely not his fault that his mother chose an unpleasant suspicious looking dude as her fiancé. Luckily, he managed to sneak out of the house before any of them woke up, especially his mother. The last thing he wanted was having her attention directed to his face. She wouldn't be pleased and he didn't have it in him to impress her with a new lie.

A hand that was put on his shoulder pulled Sasuke out of his trance.

"Come on S'ukeee, don't be an ass. We're just worried about you, that's all." Sasuke glanced at the hand on his shoulder, before gradually lifting his eyes, to meet the azure bright orbs of his friend. Naruto sounded so sincere in his words, that was only enhanced by the innocent look Sakura was giving him, nodding her head and putting a small sincere smile on her lips.

He sighed, but his own smile didn't look any less genuine. It was in times like this that he was reminded why their friendship managed to survive all those years.

He inhaled deeply. "Yesterday, I met my Mom's fiancé." he stated nonchalantly.

Sasuke had to bite his cheek hard to stop the laughter from escaping his mouth. Naruto and Sakura's reactions were priceless. Their jaws were hanging wide open like a gaping fish.

He quickly regained his composure, cleared his throat and said, "Well, had the cat gotten your tongues?" he smirked. For a second, he was so tempted to grab his phone and snap a picture of the hilarious view in front of him. He was sure they would all laugh their asses off when the phase of shock would pass over them. But then, Sakura moved the first, took a moment to turn her face placid, and glanced back at him.

She put a hand on his shoulder, face looking so serious the brunet had shivers at the intensity in her eyes. "And what are your thoughts about that? Are you um… against it?"

Huh?

Sasuke noticed how Sakura was so very careful with her words. He blinked twice, then shook his head frantically. "No, of course not. I don't mind her having another lover. I could never stand in the way of her happiness, if said happiness has to be with another person."

Sasuke was even more surprised when he saw his two friends sighing loudly, looking relieved. "What, did you think I would act like an asshole and stop this wedding from happening?"

He widened his eyes when both Naruto and Sakura nodded their heads.

"Gah, Fuck you both!"

He turned away from them, and strolled down the street, frowning and fuming, annoyed.

He heard them snickering and chuckling behind him, before they abruptly jumped on him.

"Now now Sasuke, we're just teasing you." said Naruto, his smile stretching to his ears.

"Yeah, right."

"If you aren't against that, what is the problem then?" said Sakura as she leaned closer to him.

The Uchiha didn't answer right away, seeming lost in his thoughts. For a moment, they thought he would say nothing more, then came the mumbled reply. "I don't like the guy she chose. I get unpleasant vibes from him. I don't trust him."

Naruto and Sakura shared a confused look. They didn't know how to answer to that.

Eventually, as the silence stretched for too long, Naruto merely said, "Give the guy a chance, he may surprise you."

/./Impulse/./

At last, the boisterous bell rang loudly, declaring the school day has reached its end.

It was Friday, and Sasuke and the rest of his friends were invited to Neji's party for the evening. Naruto and Sasuke were slowly making their way out of the school gates, waiting for Sakura to arrive.

The Uzumaki was sucking on a lollipop, rolling it over and over in his mouth, rattling it at times with his teeth. And at times, making even sucking noises. Sasuke was growing incredibly irritated with Naruto, but most importantly, he felt uncomfortable and… weird. He pocketed his hands and fisted them, his eyes deeply narrowed. For a time, he contemplated the idea of reaching over and shoving the lollipop down Naruto's throat, just so the Uzumaki would stop the unsettling noises.

At last he snapped. "Oh for fuck's sake, cut it out now, will you!? What are you, five?" Sasuke could feel himself blushing. God, those sounds Naruto was emitting made him feel…funny in the pit of his stomach. Before he knew it, and without his consent, his eyes traveled to the innocent lollipop Naruto was thrusting slowly into his mouth, watching as the candy was slowly disappearing, then appearing in the next minute covered with the Uzumaki's saliva.

Sasuke gulped. The asshole was doing it on purpose. He could tell from the amused look Naruto was giving him.

"What? If you wanted one you could've just asked for it, no need to be rude."

Sasuke had a crisped look on his face. Before he could think of a clever comeback that would shut the blond's mouth for good, he was distracted by a commotion in the distance across the street. He would've shrugged his shoulder and returned to his conversation with Naruto, when a unique color exclusive to a particular person shone in the distance.

He narrowed his eyes. There was Sakura in the middle of the commotion-

…beating the shit out of a certain guy.

Sasuke widened his eyes in horror. Even from this far, the dude looked pretty badly beaten.

"Holy shit!"

Naruto, sensing the sudden discomfort of his friend, finally let his eyes travel to what had held Sasuke's attention.

"Jesus fucking Christ!" he muttered, the lollipop long forgotten, slowly sliding out of his mouth to meet the ground in a disconcerting crash.

In a moment, they briefly looked at each other in disbelief. The next, they were both running, in hope to come to Sakura's aid.

Rather, the guy's aid in this case.

This was bad. Surely, Sakura did get into fights before. But she never looked this… outraged and enraged.

As they finally reached the scene, they witnessed the Haruno delivering another punch to the already bashed face of the guy.

No one was helping the poor guy. All of their schoolmates were watching a girl beating the crap out of a guy, not bothering to interfere and prevent things from worsening.

Probably because a girl beating a guy was a sight so very rare to behold. Still, that didn't make things any less dangerous.

Sakura's punch was as strong as Naruto's and Sasuke's ones combined. They both learned it the hard way.

Sasuke winced when the poor dude was the receiving end of another deadly punch. This situation was getting out of control.

Shoving their way through the dense crowd, Sasuke wrenched Sakura upright, hauling her away from her prey, while Naruto crouched beside the victim.

"Let me go Sasuke! LET ME FUCKING GO!"

"Calm down dammit!"

Sasuke seized the enraged Haruno by the arms, tightening his grip like steel. She kept trashing in his hold, bobbing her head up and down. Sasuke groaned when Sakura's head hit him in the jaw so hard he felt his teeth grind under the pressure.

Suddenly he felt enraged himself.

"Sakura, knock it off!" looking around him, Sasuke tightened his grip even more so, and propelled her some feet away.

With no mildness whatsoever in his treatments, he turned Sakura around, grabbed her by the collar and slammed her hard against the wall.

She huffed in pain, but Sasuke could care less about that.

"Sakura, listen to me!"

"Let go of me!"

"I said Listen!"

Sakura looked ready to bite the Uchiha's head off. "What you guys have anything to say in this? You'll stand by his side anyways just because he has a cock! Just let me get my frustration out on him while I still have a chance."

"The fuck, that dude's face is hardly recognizable. He could lodge a complaint against for what you have don-"

She cut him off. "I don't give a flying fuck about that. The asshole sexually harassed me and threatened to rape me. HOW FUCKING DARE HE!"

Understanding slowly down on him. Sasuke felt as if he'd been slapped across the face. He felt horrible. "I'm sorry, I-I didn't know…" he mumbled weakly, watching as hatred darkened the emerald eyes of his friend.

His hold on Sakura nearly slackened.

The Haruno scoffed and said. "Don't act all clueless and shit on me. Someone needs to put an end to this fucking madness. I could keep bashing his face all day long and never tire of it!"

Sasuke could see unshed tears filling the Haruno's eyes. She panted and scowled at him, as if she's watching an enemy and not a friend.

And then suddenly, she broke out crying, apparently the strain on her heart too great for her to handle. She sobbed and cried like a little girl, looking down and refusing to meet Sasuke's eyes.

The Uchiha released his grip on her. Feeling his heart crisp in his chest, he gently placed a hand on the nape of her neck, and guided her head to his chest, before he closed his arms over her shoulders in an embrace.

Meanwhile, Sakura succumbed to her tears, and clutched Sasuke's shirt while trying to stifle her cries.

/./Impulse/./

"Here."

Sakura while sitting on a bench, lifted her head and glanced up, watching as Naruto offered her a bottle of water. She blinked twice, then smiled and took it while thanking him.

They were all now in the central park. After the crowd dispersed, Sasuke was surprised when Naruto, clueless at that time, told him that the guy ran away when the chance presented itself, not even letting him get someone who would tend to his wounds.

They were all shocked though when some girls from their school came to Sakura and thanked her greatly, saying that the guy deserved all the beating he got since he was harassing them for a while now. Apparently no matter of how many times they asked for help, no one seemed willing to answer their call.

Sakura, after her short bit of crying, was so delighted and smiled brightly at the girls, and told them how she's more than willing to beat the asshole all over again if he ever as much as reach their sides.

They doubted he'll show himself ever again though.

Sakura had still red looking spots around her eyes from crying. When Sasuke explained the whole situation to Naruto, the latter got so mad, he looked about ready to kill someone in his fury.

Even now, the Uzumaki could still feel his blood boiling with anger.

Shifting his eyes to the pacing Uchiha some feet away, he watched as the latter was talking to his mother on his phone. Naruto could see that he was gradually growing irritated with something from the way he clenched his jaw and how his knuckles turned white from the force of his grip on the phone.

"…but Mom, I promised my friend I won't miss his party. Can't we just leave it for another day?" he heard him saying.

Unsurpringly, the Uzumaki's eyes darkened into something that could almost be called, longing. Desire maybe. His hungry eyes rocketed over his object of admiration, drinking in the sight of his friend while he still had a chance. He never wished anything to himself this much in his whole life. Being around Sasuke all those years had always been physically painful to him. He was attracted to him like a heart beat.

He always feared that breaching the next step would be the end of their friendship. His friends were too important to him, he never ever dared to do something that could threaten its existence.

So he settled on secretly watching. Watching and doing nothing about it. Until the right time comes. He just hoped it would eventually come, and preferably very soon at that.

Naruto was so absorbed in his thoughts, he failed to notice the look Sakura was giving him. A knowing kind of look. She cleared her throat noisily, snapping Naruto out of his daze when Sasuke finally ended the call and strode in their way.

He wrinkled his brows and sighed. "I'm sorry, guys I think I'll just pass this time."

"What?" Naruto and Sakura exclaimed at the same time in shock.

"But-but Sasuke!" Sakura started. "It's Friday, and above all it's Neji's party. You know better than anyone how Neji throws the best ones in school."

The Uchiha approached them some more. "I'm well aware of that. But an expected plan was just thrown at me. Apparently Kaname, I mean my Mom's fiancé, wants us to hang out together, to form some 'bond' or some shit like that."

Naruto actually snickered at Sasuke's words. "You're not serious, now are you?"

Sasuke didn't look amused. "Well Uzumaki, yes I am serious. And as it turns out, he'll be here in five minutes, or so… Well, speaking of the devil."

They all watched as a SUV pulled over. The driver, a well-dressed man, rolled down the window and removed his sunglasses.

He took a full minute to study the teenagers, then smiled. "Hello there."

No one noticed how his lips curled up in distaste when his eyes lingered a little while longer than necessary on the Uzumaki.

/./Impulse/./

He couldn't stop fidgeting.

His palms were sweaty, and his heart fluttered in his chest. He was nervous.

Looking up at the man sitting in front of him, he managed to pull a fake smile and barely concealed all traces of nervousness.

Even though they were occupying a place in a crowded pizzeria, where people were chatting and laughing around them, Sasuke couldn't for the love of him will himself to relax and act all normal and casual in the presence of this person.

He still knew nothing whatsoever about him. His mother never mentioned anything personal about him. No backstory, no past, no current situation in life. No nothing.

Probably why he was brought here in the first place.

Glancing discreetly at his watch, he noted that ten minutes had already passed and no one had said a word yet. He could now be making the best of his time with his friends elsewhere. But no, his mother just had to act all evil on him and get him involved in this distressing situation that he wished on no one.

As he directed his eyes back to Kaname, he gulped at the disconcerting look the man was giving him. It was so intense, so heightened it weighted down on him and made him think he would snap in half.

At last, Kaname's mouth curled up in a smile. Sasuke got this feeling that the asshole was making him umconfortable on purpose.

"I'm sorry that this came all of a sudden, but you have to know that I'm so happy we're having this moment together, Sasuke." Kaname gave him another sinister look of his. The man passed a swift hand through his dirty blonde hair. Sasuke noticed how thin and frail it was. He'll probably go bald in few years time.

"I'm so happy we're having this moment too, Kaname. But, um- why did we come here?"

Kaname quirked an eyebrow at that. "Oh, you want to leave already?"

"No, that's not what I meant…"

They looked up when a bored looking waiter came to take their orders. Since everything was on Kaname, Sasuke ordered the most expensive thing they could offer. Kaname's cheek twitched, fighting off the frown that threatened to appear on his features. The teenager inwardly cheered up.

As the waiter leisurely strode away from them, he heard the man saying. "Having quite the appetite now, aren't we?" it was probably meant to be a funny remark, but the line came out dirty and almost made the teenager cringe.

He feigned a laugh. "It was such a long day in school. Of course I'd be starving by now."

"Good. This is a special occasion, so don't hold back. We can get all the time we need." beamed Kaname.

Sasuke jumped when a hand gripped his thigh and squeezed. He fisted his hands and forced himself to look at the hazel smiling eyes of the old man.

The asshole.

He carefully placed his own hand on Kaname's one, before gently wrenching it away from his thigh and grinned, going with the flow. "Thank you for your kind words Kaname. I appreciate it, really."

The older man smirked in reply. "You're very much welcome, Sasuke."

Sensing that the atmosphere was getting heavier by the minute, the teenager quickly added. "So, how did you meet my mother? I unfortunately never really got the chance to hear your story from her."

Doubt closed over Sasuke's mind when the man seemed reluctant to answer, but the latter regained his composure in no time and said instead. "I thought you'd never ask."

/./Impulse/./

Ebony eyes watched mindlessly the passing cars and people on the pavement going about their business. It was fairly late. The sky was inked black. Kaname's story stretched to hours on end.

The man kept talking and talking, not giving Sasuke a break to absorb all the information thrown at him. At some point, Sasuke eventually stopped listening, watching the man's lips moving, but not quite hearing a word.

The man entered into the smallest boring details. The only things Sasuke registered in his memory, were that he met his mother by sheer coincidence, stating that that was the best thing that ever happened to him (Sasuke nearly rolled his eyes). He stated that he almost lost hope in finding a person to share his life with, but thankfully, fate saved him by throwing his mother in his way. After that he stopped listening for good.

It was torture.

Now that he was sitting in the passenger's seat, finally heading back home, he kind of felt sick. Literally and figuratively. It turned out the thing he ordered took a toll on him. In order to distract himself with something, and not looking rude about it, he kept eating. And now he regretted greatly that decision.

As he rested his head on his palm, ignoring the man beside him, his eyelids started to feel heavy. He started dozing off, his head from time to time slipping from his palm. At last, he managed to pull a comfortable enough position, and went off to dreamland.

He failed to notice the amused smirk on Kaname's face, stealing peeks at him. In fact, he was so deep in his slumber, not even the hand that gripped gently his shoulder woke him up.

Not even when said hand was travelling dangerously downward, exploring the teenager's frame, or when the same hand hesitated for a second, before starting to feel up the boy's clad thigh.

Luckily for him, and definitely not for the owner of the hand, the clueless teenager let out a groan of discomfort and shifted in his seat, and then went back again to his sleep.

This time around, the curious hand shrank away and did not make any further advances.

/./Impulse/./

As they finally got home, Kaname approached the sleeping Uchiha and lightly shook him awake. "Sasuke wake up. We're home."

As Kaname gazed up, he saw Mikoto waving at them while watching from the kitchen window, a warm smile framing her pale face.

Fuck. He thought to himself, but waved back at her nonetheless, giving the illusion of an equal genuine smile.

Glancing back at the teenager, he watched with hungry eyes the beautiful boy under his grasp while he was blinking numerous time, still dizzy from sleep. The man cursed the fate for taking this precious chance from him.

He straightened up and got out of the car as Sasuke did the same.

Sasuke frowned. He couldn't help but wonder why his skin was prickling him and made him feel itchy.

TBC

Animallover66666: aw, thank you for leaving a comment! I hope this chapter answers your question.