Chapter 2
"So how was school?" Kakashi asked as Sasuke climbed into the car, slamming the door shut loudly.
"Sucked," Sasuke said, sitting back and staring moodily out the window. He was having a hard time keeping his eyes open. School had exhausted him.
"That's good," Kakashi pulled out of the school parking lot out into traffic. "Make any new friends?"
"No."
"After you're done at group we're going to go have dinner at a friend's house. He has a son your age, okay?" He glanced of at Sasuke, looking as bored as usual.
Sasuke said nothing.
"Glad we had this conversation."
* * *
"I want to go home," Sasuke demanded as he got into the car. Pulling his seat belt on and sitting back in his seat, his arms crossed as he glared angrily through the windshield.
Kakashi cast him a quick look as he started the car.
"Why?"
"I want to go home." Sasuke said again. He needed to get back to Kakashi's. He needed a fix, desperately. His mood had steadily worsened over the day, spiking during his two hours in group therapy. It pissed him off to no end to sit in a room listening to a group of druggies and loser talk about how hard their lives were. Kakashi was just wasting his money and Sasuke's time by sending him there anyway. Sasuke had no intentions of quitting anytime soon.
"We're going to dinner. We can go home later."
"I'm not going to dinner."
"Of course you are. It'll be good for you."
Sasuke snorted derisively, sinking lower in his seat.
"I want to go home now," Sasuke said after a minute of silence.
Kakashi gave a small sigh. "You know I'm just trying to help."
"Who fucking said I need help!?" Sasuke shouted, turning and glaring furiously at the gray haired man. Why did everyone think he needed their help? He was doing just fine on his own.
"Sasuke it doesn't have to be said. Anyone who's spent more than five minutes with you can tell you're lost. I'm just trying to help you as best as I can."
"I'm not fucking lost and I don't need your god damn help. Just mind your own fucking business. Jackass." Sasuke cursed, looking away through the passenger side window. He heard Kakashi give another soft sigh.
The two of them were silent as they drive through town. Sasuke sat, glowering out the window, his index finger tapping against his arm angrily.
After several minutes Kakashi pulled into the driveway of a modest suburban house, not three houses down from his own.
Kakashi shut the engine off, climbing from the car. Sasuke didn't move. From inside the house he could hear a dog give a single bark. After a moment Kakashi leaned over, peering into the car at the raven.
"Sasuke."
"I'm not getting out."
Kakashi watched him evenly, his hands pushed into his pockets his eyebrow cocked. "Really, Sasuke? You're acting like a child."
"Fuck off."
"Sas-"
"Kakashi!!" A loud voice called. Sasuke and Kakashi looked up, Sasuke groaned loudly as he saw who it was.
Standing on the porch of the house was none other than Naruto. He grinned widely, his hand waving over his head as he looked in their general direction. At his side stood Kyuubi, her tail wagging slightly. Sasuke gritted his teeth, throwing his head back against the head rest. The hyper-active blond was the last person he wanted to deal with at the moment
"How're you Naruto?" Kakashi asked as the boy made his way to the car, not even having to rely on Kyuubi to guide him over the familiar ground.
"I'm great! How about you, Kakashi? It's been like what? Four whole days since you've come over for dinner!"
"It's been busy lately, you know how it is."
"Of course! So did he not come?" Naruto asked, sounding puzzled. He cocked his head to the side, trying to pick up the sounds of another person.
"No he came. We're just having a little difficulty at the moment." Kakashi leaned over again, looking in at Sasuke.
"Come on Sasuke. Get out of the car."
Naruto cocked his head again curiously. "Sasuke?"
In the car Sasuke grumbled under his breath before climbing out.
"Come and introduce yourself."
Sasuke pushed his hands into his pockets, slumping his shoulders her shuffled forward, casting Kakashi an angry look.
As Sasuke stopped in front of the boy Kyuubi walked forward, pushing her face into Sasuke's legs, her tail wagging rapidly.
Sasuke frowned in annoyance trying to push the dog away.
"Sasuke?" Naruto asked, sounding surprised as he sniffed at the air. Sasuke cocked an eyebrow. "Oh my god it is you!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly, practically jumping up and down.
"I knew Kakashi was getting a new kid but I never thought it'd be you Sasuke!"
"Uh, yeah…"
"Come on! I have to go tell Jiraiya!" Sasuke watched as Naruto bounced ahead happily. He cast Kakashi a thoroughly pissed off look before following the boy, Kyuubi hot on his heels. Spending the evening with Naruto was not what he had had in mind.
"Jiraiya! Come here, come here! You know that kid Sasuke I was telling you about? The new kid that Kyuubi likes? Well he's Kakashi's new foster kid! Isn't that amazing!? Come on out and meet him!" Sasuke heard Naruto gush as he stepped into the foyer. He gazed around quickly; the house seemed like your typical suburban house. Nothing spectacular but cozy none the less.
"Okay okay. I'm coming. Stop tugging on my arm!" Sasuke heard a deep voice say from somewhere in the house. A moment later Naruto re-appeared, tugging behind him a large, white haired man. Two red tattoos ran their way down his face from his eyes to his jaw and his white hair was long and bushy.
"Ho! How's it goin' Kakashi?" The man asked, grinning. He stepped forward, clapping Kakashi on the shoulder good naturedly.
"Pretty good, Jiraiya."
"So this the kid?" He asked, turning his eyes to Sasuke, who watched him with cold eyes.
"Yeah, Jiraiya, Sasuke Uchiha. Sasuke, Jiraiya."
"Nice to meet you, Sasuke. Naruto here's told me all about you. I hear you actually broke through with that dog of his," he laughed, shaking his head back and forth. "I don't know how you did it. That dog's been living here for five years and she can barely stand me touching her."
Sasuke made a noise of acknowledgement before looking away, making his unhappiness clear to all. With the exception of Naruto. The blond boy stood between Jiraiya and Sasuke, his hands clasped behind his head as he grinned.
"Uh, well dinner will be ready in about ten minutes. Naruto, why don't you go show Sasuke around while Kakashi and I finish up."
"Okay! Come on Sasuke! I'll show you my room!" Naruto said, hurrying up the stairs.
Sasuke suppressed a sigh, shot Kakashi another nasty look for good measure before grudgingly follow the boy up the stairs. Sasuke felt Kyuubi brushing against his legs as she padded beside him silently, looking up at him every once in a while.
Once at the top he followed Naruto down a short hallway, stopping outside a plain white door. With a flourish Naruto opened the door, stepping to the side so Sasuke could enter first.
Sasuke's eyebrows shoot up as his eyes were assaulted by an onslaught of orange. Everything in the room was orange. The walls, the carpet, even the comforter on the bed. It took a moment for Sasuke to tear his eyes from the orange and glance around the room. It was messy, but not overly so. A few pieces of clothing lay scattered on the floor. On the desk sat piles of CD's, large books and audio books. Only one photo stood in the room, a small framed picture sitting on the nightstand beside the bed. Sasuke could see it was a young couple, in their early twenties Sasuke guessed, in the woman's arms was a small baby, wrapped in an orange blanket. The man was tall, smiling proudly down at the baby. He had the same messy blond hair as Naruto, only slightly longer. The woman was smaller, more petite with long amber hair.
"So what do you think?" Naruto asked.
"It's very… orange…"
Naruto laughed. "That was Jiraiya's idea. He says orange was my dads favorite color. He used to dress me in orange all the time when I was little apparently." He said affectionately.
"You dad? Isn't Jiraiya your father?"
Naruto laughed, sitting down on the bed, motioning for Sasuke to sit in the desk chair if he'd like. Sasuke sat down, suppressing another sigh as Kyuubi laid her head in his lap yet again.
"Nah, Jiraiya took me in when I was three, after my parents died," Naruto said, swinging his legs as he spoke.
"Oh, I'm sorry…" Sasuke said uncomfortably.
"Oh no, don't be! Jiraiya's great! And I don't even remember anything about my parents. I only know what people have told me. I look just like my dad apparently. But I act like my mom," Naruto laughed lovingly.
"What happened to them?" Sasuke asked, realizing a second too late that it was probably the wrong thing to ask.
Naruto however just shrugged, looking in the direction of the photo. "When I was three my mother stabbed my dad in the back five times. Nobody knows why. Apparently everyone thought they were the perfect couple, we were the perfect family. But I guess mom just snapped or something. She stabbed my dad in the kitchen then brought me in. I don't know what went on then but my mom gave me these," Naruto motioned to his face, and now as Sasuke looked closer he could see three long scars running across his cheeks, resembling whiskers. They were so faded by now that they were hardly visible unless you knew what you were looking for. "Then she did this," Naruto reached up and pulled off his sunglasses.
Sasuke resisted the urge to gasp as Naruto looked in his direction. Deep scars ran where his eyes should have been. The skin had been sealed shut, hiding the empty hollows from sight. Naruto chewed on his lip as he waited for Sasuke to say something.
"Wow…" Sasuke said finally.
Naruto gave a sad smile as he put his glasses back on.
"Apparently the neighbors heard the screams and called the police. But before they got there my mom had sliced her wrists open. She was dead before the paramedics even got there. When help finally got there they found my dad lying on the kitchen floor crying and trying to wake my up. He died on the way to the hospital; he wouldn't let the people help him until I was okay…"
The two of them fell quiet, wrapped up in there own thoughts.
After a moment Naruto laughed loudly and jumped to his feet. "Why are we talking about such depressing things? We should be having fun! Come on; let's go see what Jiraiya and Kakashi are doing!"
Naruto walked forward, reaching out and searching for Sasuke's wrist clumsily. Finding it, he tugged Sasuke from his seat, leading him from the room and down the stairs.
As Naruto led him Sasuke watched him, slightly in awe, slightly in confusion. How was the boy so happy after what had happened to him? His family was taken from him and he was almost killed in the process yet he was still running around like he was the happiest person in the world. Didn't he hold some resentment for what had happened? Shouldn't he feel like Sasuke did?
Sasuke felt his anger rising as he stared at the back of Naruto's head. Why wasn't the boy like him? What made him so much different than Sasuke?
Sasuke gritted his teeth, stopping suddenly and yanking his arm from Naruto's grip. He stood glaring at him, his fists clenched as the boy turned to look at him curiously.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Sasuke spat. Naruto looked in his direction looking taken aback by Sasuke's sudden anger. "After all that happened how the fuck can you smile like that!? How can you act like nothing ever fucking happened?"
Sasuke was shouting by now, he couldn't control himself. He took a step towards the confused looking boy. Beside him Kyuubi watched them cautiously. Sasuke barely noticed as Jiraiya and Kakashi hurried from the kitchen.
"Are you that big of a dumbass that you've forgiven her?" Sasuke could feel himself trembling with anger. The thought of his brother flashed through his mind. He could still remember what it had felt like that night. How betrayed he had felt. How frightened. "You're a fucking coward, you know that? You're a god damn coward for forgiving her!"
"Sasuke that's enough!" Kakashi said firmly, reaching out and placing a hand on Sasuke's shoulder.
Sasuke brushed him off roughly, his eyes not leaving Naruto.
"Sas-"
"I don't want to see your face again. You understand? Stay the fuck away from me. All of you." Sasuke said. Before anyone could stop him he turned and sprinted from the house.
He ran for several minutes. Finally stopping once he was certain Kakashi or Jiraiya wouldn't find him anytime soon. He shivered slightly as a cold wind rustled around him. Night was falling, and the temperature was dropping fast. But he wasn't worried about that.
He pulled his cell phone from his pocket, hitting speed-dial as he ducked behind a building.
"Hello," came a polite voice.
"This is Kabuto, right?"
"Yes, that's me, what can I help you with?"
"Orochimaru told me to contact you if I ever needed anything."
"Would you happen to be Sasuke Uchiha?"
"Yeah, that's me. So can you hook me up or what?"
"Of course, of course. When would be the best time for you?" Kabuto asked graciously.
"Now."
Kabuto agreed, telling him the address to meet him at.
"I'll be looking forward to meeting you Sasuke; Orochi has told me all about you."
"Mmm," Sasuke said, hanging up the phone and sticking it back in his pocket. With a quick glance around him he angled towards town and the fix he so desperately needed at the moment.
A/N: I forgot to mention this last chapter but Naruto and Sasuke are 17. They're in their Senior year at high school, just so you know.
It feels nice to be back on fanfic after my break, lol. And I'm glad people already like this story despite how early on it is in it!