Blargh. Tired… So yeah, yey Gods and Typo demons. I'm sure a bounty of both reside in this here chapee-ter. Read and review at thine leisure. Also, Kishimoto my boy really. You simply must get into doing doujin one day. You're characters are yaoi demigods for goodness sakes!

CHAPTER FOUR

Naruto regarded him with tired eyes.

Sasuke clutched at his bleeding side while his breath hitched automatically, not so much for the pain he was feeling, but from the instant reaction his body suffered every time he was in the presence of the blond in front of him. All that sun-kissed skin was bared to hungry his gaze. It was all he could do not to reach out with one bleeding hand and jade that perfect flesh once more.

Sasuke winced as he was suddenly wracked by flashbacks that were the most painful of all. Visions of the two of them when they were younger, his brother, his whole family… All stabbed mercilessly at him, tearing him inside more than any physical pain could. Damn…

"Damn you Naruto…"

The last thing that Sasuke saw was recognition as it flared in the blond's eyes before he blacked out completely.

_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_

Sasuke awoke to the sound of banging somewhere off in the distance. He wouldn't have been half surprised if he had woken up in an ally. But as it was, when he rolled over with a slight groan to get a better grip on his surroundings, he found himself on a warm and comfortable couch with his side snuggly and expertly dressed. He winced as a sharp zing shot through his temple. Reaching back, he prodded at a sizeable lump that had cropped up on his head.

He pushed himself up a little further and found Naruto bustling about in the kitchen, his brow furrowed adorably in concentration. Sasuke adopted a slight frown of his own before allowing a smile to ghost his lips as a faint sense Déjà vu from something like I Love Lucy washed over him.

'Dobe, you got some 'splaning to do…'

Sasuke jolted at the uncharacteristic thought, amazed that he could feel so at ease given the situation he had just escaped from. He collapsed again on the pillow from the effort that it had taken to hold himself up.

The prodigy strutted his way down the road after school. He had shown that fox…he had forced payment from every fiber of the other boy's being. It had been nirvana.

His reverie was suddenly shattered as a shadow made its way across his peripheral vision. Instinctively, he struck out with the intention to maim. When a grunt of pain came from the target in question, Sasuke sneered. Rudimentary and mediocre, the lot of them….

He turned to confront his aggressor feeling completely confident until he saw who it was. Sai jeered at him in malice.

Moving faster than the prodigy could react, Sai rushed forward and clipped Sasuke in the jaw with his knee, doubling back with a solid crack at his solar plexus. Sasuke hit the ground hard, all the breath leaving his lungs in a single dizzying whoosh.

Tsking, Sai snatched Sasuke up by the scruff of his shirt, pulling him roughly to his feet. Instantly a number of kunai embedded themselves into his body. He grit his teeth as the pain ripped through him so profoundly that black splotched the corners of his vision. Sai pulled him closer, delighting in how he felt the blades scrape against Sasuke's ribs. He breathed in the scent of anger and blood deeply, letting it intoxicate his everything. He fisted a handful of Sasuke's hair and yanked sharply back so that the ivory skin of the younger boy's neck was bared to Sai's questing lips. Sasuke shuddered as he felt Sai's tongue on his flesh. Slit eyes opened ever so slightly and glinted as he breathed a threat into Sasuke's ear.

"I come delivering a message. The snake is anxious for your presence. You should not be such an ungrateful little brat. After all, it's only right to grovel at the heels of the one that owns you. Check in soon…"

And just like that Sai was gone, vanishing in a puff of smoke. Sasuke fought down the momentary urge to empty his stomach on the road, before he dropped to his knees. He scrunched his eyes shut. He mind roared with only one thought. He would not let them win. Sasuke dragged himself up, gripping his side in an effort to staunch the blood flow, and focused on one thing: the craving for a certain blond's presence…

_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_

"Oi. Teme, wake up. Oiii!"

Sasuke threw an exhausted arm over his eyes then sat up hissing, as his ribs knitted painfully. He blinked blearily and then jumped when he realized Naruto was nose to nose with him.

"I said wake up and eat."

A tray was set before him with something resembling dilapidated ramen and demolished tofu. Sasuke stared at it in disgust before yelping in pain. He looked up and dodged another swing that Naruto took at him with a wooden spoon.

"Will you stop wielding that- Ow! Hey, I said stop!"

He stood up and snatched Naruto's wrist to prevent any further brandishing of the wooden utensil. This action was quickly regretted as nausea ripped through him. He bent and breathed heavily for a moment while the blonde scrambled around for a trashcan. Sitting back down, he swatted at the proffered rubbish bin.

"Who do you think I am? I don't need that, put it back."

"If you get sick I'm making you clean it up."

"Move it fox boy", Sasuke barked.

Sullenly Naruto obeyed. He disappeared into his kitchenette for a moment before returning with two cans of tea, one of which Sasuke took and gulped down gratefully.

"So…"

Naruto nibbled on the edge of his can in a contemplative manner. "What got your panties in a bunch?"

"Excuse me?"

The blonde took a seat next to him and made a motion towards his freshly bandaged side. "Your side looks like Swiss cheese."

"Well thank you captain obvious."

Naruto glared at him.

"If you aren't going to tell me—"

"Fan girls."

The fox sputtered and choked in mid-sip.

"Wow. Uhm, my turn. Excuse me?"

"You're excused. And I said, I got attacked by a mob of fan girls."

All the blond could do was balk. It was obviously a lie but Naruto wouldn't push if the stubborn genius didn't want to be forthcoming. They sat there in silence for what seemed an eternity before Naruto's lips parted to pose another question.

"Why are you here?"

Sasuke didn't answer. Exasperated, Naruto turned on him.

"Oh, so you just do as you please huh? You just go ahead and isolate me at school, as if I weren't having enough of a difficult time. But wait, there's more! You butt fucked me. In the library! Butt. Fucked! And now you just barge into my apartment like you own the place. Well buster, I've got news for you. You might be the king of the academy, but I don't crawl for anyone. And most especially not you. Look, I'm sor—"

The older boy cracked him soundly across the face, knocking the blond off the couch and head over heels onto the threadbare floor. The fox sat there clutching his face, stunned as Sasuke rose above him, all signs of his previous fatigue melting away with his mounting anger.

"You? You're sorry? Oh, that's a joke. You ruined something for me. Something that was my choice to make. Not yours."

"What you were doing with that guy was wrong Sasuke. It was a crime. You were only twelve for chrissakes!"

"And who makes those decisions? I was fine. Everything was perfect until you interfered."

"I was trying to help…"

Even as the words tumbled from Naruto's lips, he knew they sounded empty.

"I loved him."

"No. You didn't. And he didn't love you. He knew it was wrong too."

Sasuke grabbed at his head and titled it back. He could still see Deidara's face the day his father had barged onto the property and tore him out of the other boy's arms.

"I will not lose another son to this insipid disease!"

Kicking and screaming Sasuke had been dragged away. His father had finally just picked him up and slung him over his broad shoulder before traipsing off. The hands of not quite a boy, and not quite a man groped for the face that had haunted him, even all these years later.

"Shut up. Shut up, shut up! It isn't wrong to love!"

"But for two bo—"

Naruto's breath caught as Sasuke kicked him viciously in the stomach.

"I thought I told you to shut up. Now you sound like my father. And we can't have that now, can we?"

The Kitsune groaned and tried to roll away but Sasuke barred his path by sitting on top of him. With a sadistic grin, he tore off the blond's shirt while the other tried to collect enough air in his lungs to scream. For help, for mercy, for his old friend: to no avail. Sasuke was seeing red again.

The translucent beast tore the shirt in half and bound Naruto's arms behind him. The boy wiggled and snarled for his freedom but Sasuke just ignored him as he turned the other half into a makeshift gag.

"Open your mouth."

"Fuck you Tsuke. Not aga—".

The gag forced its way past his teeth while it chafed the sides of his mouth. Sasuke tugged harshly to make sure it was tight and then double knotted it for extra insurance. When Naruto was sufficiently fettered Sasuke turned him around on his back.

"This will not be over quickly. You will not enjoy this. I am not your friend."

Naruto's muffled screams punctuated each one of his labored heartbeats until Sasuke's abuse finally knocked him cold.