Swept away into reality, the childish dreams we so desperately held

slips from our fingers

As we become monsters.

-x-

Sometimes Love is so Fake

---

4

---

I'm ready. Are you?

---

It was one minute till fifth period.

The bell's sound woke Sakura out of her reverie. Shaking her head, she realized class was over, and stuffed her books into her bag. Not noticing the worried looks sent her way, she mumbled something about coffee while shrugging on her black bag. While in the hallway, she decided to pay a little visit to the senior lounge, despite the fact that she was not in the middle of lunch, and visiting the lounge now would get her late to the next class.

Walking into a room with a torn-looking sofa, she smiled at a passing teacher, who smiled back. Known for her punctuality and popular among teachers, cutting class or skipping school was something she would supposedly never do. Well, she never did cut or skip out on classes until she started to fall for Naruto. The boy was indeed a bad influence, but that didn't matter. What was the point of staying in class and learning something she already knew when she could hang out with her boyfriend? With Sakura, Naruto never got caught cutting ("Kurenai-sensei, Yamato-sensei asked me to tutor Naruto-kun during my free periods." "…Y-yeah! Totally.") and occasionally, when Naruto was falling behind, she could spend time teaching him. With Naruto, she always had such great fun, and when he wasn't making her laugh, he was teaching her something clever, like how to create dust bombs from chalk erasings.

Although they both hit serious lows and dramatic ups, they always got through it together.

Even Sakura had to admit that she changed a lot, after going out with Naruto. A year ago, she would have scoffed at the idea of cutting or even touching Naruto, much less making dust bombs and setting them on unsuspecting teachers. She had grown to love Naruto and his boyish ways. Her long hair was trimmed and kept short. She stopped putting on blush and eye shadow, only occasionally touching mascara and eyeliner. She stopped dressing provocatively, and no longer wore dangling earrings or over-sized Gucci bags. Her attitude also warped into something completely different.

That was why it irritated and exhausted her. How could absolutely no one remember Naruto? He was fairly popular around school, although not initially very well-liked by her group. He was helpful, funny, and kind. So who could forget about him? Nothing was making any sense, and she'll be damned if anybody told her that she wasn't making any sense. She was getting sick and tired of all the looks sent her way. No one believed her. Her strong spirit was slowly sinking amongst the stress-inducing false speculations her classmates were so cleverly conjuring behind her back. After a while her patience dimmed and she snapped regrettably at one of the very obvious rumor-starters. (She had been talking loudly about a certain straight A student lusting for someone who didn't exist.)

Driven into a deep rage, she promptly screamed, "Damn it! He is real!" There was a deafening silence following her outburst. Her audience was stunned, staring at her with wild fear and interest in their eyes. She immediately wanted to pull the words back into her mouth, but what was done was, indeed, done.

And she had fueled the fire, as the next day the gossip was going even far more extreme and fictitious.

Apparently, although she hadn't cracked under pressure during her four years in one of the most difficult High Schools in the state, she suddenly did. Despite the fact that it was her senior year and her workload was extremely light, the sudden drop back of the work caused her to have a mental breakdown. A much more creative theory was that she was to enter into an asylum next fall, instead of going to a profound university in America. When someone questioned that assumption by countering its supposed (Actual) falseness with the very well-known fact that her IQ was around 195, the response had been really entertaining. "Well…" The idiot started. "…There is a thin line between insanity and brilliance." The rest of the well-meaning fools were promptly silenced.

It was sad, but what had been said was plausible. And Sakura supposed that was why the classmates stopped arguing against the fake words.

She hated being popular. After Naruto came into her life, she started to treat everyone the same way. And she started finding it bothersome to gush about stupid things that didn't matter, like someone's braces and such. Her relationship with the ruthless popular group had been estranged, minus Ino, Hinata and maybe some of the other girls.

Although Ino seemingly appeared to be shallow and self-centered, she did have hold a special place in her heart for Sakura. She listened, but Sakura could tell she was making her extremely uncomfortable, so she stopped. Ino had given her a large bouquet of daffodils the next day. Although puzzled by the sudden gift, she received it and placed it next to her beauty table, right beside the mirror. Sakura was very surprised that Hinata couldn't remember him. Naruto had gone out with Hinata for a little bit, and broke up with her when he found out Kiba liked her. Besides, he confessed that he only liked Hinata as a sister, and kissing her seemed kind of weird. After crying for days, she realized that she actually really liked Kiba. And they were still going out.

As soon as she mentioned Naruto as being her ex, Hinata blanched and Kiba looked scared. Hinata then told Sakura that she never went out with anyone else other then Kiba. Kiba gave a sigh of relief, glaring daggers at Sakura. But, like Ino, she sent over gifts the next day; Dango and some sake.

Letting her leather bag slip from her fingers and onto the floor, she sat on the sofa, before dropping onto the head rest. She was so tired…

Maybe…Naruto didn't exist at all.

Sakura's eyes abruptly opened, and she gasped. Of course he was real…!

Although his physical existence wasn't here…the proof of her, the proof of her changed self, was the most powerful evidence that he existed.

What was happening? She shuddered, her mind blanking out for a few seconds. She felt a fluid string of electricity shoot up to her spine, and her arms grew goose bumps.

What was going on? Who was she thinking abou…? …Someone with blue eyes, and blond hair was smiling to her. His name..? Na…

-

Naruto stirred. His eyes fluttered open, and for a moment, he thought he was at his dinky apartment, rolling over to stop his alarm clock from ringing twenty minutes later. After all, waking up earlier then necessary had been happening to Naruto countless times since he was a little boy. As a child, he didn't know what would happen if he closed his eyes…the dark figures surrounding him….what would've they done?

He turned, and blinked a few times before noticing Sasuke was perched on the chair, shifting the curtains and glaring at something from beyond the house.

Without turning his head, he looked at Naruto, who tensed under his gaze. "Good morning." He said. Naruto didn't say anything, looking at him suspiciously. Sasuke returned back to scrutinizing the offensive object outside his home. "Brush your teeth." He ordered.

Naruto did as he was told. Slipping from the room, he noticed that there was a new set of clothes on the chair. Black sandals were slipped under the chair. Feeling the confusion the blond emitted, Sasuke turned slowly, pinning Naruto with his gaze. Naruto looked away immediately. "I don't want you wearing the same set of clothes over and over. These are yours. They fit you." His voice was so certain. He glanced at Naruto for a moment, at his nervous fingers and at his shuffling feet, as if expecting some sign of gratitude. Giving up, he continued staring out the window.

Naruto raised an eyebrow, but took the clothing in his arms. He walked out with the set of white robes, and while taking the shower, he knew Sasuke wasn't watching him. The feeling of being watched was gone. As he exited the room to the murky hallway, Naruto turned to pause at the stiff figure of Sasuke. Whatever Sasuke was watching, Naruto could tell, was irritating the crap out of him.

Maybe it was some stupid kids who had nothing better to do then to wreck the home from the outside.

It was still a relief knowing that the blood-sucking pervert wasn't watching him shower. He couldn't feel his eyes on him, even as he sat down facing the opposite direction.

-

Sasuke's fists twitched in his pockets as he saw his stupid cousin flirting with Naruto. Naruto of course, had absolutely no idea what was going on [as always. Ever since the damn Hyuugas came around for the stupid family parties, he had absolutely no alone time with Naruto. Plus, the servants were busy with work, and the only time he could steal a kiss from Naruto was when he hid behind the door of the boy's headquarters, waiting for him to scurry out so he could pull him to the side to fondle him.

Sasuke did not understand why a nonstop six day party was necessary. He also did not understand why there were so many women in the house, and why it was necessary for him to meet with every single one of them. Sasuke was very polite, but his patience was growing thin. He knew that half of the women in the house already fucked with the members of the Hyuuga family, some servants, and he knew that a majority of them were no relatives by marriage twice-removed, or so and so's close friend, and the only thing he was sure of was that they were particularly long and annoying obstacles in his quest for more touching with Naruto.

His eyes grew steely as the Hyuuga bent to offer Naruto a daisy.

Naruto, who had been carrying large silver plates to the long white dining table, looked at him questioningly. He had no idea why the man had been bothering him, and declined it, smiling sweetly. It wasn't like he could take it anyway. But the man insisted. Stumbling about, he took the flower from him, and tried to place it on top of his plates. He lost balance, and the metal plates landed onto the wooden floor, the sound of the clanging echoing throughout the high ceiling. Naruto blushed as the nearby spectators, who had been admiring the large crystal chandelier, paused to direct their attention to him instead.

The Hyuuga had helped him pick up the flower, but he looked like he'd rather eat beetles then to get on his knees to help someone of lower class. Naruto bit his tongue to keep from cursing at him. He hated rich people. They were intolerable, unreasonable, and downright assholes. Naruto wasn't surprised when the handsome older boy turned to leave in a calm, sophisticated manner. God! Assholes!

He still felt eyes on him, and the pressure was unnerving. He could just imagine their sneers.

Muttering apologies, the blond got on his knees to stack up the plates again and carry them out to the kitchen to be washed. Sasuke quickly walked over and got down on his own knees to help pick them up. Naruto looked stunned, before shyly smiling.

"Hey." He uttered, feeling stupid.

Sasuke looked up briefly to make eye contact. "Hey." Naruto flushed a deeper red, smiling.

Even though it had been a mere second, the brief look from the dark eyes sent shivers of happiness down his spine.

"Let's take our time." The brief whisper was so quiet that Naruto thought he was hearing things. But he felt Sasuke's hands rest over his briefly, and knew it was true. Sasuke then took the plate by Naruto's hand and placed it on his stack.

Naruto's eyes flickered. "But…Sasuke." He whispered. "I-it's sort of weird that…well, there are people here, and you're not supposed to help me, you know." He whispered.

"I can't let you pick up these heavy things yourself. You're too weak, stupid." Sasuke calmly whispered.

"I am not! Jerk." Naruto huffed, placing the plates onto his pile.

"Sorry, sorry." Sasuke said, amused. There were little things about Naruto that made him want to love him even more, if possible.

"Hmph." Naruto was done stacking his. Twenty-five 8 inch diameter silver metallic plates stood next to him. He could carry about fifty, twenty-five one each arm, and was assigned to place the pretty plates on the table, above the lacy goodness and the red tablecloth.

Sasuke had really been taking his time. He had about twelve more to go. "Slowpoke, I have about six more trips to make, so hurry up!" Naruto hissed, biting his lip when Sasuke smirked.

Sasuke took his time, still. Naruto fumed. Crawling near beside lap, he took the plate from his arm, stacking it quickly onto Sasuke's pile. Sasuke turned pink at the close proximity and the sudden sweet smell of Naruto's hair. Quickly taking the plates beside them and mentally damning the rich asshole, Naruto stacked the rest of them.

Sasuke smirked; Naruto's body had a feline quality about it. He made sure to 'accidentally' brush his lips against the scarred cheek when Naruto stretched his body to get the stack. Naruto yelped, and immediately pulled away from him. "You..!" He looked around, and was glad to see that the only people other then they were the other servant boys from his headquarters. And they all knew very well of his fling with Sasuke.

"I'll help."

Naruto glared at him. "No. I can handle it."

"No." Sasuke was stubborn.

Naruto decided he wasted enough time, so he pulled himself up, lifted the plates with his hands, and told Sasuke he could do whatever he wanted; He really didn't care.

So Sasuke carried the plates to the large kitchen, following Naruto.

A pretty girl hidden behind a statue looked at the two from afar, cocking her head at the close proximity between master and servant. There was no question about it; she felt some strange jealousy bubbling in her stomach. She had a desire to be in the servant's place. Her small, pale hands gripped the pedestal in front of her as Sasuke refused to give the servant the rest of the plates, smiling the whole time as the blond fool lunged for them.

Why was he so kind to someone worthless, when he could be kind to her?

-

"Hey." Naruto started. The Vampire had been staring at the window for more then an hour now. Naruto was genuinely curious what was behind the curtains. However, he was still wary of going then more then a few feet in front of the man.

"Hey…" He continued. The wide shoulders didn't even shift. His blue eyes flashed. "Hey!"

Sasuke continued to ignore him. Naruto glared at his back. He got off the edge of the bed, slipping on the wooden sandals Sasuke gave him and strode over, looking over at Sasuke's shoulder. "What the hell have you been staring at for the past hour?"

Sasuke turned to face him, as if he heard him for the very first time. "What are you doing?" He asked calmly.

"…What are you doing?" Naruto replied indignantly. They both stared at each other for a moment; one had terrified butterflies swarming in his stomach, while the other was absorbing the scented warmth emitting from the other.

Naruto noted with deep resentment that Sasuke was not only handsome, but extremely so. With his body perched onto the window, and his strong slim back curved against the pane, he had an anatomical structure of a very, very sexy male. Naruto turned pink at the thought. Eww. He suppressed a shiver from his body.

Naruto had noticed that Sasuke preferred to wear tight button-downs in black. Everyday he had some different outfit on that suited his body type. However, Sasuke always wore old fashioned clothes. He wore the things only drugged or stylish artists wore; Ruffles, long dark capes, tight blouses with neckties, and an occasional leather jacket that reached past his ankles. In other words, clothes people usually never wore anymore. How long had he been around?

He was pale as death itself, and the only piece of jewelry he ever seemed to wear was a small silver band on his finger.

"You can stop staring." Sasuke murmured, brushing his hand on Naruto's cheek. Naruto quickly moved away from him. "Don't touch me." He hissed, although fright was evident in his eyes.

"Naruto." Naruto backed away as the Vampire got up. "Don't touch me…" It came out as a plea. Why was he so afraid of his touch? He didn't know.

But his body was warning him. His breath hitched when he heard Sasuke speak.

"Don't be so afraid." Sasuke said, taking every bit of Naruto's warmth and savoring it. He gently backed Naruto against a wall, and leaned over to kiss him. Naruto was rendered immobile as his catlike fingers, failing to grasp anything, braced itself against the wall as hard as it could. Naruto closed his eyes as Sasuke nipped at his lips. Used to his wants, he opened his mouth obediently, and as soon as he did, Sasuke kissed him hungrily. The cold tongue swept over his, and Sasuke's freezing aura seemed to wrap itself around Naruto, as he started to tremble in the cold. His slim fingers went slack against the wall, and soon he found his hands gripping the tight shirt of Sasuke. He shivered and subconsciously began to kiss back, mewling and sucking.

Sasuke tasted a bit peculiar today, a little bit like chocolate. Naruto's fingers crawled up past Sasuke's chest, wrapping themselves around his neck. Sasuke had placed one arm above him, and one arm around Naruto's waist. He ravaged Naruto hungrily, lustily. He wanted him, so bad. Even if it was only for now, he wanted to believe that Naruto loved him, even if this would set them backwards. He had always been selfish.

Black eyes widened when he felt himself being pushed backwards. His lips still glued to Sasuke's, Naruto's hands had once again relocated on Sasuke's chest, rubbing the nipples and pushing him backwards, close to the window Sasuke was resting only minutes before. Sasuke felt himself slide back onto the pane of the window, and that shocked him even more; Naruto was strong. His hands grabbed the back of Naruto's hair, entwining his fingers into his golden locks. Gods, Naruto's gasps and mewls were so arousing. Their tongues continued to touch, and Sasuke's fingertips were tingling with excitement as Naruto's warm hands undid his shirt.

Naruto wasn't thinking, wasn't quite sure what was going on; all he knew was that it felt good, and he wanted more of it. Never had the Vampire's touch had been this addicting.

He couldn't stop.

He shivered while Sasuke's hands went under his robe, and the coldness rubbed against his nipples and stomach. Naruto laughed quietly, blushing. His body arched as Sasuke expertly rubbed and pinched the dark cherry nubs.

Naruto let the wave of the afternoon white light hit him from the window, and he rubbed his chin against Sasuke's hair. His arms were hugging Sasuke's neck.

They were both against the window panel, Naruto on top of Sasuke. The warning bells Naruto had had were shifting into a back department of his mind. Naruto leaned his head against Sasuke's shoulder, and suddenly, shocking electricity shot through his body. Sasuke felt Naruto stiffen up against him, and stopped his movements. Naruto uttered a word that Sasuke never wanted to hear in this type of position.

A name. Sasuke felt the arms around his neck sag. The slim arms trembled. He uttered the name again.

"Sakura." Now it was Sasuke's turn to stiffen. That damn bitch was still there.

Naruto tried to get out of Sasuke's firm embrace; Sakura had been the one Sasuke had been looking at.

"Don't try." Sasuke, perhaps out of shame, didn't look up to meet eyes with the anguished blues of Naruto's.

"Don't try what? Let me go."

"She doesn't see you. Us."

Naruto snarled; a mixture of anger, hurt, and loneliness suddenly overwhelmed his senses as he blinked back tears. "There will never be an 'Us'! What the fuck did you do to me?! Let me go. LET ME GO!" Naruto broke free from him, and ran out of the room, downstairs and past the photographs to the entry hallway. He carefully avoided gaze with the mirror, and attempted to open the door. It didn't budge. "Sakura!" he screamed.

"Sakura!" A cold hand covered his own. Naruto yelled, yanking his arm away from the golden knob as if it was on fire.

"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH ME! DON'T YOU DARE!" Sasuke felt his heart quiver at the sight of his beloved. Hurt, rage and humiliation were only a few of the feelings Naruto's angry tears radiated. Naruto wiped his tears hurriedly, but they kept on coming. It was hot, and his heart felt shackled and caged in his body. It hurt. He hadn't felt so useless in such a long time.

He hadn't cracked under pressure in a long time.

There was a dangerous silence between the two. The only occasionally sounds were Naruto's attempts to muffle his sobs. Sasuke wanted to embrace him, but he knew that Naruto didn't want that right now.

As soon as Naruto quieted down enough to speak coherently, he said the next hurtful words towards Sasuke. The ones he was so used to hearing.

"Let me go." His voice was deep from crying, and he sounded desperate more then anything.

"I can't do that." Sasuke didn't understand. He loved Naruto. Why was it so hard for him to love him back?

There was another deafening silence.

"You drugged me." Naruto accused darkly. His face reddened at the open shirt of Sasuke's, and fumbled to set his own robes straight.

Sasuke didn't answer for a moment. His shirt hung loosely, and the milky white skin contrasted with the dark silk shirt. He made no attempt to tidy himself up, and continued to just look. "Naruto…" He did drug him. "…I…" How was he to explain himself?

Naruto's fingers were shaking. "You, you're crazy. I can't…I don't want to be here. Please…" He whimpered.

What made him drug him? Sasuke wasn't sure. The few days and weeks he had been there, he never reacted to anything. He wanted to feel Naruto against him, eyes full of love, kissing his mouth as he kissed back. He wanted Naruto's love.

Drugs.

Aphrodisiacs.

These items were very useful to create a game of pretend, of fake love.

But Love was not a game.

Sasuke watched the tear-stained eyes of Naruto and a sick feeling formed in his stomach.

He knew that when he got himself into this, that things would end up this disastrous. He would've never been able to get away with it. He had known that this would set them backwards.

But for a moment. Just a moment, couldn't he have something? He deserved it.

He shouldn't have done it, but somehow, he felt satisfied.

Naruto can never leave. Even if it takes eternity, he'll make sure that Naruto will love him just as much as the other did.

-

Sakura looked up, her eyes strangely empty. Her hair was fastened into curls, and her red lips into a pout. A corset squeezed her waist tightly, and her large red gown was decorated with pink stones and lace. Covering her small breasts was a pretty white blouse. A jewel encrusted fan was held between her slim fingers, hidden behind lacy gloves. Raising her glittering fan, she gently waved it in front of her, hiding her smile.

"It seems Sasuke isn't coming out today."

She giggled, and the sound seemed to twinkle in the air. "That's quite a shame. I wanted to see him…"

"After all," She said confidently, "It has been a while since I have been out. I wonder…"

-

She shivered, tears prickling behind her eyes. After school, she had gone home. On the way, she scribbled the name over and over on her arm.

Uzumaki Naruto.

Uzumaki Naruto.

Uzumaki Naruto.

Once Sakura reached her door, she ran upstairs. Her father was at work, and wouldn't be home until dinner. Running into her room, she threw her bag onto the floor, and sat down in front of her desk, immediately staring at her arm. To her anguish, the name disappeared. She wrote it into her arm again, frustrated. The tears and the pressure against her heart were making her nauseous. The name disappeared.

What…? What was happening? She opened her drawer, and took out an army knife. With trembling hands, she flicked it open. Sakura didn't quite know what was going on, but she knew that who ever was behind this, he or she was trying to make her forget. But she won't surrender so easily…

Pressing the knife into her soft pale skin, she was about to press harder when a voice caused her to drop the blade.

'What? Are you daft, little girl? You are willing to cut through your soft, unblemished skin…for a mere servant boy?'

She looked up, and saw…the mirror, with her frightened face. Was she hallucinating? Gasping, she brought her knees up to her chest, burying her tear-stained face into the center of her knees. Naruto was real. He was. He was… That voice…must be stress. Yes, that's right. She's not going insane. Naruto was real. She would have never become a good person if it wasn't for Naruto. Sakura clenched her fists as that thought became alive. Her heart pulsed wildly, desperately.

She trembled, her tears sliding against her cheeks. She was so scared. Where was Naruto? Naruto…

Who was Naruto…?

"I…I don't want to forget…" Sakura whispered, clutching her knees. There had to be some way…

Oh, that's right. The only gift Naruto ever gave her was an orange picture frame. She had it displayed on a window sill against her bed. She looked up, turning around. Expecting to see that comforting picture of them both together, the slight smile on her face dropped completely when she saw that the bizarre frame was taken over by one of the blue frames Ino gave her.

'Dreams are always the first to disappear.'

She screamed.

------

Blarghhh. I am so fusking sorry for such a late update! Life was overwhelming to the point of godpleasekillmenow. It still is. School is already very exhausting. I know you guys don't give a damn about my personal life, so, onto the story! This chapter really set things in motion! It was interesting, wasn't it? Wasn't it?! I hope it was. :D It's really long, I just realized. Sorry about that. D: I also apologize for any errors you may have found.

Please review. Like, write a review. Not just please update soon! An actual review. Please! Thank you. :D

I'll do my best to update soon.I really want to. It's fun to write this. So review. :D I may reply to any questions or comments.