Hey, thank you for the sudden swarm of reviews, here's the next chapter, Broken Glass.
-is Naruto on a role to finding out more about Sasuke or is Sasuke just mocking him?
Enjoy.
Sasuke headed for the only place that his brain could process right now, as lame and cliche as it seemed...the boys bathroom. It was the only place in a school where you had any privacy, there he could lock himself in a cubicle and not come out for the rest of the day if he wanted too... in here he could not be stared at, spoken too... no one would ask him questions and he wouldn't have to try to fit in with this society...
As he threw open the door of the boys toilets he let out a sigh of relief as he saw it was empty, all the cubicles were vacant, unlike the girls bathroom it was not full of groups gossiping or 'tarty' girls doing their hair or make-up obsessively... boys weren't like that...Sasuke could breathe in here and despite the slight stench of urine and something that hadn't been cleaned in too long, it was quite pleasant, cool from the white tiles and bright too... more refreshing than any classroom filled with students.
Sasuke went over to the sink and rested both hands on the white porcelain, his sketch book tucked away in his school bag as he stared at his zombie like reflection in the glass which he didn't do often, he didn't like to look at himself because he saw exactly what everybody else saw in him, but worse...
The image of his reflection smirked back at Sasuke then and appeared to look him up and down distastefully, sneering at him. "Tch... look at you, what the hell are you doing here? In this stupid country, at this school of idiots? You think this will help you sleep... you're pathetic! You should be out there killing Itachi! Not here... playing school boys, drawing pretty pictures!" His reflection taunted him until Sasuke silenced it by smashing the mirror with his fist, shattering it and sending shards of broken glass around him on the grubby tiled floor, like glitter, each tiny peace of it reflecting Sasuke who was staring at the space on the wall where the mirror had been with shaking eyes...
Running around the school for a good fifteen minutes wore Naruto out, the folded drawing of himself in his hand still, he was panting lightly with a flustered expression upon his face as he jogged down the long silent corridors of the school, everyone either outside, the cafeteria or in the common room. His muddy trainers making loud tapping noises on the tiled flooring, the tapping sounds echoed throughout.
Naruto searched empty classrooms, the music block, the art tower, the library, the cafeteria, the sports field, the courtyard, the basketball court, nothing... He was about to give up when it hit him, why hadn't he looked there? Maybe because he didn't expect a boy to go there that was usually what girls did wasn't it? He didn't know much about girls though but he still took the chance anyway and headed all the way across the school to the boy's toilets, if he wasn't in there he'd leave it and go to his next class.
On approaching it he'd already decided Sasuke wasn't even in there, he might have gone home he looked so angry Naruto wouldn't be surprised if he'd ditched school and walked out those gates, Naruto was panting, his hair disheveled from running and his face flushed and sweaty. He pushed open the white bathroom door and stepped inside, one foot first before walking in casually, stopping dead in his tracks when he actually saw Sasuke, really not expecting to see him there so much that it actually made him jump and raise a hand up defensively in front of him like he might be attacked or something.
Something else caught his attention then, he looked down as he heard a crunch and saw his trainer pressing on one of the many shards of glass scattered across the toilet's floor.
Sasuke had been leaning against one of the sinks, his hands still shaking as he tried to light up a joint that was pressed between his lips, his lighter being stubborn and refusing to actually stay lit, it was clearly running low.
When Sasuke heard the crunch of glass his lips parted and the neatly rolled cigarette fell to the floor.
"Shit..." Sasuke muttered and bent down to pick it up, putting it quickly back in his mouth again and finally he clicked the silver lighter and the flame licked to life. Sasuke moved the small flame to the rolled tip of the joint and it glowed pleasantly, catching and lighting up as Sasuke closed the lighter, his eyes darting across the room to Naruto, noticing his defensive posture and the confused look in his eyes almost instantly as the blonde surveyed the broken glass which surrounded Sasuke like ripples in a pond when you tossed in a pebble.
Sasuke took a long much needed drag of the joint and inhaled, his eyes narrowing as Naruto stepped closer.
"What?" He said in a slightly strained syntax thanks to the heavy cannabis smoke restricting his airways for a moment.
A step back, that's what Naruto did... his hand scrunching the paper in it slightly. ''I just..-''
This was getting out of hand, out of his league, the smell of cannabis soon filled the boy's toilets and Naruto tried to discreetly hold his breath without Sasuke noticing he was.
You just what Naruto?
'I don't know...' He thought back to himself, what did he follow Sasuke for? because he saw the pure anger in his eyes before he ran out? he'd looked so desperate to get his sketchbook back, panicked as Connor snatched it off of him. Ever since Sasuke had stepped through the doors of this school everyone had caused him nothing but trouble, even though Sasuke didn't help that by the things he did, he never did anything to anyone personally, he just kept to his own ways, weird ways as they were but they were HIS ways.
''I don't know why I'm here..'' Naruto said in a distant voice as he tried not to breathe anything in. ''You drew me...and it's an awesome picture, I look really happy.. you caught that in it, it's... nice to see how I look playing Basketball'' He told him and it wasn't a lie at all. Naruto side stepped around him and put the photo on the sink before quickly returning to his spot by the door, giving Sasuke his space.
Sasuke's eyes darted from Naruto's to the Naruto in the picture... which were pretty similar, if not identical.
"Keep it. I don't want it... it was just a stupid drawing, took me like five minutes." He lied as he turned his head away again... truth be told, it had taken him all day. He got the basics sketched down this morning but added more and more detail and shading through the day as he'd watched Naruto, particularly to his eyes and smile, rubbing a little bit out and correcting it, making sure it was completely accurate and perfect, he felt like the better he could draw Naruto's two main facial features the more he learnt about him and picked up in a sense.
Sasuke took another drag of his joint and at the same time stepped back, more glass crunching under his feet.
"If you don't know why you're here... then you may as well leave. But you've been staring at me all day... I can tell you want to get to know me... the way you keep licking your lips and parting them as if you're going to say something... then your fists clench as if you're frustrated with yourself?" Sasuke said smartly, nodding at Naruto's fists which were in fact clenched right now and his lips twitched into a smirk, he was so good at reading people even if he hated them...
Naruto shook his head at that but it was a blatant lie and he knew it as much as Sasuke did so he decided to give it up and let out an exhale of defeat, turning his head to the side and shaking it a little ''I guess like everybody else.. I'm just trying to figure you out...'' He admitted truthfully, kicking some of the glass at his feet away from him with the tip of his trainer. '-Just not in the way everybody else is going about it..' He added to himself with a mental sigh, the school's idea of getting to know someone was invading their personal space, looking through their stuff behind their backs, sneaking into their files...it wasn't the first time, there had been no one like Sasuke before but their had been...different people, they usually ended up changing schools from the pressure and the stress people brought on them they couldn't handle it, Naruto never saw or heard of them again and it was a shame because a lot of them were really smart and kind people.
It was something Sasuke could not relate too. He liked studying people from a distance... eying them, analyzing them and making assumptions about them from the things he studied, occasionally when he saw someone particularly interesting... like Naruto, and his eyes... he'd draw them... but other than that, he couldn't care less... he wouldn't pry and try and... get to know someone. He had no interest in getting to know anyone, never had... never would.
"Why?" Was all he asked, a sense of urgency about his tone as he took another drag of weed and began to slowly pace the bathroom, glass crunching under foot.
"Why do you want to 'figure me out?' why does everybody want to figure me out huh? What difference will it make to you? Will your life be any better off if you get to know me? You think it'll make us friends or something? You people can never mind your own god damn business can you..." He grunted, the weed giving him verbal diarrhea again, he always spoke too much when he smoked it...
"-oh mysterious new guy, I bet he has some dark past or freaky stuff going on so we can all gossip and talk about it until someone new comes along." He snorted then, giving Naruto an 'I can see right through you look'.
Frustration crossed his tan face, Naruto shook his head furiously and stepped forwards without thinking and lessened the space between the two boys, despite the smell of the cannabis that was making Naruto feel sick. ''No! if you knew me well enough you'd know I'm not like that, you've made the wrong assumption about me, I'm not like that at all, that wasn't the first thing I thought about you!'' He told him firmly ''everyone I meet, every person that looks at me for help because I'm on the council, every friend, every teacher, my Dad, they look at me in a certain way I can see it in their eyes, I can see what they want from me, expect from me, I can see what they need but I can't tell what you need!'' He realized he'd raised his voice so quietened down, not wanting it to seem like he was shouting at Sasuke for something.
But, he did something thoughtless and invaded Sasuke's space all too much, his hand found the joint in Sasuke's fingers and he took it from him, lowering his arm down to his side with the spliff in his hand keeping it as far away from his face as he could, his eyes intensely locked onto Sasuke's.
Sasuke's eyes did the only thing they could right now, they closed quickly... he felt very exposed, very vulnerable by the way Naruto was looking at him... like he could see through the dark black pits of his skull... see inside him and all the dark secrets he kept locked away which of course was impossible but he could almost believe it with Naruto.
When his eyes re-opened, they didn't raise to look unwaveringly into Naruto's but stayed fixed on his feet. "Oh yeah?" He muttered, finally looking up but casting his eyes to the side before glaring down at his joint in Naruto's hand getting wasted.
"What I need-..." He repeated with a smirk, shaking his head a little. "Even if I told you... what it is I need... you wouldn't be able to help. So... why don't you go and play Mr. Helpful... someplace else... dobe." He smirked, finally able to look Naruto in the eye as he insulted him in Japanese, knowing the idiot wouldn't understand... still, if Naruto was such an idiot, why was Sasuke so reluctant to look him in the eye... it was like he was afraid of him, how close he was getting... couldn't Naruto just leave him alone? He was more irritating than everyone in this school combined.
Naruto stood his ground even though he knew his heart was pounding in his chest, his palms were clammy and his throat was growing increasingly dry and tight by the minute, the smell of the weed adding to that, it was suffocating in such a small bathroom with the smallest sorry excuse for windows.
''I'm not playing around, the only one who's playing around here is you, pretending to be a vampire, a blonde girl called Ino made that up from her favorite book, that's how that rumor started and you were playing along with it with me, assuming I'm stupid, sending me a stupid little drawing, why don't you stop playing with me? I gave you my seat, I distracted everyone from looking at your painting, I stopped you getting into trouble with that first year, I refused to take your sketchbook when Connor dared me too, I'm sorry these things keep happening to you okay but don't include me in the same category as everybody else!'' He blurted it all out finally, immediately wishing he hadn't said any of it once he was finished, but Sasuke looked at him the same way he looked at Connor, how he looked at everyone in their class and he hadn't even done anything.
Sasuke was staring at him with that same raised eyebrow now, his eyes on his lips as the blonde spoke so frantically. He nodded along with what he was saying, his body language becoming more relaxed as he leant back against the wall of the bathroom, his eyes drifting up to the small open window, gazing at the blue sky just as a breeze blew in and sent his ebony bangs blowing across his face in an elegant way.
Sasuke closed his eyes and inhaled the breeze... it was never as cool as he needed it to be... Floridian air, the air here was always hot and humid... rather choking unless you had a decent air conditioner which this bathroom didn't obviously or maybe it was Naruto's words that were choking...
"Whats the one thing, that really gets your heart pounding? Makes your blood pump? Whats the one thing... out of the ordinary that gives you an adrenaline rush?" Asked Sasuke simply, as if totally ignoring Naruto's little speech or refusing to let it sink into his brain, his eyes still fixed on the blue sky outside as he reached over and snatched what was left of his joint back and took another long drag.
A confused look was replaced on Naruto's features but he decided not to question Sasuke after he'd asked him a question, he followed his eyes to look where Sasuke was looking out of the small pathetic window. ''I don't know... climbing mountains with Dad on holiday, jumping out of a plane with Dad, jumping off of a high up cliff into ice cold water, pulling Kiba out of a train track when he was drunk and a train was coming, fighting a group of Uni students when Kiba picked a fight with them...'' He trailed off with a anxious expression ''I don't have anything out of the ordinary.''
Sasuke was learning about Naruto without him even knowing, he was learning that his whole universe revolved around his 'Dad' and that total brain dead moron Kiba Inuzuka who was probably about as intelligent as one of the dogs he was so obsessed with.
"Adventurous." He said idly, nodding slowly but not really paying much attention. His eyes narrowed as he rose the joint to his lips for another inhale, then he paused... and turned it in his fingers, holding the filtered tip out to Naruto with a tilt of his head.
"One drag... one drag, inhale it... and you can ask me a question. One drag, for one question." He said in a tone that was nothing more than a whisper, his eyes glinting again as they bored into Naruto, holding out the spliff.
He could tell Naruto didn't like weed... so this was a test in a way, he'd see how desperate Naruto was to get to know him, besides... he was a good liar, if Naruto asked him something he didn't want to answer, he'd lie.
Immediately the blonde shook his head, his scruffy fringe falling over his eyes in places, he'd been offered and pressured into drugs before at parties, especially by Kiba and Connor in fact, 'don't be a pussy' is what they'd always said and even then he'd refuse and walk off from them to find someone else who would try and get him to take/inhale something, he was very strong in that way, he stood his ground with what he believed in even if he was the only one standing there alone.
But, in this case.. he might gain something, at parties he'd gain nothing but right now he could find out something about Sasuke... you could tell he was wagering it, looking away from Sasuke with a thoughtful expression chewwing the inside of his mouth, he promised himself he'd never do drugs no matter what but... He moved forward and placed his hand over Sasuke's to hold it still as his mouth clamped over the end of the rolled up spliff, he inhaled deep, too deeply you could tell he'd never done it before, his eyes filled up and vomit churned in his stomach, he spun around and shot towards the cubicle slamming the door open and crouching down over the toilet, retching and bringing up his lunch which wasn't even properly digested yet. ''T-that tastes so bad..'' He groaned as he wiped his mouth and sat back on his heels.
Sasuke made a sound that could almost be considered a laugh, it was more a scornful sneer as he watched Naruto puke his guts up.
"Jeez... puking after one drag?" He said smoothly with a shake of his head... 'you really are purer than an angel's undies' he thought to himself, his head tilting to one side as he watched Naruto wiping up check form his face with interest... he expected Naruto to be a little cooler about trying weed...
Sasuke casually took another drag and leaned back against the wall which was pleasantly cool against his skin. Still, he couldn't deny Naruto's eagerness to 'figure him out'.
"So... whats your question?" He asked in that same smooth tone.
At this point Naruto hadn't actually thought of his question yet, there were a lot.. He found he was interested in small things like the others were, primarily because it'd be interesting to see what sort of food someone like Sasuke favorited in. But he couldn't waste his question on that... Still, at the same time he actually felt rude asking something private... He battled it out in his mind and slowly turned to face Sasuke still sat on his heels in the cubicle as he looked up at his face, his own face flustered from throwing up, the taste still lingered on his mouth he decided to go in search of a drink and some chewwing gum before his next class.
Slowly Naruto stood up from his position, his legs clicking in restraint at the movement ''has... has someone died?'' He asked carefully, nerves getting the better of him and making his voice sound strained ''..it's the vibe I get about you''.
Sasuke snorted again and leant up from the wall, idly putting out his joint in the sink... of all the things he could have asked, Naruto was pretty dumb it seemed, to dumb for Sasuke anyway who could outsmart someone twice his age.
"Thats your question?" He asked, unable to hide the amusement in his tone.
"Has someone died... well, lets see... now people die every day, every second. Michael Jackson, Martin Luther King, Adolf Hitler... Napoleon... Joan D'Arcy, Princess Di?" He said casually as he walked over to the sink, an heir of smugness about him as he played the smart-ass card. He knew all too well that's not what Naruto meant, but... that was his question and Sasuke simply answered... it wasn't his fault Naruto didn't think things through properly.
Naruto's eyes narrowed obviously he wasn't finding this as amusing as Sasuke, he stepped towards him and closed the space between them again, his hand found it's place on Sasuke's upper left arm and he turned him to face him properly against his will. ''Can't you be serious for five minutes?'' He asked with an air of seriousness about his voice and face ''or will that hurt you? Do you make me look stupid and act all smart to hide something?''
Sasuke was no longer amused... he eyed the hand on his arm and narrowed his eyes harshly... no one touched him. When he looked back at Naruto, his expression was unpleasant. "Well well... perhaps you aren't that dumb after all." He sneered a little mockingly, raising his eyebrow again as he looked Naruto up and down, his eyes flickering about his face for a moment, as analytical as possible.
Sasuke took a step forward and closed the space between them, leaning over to move his lips close to the lobe of Naruto's left ear which they grazed a little as he exhaled. "So... what is it I'm hiding? Are you willing to stick around and find out?" He whispered in an almost sinister way, the words coming out scratchy and strained as he hushed his voice.
Sasuke wasn't trying to sound cool or mysterious... just threatening... he liked it better when people were afraid of him, when they admired him at a distance.
As he stared over the top of Sasuke's shoulder, his eyes wide and his lips parted. He realized how cold Sasuke's body was, it didn't radiate heat like his Dad's did or when Kiba put an arm around his shoulders and ruffled his hair. He was cold.. He almost didn't hear what Sasuke said, it faintly flowed through his ear and he decided he'd think about what he said later.. Instead to his own surprise his arms lifted and slid around Sasuke, he didn't know what he expected to achieve if anything but Sasuke was cold and Naruto's body was well known for being overly warm, he gave off heat.
Sasuke's whole body went rigid... it took him a moment to actually process what was happening... he was suddenly eloped in heat, and lots of it... the warm form of... another human being, arms... strong arms around him... a firm chest pressed against his own. Hot breath on the back of his neck...
Sleep...
Thats all that came to mind right now... this was perfect... the perfect warmth and comfort level... that could just make you... close your eyes... drift off... smile a little...
Sasuke's eyes snapped open as he realized he'd closed them and bowed his head into Naruto's warm shoulder, suddenly the weeks without sleeping caught up with him and he became overwhelmingly tired, his whole body screaming and begging him to sleep, for once his mind was not plagued by the fear that slumber brought.
"What the hell.. are you doing." Sasuke managed to choke out, though he was unable to bring himself to break free from the arms, his body became very heavy and so tired, it was a battle just to keep his eyes open.
Naruto frowned towards Sasuke's face, his blue eyes looking at him in confusion 'what does it look like I'm doing? haven't you ever been hugged before?' he thought but then he wondered if Sasuke was asking for an explanation ''you're...cold, your skin's freezing.. friends help friends, don't they?'' He told him simply in a strained voice, his exposed tanned arms locked around Sasuke, he noticed just how skinny he was through the uniform something he hadn't noticed before, he was TOO skinny, freezing cold and his skin so pale.. He definitely didn't eat properly at home and he didn't get out enough, NO ONE was that pale for no reason... ''-I'm warming you up'' He said finally.
'Don't... stop it or I'll fall asleep.' Sasuke's mind groaned out groggily as he felt his eyelids begin to droop again. Somehow, Sasuke mustered up the energy to push Naruto away from him, shaking his head quickly to wake himself up, a frown overcoming his face... he didn't understand how simply being hugged could make him instantly want to fall asleep. That put him in the calm, serene state of mind that he had not had for a long long time now... The state of mind he craved.
These days, the only thing that helped Sasuke sleep were pills, occasionally extreme fatigue got the better of him... that or... the very strange state of mind that Sasuke sometimes got himself in just so he could have a good nights sleep, when he got desperate that is... he did, bad things... sin.
But here he was... this strange, random blonde guy with the bewitching smile and toxic blue eyes that he'd known not even a day...
For a moment Sasuke became deluded from his fatigued mind, he wanted to take Naruto home, keep him there... if he could help him sleep then that was a miracle... maybe that hug was enough... maybe it was enough to last until he got home... and he'd close his eyes, sleep would come.
"Sleep..." He murmured in a hazy voice before snapping back to reality and looking up at Naruto who was staring again.
"I have to go." He muttered, backing up to leave the bathroom with a spaced out look in his sleepless eyes.
Sasuke's actions had confused Naruto, he was staring at him with his lips parted... ''Sasuke-'' He said his name properly for the first time, it was a strange name much like his own, Naruto didn't know he was actually born in Japan and named after food in Japan, he'd moved to Florida when he was a week old and he didn't know anything about it, didn't question his name, didn't question Iruka, nothing. He'd never once asked about his 'real' parents because he saw Iruka as more real than anything or anyone else.
But right now Sasuke was beginning to freak him out, no... concern him. The expression on Sasuke's face and the look in his eyes was completely changing, morphing into something else... Naruto moved towards him and grabbed hold of his arms again. ''Whats wrong? you look weird, are you alright?'' He asked him ''do you want me to take you to the nurses office? do you want to sit down?'' So many questions blurted out but the worry in them was evident.
It was like Sasuke was looking right through Naruto, at something far in the distance as he began to get a ringing in his ears and the room began to spin... he was going to pass out of he didn't move soon... he had no money for a bus though and assumed Kakashi had arranged him to get picked up after school.
"N-no... no I don't want... that." He mumbled as if he was drunk or something and abruptly turned on his heal fighting himself to stay awake as he walked to the bathroom door which was a task and a half in itself, the whole room began to sway.
"I just need to go... home. I'll see you-..." Sasuke called back as he left the bathroom, raising a hand to grip his forehead.
Sasuke managed to stumble towards a vending machine in the corridor and gave it a hefty kick, luckily a can of Gatorade fell down and he quickly leant down to swipe it up, not even bothering to check the label before cracking open the can and downing a load of the liquid, just enough to keep him awake till he got home.
Standing in the boy's bathroom on his own, Naruto just shook his head slowly in confusion ''I don't even...'' He mumbled aloud to himself with a sigh, that was totally weird maybe Sasuke WAS on some kind of drugs, something far worse than cannabis, who knew.. Sasuke hadn't even answered his question. He'd 'gotten no where...But at the same time Naruto felt like he had. Every-time he approached Sasuke he didn't get pushed away, Sasuke hadn't ran out of the bathroom or beaten him up on the first moment he saw him standing there in the bathroom, they'd talked for at least thirty minutes in fact.. Despite everything and the confusion he felt right now... Naruto felt like he was one step closer to Sasuke.
A smile twitched on his lips as he looked down at his feet then crouched to the floor, grabbing the nearby bin and bringing it closer, he took the bag out of it and began to one by one put every single shard of glass into the plastic bag... He hoped Sasuke was in school tomorrow... he hoped everyone's obsession with him blew over, he even hoped they might be friends someday...