I'm Sorry
Chapter 4: Surprise
Summary: The last thing Sasuke hears is a blaring horn and his dobe's scream. Then, everything went black. Later on Sasuke wakes up again, but he is no longer living in the world he once knew. He's a guardian angel without wings, assigned by heaven to protect a certain someone-he must keep watch of this person for a certain amount of time, but cannot say or do anything to change that one's life. If he is able to complete this task, he will finally gain his wings and finally be able to move on. But when he finally arrives to his assigned destination (the city that never sleeps), he is surprised to find out that the person he must watch over is none other than Naruto Uzumaki. At first, he is thrilled to finally see his dobe again, but there's a catch. Naruto cannot see or hear Sasuke and he is not the happy-go-lucky blonde that the raven knew before... What will Sasuke do now?
FAQ's usually sent to the President of the United States. Pshh—uh-huh, yeah. Right. More like the Queen of Spacing Out…and MOCHI! ^_^
Mine? Of course not. Don't own Naruto. *Raises hands up innocently* This is only a story written by some poor, obsessed yaoi fangirl who literally enjoys spacing out and drifting away to the farthest, darkest corner of the universe (because it has cookies XD).
Warnings? YAOI, OOC, fluffiness, and tear-shedding, heartrending moments… TwT (I'm such a sap. XD)
Who? Pshh—Beavis and Butthead. O_O …of course not. XD Sasuke and Naruto, duh! =^w^=
Why? Because I want to, so there! XD And this plot bunny's been bugging me for a while now… ^^"
Notes from the KIT-chan~
Where this story will take a turn for the…worst?….best? .O You'll only find out by reading. XD
Enjoy~! ^~^
.::.*~Kitsune~*.::.
*OC alert—in this chapter another will be introduced—but he's not based on the Naruto canon. ^^" And I actually own him because I created him from scratch. XD He's from an RP that Silver and I started a few months ago, but never got to finish due to gradual loss of interest… ^^" So I decided to at least salvage my characters and save them for a good occasion like this. XD And don't worry—he's supposed to be uber-kawaii! ^.^
~o~
Sasuke watched as Naruto ran further into the alley, eyes darting in various directions.
"Hello?" the blonde called in a hushed tone. "Is anyone in here?"
That was when he heard another yelp.
Both the raven and blonde stiffened when they heard a loud crash coming from afar.
Naruto gulped, a bead of sweat rolling down the back of his neck, then rushed over to the darker end of the alley, where he could make out two shadowy figures—the bigger one holding the smaller one against the wall.
The blonde slowly crept towards them to get a closer look, and saw a man about his height clutching a small, bronze-haired boy by the neck and pressing him against the wall. The man looked like one of those punk-gangster people one would see in a movie—at least his clothes literally screamed that—and not to mention the numerous rings on each and every one of his fingers as well as the dangerous scowl on his face.
But the little bronze, about the age of five, in his grasp…he was so skinny that one could almost see his ribcage. His clothes were tattered and dirty, and Naruto was shocked to see the cuts and bruises all over his body. But that wasn't what hit a cord in the blonde's heart.
It was the terrified look in his big, emerald-green, puppy-dog eyes and the tears streaming down his cheeks.
That was when the small boy opened his mouth to speak. "Help—"
But in that instant, the young bronze was cut off by the thug holding him down, who banged his head against the wall and tightened his grip on the boy's neck. "Shut the fuck up!"
The latter winced in pain and whimpered as the man's rings began cutting into his skin.
Naruto stiffened, his face becoming rigid, and Sasuke merely shifted his eyes over to the blonde, wondering just what the latter was about to do…and he was pretty sure he had a good idea.
But what really ticked Naruto off was when the thug punched the green-eyed boy in the stomach after he started crying from the pain being put on his neck.
The blonde's eyes widened with rage and he took a step towards the two.
"Stop it!" he growled.
At that moment, the thug froze and turned to glare at the blue-eyed man standing on his left. "And who the hell are you to tell me what to do? Are you the King of Narnia?"
The little bronze gulped and opened his terrified eyes, shifting them towards the blonde nearby.
Naruto's eyes softened as he looked into the boy's eyes. Then he turned to give the thug a death glare. "Let the kid go. He's done nothing to you."
The Uchiha stood there cautiously, shifting his wary eyes from the thug to the blonde.
But the man only smirked and chuckled darkly. "Again, I ask: why should I even bother to listen to a punk like you? You definitely ain't the boss of me."
But the blonde only answered with a growl, taking another step forward with rage in his eyes. At that point, the raven could see that he was more than ticked off.
Damn it, dobe—calm down…
That was when Naruto spoke again in an icy tone. "Because you're the dumbest fuckin' asshole I've ever seen for picking on innocent little kids."
And this also ticked the thug off. His eyes narrowed into slits. "You think you're being such a hero now, aren't you? …don't make me laugh." He chuckled for a moment. But then he abruptly stopped to stare into the blonde's face with a dangerous look in his eyes. "Because I'll seriously kill you."
But this was merely nothing to Naruto, who cocked his head to the side, a smug grin on his face.
Sasuke groaned and put his hand on his forehead. Oh, hell no…
The blonde chuckled. "Oh, yeah? Try me."
And that finally set off the fuse between the two.
In just seconds, Naruto and the thug were already yelling and wrestling each other on the ground, a blur of flailing arms and legs visible from the perspective of a bystander.
But Sasuke's eyes were different now than they had been before, for he could always conveniently point Naruto out clearly from his surroundings since he was the one he was supposed to be watching over in the first place. He could perfectly see how the blonde carefully dodged the thug's attempted assaults and to his surprise…successfully landed hits on the guy's face.
The Uchiha relaxed a bit. Maybe there was really nothing to be worried about. It wasn't like the man even had a knife or a gun in his hand…
And while all this was happening, the raven glanced at the little bronze now trembling by a bunch of trash cans, slowly backing away from the two with wide eyes. The Uchiha's eyes softened, then he turned back to the two fighting men.
And finally, after the fight had gone on for a few more minutes, the thug quickly backed away from the blonde with a fearful expression on his face. Then he rubbed his mouth with his wrist, seeing a blot of scarlet on it as he glanced down.
"I'll get you," the thug spoke in a quavering tone. Then he whipped his head up at Naruto and immediately scrambled into a sprint. "I'll get you, punk! We're not finished yet!" he shouted, glancing back. "And next time, you won't get off so easy!"
But this didn't shake the blonde at all, who merely chuckled, a smug grin appearing on his face. "Yeah? Keep running, asshole!"
And pretty soon, the thug had finally disappeared from sight.
Naruto chuckled again triumphantly, crossing his arms.
Sasuke sighed and rolled his eyes. Always the impulsive one…
But then the smile faded from the blonde's face, and he turned to look around him.
What is he doing?
"Hey!" the latter called, eyes still darting in different directions. "It's safe to come out now!" He whistled, and took a few steps forward. "Little kid!"
That was when the raven realized he was looking for the young bronze-haired boy.
Naruto whistled again and continued calling the green-eyed boy as he walked back through the alley.
As the blonde kept looking around in every other direction, the Uchiha noticed that the idiot had forgotten to check behind the trash cans. But at that moment, he decided that maybe it was better to leave the poor kid alone where he was.
The little bronze was quietly sitting, keeping himself hidden behind the garbage cans, but after all, Sasuke could see that he was still scared half to death, trembling with fear. And those puppy-dog eyes…
The raven's eyes softened, then he turned to look at Naruto, who at this point was still searching for the small boy.
The Uchiha let out a sigh. Give it a rest already, dobe. Didn't you ever realize that the kid might actually be afraid of you now? It's not like you're his brother or anything…
But the blonde had only continued to call the little bronze again.
After a while, Naruto had finally given up and let out a sigh. Then he looked back and assumed that maybe the kid had already run away when he was fighting the thug, probably scared out of his mind.
…but he couldn't blame him. He was only what—five? But still…the blonde's eyes softened for a moment. What if he was lost or something?
That was when he began thinking to himself again—and eventually, the blue-eyed latter ended up walking home again, just as he had been in the first place. After all, he wouldn't be able to do anything about it anyway if he can't even find the kid himself…
Naruto let out another sigh as he sulked along the sidewalk, hands in his pockets.
~o~
After a few more blocks, a tall apartment had come into view.
At that moment, the raven could see that this was obviously where the blonde lived now.
But suddenly, Naruto stopped in front of the building.
The Uchiha raised an eyebrow.
Then, the blonde slowly turned his head towards the parking lot next to him.
Sasuke turned and saw that the latter was looking at a particular Camaro parked in the very front, colored what he thought to be an outrageously annoying shade of hot pink. At that moment, he rolled his eyes. There was only one person he could think of who was this obsessed with the color pink and was just as annoying as the car itself.
But for some reason, this made Naruto stiffen slightly. He hesitated for a moment, then turned back to the door of his apartment and thought sullenly.
Sakura's gonna be really pissed if she finds out what happened to my job…
~o~
After the raven had followed the blonde up three flights of stairs, they both finally came to a stop in front of a faded, brick-red door labeled "110."
Naruto let out a sigh and closed his eyes, hesitant to open the door.
But somehow after he'd waited for a few more minutes, he finally brought himself to put his hand on the doorknob, knowing it was already unlocked.
And when the door opened, the raven could see a young, pink-haired woman sitting on Naruto's couch.
So he did hook up with her after all…
But when the two had stepped into the room, they noticed that she was packing a suitcase full of clothes and accessories.
At that moment, the Uchiha frowned. Guess not. He turned to look at the blonde, his cerulean eyes now duller than ever.
"Sakura," Naruto spoke sullenly.
No response.
The blonde shifted his eyes to see that the woman was still packing.
The latter paused. "What are you doing?"
Suddenly, the pink-haired girl stopped for a moment, then spoke in an aggravated tone. "What does it look like I'm doing?" She turned to grab another one of her blouses.
This made Naruto wince. "But why?"
"You perfectly know the answer to that question," she shot back in an icy tone.
At that moment, the Uchiha exhaled sharply. Just as bitchy as she was before…
Then the blonde spoke again. "No—I don't."
In that instant, Sakura paused and shoved her suitcase to the side, laughing sarcastically. "Oh, really? Is that so?"
The latter was silent.
Suddenly, the pink-haired woman let out an exasperated sigh and stood up from the couch to give the blonde an icy glare. "All right, then. Let me explain, Naruto—as simple as I can possibly put it for a moron like you."
No response.
But Sakura went on, in an annoyed tone. "First things first, I see you leave this room saying you're going to work this morning. Then, two hours later, I get a call from Kiba Inuzuka asking if I knew where you were or if you were still dozing off in this very room. Of course, I was nice enough to say that I didn't know where the hell you were and asked him to—oh, I don't know, try your cell phone for once? So yeah—that made him hang up on me in less than a second. And not long after, I began to wonder, too…"
She narrowed her eyes at the latter. "What the hell could my wonderful boyfriend be doing at 9:00 in the morning when he should be going to work and actually getting money to help me pay our rent here in our glorious apartment? So yeah—I, out of my own will, decided to get off my butt here in this room and go out to see if you got lost or something on the streets since you clearly don't like using public transportation."
And when Naruto opened his mouth to speak, the pink-haired woman immediately put her hand in front of his face. "Don't you dare even say a word." She exhaled sharply, then hung her head. "And you know what happened the very moment I get into my car?"
The blonde stared back wearily.
Sakura went on, her voice rising with rage. "I get a call from Mr. Gato of Gato industries telling me that you just got fired!" She sighed and shook her head. "What the fuck did you do now, Naruto? Huh?"
The latter was silent.
The pink-haired girl exhaled sharply and closed her eyes. "I don't even want to hear about it." She turned away and paused for a moment. Then she spoke in a soft tone. "I'm leaving, Naruto. And it's not you, it's me." She sighed, slowly shook her head. "I know it's not your fault that you're depressed all the time, or that you always can't seem to get that accident out of your mind…it's just that I'm sick of having to put up with it every single day I'm here with you."
Sakura paused, then turned to face the blonde with sad eyes. "I'm tired of this, Naruto. I can't take this anymore. You have to move on now."
At that moment, the latter hung his head, eyes filled with melancholia.
Sasuke's eyes softened at the blonde.
The pink-haired girl let out a sigh, and walked back to the couch. "…and unless you can…" she spoke again, closing her suitcase shut. Then she looked up at the blonde. "I'm leaving. For good."
Sakura exhaled sharply, then picked up her suitcase and walked past Naruto towards the door.
But then the latter opened his mouth to speak in a weary tone. "Where are you going?"
In that instant, the pink-haired girl was silent. Then she spoke in a low tone. "None of your business."
Then the door slammed shut.
The raven winced when he saw the blonde's eyes fill with more sadness.
And at that moment, both could only think of two places the woman could possibly go to in that instant.
Either at her best friend's—the house that belonged to Ino Yamanaka…or Rock Lee's apartment.
Naruto let out a sigh.
~o~
In the hour that passed, dead silence filled the room.
And that whole time, the blonde did nothing but lie down in his bedroom, staring aimlessly at the ceiling with a morose expression on his face.
Sasuke winced as he saw the sorrow in his best friend's eyes—he had always hated seeing Naruto when he was sad…
But he couldn't do anything about it.
Suddenly, the raven heard a pattering sound, which made the blonde stiffen in an instant.
The Uchiha paused, then slowly raised his head towards the latter and saw that he was looking out the window, now covered in tiny drops of water. He stared at the window expressionlessly and shifted over to get a better look outside.
It was, indeed, raining. The sky was gray with dark clouds and the streets outside were literally drenched. The storm was so bad that it was just ridiculous to go outside.
But then, Sasuke's eyes widened when Naruto stood up from the bed and walked towards the door.
The Uchiha sighed. Maybe not as unreasonable to a dobe.
~o~
The raven followed the blonde outside his apartment, and he wasn't wearing anything but a pair of jeans and a faded orange hoodie.
Where the hell is he going at a time like this? Sasuke thought to himself as Naruto slumped along the sidewalk with an indifferent countenance, hands stuffed in the pockets of his hoodie.
Suddenly, after they'd walked a few more blocks, the latter stopped as he passed a familiar alley and turned to face the darkness within it. But then he shrugged and continued walking along the sidewalk.
Although after a while, the Uchiha began noticing the blonde glancing behind his back every few minutes. And at the same time, both couldn't help but get the slightest feeling that someone was following them…
~o~
After a few more minutes, the two finally came to a stop in a nearby clearing.
The raven looked around curiously and saw that it was some sort of park or promenade. And he could also see a bench a few feet away from them and at some distance in front of it…a river of some sort—a large one, to be specific.
How familiar it seemed to the Uchiha…
Until suddenly, he realized why.
~xXx~
Years ago, in the city of New York, when Naruto and Sasuke were still small, the blonde once lived in a more tranquil area not far from the promenade that the two were standing at that present moment.
He had lived in a big white house with his two loving parents, Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki, and Naruto had been a very happy child.
But that had only been at home.
Outside of that house, young Naruto had been shunned and made fun of by the children from his neighborhood and school. They would often laugh at him for failing tests and gibe about the whiskers on his cheeks, calling him "the fox demon of New York." But at other times, cruel, older boys bigger than the blonde would go and bully him, pushing him around as much as they pleased.
And Naruto hated it. One might think that he might have told his folks about it at least once, but that wasn't the case back then. In those years, the blonde's parents were rarely ever home (except on weekends), what with his father managing his industry and his mother helping him coordinate meetings with other businesses like Gato's. Naruto had taken this into consideration when he was a boy, and had decided not to mention a word to his parents about the problem he was having, for he feared it would disrupt them from their work.
So one afternoon after school, the small blonde thought of another way to avoid any trouble with the children in his neighborhood. Instead of walking home when the bus dropped him off, he merely continued past the large, white house until he finally came to a hidden clearing where he saw no sign of the children that bothered him. And it consisted of a small park bench a few feet away from the widest river he'd ever seen.
He had looked around, seeing that no one in his neighborhood would be able to find him in that area, and he sat down on the bench with his backpack, staring out at what is actually called the Hudson River.
And it soothed him to see the clear, blue water…the ferries passing by every now and then. Yet no one to hurt him or make fun of him, which had been the best thing about the spot he had found…
Until one dark, rainy day, when the weather had been just as bad as it was presently.
That afternoon, the blonde had literally sprinted to his secret hideout, tears streaming down his cheeks. And he didn't even care if it was raining or not, for he had been too upset.
Young Naruto had dropped his backpack on the bench and sat down, burying his face in his hands and letting out a sob.
What had happened earlier that day at the blonde's school was unforgivable. The boys had been more than brutal to him during recess—stealing his lunch money…throwing dodgeballs at him… And the girls had been almost just as worse. They had scolded and made fun of him numerous times throughout the day—even on the bus.
Even at that moment, the latter had still felt like a worthless wreck.
Suddenly, a gust of wind blew by, causing Naruto to shiver and whip his arms around himself.
Damn, it's so cold…
That was when he began to hear soft footsteps on the ground, coming towards his direction—getting louder and louder as they passed obvious puddles on the ground.
The blonde stiffened as he heard the sound of the footsteps. Hadn't he been alone when he had come to this area?
Suddenly, the footsteps stopped in front of the latter.
"Hn," a voice spoke. "You're gonna catch a cold just sitting out here in the rain."
Naruto hesitated, then slowly lifted his head up to look at his unexpected visitor.
And through his teary eyes, he could make out a young raven a bit older than him, wearing a navy blue sweater and khakis. He was holding an umbrella and staring at him with a stoic countenance.
Then the blonde lowered his eyes and spoke in a dull tone. "Why do you even bother with me? It's not like I care. …I shouldn't even exist." He paused, then slightly raised his head. "Why don't you just join the rest of them and push me down or something?"
The raven was silent for a moment, considered the response he'd just received. Then, after a few seconds, he opened his mouth to speak again.
"Dobe," he drawled. Then he paused, extending a hand towards the blonde.
At first, Naruto hesitated for a minute, then looked up at the raven to see he was holding a black string with a dark teal crystal attached to the middle.
His eyes widened. "That's…"
The raven pursed his lips. "You dropped this when you ran off the bus."
The blonde stiffened, then took the necklace from the latter's hand.
He paused for a moment and briefly glanced at the raven, then looked back down.
"Thanks," the blonde spoke softly.
Then it was quiet again.
After a while, the raven scratched his head, resenting the awkward silence. After all, this had only been two days since he'd moved to this city…
Finally, he spoke again with a slightly sheepish expression on his face.
"I'm Sasuke."
The blonde paused, then spoke in a hushed tone. "…Naruto."
Another moment of silence.
Sasuke scratched his head, searching for more words to fill the dead silence. He looked at the latter, hesitating for a moment. Then he held his hand out towards the blonde.
Naruto paused again and glanced at the raven's pale hand in the rain.
Sasuke pursed his lips, then spoke in a low tone. "Here—I'll take you home."
In that instant, the blonde shrank back hesitantly. Then he spoke in a soft tone. "Do…do you really…mean it?"
The raven paused for a moment. "Yeah."
Naruto took that time to consider the latter's offer, still unsure. Then he spoke again. "You're not here to hurt me, too, are you?"
At that moment, Sasuke's eyes softened, remembering how he'd seen the blonde being tortured out in the playground earlier.
"Of course not."
The blonde froze, then looked up at the raven with wide eyes.
The latter smirked. "I'm not a sadist like the rest of them." Then suddenly, his smirk turned into a reassuring smile, rare to him since he was an Uchiha. But at a time like this…
Naruto's eyes bulged at the raven's response. But when he saw the reassuring smile on the latter's face…he couldn't help but feel that he knew he could trust this boy. The blonde smiled back, his face tranquil, then took Sasuke's hand.
The raven nodded once when Naruto was up on his feet. "Come on—let's get out of the rain."
And the two ran in the distance, umbrella over their heads.
A few minutes later, the blonde was surprised to see that the raven had known where he lived as the two of them stood in front of his house.
But that was when Naruto had figured out that Sasuke had been his new neighbor and lived just next to his house. And since that day, the two had ended up being best friends…
~xXx~
The Uchiha's face became rigid in that instant as the blonde sat down on the park bench, expressionlessly staring out into the now dark-gray Hudson River.
Then, Naruto let out a sigh and looked up at the cloudy sky, muttering to himself.
"It was just like this that day…wasn't it?"
At that moment, the raven's eyes softened. Yes, it was…
The blonde sighed again.
~o~
It had been raining for over an hour now, and Naruto had still stayed where he was, hopelessly staring out at the river.
Sasuke winced as he watched his ocean blue eyes grow dull with sorrow and indifference.
How he wished that he could do something to comfort the blonde…
Suddenly, there was a rustling sound from behind.
The raven stiffened and looked back to see that it was coming from the bushes. Then he turned to look at Naruto, who merely closed his eyes and hung his head.
At that moment, the bushes rustled again.
Then the blonde finally opened his mouth to speak. "All right—that's it. Show yourself already."
The Uchiha paused and turned to look at the bushes again.
After a few seconds, a small bronze-haired boy slowly emerged from the bushes with a intimidated expression on his face.
~o~
Notes from the KIT-chan~
You'll find out the boy's name in the next chapter. ^^" And another thing—the next chapter's gonna be both very fluffy and very sad like this one… TwT
And FYI: the scene where Naruto first met Sasuke is based on a song called "I'm With You" by Avril Lavigne. Just thought it fit in. XD And no-I don't own the song, either. ^^"
Stay tuned~! ^~^
.::.*~Kitsune~*.::.
***As usual, reviews would be appreciated muchly. ^~^ Salamat!***
