A/N: I have no idea where I'm going with this story. I know what will happen in the next few chapters, but other than that, I have no idea how I'm gonna do finish this…

Disclaimer: I don't own. Not Naruto, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus (title), or Sherrilyn Kenyon books. Nor do I make any money on this story, just great pleasure! XD

Chapter VII

Sasuke sighed with happy relief when the bell finally rang, signaling the start of the weekend. He had no idea the first week would be so stressful!

Wearily, he walked out the doors of the place where he spent forty hours a week. All in all, the week could have been worse. Nobody really talked to him, and the teachers almost never called on him anymore.

Most in his position would feel lonely, but he was over it. Yeah, when he was first truly alone, he had freaked. Complete mental breakdown. But that only strengthened him. He learned a tough lesson early, one he wasn't about put out of his mind quickly.

He recognized the frailty of man. Our morality. Everyone dies eventually. You never know what day could be your last. And because of this lesson learned, Sasuke vowed to never form earthly attachments. Never to be set up for the shattering feelings of loosing something special. And with that knowledge, Sasuke was able to completely overcome his great fear of being alone. But at a price.

He lost his vigor and will for life.

He would monotonously go through his life not happy, not really sad. At least he was able to fool himself while he was awake. He wasn't nearly as strong as ha made himself believe. His subconscious was not telling him to completely let go. He was still constantly getting terrible nightmares, most so bad that he couldn't keep his dinner down, nor fall back asleep afterwards.

So not only was he getting only about four hours of sleep nightly, he was also loosing weight, and getting paler.

Sasuke was of course not noticing this much, but others did. His teachers were, for one, slightly worried about his mental state, and his classmates just thought of him as anorexic or something. They also noticed how remote he seemed. He would spend the hours he would be sleeping tightly packing his emotions away slowly.

Not that Sasuke really cared. Yes, he knows he was talked about, more so than the recent celebrities going into rehab, but he just couldn't find it in himself to care.

Before he knew it, Sasuke was outside the door of his humble abode. He blinked in momentary surprise. This was happening more and more frequently. It was like coming out of a daze hours later. His body would just work on autopilot and his mind would wander. Sometimes it didn't even wander. Sometimes it would just pull a blank for hours at a time.

Which should have worried Sasuke, but surprise surprise, he didn't really care.

Strict to routine, Sasuke sat right down to do his homework, why he even bothered, was beyond him. Its not like he didn't already know the material, and he would pass without doing the work, but it was forcibly drilled into his skull at a young age and what can he say? Old habits die-hard.

The assignments that should have taken hours he finished in less than one. He then just sat there, thinking, sure he was forgetting something important.

He suddenly slapped his forehead in a 'duh' gesture. Of course! He had a meeting with his family attorney to go over the details of his families' wills. NOT looking forward to that one, but that was tomorrow, and he had a whole evening to himself.

The first actual smile graced his face before it too slowly faded away. The newest book in his favorite series had to be out by now, the next two if he was lucky.

He had gotten used to no feeling anything, so it came as a surprise when he was happy about his books being out. Not willing to waste a good thing, he grabbed his loaded wallet and keys, then locked his apartment on his way out.

There was a bookstore about a mile away, so he chose to just walk. He walked in a very leisurely pace, hands stuffed in his pockets, his mind and face blank.

Half and hour later, Sasuke was sitting in a small café, a coffee and a cruller in front of him and his new book in his hand; Devil May Cry by Sherrilyn Kenyon.

Katra had just imprisoned Sin in her house when Sasuke realized how late it was getting. He looked up in surprise and noted it would be completely dark soon, so he finished off his coffee and left an extremely large tip on the table.

He grabbed his books and walked back the few blocks to his place. He had realized with surprise on the trek that this evening was his most enjoyable in a long time. He wasn't sure why, but it was. He also really liked the small café. It was homey.

With those thoughts, Sasuke again sat down with his book and read until he could barely keep his eyes open, and then he only lay down and fell asleep right there on the couch.

A/N: I probably won't update until around Thanksgiving again, but I also won't update until I get at least 11 reviews. Over 430 hits and only 8 reviews? C'mon people, you can do this!