notes at the end

[DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or the characters, they belong to M. Kishimoto.]

He felt his eyes water up, his pulse quickening and his stomach turning. Oh god. Suddenly tears were flowing like waterfalls and he couldn't control himself anymore. He sat on his knees and let his forehead touch the smooth cold surface of the bathroom tiled as his breaths became short and painful and a weird soft scream like sound escaped his mouth. He shook uncontrollably and grabbed the sides of his head with both hands, pulling on his hair. He couldn't stop hyperventilating and rocked back and forth to try and calm himself, but failed once again.

Suddenly he heard Naruto knock on the door. The boy had been listening to Sasuke with an ear to the bathroom door and wasn't in the calmest of moods himself anymore. He heard the painful suppressed cries and knew something very bad had happened for the ever so stoic Sasuke to break down in front of him without a nightmare causing it.

''Sasuke may I please come in? ...Sasuke? Please, I want to help,'' he tried, even though he realised the dark haired teen probably wasn't able to get a single solid word out of his mouth at the moment.

Suddenly, in the middle of a flood of irrational thoughts and destructive emotions, Sasuke realised he hadn't even called the police or an ambulance. Not that his family could be saved, but he felt stupid, and he hadn't brought his phone with him to the bathroom, he realised too late. He figured there was no other way than to ask Naruto.

He sat with his back pushed against the wall and wrapped his arms around his pulled up knees. He breathed in slowly, and waited a few minutes to calm down enough to be able to speak again. This was pathetic, he concluded. Naruto was maybe unaware of this, but he hadn't cried in years, and normally when he had nightmares he just cursed softly and went back to sleep. He hated overreacting but now that he felt relatively safe for once, his body seemed to let go more than he ever had.

He cleared his throat and went for it. ''Naruto..'' Well, he had meant to say some more things than one word, but it was a start, he supposed.

''Yes? Let me in, Sas,'' The blonde desperately said.

Ignoring the tone, the raven continued. ''Can y-you h-he-,'' fuck. He covered his mouth with his left hand. get a grip.

''Take a deep breath, take your time,'' The blonde said softly, managing to calm his friend somewhat even though they weren't even in the same room.

''Please hand me my phone,'' Sasuke said in a hoarse voice.

Naruto jogged to the living room without further questioning and when he got back, he stopped in front of the door again. ''You're gonna have to let me in if you want it, you know that right?'' He said, wondering what Sasuke needed his phone for at a time like this.

Sasuke pushed himself up shakily and shuffled to the door where he took yet another breath. He almost opened the door when he saw himself in the mirror.

Oh.

Well, he felt the same way he looked, that was clear, and he could care less about his appearance right now. He opened the door slightly and Naruto quickly stepped in, closing the door behind them as the raven took a step back and looked at the blonde's hand which held his phone.

When Naruto turned his head and saw Sasuke in the bright light the bathroom was bathed in, he almost started tearing up. His pants were soaked with blood, as well as his sleeves and hands. His skin was impossibly pale and red circles made it clear he had been crying for more than while now. His hair looked like he had ran through the wind for hours and he was shaking visibly.

Still, Naruto knew not to show pity right now, so he stuck out his hand with the phone, sporting a rather confused look as Sasuke grabbed it wordlessly. He typed a short number and looked Naruto in the eyes as he was calling.

''Yes hello this is Sasuke Uchiha,'' He said in a surprisingly professional voice seeing as he looked like a drowned pup.

''This isn't an emergency anymore, but my parents were both killed in their home. Yes, Cantelbury street 506. A few hours, maybe. They cannot be saved, I checked. Yes I know, also the killer is a man named Itachi Uchiha if you were wondering. Yes, no doubt. No, I realise that. Yes. I wish to be as uninvolved as possible, so please don't ask me to testify ten times. Okay, I know. No, thank you. No. Good day.'' He hung up the phone and handed it to Naruto.

''Don't.'' The raven said as a new wave of emotions washed over him and he looked down.

''Okay, don't worry I won't. Stay here,'' The blond said softly. He hurried out of the bathroom and left Sasuke standing there like a ghost. He came back wearing light grey sweatpants and a large dark red T-shirt, holding another pair of dark blue sweats and a large black shirt. He lifted Sasuke's chin up gently and asked if he had permission to help him. The raven looked puzzled and conflicted but nodded anyways, too tired to complain. Naruto slowly lifted the dark blue hoodie above his head and Sasuke slipped out of it like an obedient child.

This was really weird, Naruto thought, but he couldn't just leave Sasuke like this and he knew that if he did, the boy would probably just go sit and brood somewhere in his messed up clothes and possibly starve himself to death for all he knew.

Sasuke was wondering if his brother really did go nuts in the time he was gone. Where had he been all this time, did he have a job? What would happen to him? He felt very stupid to even admit this to himself, but Sasuke still felt like a betrayer because of giving the police his brother's name. He wanted him dead so bad, but he was still his big brother. It was fucked up and he didn't know how to cope whatsoever.

Naruto had so many questions, but knew how to respect a person's privacy in vulnerable moments. He unbuttoned Sasuke's pants quickly and slid his blood soaked jeans to the ground.

Sasuke just now seemed to realise Naruto was literally stripping him and jumped slightly. ''What the fuck are you doing?'' He questioned in a surprised tone.

''Changing your clothes, you look like shit. Don't worry, let me take care of you, just keep taking deep breaths, Sasuke,'' Naruto explained as he continued his work calmly.

How did he do that? Sasuke wondered absentmindedly. With just a few words, he managed to help his stop his childish panicking yet again. By saying his name and letting know he was there, he made him feel safe, even, which was something he could hardly believe. No questions, just kind caring, seemed to be the blonde's strategy. Well, it was working, he thought as he looked at blue eyes and got a heart-warming smile in return that made his stomach flutter slightly.

With only his underwear on, Naruto ushered Sasuke towards the shower and made sure the water was nice and hot before facing the other teen again. ''Take as long as you need, but don't space out, and if you need my help just call my name, okay?'' Naruto asked with furrowed brows while his hand rested on Sasuke's shoulder.

Sasuke had, in the meantime, managed to calm down somewhat and was positive his life was screwed. But a shower seemed nice.

He didn't answer but instead just looked Naruto in the eyes, which seemed to suffice, as Naruto proceeded to walk out the door and slowly closed it behind him.

Sasuke instantly felt a pang of panicin his stomach, but he remembered the kind words and undressed completely.

The warm water made his muscles relax slightly as the blood washed away from his body along with his irrational thinking. His mind slowly cleared up as much as possible as he washed his hair. When he was done thoroughly scrubbing every inch of his body, he dried himself off and put on the incredibly soft and warm clothing Naruto had placed on the sink.

He looked at himself in the mirror and decided he had seen better days. He was unsightly pale and red circles still made themselves visible around his slightly blood shot, soulless looking eyes.

But at least he smelled fruity now.

He walked into the warm living room and found Naruto sitting on the couch as he awkwardly stood there in the middle of the room, much like he had when he had just got here, he remembered.

The blonde stood up and walked up to him with confident strides until he stood face to face and he pulled Sasuke in a suffocating hug without warning.

His warm body made Sasuke relax immediately as he unconsciously returned the gesture while Naruto stuffed his face in the crook of Sasuke's neck. Sasuke remembered last night when Naruto had done the same thing and blushed, glad that he couldn't be seen.

They stood there for a little more than five minutes, which was way too short in Naruto's opinion, before Sasuke decided he had showed enough emotion and weakness for about twenty full years, and pulled away. He looked Naruto in the eyes again, but this time with his facial expression back in place and stoic aura set up. Naruto almost wanted him to show his 'weakness' again, aka his human side, just so he could let go and open up first before bottling his feelings up again, but he reasoned Sasuke thought he was weak enough as it was.

He didn't really know how to take care of people, but the shower had worked luckily, and he knew how to deal with panic attacks which had proved itself useful as well. He wanted to be there for Sasuke but realised he didn't actually know him enough to know what he could do to help more.

He didn't realise Sasuke was slowly starting to unravel in front of him like he never had with anybody before. This energy the blonde idiot sent out was suffocating but so warm and caring he wanted to scream. He could feel him lose himself and could only hope his new friend could really handle his bad side. Not that he really had a good side, he admitted to himself. He would return the kind gestures in his own way some day, he promised himself. If it hadn't been for Naruto, and no one else, he would have let himself slip into dark places, and he was so grateful.

to Naruto it felt strange, knowing they had only met a day ago. One day, and he felt like Sasuke was such a big part of his life. He had a great group of friends at school, all very different eccentric people who he loved, but this guy, this Sasuke, he understood him, in a weird way. They just had a connection. But right now Sasuke was out of character, even he could see that, and he wondered how much empathy he could show before Sasuke would turn his back on him. It was almost like it hurt him when Sasuke was hurting, which sounded stupid but really was what it felt like. He wanted to save Sasuke from himself.

ONE DAY
i said three, but it took me one day,,
shout out to me lmaooo this is the longest chapter yet I think wow

I'm not feeling very writer-y right now tho idk hahah

please leave a review if you want!^^ and thank you to the people who left reviews last few chapters aaa:D

have a great holiday you guys!