UPDATE! 8D Wonderfullness in a box! As some of you might know, my regular beta Master of the Rebels is a crazy busy lady. So her other little promoter of headaches, (besides me) IvvyMoon has done the beta works for me here! 83 So if you see errors here... It\s all her fault! D8 XD
In the day
In the night
Say it right
Say it all
You either got it
Or you don't
You either stand or you fall
When your will is broken
When it slips from your hand
When there's no time for joking
There's a hole in the plan
Say it Right - Nelly Furtado
"Come on, Gaara. You know you want to go!" Sasuke said and sighed, irritated.
"Do I now?" Gaara said, uncaring as usual, and grabbed his things of the table.
"You like them!"
"How can I like them if I don't even know who they are?" he asked and headed for the classroom door.
Sasuke grabbed his bag and followed. He growled as he put the strap over his head. The bag was heavy.
"You know who they are! You just suck at remembering names."
"So, who are they?" Gaara asked, turning around to push the door open with his foot.
"We always listen to them when you're at my house. You know,the song that you really like that you can never remember the name of? As usual. I'm pretty surprised you know my name. Or your own for that matter."
Gaara ignored the insults. Sasuke had been prissy all day. More than usual. Shikamaru had ditched them long ago, claiming his attitude was too troublesome. He'd be back with them for lunch though. He could never stay away for too long. He got lonely.
"Oh, them." Gaara said and turned the corner, not caring to move out of the way as a group of girls almost crashed into him. He only gave them a blank stare, ignoring them, and continued towards his locker. He heard them try to talk to Sasuke, but the boy only hissed something mean and sped up his steps to catch up.
"So, are you coming?" he asked as he fell into step with him.
"What? Not even a please?"
"I'm not giving you a please!"
Sasuke glared at him. Gaara merely shook his head a little. He was not as sensitive to Sasuke's eyes as everybody else was. He could take it.
"When is it?"
"Not this weekend, but the next. I already told you that!"
"If you can get tickets, then sure. But I'm not lifting a finger."
"We don't need tickets. It's a club. And they're not really famous anyway."
"And how do you expect us to get in?"
"We've got money, Gaara. Lots of it. Why do you even ask?" Sasuke huffed and leaned against the locker next to Gaara's as the redhead shifted his books over to one arm and did the combination.
"Fine, I'll go with you. But you're paying." he said, opening the locker.
"You're a part of one of the richest families in all of Japan, and still you're making me pay?"
"Otherwise I'm not going." Gaara pushed the books into the organized mess inside.
"Yeah, yeah." Sasuke sighed and looked the other way, waiting for Gaara to finish so that they could go to lunch. He was hungry. He had skipped breakfast this morning in order to avoid Itachi. He was dead set on finding out what was bothering Sasuke. And he wouldn't tell him. He wasn't a hypocrite; he stood by his words. What went on between Naruto and him had nothing to do with his brother. Not that anything was going on. Not with the way Naruto was looking at things. The damn idiot.
He paled as he saw a very familiar group of guys coming towards them. Speak of the devil… He'd recognize that blond hair anywhere. He usually looked for it. Today, all he wanted to do was run the other way.
He had managed to put defenses up. He wasn't going to break down because of his broken heart, and he was very capable of being the same asshole he usually was.
But he doubted he would be able to talk to him. He wouldn't be able to handle that.
Would Naruto turn away? Would he look in another direction? He didn't want to see the shame on his face. Because of him.
Sasuke swallowed and pushed himself off the locker.
"I have to go," he mumbled to Gaara, turning and walking down the hall – away from them. Naruto would see him but that didn't matter. As long as he himself didn't have to look into those blue eyes.
Gaara looked up from his locker, confused at Sasuke's sudden departure. The dining hall was the other way. It wasn't like him.
He frowned and looked the other way. Oh…them. Or more like him.
Something had happened this weekend. He was sure of it. Sasuke wouldn't say anything, but Gaara had a feeling. And he had learned to trust his feelings. They were often correct. He just had to make sure he didn't panic. If he panicked nothing made sense anymore.
Next to Naruto, Itachi frowned at the sight of Sasuke's back moving away from them. He didn't like what was going on. Sasuke was clearly avoiding him. He wasn't even trying to hide it! It pissed him off.
Something had obviously happened this weekend, something bad. And it irked him like nothing else that nobody would tell him was what it was. Not only was Sasuke avoiding him, but Naruto was having a hard time looking him in the eyes.
He had a bad feeling that something had happened between the two. And he hated to not know what was going on, even though no one else seemed to think anything was wrong. Everyone carried on as usual. No one seemed to notice Naruto's change in behavior. Not even Deidara. He hadn't seen any weird looks directed towards him in his peripheral vision either – well, besides the regular glances he got from the girls. No one was looking at him, seeming to know something he didn't. Except for his best friend.
His best friend, who turned away as soon as Itachi tried to meet his eyes.
Something was very wrong.
He saw something bright red in the corner of his eye and turned his head to the side. Gaara. Sasuke's little freak of a friend. He sped up his steps and walked up to the younger boy. Maybe Sasuke had told him? Itachi didn't like that he and Shikamaru maybe knew things about Sasuke that he didn't. It wasn't unexpected really. They were his best friends, and he was his older brother. But he really cared for his brother, and he wanted to protect him from what was hurting him.
Even if the person hurting him was Naruto.
Gaara didn't twitch a muscle as the older Uchiha stopped in front of him. Neither spoke for a few seconds, Gaara obviously waiting for Itachi to make the first move. Gaara wouldn't talk until he did.
"Do you know what's up with Sasuke?" Itachi asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Gaara closed his locker and looked up at his best friend's older brother.
"He won't tell me," he answered. He was clearly as annoyed as Itachi was.
"Something must have happened."
"Of course. But we won't know what unless he tells us." Gaara looked over Itachi's shoulder. He met Naruto's eyes. He was looking at them with worried eyes, nibbling his lip.
The captain looked a bit sick, his complexion extremely pale.
"And he won't that easily," he continued,his eyes locked with blue. He was sure it had something to do with Uzumaki Naruto. He was the only one that could make Sasuke lose control of his feelings.
Itachi looked over his shoulder and saw Naruto's worried eyes. Naruto turned away and started walking again.
"Are you coming, Itachi?" he asked but didn't wait as he continued down the hall after their other friends who had walked ahead of them.
"Yeah." Itachi gave Naruto a glance before turning back to Gaara. "Do me a favor, and tell me if he tells you. I need to take care of him."
"I know." The two stoic, young men gave each other a nod and continued in separate directions.
Neither of them really liked the other, although they didn't hate each other either. They didn't really have a reason to harbor either emotion. But they didn't mix that well. They were both very closed-up persons, and neither wanted to try to make the other open up. They wouldn't give a damn about each other if it weren't for Sasuke.
Gaara didn't get far before he felt a hand on his shoulder. He almost jumped at the sudden intrusion of his personal space. Who dared touch Sabaku no Gaara in school? The only ones that didn't have a hard time touching him were Shikamaru and Sasuke. He turned around with a glare, but his eyes soon widened as he saw who it was. His throat suddenly became very dry, and he tried to swallow. It didn't help much. What was this weird feeling in his stomach?
"Hey." Neji let his hand fall from Gaara's shoulder and gave him a soft smile. The corner of Gaara's mouth twitched into a smile for a half a second. It made Neji's own widen just a tad bit. He had seen it. "How are you?" he asked and pushed a string of hair behind his ear.
"Fine." Gaara answered shortly like he usually did. He didn't know what to say. He rarely conversed with people. And even though he had actually talked a lot with Neji on Hinata's party, he had a hard time thinking of something good to say. It was always a little easier to talk when you've had a beer or two. And now he wanted to say something smart. He wanted to make himself look good in Neji's eyes.
"Ho-how are you?" he asked, pretending he hadn't choked on the words. Neji's eyes glimmered for a second.
"I'm good." he nodded and put his hands in his pockets. "Did you have fun this weekend? At the party, I mean?" He continued to smile. Gaara couldn't understand what he was so happy about.
"Yeah, I had fun." he nodded.
"Neji-kun! We've got class soon!" Neji turned his head to see who was talking to him and repressed a sigh at seeing TenTen walking towards them. She looked a bit angry and confused. He wondered yet again when she would understand that he had no interest in her. It wasn't like he could tell her that he was gay. She'd tell the whole school. And he didn't want to be another of those public secrets. Not unless Gaara decided he wanted to be a public secret with him.
Gaara frowned. Who was she? She was obviously not pleased with Neji for some reason.
TenTen smiled sweetly. Gaara wanted to hit her and her cuteness. She grabbed Neji's arm and tugged at it gently. Any straight guy wouldn't have minded the attention at all from the pretty Chinese girl.
Neji didn't have anything against her really. She was nice. But she refused to take a hint. Gaara hated her instantly.
"I know," he said. He didn't like the way Gaara looked at them. Didn't he see that Neji wasn't interested in the girl? Apparently not. The redhead turned without another word and continued down the corridor.
"Gaara!" Neji called after him. A few people looked at him with funny eyes. Somebody other than his siblings or his two best friends called Gaara by his first name?
Gaara didn't respond and kept walking. Neji was busy anyway. It didn't matter. Why would he want to talk to Gaara for when he had that girl right there? It didn't matter. He was probably just trying to be polite or something. It didn't matter. Gaara didn't care. It didn't matter.
"Why are you always talking to him anyway? Haven't you heard about him?" TenTen tugged at his arm again.
"Haven't I heard what about him?" Neji looked down on her with a frown. TenTen looked around for nosy people, not caring that she could see a few.
"That's he's you know…?"
"He's what?" Neji sighed. He didn't like this sort of social play.
"You know! He's gay!" she said in a loud whisper. Nobody around missed her words.
"Is he now…" Neji smirked and let TenTen drag him towards their next class. He had long given up on making her stop with that. She wouldn't give up. He had of course heard it. He wouldn't have approached Gaara if he hadn't, just continued to admire him from a distance. Neji wasn't a coward. But hitting on Sabaku no Gaara without making sure he was interested in men was just asking for trouble. Neji wasn't a coward. but he wasn't suicidal either.
--
Naruto glanced over in Sasuke's direction another time. The young man was sitting alone in the dining hall. He had already had his lunch, but every Wednesday, he always had two hours of scheduled study time. But it was only the second one he used for studying. The first hour he usually spent in the dining hall or the cafeteria with his brother and his friends.
Naruto swallowed.
Today, Sasuke wasn't sitting with them. Naruto was of course the reason why. He hadn't last Wednesday either. And they had been avoiding each other all week.
Naruto bit his lip. Had he been the reason Sasuke came to sit with them? Or was it really Itachi? Sasuke rarely talked to anybody else in their group, even though some of them had tried to start a conversation But he had always talked to Naruto or Itachi.
Now that he though about it… He hardly ever came over when Sakura was sitting with them. Naruto had always assumed it was because of Sakura's fawning over him. But had it been Naruto's fawning over her?
He couldn't keep his eyes off him! Why was that? He had never really paid attention to the way Sasuke looked before.
Okay, well, recently he had. Ever since Sasuke's confession. That was the first time Naruto really looked at him and realized that Sasuke was so much more than he appeared to be.
He watched as Sasuke turned the page in the book in front of him. Why was he sitting there if he was studying? Shouldn't he be in the library as usual? Why was he sitting there all alone?
If things weren't the way they were, Naruto would have gone up to him and sat down. He didn't like seeing Sasuke alone like that. People always tried to come up and talk to him when he was alone. They could never get it into their heads that Sasuke didn't want to talk to people he didn't already know. He already had his friends. He didn't need anyone else but them. He didn't want a girlfriend. He didn't want a boyfriend! He wanted… Naruto.
He looked down and pushed around the vegetables in his bowl. He didn't have his usual appetite today. He pushed the bowl away and looked over at Sasuke again. How did he get his hair to look like that anyway?
"Eat." Itachi pushed the bowl back, towards him. Naruto raised an eyebrow at him and smirked. Itachi ignored it and raised his own chopsticks towards his mouth.
"Since when did you become my mother?"
"Since when don't you stuff your face every chance you get?" Deidara asked, his mouth full of rice and meat, pointing with his chopsticks at Naruto's face.
"Stop being rude." Sasori frowned but didn't spare Deidara a glance. Naruto merely shook his head.
"I'm just not hungry today."
"Eat it. Otherwise you're just going to whine to me later," Itachi said, turning his attention back to his own plate.
"Wasting money on food that you're not going to eat…" Naruto glared over at Kakuzu who glared right back. The fucking cheap bastard. Zetsu reached out his hands to snatch Naruto's bowl for himself but Itachi pushed it out of his reach, which earned him a hiss. Zetsu didn't like to be denied food. Itachi looked bored at their always hungry friend, before turning his attention back to Naruto.
"Maybe we should get Haruno-san over here? Maybe she'd feed you?" He nodded towards Sakura who was sitting with her girlfriends by a table further away. The young men around the table laughed except for Naruto and Itachi.
"Stop being a jerk, Itachi," Naruto said with a serious voice. He was not in the mood for his ways of showing his dissatisfaction.
"Stop keeping things from me." Itachi leaned over the table, his fist clenched tightly around the chopsticks. The laughter around the table started to die down. They all looked between the two best friends. What was going on?
"Maybe I don't want to tell you everything." Naruto crossed his arms over his chest and huffed, annoyed.
"Maybe so. I just wonder when that happened. You used to tell me things whether I wanted to hear them or not."
"Well, things change." He answered and shook his head, getting the blond hair out of his eyes. "People change."
"Apparently. And they don't always change for the better." The boys around the table were dead quiet now. That looked at Naruto and Itachi with wide eyes. They had never seen them like this before. They had never talked to each other like this before. They had of course argued, but that was usually Naruto screaming and Itachi ignoring him.
And then there was the friendly banter. It could sound a lot like the way they were talking to each other now, but the tension was very different. Instead of a grin on Naruto's face and a playful smirk on Itachi's, there were deep scowls and down turned lips. The tension was thick, and tables around theirs started to quiet down as well, sensing it. The audience of the fight was becoming bigger.
"Maybe that's better than being stuck in the same rut all through life," Naruto hissed as an answer to Itachi's comment.
"Some people do what they have to do instead of playing around." Itachi slammed his utensils down on the table.
"You don't give a fuck anyway! You don't care when I tell you shit!"
"Of course I care! Don't be stupid! You and Sasuke have acted weird for days! I want to know what's going on!"
"Everything doesn't circle around Sasuke!" Naruto slammed his fists into the table and got up from his chair. "I'm sick and tired of this…" he said and headed for the exit of the dining hall.
Everything was about Sasuke! Itachi had always been focused on Sasuke. Sakura had always been focused on Sasuke. The whole fucking school was always focused on Sasuke! And now Naruto himself was focusing on him! It was driving him mad.
People always said he had a way of getting stuck on people's minds, that he was always the center of everybody's attention. And Naruto liked that. Naruto liked having their attention.
But Sasuke! Sasuke didn't want it. Still he got it. Why? What was so good about him? Oh, he knew Sasuke was more then beautiful. His face and body was perfection. But that couldn't be the only reason, could it? But he was always such a dick towards everybody. Well, almost…
He looked over towards the table Sasuke was sitting by before getting through the doors. Itachi had moved over to him and they were talking in whispers, both with scowls on their faces. They were obviously both upset. And that upset Naruto more. They meant so much to him. Why was he hurting them so much? Itachi, Sasuke, Sakura…Why was he hurting the ones he loved?
--
Sasuke tapped his pen on the notebook in front of him. He got a glare from the librarian as she walked past, and he glared back. She didn't like him much, not after he had forgotten to turn off his phone once, about a year ago. And of course he had gotten a call! From Naruto…
He had answered, which according to her, was just as bad as if he had gotten up on one of the tables and danced, singing on top of his lungs. She was an old bitch anyway. Sasuke didn't care about her.
It was Friday. His whole class was in the library to search for information. He was supposed be working on his assignment about the Roman gods, but he couldn't focus on Jupiter, Venus and the rest of them. He was way too focused on his own god.
He bit his lip and added the last whisker on the little portrait he had drawn in one of the corners of the page. It didn't look that shabby. He wasn't the best artist around, but he wasn't bad. Everybody would be able to tell who it was supposed to be.
Not that anybody would ever be allowed to see it. Like he'd let anybody know he was drawing portraits of the guy he was in love with! Or that he had written Uzumaki Sasuke a bit to the left of it…
He and Naruto had avoided each other the whole week. They were both too embarrassed to even go near each other.
Sasuke didn't like it. He didn't want Naruto to be embarrassed of him. He didn't want to be the reason Naruto and Itachi fought. Though he wasn't really sure he was. There was a lot of rumors going around concerning the two of them. One being that Naruto was jealous of Sasuke because he was Itachi's brother, because Naruto didn't have one of his own.
It could be true – if it didn't sound so stupid in Sasuke's ears.
Naruto had often said Itachi and Sasuke were like brothers to him. But brothers didn't have sex together. And Naruto had had sex with him. That he regretted it didn't matter in that context. He had slept with Sasuke. Therefore, he did not consider him as his brother. Sasuke was sure Naruto didn't have any incestuous fantasies. And that meant Sasuke still had a shot. Somewhat…
Should he give up? Should he let Naruto be with the girl he claimed to love? Who he claimed, loved him back? It was weird, because he had hardly seen Sakura around this week. She was still hanging with Naruto every chance she got, but she hadn't been in the groups of girls pestering Sasuke. It had been odd.
He missed him… He wanted to be near him again. He wanted…
A faint blush dusted over his cheeks, and he started to cross out the name, covering it so that he wouldn't have to look at it again. He was not going to give up! Uchihas didn't give up! And that was what he was! An Uchiha! And an Uchiha would always get what he wanted!
God, he was such a girl…
"Hey Sasuke!"
Sasuke slammed the notebook closed and glared up at the person who had spoken to him. He was met with a wide grin, but it wasn't the one that would make him smile in return. No the owner of this one was quite annoying.
"Haven't I told you countless times not to call me by my first name only, Suigetsu-san?"
"Yeah, yeah…" Suigetsu pulled out the chair next to Sasuke and turned it around. He sat down, straddling it, and leaned his elbows on the back of it. Sasuke glared at him, wishing he would leave.
"Go away," he said, mostly because of his principles. He knew that no matter how many times he told him to leave, he wouldn't until he was done with his business. Which could take a minute or the whole fucking day.
Sasuke tried to ignore him and picked up one of the books on the table, flipping it open. He looked through the index to see on which pages he would find information concerning Pluto. Suigetsu just sat there, watching him. It was quite annoying.
Sasuke turned to the page starting the chapter about the death god. Suigetsu continued to look at him with that wide grin of his.
Sasuke tried. He really did. But Suigetsu was really fucking annoying!
"Go away."
"Do you know how hot you are when you're pissed?"
"So that's the reason you piss me off all the time?"
"Are you flirting with me?" Suigetsu winked, smirking playfully.
"Are you dense? I have no interest in you whatsoever, and you shouldn't have any in me, considering you have a girlfriend." Sasuke scowled.
"I'd leave her for you anytime. Just ask. Are you asking?" Suigetsu leaned forward a little more.
"I'm asking you to leave me the fuck alone." Sasuke leaned backwards, away from him.
"I love it when you talk dirty." Suigetsu let out a fake groan and laughed.
"I love it when you don't talk at all." Sasuke glared.
"Come to my house tonight." Suigetsu had long ago learned to shake his insults off.
"No." Sasuke snorted. The idea was idiotic. He wouldn't be caught dead in that house in a million years.
"Why not?"
"Because I don't want anything to do with you." Seriously. This guy had to be stupid.
"My parents are out the entire weekend. Kisame too."
"So ask what's-her-name over."
"Karin will be busy as well. We've got the entire place to ourselves. Nobody will have to know." Suigetsu lifted his hand and ran his finger along Sasuke's jaw. "We won't have to hide from anybody." He whispered with a confident smirk.
Sasuke batted his hand away and gave his chair a kick. Suigetsu almost toppled over but caught his balance at the last second. Sasuke slammed his book shut.
"You will just have to keep on dreaming like everybody else does! Because there's no fucking way I'm coming home with you!" Sasuke hissed as he picked up his books and bag. He headed over to the checkout desks to borrow the books he needed. He was very close to hitting Suigetsu square in the face when he felt the man's presence behind him. Even more so when he felt his breath against his neck and the whispered words in his ear.
"We'll see."
Sasuke whipped around to tell him off, but Suigetsu, the fast bastard, was already far ahead. He was not an aspirant for the basketball team for nothing. Too bad he was the wrong player. Sasuke wanted another.
His eyes narrowed at the sight of Sakura by the other checkout desk. She grabbed her books, and as she turned around, she locked eyes with Sasuke. They stood there looking at each other for a few seconds, Sakura with a surprised expression and a blush, Sasuke with an angry one. She frowned a little and started walking towards the exit.
Sasuke pressed his lips together. He had been sure she would come up and talk to him. He didn't like her behavior. Why had she suddenly changed her mind? She had all but declared her undying love for him last week! And now, nothing?
It was irritating. Not because he liked the attention, of course! He hated the attention. But he thought it was irritating how she decided to give him up now of all times! Now that he wanted to make a point about her chasing after him! He grabbed his own books, not bothering to thank the librarian, and headed to the same direction as Sakura had gone. All he wanted right now was to go home.
Was he really that forgettable to everybody?
--
Naruto looked around, before bouncing the basket ball a few times. It wouldn't be good if a teacher caught him bouncing it inside, but nobody seemed to be around. It wasn't like somebody would tell on him. People wanted to stay on his good side.
"So what are you doing this weekend?" Deidara asked, looking over at his friend.
"I don't know. I don't have anything planned. I was supposed to hang with Itachi, but I guess that plan is ditched."
"I guess," Deidara nodded and pushed his hair out of his face.
"What about you?"
"Well, there's a party. But I don't think I'll go. I'm not in the mood."
"Party? What party? Naruto bounced the ball again.
"You've been invited plenty of times by plenty of people, but you've been too out of it this week to even notice." Deidara smirked. "It's nothing important anyway, un. Doesn't seem to be a good one."
"Oh." Naruto grabbed the ball as it came back up and tucked it away under his arm. "Yeah, I don't want to go to a party either. Maybe I'll have Sakura come over."
Deidara merely hummed as an answer. Naruto wasn't stupid. He understood what Deidara wanted. He wanted to spend the weekend with him. But he couldn't. Maybe he was a bad friend? But he couldn't listen to Deidara's problems right now. He had too much going on in his own head to listen to Deidara's sorrow over losing Sasori. He couldn't come up with good things to say. Not when Sasuke hated him, Itachi was mad at him and he and Sakura didn't trust each other.
It had been strained between Sakura and him for a few days now. Monday was fine, but then she started to be a little cold towards him. She sat with him. She spent a lot of time together with him, holding onto his arm, kissing him. But he could often see her look over the people around them. He could see in her eyes that she was wondering who it was. Who had he slept with? Who had gotten beneath his skin?
Still, she kept her promise. She didn't flirt with Sasuke. She barely talked to him. Never of her own choice anyway. And she never looked for him in school.
But the tension between the two of them was not enjoyable. Naruto didn't know what to do to make it better. They were both trying. But maybe that wasn't enough… He shook his head a little, clearing his thoughts. He pulled on a fake smile and looked up. It wouldn't do well for anybody to see the school's ball of sunshine walk around being moody. He grinned as he saw Tobi walking towards them, struggling with a heavy book bag.
"Hey Tobi! Catch!" He threw the ball towards his teammate and laughed as the other boy let out a squeak before indeed catching it. Right before it made a connection to his face. "Want to play?" he grinned, stepping in front of him. "We'll kick the kids off the court."
But Tobi didn't grin excitedly as he usually did as soon as Naruto even mentioned basketball. His eyes darted between the two blonds, frowning at Deidara, who avoided his eyes, before shaking his head.
"No thanks, Captain," He answered, before pushing the ball a little too roughly against Naruto's chest. Naruto huffed, surprised and grabbed the ball. Tobi pushed past them without another word or glance.
"What the hell? Now what did I do to him?" Naruto said, looking after the boy, rubbing his chest where the ball had hit him.
"You haven't done anything to him." Deidara said with an empty voice Naruto couldn't recognize as coming from him. He looked to the side at one of his best friends and frowned at the fake smile on his lips. He was not as good as Naruto at faking his feelings. Deidara looked back at him when Tobi turned a corner and was no longer visible. "It's me he's mad at, un."
"What did you do?"
"Nothing. Just a silly little argument." Deidara turned and started to walk in the direction they had first been heading in. Naruto's frown deepened but decided to let it go. Tobi and Deidara always argued. There was nothing new about that at all. Even though they both seemed more upset than usual. Well, it wasn't like they could discuss it in the middle of the hallway. They turned a corner and saw Sakura head out from the library, carrying a large stack of heavy books.
"Here. Take it." Naruto put the ball in Deidara's hands, who merely rolled his eyes as Naruto half ran to catch up to his girlfriend.
"Hey there, Sweets!" He smiled. She looked up at him surprised, awakening from her reveries. "Let me help you with that." He reached out and grabbed the books, but Sakura's grip tightened.
"It's fine, Naruto. I can take them myself."
"Come on, now. Let me take them." Naruto tugged a little at them, expecting her to let go.
"I can handle it myself!" she hissed with a jerk, making Naruto let go. He looked surprised at her. She looked around to see if anybody saw her little outburst, but nobody seemed to be interested.
"What's your problem?" Naruto asked. He was obviously hurt.
"I don't need you to baby me! I can take care of this myself!"
"I'm not babying you! I just wanted to help you carry some heavy books! What's wrong with you?"
"I'm not as delicate as you want me to be! I can take care of myself perfectly well." She walked past him heading for her locker further down the hall. Naruto eyes darkened, and he followed her. She opened her locker with the combination and shoved the books in. Naruto pushed it shut as soon as she had her fingers out of the way.
"Hey, what are you-" He grabbed her shoulder and turned her around, placing his hands on either side of her head.
"No, what are you doing?" he asked in a low voice. To all others there they were just a couple in love, giving each other loving words low enough for only them to hear. "I know perfectly well that you can take care of yourself. I know you're not delicate. I just want to do it because I like taking care of the one who belongs to me!"
"I don't belong to you!" she hissed through gritted teeth.
"You're my girlfriend! Yes, you belong to me! And I belong to you!"
"We're not married!"
"You're still upset over what happened last weekend," he said, and Sakura pressed her lips together, seeming to think her words over. She sighed and seemed to relax a little.
"I can't stop wondering who it was," she mumbled.
"It doesn't matter who it was," Naruto said in a firm voice.
"Yes, it does! I want to know who it was that you thought was better for you than me!"
"He was not better than you! It was not about love! It was about frustrations! If it makes you feel better, I didn't say his name once, and the sex was horrible! Worst I've ever had!" he hissed.
Naruto hoped she couldn't tell he was lying. If she didn't see his fake smiles, she shouldn't be able to see his fake words either. Because that was what they were. He was flat out lying now. Well, at least parts of it. It wasn't about love. It was about frustrations. It was about how he didn't feel that he was enough. But to Sasuke he was everything, which made it even worse that he really had not said Sasuke's name once during their night together.
Naruto felt awful. Sasuke's first night should have been better than that. To be used like that… Even though the sex had been amazing, and in fact, the best sex he had ever had.
"Shut up! You're talking too loudly!" Sakura hissed back, her cheeks becoming a deep red. They both looked around for people listening in too them. Some people around them were looking at them with curious eyes, but nobody seemed to be horrified about what they had said. Or happy. Naruto turned back towards her.
"I said I was sorry."
"I know you did."
"Then what the hell?"
"Maybe I'm not sorry anymore," she said and pushed him away from her. He was about to reach out his hand to grab her, again but let it fall as he saw a very familiar back moving away from them. Sasuke was practically running towards the entrance to the school. Naruto's blood ran cold, and he didn't care about Sakura anymore. He could deal with her later. Right now, he was terribly scared that Sasuke had heard him.
--
Sasuke had a hard time breathing. He didn't know where he was going. He was just walking. He held the books tightly against him. He had to get away. His chest hurt. His heart felt like it was about to explode. He was so god damn furious.
Naruto's words rang in his ears. It had been horrible. The worst sex he had ever had. Horrible, horrible, horrible. And he hadn't said Sasuke's name once. Not once.
Sasuke knew it was true. He couldn't remember it. He couldn't recall one whisper of his name over Naruto's lips that night. He couldn't. Because there hadn't been any. Naruto hadn't cared at all. Just a form of release. Just a way to get his frustrations about Sakura out. It had nothing to do with Sasuke. Sasuke didn't matter. Sasuke was insignificant to Naruto.
Oh god… Sasuke put his hand over his mouth in an attempt to keep himself together, to keep himself from throwing up.
How could this be true? Sasuke loved him. He really did. He loved Naruto. Naruto was everything to him. He wanted to be with him so badly, to just be around him.
But he was nothing to Naruto. He had always thought that he was something, something special to him. Naruto claimed to care about him after all. But he didn't. It was all lies. It was not true. It was all lies.
"Sasuke?"
Sasuke didn't stop at the call of his name. He couldn't stop yet. He had to get away. He couldn't stay. He'd probably hit whoever it was if he stopped. He was so angry. So upset. So fucking hurt.
"Hey! Sasuke, wait!"
A hand grabbed his shoulder and spun him around. He was met with concerned eyes. He didn't want to see them. He didn't want them to see him like this.
"Are you okay?" Suigetsu frowned. He kept his hand on Sasuke's shoulder. If Sasuke didn't swat it away, he was going to enjoy it, even though Sasuke seemed very weird right now. Sasuke held his breath. His eyes were empty and cold. Nothing new about that. But somehow… He seemed very delicate right now. And it was very weird, because Sasuke was usually anything but delicate.
Sasuke put his hands on Suigetsu's chest and pushed him back.
"Don't touch me!" he yelled and turned away. "I have to get away from here," he muttered, but before he had a chance to start walking, Suigetsu grabbed his shoulder again. He didn't turn him around this time.
"I have a car!" he said before Sasuke had a chance to hit him. "I'll drive you anywhere you want me to," Suigetsu continued, looking at Sasuke's tense back. His head turned to the side, looking at him with calculating eyes. Suigetsu couldn't help but to feel a bit weak in his knees. He liked those mysterious dark eyes. He couldn't stop thinking about all the times he had fantasized about them.
"Alright," Sasuke said and turned to face him completely. Suigetsu's hand fell off his shoulder, his eyes widening and his mouth opening and closing like a fish. "So where is it?"
Suigetsu's face broke out in a wide grin.
"It's over here! Just follow me!" he grinned. He reached out to grab Sasuke's arm, but Sasuke sidestepped him with a glare. Touching was out of the picture. For now. He was still fuming with anger and humiliation as he followed Suigetsu towards his car.
So he was a lousy lay? He sucked at sex? He was not worthy of Naruto's attention? Fuck that! Really! Fuck that! If he was so horrible at sex he knew what to do to get better.
Practice.
--
Naruto stood looking over the city lights. He was alone in the apartment. He was arguing with Itachi. He was arguing with Sakura. He had tried to call his dad but he couldn't get a hold of him. Even Deidara hadn't pick up. Maybe he had gone to that party after all. Naruto tapped on the window glass, leaving fingerprints on it. The cleaning lady was coming on Monday anyway. It wasn't like he himself cared if the windows were a bit messy. He pulled the hood up over his head. He liked that. He felt safer somehow. It felt better.
Everything was screwed up. Everything was falling apart. It was Sasuke's fault. It had all been good before his confession. Now everything was on its head. And Sasuke was always on his mind. And he couldn't decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
He was sure it was Sasuke he had seen walking out of the school. He was sure he had been upset about something. But he didn't know if it was about what he had said or something else. He hoped it was something else. He had hurt Sasuke enough. He had tried to catch up to him, but when he got outside, he couldn't find him. He had gotten away so fast.
His phone started buzzing on the living room table. He looked over at it, thinking about answering or not. It was too late to meet up with anybody anyway. He didn't have the energy to go get dressed in something better than his sweatpants and hoodie and meet a friend who was drunk off his ass anyway.
He pushed himself off the wall and walked over to the table. It wouldn't hurt to just check who it was. He picked it up and frowned. Shit…
It was Itachi. Why was he calling? Now of all times? Maybe Sasuke had said something? Maybe Itachi was calling to say that their friendship was over forever, because Naruto had fucked his little brother and didn't give a shit? But Naruto did… He really did. Was he going to be a coward this time? Was he going to put the phone back down again?
He took a deep breath. No. It was time to grow up a notch. He pressed the answering button and held it to his ear.
"It's late," he said, not bothering with greetings.
"I'm still mad at you," Itachi answered.
"Then why are you calling?" It was quiet on the other end for a few seconds before Itachi let out his breath, making a decision.
"I need your help."
"If you want me to suck up to you to get your forgiveness you can forget about it." Alright. Maybe not that big of a notch.
"It's not like that."
"Then what is it like?"
"I don't know who else to call." Naruto frowned at this. Itachi didn't know who to call? What was so bad that it had Itachi sounding like this? That made Itachi need his help like this?
"What's wrong?"
"It's Sasuke." Naruto's blood ran cold.
"What about him?"
"He's missing."
"What do you mean missing?" Naruto shrieked. Thousands of scenarios featureing a missing and kidnapped Sasuke played through his head.
"Meaning nobody know where he is," Itachi hissed. He was not in the mood for stupid questions. He was worried about his brother, damn it!
"How can you not know?"
"He never came home after school. I thought he went home with one of his friends, but he's not with either of them. And he's not picking up his phone. I don't know where he is. I'm worried."
Naruto was already heading towards the door, grabbing his keys on the way.
"I'll find him."
So I have heard there might be people screaming at me after this. This is nothing new at all for me, since I do have a thing for ending my chapters in a way that makes you go bananas on me! XD
