Chapter 9: Since I'm alone
Naruto shut the door and Sasuke was looking perplexed and shocked at it, as if the door could explain what had happened. He rushed to the nearest window and saw the blond boy running to his car with his head down and heading away from there. He hit his head against the window and couldn't help the anger building up inside of him: he blamed himself for what had happened. How could he be so blind to not realize that Naruto would have left anyway someday? He thought it could've been for ever like this, just the two of them sharing those passionate moments together , he needed that blond usurantokachi so much and he didn't want to believe that it was over.
He was still confused about Naruto's words and he needed to talk to him, he needed to clarify things: he didn't want to be left behind without any apparent reason.
He walked back to the bedroom and sat on the bed, looking rather hurt to the floor: he loved to think that there was someone who needed him, despite him being a real duchebag. He thought that Naruto was happy to be with him for those hours, he felt that the other was relieved whenever they spent time together, so why the sudden change? He even enjoyed their last time, why wouldn't he want to do it again? Why would Naruto want to leave everything they had behind, as if nothing ever happened?
'Two people can read each other's thoughts once they bump their fists', he didn't even recall saying that phrase in his whole life to Naruto, though it was something his older brother used to tell him.
He was four years old or so, he was walking home when he noticed a lonely kid sitting on a swing. That kid was staring at the other kids playing and looked kinda sad. He didn't know who this boy was, but he didn't care much about finding out, so he continued to pursue his way home. Shortly after, he heard some voices.
"Look who's here, it's that dumb, annoying kid" - Sasuke turned around and found two other kids around the lonely boy, obviously teasing him.
"Hey, are you crazy? He's nothing like that" - said the taller kid of the two. - He's not a kid, he's a monster."
Both kids started to laugh, while the kid on the swing just glared at them, but refused to do anything.
"What? Aren't you going to say anything? You're usually always so annoying!" - Sasuke stopped and was looking at what was going to happen, after all he wasn't too behind the other two boys.
"Leave me alone..." - the lonely kid muttered and looked at the ground, closing his eyes in discomfort.
"Uh oh, the monster's going to attack!" - the two boys started laughing again, while the kid on the swing was about to leave, but was stopped by one of the other kids that was teasing him.
"We're not done. You remember what you did to us, don't you?This is our payback!" - the taller kid said before pushing him off the swing. He fell on the ground and had hit his head, little bruises building up on his face, while the other two kids seemed to enjoy his pain. The lonely kid looked up at them in anger, tears building up in his eyes while he looked at them with a deadly glare.
"Leave me alone!" - he screamed while trying to get away from there, but was pushed down again.
"I think we made it quite clear that you're going to regret your pranks on us."
"And I think he made it quite clear that you're going to leave him alone!" - Sasuke had thrown a rock against the two boys who turned around to look at the boy who had had the courage to mess with them. - "RUN!" - Sasuke screamed at the other boy and he seemed to follow his instructions. Sasuke didn't know why he wanted to protect him, but he felt like it was his duty to help that lonely boy, even though he knew that he wouldn't be able to deal with two bigger boys alone.
The two kids were angry and signaled that they were ready to beat the hell out of him, but all he could do was to run away in a situation like this. He started to run, but he knew that they were much faster than he was and that they would eventually get to him, but as he was about to run around a corner he felt something grab him and pull him in a bush. He was about to scream, but he suddenly felt a finger on his lips apparently trying to keep him from making any noises. It was the kid he had helped before, he couldn't believe that he had come back to help him. Their attention was taken by some voices that were screaming - "where did he go!?" - while looking around, and as they got near the bush where they were hiding, the kid that had saved him put a leg out of the bush, making the two other boys fall to the ground. Sasuke started to laugh, while the other kid grinned widely and satisfied, but a shiver ran through both's bodies when they heard the two boys saying - "He's hiding in the bush! I'm gonna kill that little brat!".
The other boy didn't stutter long, before he grabbed Sasuke and let both of them rolling down the hill behind them. Sasuke closed his eyes instinctively and only opened them when he realized that they had stopped from falling, finding two bright blue eyes staring friendly at him and a hand that offered him help. He smiled back and took the hand, both stood up and got to a tree to sit down. Both laughed at what had happened, they recalled the other two boys' reaction as they had made fools out of themselves and they realized that it was fun. Sasuke closed his eyes, but as he opened it he found the other boy grinning widely and with a fist in the air, directed to him. Sasuke looked confused at the fist, but eventually figured out what he had to do, and as he bumped his own fist with the other's, he smiled warmly.
Their smile faded when they realized that two big shadows were covering them and when they heard an 'ahem', they turned their heads only to find two angry kids glaring angrily at other two kids were about to hit them, but they were stopped by someone who lifted them up as if they were feathers. Sasuke looked up and couldn't believe who was standing in front of them. - "Nii-san!" - he screamed happily to see his older brother Itachi. Itachi had put the other boys down and was glaring deadly at them - "try to lay just one finger on my little brother and you're going to die" - he said to them and before he could say anything else, they ran away.
"Sasuke, we have to go home" - Itachi said, grabbing his hand and leading them home, while Sasuke followed him and turned his head to smile one last time at the other boy.
"You liked that boy" - Itachi said, Sasuke looked up and looked confused at his smiling brother. - "when two people bump their fists they're able to read each other's thoughts" - Itachi continued as they went home. He had never seen that boy again.
It was weird, the only time he had bumped his fists with someone was with that boy, but he never told anyone literally about the "fist" thing and yet, whenever he fighted Naruto it was like he could read the other's thoughts. He was always the winner in their fights, but he never really got to hurt the other because of his bright blue eyes, who reflected an unfortunate and crying soul. Sasuke was staring at the floor and noticed something blue on the floor that was sparkling as the sunshine hit it. He lifted it and he noticed that it was Naruto's necklace. Sasuke stared at it for a few minutes and could see Naruto's eyes and smile in it. He snapped out of his thoughts as he heard a voice.
"Whose is that?" - Ino was leaning at the bedroom door, with a half serious and half teasing look on her face.
"None of your business" - Sasuke answered coldly. They had a strange relationship, they didn't like each other, but they went along pretty good since they had to "share" a home to impress the press.
"So, you don't deny that someone spent some time with you, ne Sasuke-kun?" - Ino continued teasing the other man, while he only gave her an unimpressed glare.
"You really think someone's worth my spare time?" - Sasuke sounded annoyed, but Ino knew better when he was lying.
"These say something completely different" - Ino pulled her hand from behind her back to show what she had found: empty condom packs. Sasuke widened his eyes, he had never been that reckless before, he had always made sure that he disposed of them, but that day was different. All he could do now was face palming himself, hoping that Ino wouldn't bother him.
"I knew it all along, no man is able to resist, not even the cold hearted Uchiha" - Ino winked while sticking her tongue out before laughing happily, shaking the empty condom packs in the air. Sasuke didn't find it that amusing, actually at all, he had a serious killer look on his face.
"Seriously, how old are you? You're supposed to be 25 Ino." - Sasuke stated rather annoyed.
"C'mon Sasuke-kun! You can't tell me that you didn't do this every saturday! By the way, who's the lucky one?" - Ino asked extatic, she still couldn't believe that she had caught him red handed.
"I think I told you that it's none of your business" - Sasuke muttered. His life was nobody's business, he didn't need to tell anyone about what he did in his free time.
"Pretty boy must be quite important to you, if you still deny it. Are you trying to protect yourself or him?" - Sasuke frowned at Ino's statement, but he was able to gain his senses pretty fast.
"What the hell are you talking about? I'm not protecting anyone and I'm surely not gay!" - Sasuke was raising his voice. He wasn't gay and he was surely not in denial. He didn't need anyone in his life, he just wanted to spend time with Naruto.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Keep telling that to you" - Ino wasn't at all convinced of Sasuke's words. - " Who would ever want someone who only thinks about himself and that doesn't even have the courage to tell the truth when he's caught? Must be a real mor..."
"He's not a moron!" - Sasuke interupted Ino, his words slipping out of his mouth. Ino smirked gloatingly, while all Sasuke could do was to widen his eyes as he realized what he had said. He turned his head to the other side.
"You can't fool me, Sasuke-kun. Whether you like it or not, I know how your brain works." - Ino said as she placed her index finger on his forehead and pushed him slightly while smiling warmly. Sasuke frowned with an annoyed look on his face, while he rubbed his forehead with his left hand.
"We've been living for almost two years together, I know when you hide something and I knew that you were hiding a secret affair. Why else would you even propose to help me out?" - Ino asked, but she received no answer. Sasuke wasn't really in the mood to fight back and to defend himself, what had happened earlier that day was still getting to him.
"Who would be able to melt Sasuke's frozen heart? A pretty boy, always smiling and laughing, never worrying about consequences, just enjoying the moment. Maybe a redhead? No, no, he has definitely light hairs and those two dark imposing eyes! Wait, no, those light blue eyes that when you stare into them it's like falling in an ocean!" - Ino was still teasing the Uchiha, she had her eyes closed to look more serious, but she opened one eye to look exactly at the other's reaction. He frowned more and closed his eyes, she knew she had nailed it.
The thought of Naruto came up again as he seemed to forget what was around him pretty fast. He had still had Naruto's necklace in his hands and was staring at it now. Ino noticed that there was something tormenting him and she wanted to help him out, after all they were somewhat friends, even if Sasuke would deny having any friends.
"Seems like it isn't just some random affair, is it?" - Ino asked, she tried to sound as sweet and caring as possible, she didn't want to hurt him. Sasuke snapped out of his thoughts, turned his head to the floor and stared at it. He didn't want to talk about anything, he didn't even understand why he cared that much about it.
"You have feelings for him, don't you?" - Sasuke widened his eyes and turned his head to Ino, looking at her as if she was crazy.
"I'm not..."
"Sasuke-kun, you've never protected anyone else before. You cut me out before I could even finish my sentence, when I was saying that he was a moron. Also, you would never let something bad get so much to you, unless it's about a person you really care about. Just like when Itachi died." - Ino stated. Sasuke didn't want to buy any of it. How could he love someone? Uchiha's have no feelings, they just live for power, for the power of fame.
"Don't you dare to talk about me as if you knew who I really am or what I've been through!" - Sasuke screamed at her, he was getting angry. Ino looked sadly to the floor and Sasuke seemed tried to calm down. He didn't mean to sound that harsh, but he was getting sick about everything, so he stood up and left the appartment. Ino remained silent sitting on the bed, she knew that Sasuke needed some time for himself.
He was just walking around, kicking whatever he found on the floor that was getting in his way. 'What the hell does she know about what I feel? She doesn't know shit about me!' Sasuke kept saying while trying to convince himself, but deep down inside he knew that she was right. He didn't care about anyone around him, but when his brother died he felt hollow and alone, more than he already was. He didn't seem to want to eat, he didn't seem to want to drink, he didn't seem to want to talk, he didn't seem to want to go on with his life. The only thing that kept him from suicide thoughts was Naruto. He could talk to him easily, he was the one who was able to lift his mood a little, he was the one who was able to let him forget his sorrow, and yet they only spent a few hours per week together. He put a hand in his pocket and took out Naruto's necklace. It made him happy to see Naruto wear it, Sasuke didn't even realize that he had never taken it off ever since the blond's birthday. While Sasuke was in his thoughts about the other man, he bumped into something.
"Pay attention, teme!" - the other man turned around to face whoever bumped into him and frowned. Sasuke was holding his head with his eyes closed, but as he opened his eyes he found not too far away Naruto that was walking away pretty fast. He widened his eyes and followed the other man, running.
"Naruto, wait!" - Sasuke screamed, but the other boy didn't seem to care about it. He rushed to Naruto and was able to grab his arm.
"What the hell has gotten into you? Why wouldn't you answer my calls?" - Sasuke said bitterly, but the other man didn't want to talk and turned away, trying to get away. Sasuke squeezed the other's wrist harder in order to make the other stop, but the Naruto turned around and punched him in the face. Sasuke let go of Naruto, only to kick him in the back in order to make the other fall down to the floor. The only way for them to comunicate was through fist fights.
Naruto stood up, but was grabbed by Sasuke and pulled in an alley so that nobody would bother them. He had pushed Naruto to the wall, his arm pushing slightly against the other's throat as the other was trying to get out of his grasp.
"Why are you avoiding me?" - Sasuke screamed into the other's face, while lowering his his arm from the other's throat.
"It's over..." - Naruto managed to say with effort, breathing hard.
"Why? Why is it? Didn't you enjoy our time together?" - Sasuke asked bitterly, with an invading look in his eyes.
"I did..." - Naruto said, staring at the floor in order to not face the other.
"Then why? Am I not good enough? Did I do something wrong?"
"No..." - Naruto closed his eyes, hoping it would be over soon. He was surprised as he felt his head being lifted and as he felt two hands pulling his face closer to Sasuke's in order to share a kiss. Naruto couldn't help it and he deepened the kiss, as Sasuke put him his necklace around the neck. Naruto opened his eyes and pulled away from the kiss, looked first at the necklace and then again at the ground, while Sasuke looked at him incredulously and confused.
"Why don't you want this?" - Sasuke started questioning the other again. He didn't want to believe that Naruto would want to throw away all they had.
"I..." - Naruto frowned and closed his eyes, his whole body trembling.
"Aren't you happy with us?"
"NO! I'm not!" - Naruto screamed, punching the other so that he was able to get away from there, but his body didn't seem to be able to leave, there were so many things left unsaid.
"Naruto, you..." - Sasuke had widened his eyes at the other's statement.
"I'm not happy, Sasuke, I'm not! I can't do this anymore, I can't stay with you and deny my feelings, hoping that you would someday realize what you mean to me. I don't want to live I lie anymore, Sasuke!" - Naruto screamed desperatly at Sasuke. He didn't want to sound weak, but his feelings were coming up and showing.
"Wha-what do you mean?" - Sasuke was shocked. He didn't understand clearly what the other was talking about.
"Whatever I say, you won't understand, will you?" - Naruto turned around to stare at the wall in front of him. He didn't want to show the other man the weak part of him, so he tried to hide it. - "Sasuke, I've never thought of you as a rival. You've always been my goal, my whole entire life I wanted to be just like you. After our first accident I realized that I needed you, but I kept denying it, hoping that it would go away, but as the years passed my feelings for you grew stronger. You made me feel like I was someone important, you made me feel whole and I've always hoped that you would feel the same as me. I genuinely thought you would be able to love me, Sasuke..." - he added shortly after, his words slipping out of his mouth.
Sasuke didn't know how to deal with it, his heart was skipping fast from the shock of hearing those words, and yet he wasn't able to move, nor to speak.
"Naruto, I..." - Sasuke wanted to say something, he was staring at the man in front of him, but he didn't manage to say anything else.
"Stop it, Sasuke. I don't want any secrets in my life, I want something I can hold onto. You will be able to forget me eventually, so please just leave it as it is. There was nothing other than sex between us, just pretend that nothing ever happened." - Naruto turned to face the other, as he walked past him to leave Sasuke behind. Sasuke was looking at him in shock, he seemed to be in a kind of trance, but he snapped back into reality as Naruto was turning around the corner and began to run.
"Naruto!" - Sasuke screamed and added a silent - "I...you..." - shortly after. He didn't even realize what he was saying, all he realized was that he had lost Naruto, forever. Anger started to build up as he smashed his fist against the wall in front of him, over and over again. After a while he calmed down, leaned against the wall and let himself fall down to the ground, when he grabbed his head between his hands and closed his eyes to suppress his feelings. He stayed there for half an hour before he walked back to the appartment, but stopped in front of the restaurant Naruto worked at. He stared at it and he seemed to see Naruto inside of it working, the blond turned around and waved at him smiling happily. Sasuke heard a car honk and it made him snap out of his thoughts as he realized that he was in the middle of the road. Why did it get to him that much? He turned around and entered the appartment, shutting the door behind him before heading to his bedroom. He fell backwards on his bed, looking at the ceiling and frowning.
What if Ino was right? What if he had feelings for Naruto? No, impossible, how could he be in love with him? The only person who he had loved was his brother Itachi, he didn't love anybody else.
'you've never protected anyone else before', Ino's words rushed through his mind. He never needed to protect anyone, he didn't do friends and he didn't need to. He was a loner and he would die as a loner, but he thought that he could at least spend some more time with Naruto. 'Hn, I don't need him. I will go on with my life without him, all I need is success.' - Sasuke told himself over and over again, trying to convince himself to be able to live without anyone close in his life.
The weeks went on and Sasuke was the same old workaholic, but he didn't feel the same as before: he felt hollow and, even if he was a loner and enjoyed being alone, he couldn't bear his loneliness. Nobody seemed to notice, not even him, but Ino knew better that Sasuke wasn't the same.
"Sasuke-kun, we need to talk" - She took away his papers and pulled him to the kitchen.
"What the hell are you doing? Let me go!" - He screamed angrily. She let him go, but she also pushed him down to let him sit on the chair.
"Stop living a lie Sasuke. You're only hurting yourself!" - Ino stated with a serious look. He was about to stand up, but she pushed him down again, staring at him even more seriously. He wasn't in the mood to fight, so he just sat down and turned his head away from her, obviously not impressed and not interested in having a conversation with her.
"I don't know what you're talking about" - Sasuke stated.
"How can you not notice that you're changing slowly into someone you never wanted to be? You're just hiding your feelings and your whole life behind your work" - Ino knew that she was right. It's true that Sasuke had always been a workaholic, but he didn't devote his whole life to his work, unlike now.
"It's none of your business what I do in my spare time. I want to gain more power..."
"Shut up. Your business is at the top right now, Uchiha corporations couldn't do better right now" - Ino stated worried about Sasuke's wellbeing, but all Sasuke did was to frown and to look at the window, still trying to get away from the conversation.
"So what? I don't think it should be a problem since I'm the one who's providing you with money and more success" - Sasuke stated unimpressed. Ino was getting angry, she wasn't at all after his money, nor after success.
"Sasuke-kun you're going to lose control like this! Ever since Naruto..." - Ino stopped. She widened her eyes as she realized that she went too far, also Sasuke's reaction made her even more nervous, the Uchiha widened his eyes too and was starting to twitch one of his eyes, obviously losing his coolness.
"W-What did you say?" - Sasuke asked, his body starting to shaking a little from his nervousness. Ino looked down at the floor, she didn't want to say that name again, also because she didn't want Sasuke to know that she knew about them, but it didn't really matter anymore, did it?
"Since Naruto-kun left you've been changing" - Ino stated and closed his eyes, sighing after letting the words out.
"Don't you dare to say that name ever again!" - Sasuke screamed, closing his eyes and turning his head to the floor.
"Sasuke, if you love him you should be with him, not with me" - Ino said, she was worried about Sasuke and she knew that he felt much more about Naruto than he'd ever confess.
"What the hell makes you think that I had something going on with Naruto? And where the hell did you get the idea that I'm in love?! I don't do those stupid things, I would never..."
"I heard you whispering his name softly in your sleep" - Ino smiled warmly at him. Ever since they started to live together, she saw how happy Sasuke looked in his sleep, he had a real smile on his face while sleeping, not the usual smirk he gives everyone else. Though, he had never said any names before, he just referred to the person in his dreams as 'usurantokachi', but since some weeks she could hear him somehow begging to a 'Naruto'.
Sasuke opened his eyes and stared at Ino, incredulously.
"Sasuke-kun, forget about your huge ego and come to terms with how you feel about him" - Ino tried to convince him, after all it was only for his interest.
"Says the one who still denies her sexuality" - Sasuke stated, trying to stop the conversation with little "payback" formed with words. Ino frowned, she was good at giving advices, but she was just doing the same as her housemate. She sighed and stared at the ceiling.
"You're right, it's time we both face who we really are and how we really feel" - Ino raised her index finger, trying to sound convinced, while in reality she didn't want to face the problems that would show up when she came out of the closet to the rest of the world and, more importantly, to her father. Sasuke was just staring at her annoyed by her answer. He didn't really think that Ino would go that far.
"I don't care about what you do, but I don't need to do anything. I'm not..." - Sasuke stopped. He was about to say that he didn't have any feelings for Naruto, but his mind didn't seem to agree with the way things were going. Naruto showed up again in his thoughts, just like the past weeks and he realized that what Ino said was true: he was changing. He could now see that he was feeling hollow, he didn't care about anything around him, at least more than usual, he usually skipped some meals to be able to go on with his work, he didn't seem to sleep much and when he did he dreamed about Naruto, the dreams always started sweet and pleasantly, but turned into nightmares most of the times. He widened his eyes and stared at his hand: there was a little scar he got during a serious fight with Naruto, where they had used real kunais to settle their problems. He stared at it for a while, before clenching his fist and looking back at Ino, who was smiling warmly back at him.
"You love him" - Ino said, closing her eyes to be able to grin widely. Sasuke just stared at her with no emotion on his face, but he didn't seem to deny it nor to want to answer. He thought about it for a moment, remembering Naruto's words: ' I can't stay with you and deny my feelings, hoping that you would someday realize what you mean to me'. He had hurt the other man and he didn't even realize it, though he was able to read the other's thoughts. Why did he never care about what Naruto thought? He didn't believe the other's thoughts were real, but why couldn't he see the seriousness in those blue eyes of his? Though, thinking about it, Naruto's eyes sparkled everytime he looked into them, but all he saw was the reflection of his own dark and cold eyes. He didn't bother to look behind it, or when he did he would lose his senses, it was like 'falling in an ocean', like Ino described. 'This is what you feel, this is all you feel', Sasuke remembered the scene, his face turning serious with some hints of sorrow. His heart started to beat slowly and sadly, as if it wanted to stop at any moment. Naruto was just a toy for him that he would use to forget everything around, yet he enjoyed the other man. Was it really just sex? All those things they did, were they just meaningless fucks?
It was a few years ago when Naruto was walking home alone, when three guys stopped him and started questioning him. Naruto didn't answer and tried his best to get away from them, but they didn't seem to agree. He then said something and they nailed him to the wall, punching and kicking him. Sasuke found himself looking at the scene, he didn't understand why he was there and he didn't know what he was doing there, but his body moved on it's own and he found himself fighting three guys. He had a hoody on, so they didn't notice who he really was, but they were angered by the disturbance and that anger drove them to pull out some knives. Sasuke knew how to deal with them, so they turned to hurt Naruto, in order to get vengeance on both guys. Sasuke rushed to stand in front of Naruto and was able to dodge the first knife, but the second was about to hit Naruto, so he sacrificed his arm and let the knife hit him instead. Despite his wounded arm, his anger gave him more powers that made him able to beat the hell out of those three guys and they retreated. Sasuke gave them a deadly glare and it seemed as if his eyes turned red when he watched them run away, but he turned his attention to Naruto when he heard him whispering 'Sasuke' as he fell down, losing his conciousness. He was able to catch him while the other was falling, in order to prevent the blond from more pain, he lifted the other's legs with his right arm while lifting Naruto's upper body with his left arm and took him to the nearest hospital.
Naruto had been in a coma for a few days and the only sign of life he would give was a word once in a while and it was Sasuke's name. Sasuke knew that Naruto had seen him, but he didn't want the other to know it, or better, he didn't want anyone to know about it. Naruto woke up after a few days, asking about what had happened and hoping to hear something about Sasuke, but the nurse didn't tell him anything about it, she just answered that his mind made it up while he was in a coma, because his saviour Sasuke had pretended it. Naruto knew what that he had seen Sasuke, but after a while he convinced himself that it was only a dream, but what he didn't know was that Sasuke would always visit him at late night and watch him sleep through the window.
"I think it would make him happy to see you. He's always asking about you" - the nurse said smiling. She knew that it would help Naruto a lot, since he seemed to care about Sasuke.
"No, he doesn't need to know." - Sasuke merely said, before leaving silently the hospital.
He used to keep and eye on Naruto whenever he could, always made sure that he was alright and always made sure that he didn't get involved in any chaos. He had protected him instinctively, 'you've never protected anyone else before, unless it's a person you really care about'. He did care about Naruto, he wasn't just a meaningless fuck once in a while, he was the one and only who was able to make him smile for real. He...had feelings for Naruto? It all made sense: he couldn't help his attraction towards the other boy, he could barely stand one week without him, he felt protective towards him, he didn't want to lose him and he was the only one who made him feel happy to have someone around.
"See, I told you you have feelings for him" - Ino said after a while, pointing at the slight blush that appeared on Sasuke's face. He shook his head and looked at her confused. Why was his body reacting like this? He had never blushed before, or at least he thought so.
"And I think you've felt like this for a long time, but never allowed your feelings to lead you" - Ino continued while Sasuke was still looking rather confused back at her.
"Open up your mind, Sasuke-kun. You're not as cold hearted as you want the others to believe...and there's one person out there who knows that too and is just waiting for you" - Ino smiled warmly at him, running her hand through his hair. Sasuke fixed his hair, obviously annoyed by Ino's action.
"Don't touch me. I'm going to rest" - Sasuke said before heading to the bedroom. Ino was still smiling 'cause she knew that he would eventually come to terms with his feelings, but she frowned as she realized that she also had to make a big step: an open declaration. She sighed and put a hand on her forehead.
"Sasuke-kun! There's a letter for you!" - Karin squealed as she opened fastly Sasuke's office room and got in.
"I think I told you to knock before you come in" - Sasuke answered annoyed. He was having an important meeting with his consultants Suigetsu and Juugo and he didn't want to be disturbed. Ino was also there, because she would've been the model for their tv spot.
"Sorry, Sasuke-kun!" - Karin said scratching the back of her head before handing Sasuke the letter.
"But the letter is addressed to Ino" - Sasuke stated. Ino was glancing at Karin that was obviously getting nervous.
"Yeah, I know, but I thought you would want to read it first!" - Karin said, she was glaring at Ino and she obviously didn't like her because she had still a crush on Sasuke. 'Maybe she's hiding something and maybe you will finally understand that I'm the right one for you, my dear Sasuke-kun!' she thought. Suigetsu glanced at Karin's odd behaviour, before bursting in laughter. Karin glared at Suigetsu before punching him.
"You can leave now, Karin" - Sasuke finally said to break the tension. Karin left, turning her head one last time to look at Sasuke. After Karin got out, Ino took the letter and opened it.
'Dear Ino,
I've been looking forward to this moment and after a long while of reflections I've decided to take the next step.
It's our anniversary and I'm planning on a surprise party for my beloved Hinata, you're invited of course. You can bring as many people as you want, the more the merrier! On the 25th of may in the Heaven Palace in Sapporo at 10 p.m.
Sincerely, Inuzuka Kiba'
A surprise party for Hinata? What was that idiot planning? Anyway, she couldn't miss it. Hinata had always been a close friend and the fact that she would be able to see all her old comrades again made her extatic.
"What's it about?" - Suigetsu asked curiously, with his usual 'im so cool' smirk. Ino didn't really go along with Sasuke's partners, especially with Karin, but she knew that Sasuke wouldn't go to the party without his 'consultants'.
"We've been invited to a surprise party thrown for Hinata" - Ino said.
"What? Really?" - Suigetsu asked extatic. He loved parties, well actually he loved to ruin them tearing couples apart. It was is hobby, nobody could blame him.
"It doesn't really concern you, but I guess you can come too" - Ino said a little annoyed.
"I won't go." - Sasuke stated headstrong.
"Forget it, you have to accompany me since we're a couple" - Ino stated as she looked at him skeptically. He wouldn't get it his way, especially after what she knew about him, and the fact that Naruto would be there made it more fascinating.
"Yeah Sasuke, you have to be there! I want to hear some embarassing stories about you and laugh maniacally at them while you die out of sheer shame!" - Suigetsu smirked enthusiastic, while Juugo just looked at him questioning himself about the other's sanity.
"I think Sasuke has to decide what to do, if he doesn't want to go he doesn't have to. I will stay here with him" - Juugo said. He had always been a silent person, but Sasuke was a close friend to him, despite being ignored by the latter. Ino glared at him and he just shrugged his shoulders in defense and closed his eyes. Sasuke smirked like a winner before drinking his coffee as if it were his trophy.
"You know, Kiba has a very friendly dog..." - Ino said slowly, trying to sound as convincing as possible. Juugo widened his eyes - "I bet he'll feel very lonely and sad at the party..." - Juugo stared at the now smirking blond woman.
"Sasuke, I think we should go to the party" - Juugo said before Sasuke spitted his coffee out on him. Sasuke was staring at all of them who were smiling at the thought of a party. Sasuke face palmed himself and let his head bang on the desk.
"C'mon Sasuke, it'll be fun!" - Suigetsu blurted out. He know not to piss Sasuke off, but he just couldn't hold his enthusiasm. Sasuke looked at him skeptically and annoyed.
"Yeah, Sasuke-kun. I bet you're going to have fun, maybe there are some old acquaintances you might like to see..." - Ino smirked at him, teasing him. Sasuke knew what she was referring to and he couldn't help his frown. She knew that he had to face the truth, he had to face Naruto, but the worst was that he knew it too.
As I sit here alone
thinking about everything that you said.
You know since I'm alone.
Well, maybe after all, I was better off dead.
Cause without you my life's gone down...
What do I do, when I find myself wanting to die?
"April Sixth – Dear Angel"
