Disclaimer: The blonde is MINE! *Grabs Naruto and runs*
Hehe, had you going for a second there, huh? ;)

Author's Note: I apologise in advance, but there is no way in hell that I'll manage to get Chapter 11 done by Friday, so it's going to be a day or two late...I'm really really sorry for my lack of awesome consistency T.T

Previous Chapter:

"Okay...together?" Sasuke asked. A glint of something flashed in Naruto's eyes before he nodded. Sasuke nodded also.

"Ready? 3..."

"...2..." Naruto said quietly.

"..1"

"They died in a car accident."

Sasuke and Naruto both looked at each other with similar expressions on their faces. Surprise was evident, of course, seeing as both of them were irrevocably confused. It seemed like too much of a coincidence.

"Really...?" Naruto managed to question, almost chocking on his words. Still, the question was clear enough for Sasuke to understand.

"Y-Yeah..." he said, his voice extremely quiet and devoid of its usual strength. He ran a hand through his hair as he tried to set everything straight in his head.

"When?" Naruto enquired, finding a bit of resolve and keeping his voice level.

"October 7th" Sasuke replied "And you?"

"October 7th..." Naruto whispered under his breath. Sasuke's eyes widened considerably at this little piece of information.

"...Will you tell me about it?" Sasuke asked, shuffling forward on his bed a little. Naruto looked up and Sasuke could plainly see the discomfort in his eyes. "Would you like me to talk about it first?" He asked, swallowing his pride for Naruto's sake.

The blonde nodded. Sasuke took a deep breath.

"It was October 7th 1998, I was 4 years old. My parents and I were in the car, going to see Itachi playing in a baseball game. The main road was closed, so we had to take a detour via-"

"Mikan Street..." Naruto's voice was barely audible, but Sasuke caught it.

"Y-Yeah...that's right..." The two boys shared a look before Sasuke continued. "I was playing eye-spy with my Mum while Dad was driving. I remember she said: "I spy something beginning with 'P'", but I couldn't for the life of me figure it out," Sasuke smiled fondly at the memory "so I started guessing randomly. I think I said 'penis'" He laughed softly as he remembered his former self "Mum was laughing her head off, because I had no idea what I was talking about. I'd heard Itachi say it once or twice. Still, she was laughing, which made my Dad laugh...which meant that he wasn't concentrating on the road..." Sasuke drifted off, any smiles from the fond memories immediately wiped from his face. "I was the first one to spot the car coming towards us. I screamed to Dad...but it was too late by then..." Sasuke had a far-off look in his eye as he recalled the incident again.

Naruto looked across the room with concerned eyes directed towards Sasuke.

"You can tell him, kit."

"Yeah. We're here for you."

Naruto nodded his thanks to the foxes before he cleared his throat, grasping Sasuke's attention immediately.

"Same date, same year, same road." Naruto began, not breaking eye contact with Sasuke. "I was going to the toy store because my birthday was coming up and I wanted to show my parents what I wanted." He laughed bitterly to himself. "It was all my fault, really. They were trying to concentrate on the road, but I was being loud and obnoxious; distracting. They didn't see the car coming towards them. My Dad died on impact, my Mum later that night in the hospital. I made it away with these," He gestured to the whisker-like scars decorating his cheeks. Sasuke's eyebrows furrowed and he leant a little closer to Naruto.

"It's not your fault." He said simply, catching a tear that fell from Naruto's eye that the blonde had not even been aware of. Naruto didn't say a thing, and Sasuke knew that he was reliving that day yet again.

Both of Sasuke's parents had died at the scene, leaving him and Itachi to the foster-care system for the few years it took until Itachi turned 18. Once he did, he gained legal custody of Sasuke and the ability to access the funds their parents had left them. Sasuke had been living with Itachi ever since; he was his only family left.

"What happened after that?" Sasuke murmured softly, trying to make sure that he wasn't pushing Naruto into telling him anything he didn't want to talk about.

"I've always heard v-voices in my head..." he began "And when Mum died, I was crying, and Kyu and Kyuubi were comforting me. I kept thanking them while I sat in the hospital bed. This nurse came up to me and asked me who I was talking to and, since my parents had never said anything was wrong with them, I told her about them.

"I didn't have any other living relatives, and, when they found out about my condition, they didn't want to put me into foster care. The hospital sent me straight here, saying I was beginning to hear voices because of the trauma I had experienced..." Naruto finished with a short sniffle before burying his head in his sleeve and crying softly. On the opposite bed, Sasuke's gaze softened and he stood up, walking to Naruto's side.

He knew what the blonde was experiencing right now: a lot of grief. Sasuke knew the feeling all too well. Just like Naruto had the other day for him, Sasuke sat down on the bed, the springs creaking slightly with the weight, and pulled Naruto to his chest.

If Naruto was surprised, he certainly didn't show it. He turned his face and buried it into Sasuke's shirt, clutching the fabric tightly in his hands, and he cried into the boy. Sasuke's slow and steady breathing kept Naruto from getting agitated and, soon enough, the blonde slowed his breathing to match.

The two of them fell asleep like that, entwined in each other and breathing in time.

By the next morning, all was forgotten.

Well, not quite everything was forgotten: they knew that they both understood each other so much more. It was almost as if fate had brought them together again, knowing that each one was hurting and needed a good friend to fill a certain void within them, Naruto thought.

Jeez, he'd been hanging out with Neji too much...

Group therapy was on Saturday and Naruto found himself feeling quite confident about whom his paper was about. Kyu and Kyuubi knew for sure, but wouldn't tell him, so Naruto was currently ignoring them.

"Ignore this: ARRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!" Naruto whistled softly as he scrubbed himself in the shower, smirking when he heard Kyuubi's sigh of defeat and Kyu's mocking chuckle.

He stepped out of the shower and towel dried himself, patting his hair until it was dry enough. Pulling on some average jeans and a t-shirt, he rubbed his eyes to rid them of the sleep that still lingered in the corners. He stretched his arms and let out an almighty yawn before slipping out of the bathroom and waving enthusiastically to Sasuke, too tired to use his words.

"It's about time, dobe," Sasuke scolded in what Naruto thought of as a motherly tone. He swallowed his laughter "If we don't leave now, we'll be late." Sasuke said, luckily unaware of Naruto's private little inside joke. The raven stood up and opened the door to the hall, stepping to one side to let Naruto through first. Naruto raised a sceptical eyebrow.

"Ladies first, dobe," Sasuke smirked happily to himself when greeted with a look a mixture of confusion, anger and pure embarrassment. He almost laughed at the shade of red Naruto turned. The poor blonde was standing completely still, unable to come up with anything to say: utterly shocked. Sasuke let himself laugh a little before he walked out of the door, leaving Naruto to squawk and feel lost on the other side of the door.

A few minutes later, the corridor was filled by a resounding: "TEME!" and a noise that sounded strangely as if someone had tackled someone else into the ground...

Iruka sat down in his chair, crossing one leg over the other. He looked at the clock and took note of the current time, making sure they finished within the limit of an hour. Iruka knew that they had a fair bit to cover today, so it was important that he kept track of the time.

Slowly, the patients filed into the room. The last to arrive were Sasuke and Naruto. Iruka frowned slightly when he saw a small lump forming on the Uchiha's head...almost as if he'd...fallen to the ground or something...

Weird.

Iruka shook his head and dismissed it as nothing before looking to his immediate right and seeing Sakura sitting happily beside him, washing her hands with her pocket hand wash. He smiled at her and waited for everyone to settle down before speaking.

"Alright everyone," He said with a smile "We'll start of as we normally do. I trust you all have the slips of paper I gave you last week though?" He was rewarded by consistent nods and his smile grew a fraction in appreciation. "Okay then, Sakura, will you start us off?"

"Sure," The girl stood up and smiled prettily whilst trying to catch Sasuke's eye. Unfortunately, the raven was too busy nursing his head and grumbling to notice. "The most interesting thing that's happened to me since last week is that I've gotten permission to home for Christmas this year!" She exclaimed happily.

Everyone else seemed quite impressed, Sasuke noticed, apart from Naruto who didn't even react a little bit. Sasuke was worried for him, but knew that confronting him here would do no good.

"That's wonderful, Sakura. I'm very happy for you," Iruka said before gesturing to Ino "And you, Ino?"

The blonde girl stood up and smirked, flipping her long hair over her shoulder and rolling her hips a little as she settled in a comfortable standing position.

"The most interesting thing that's happened to me since last week is that I've finally figured out the last piece to the puzzle that is the government conspiracy against us mentally ill people." She smiled smugly and most everyone repeated the action of burying their faces in their hands in exasperation.

"Government conspiracy?" Neji scoffed before going back to making sure his nails were in neat order. He ignored the death glares he was getting from the rest of the group.

"I'm glad you asked, Neji!" Ino exclaimed "You see, I've known for a while that the government has been tracking K.A.M.S's every move. I'm talking every admittance, every phone call," she paused, for dramatic effect "every conversation we have. In fact, they are probably listening to this right now: but I don't care if they find out that I'm on to their little game!" She shook her fist at nothing in particular. "Still, there are also spies amongst us; government spies. Don't worry, I know I can trust everyone in this room: I did a lot of analysing and assessing," ...stalking... "And I have deemed you all 'safe'. This doesn't change much, however, as there are still spies and we need to all be on special alert about that." She cleared her throat. "Now, onto the actual conspiracy. The government are planning on creating a new 'Utopia' in which everyone is 'perfect'" as she said the two words, she made air quotes and pulled a disgusted face. "We're talking a world-wide revolution here, people. The first people to go will be the ones that don't fit the quota of perfection. This, of course, means people like us. We will be 'exterminated' to make more room for the people who matter. I think that this is possibly the government's way of, not only creating the perfect world, but solving the problem of overpopulation. It's come to my attention that, unfortunately, there is no possible way in which we can save ourselves..." She drifted off, tears welling in her eyes. "My friends," she clasped a hand to her chest "We are talking about a new Holocaust..."

The room was silent for a moment before Neji, who was sitting next to her, rose his hand.

"Yes, Neji?" Ino asked, slightly confused.

"One problem with your theory: Konoha doesn't have a government." He stated simply. Ino's face fell dramatically proving that, in fact, she had not taken that small fact into account. Neji smirked and stood up, making sure everyone knew it was his turn to speak.

"The most interesting thing that's happened to me since last week was that I did three remarkable things." His smirk grew a little wider. "Not that I'm not always achieving the exceptional." Gaara, who had been silent for the entire session thus far, groaned in annoyance. Neji's eyebrow twitched and his smirk faltered slightly, but otherwise he ignored it. "Firstly, I figured out who my piece of paper was about before I even left the room, unlike some people." He directed his gaze to Naruto and smirked happily when the blonde tried to avoid his eye contact. "Secondly, I put up with my uncle's stupid ramblings and idiotic speeches for an entire hour, a feat that I know is incredible. Lastly, and most brilliantly, I helped a friend who was in dire need of my awesome-ness."

"Wow, Neji," Iruka said, smiling "You actually cared about someone else? That's good progress." Iruka congratulated, beaming contently.

"Tch. What else would you expect." Neji said before sitting down. Hinata was up next. She stood from her chair and twiddled her fingers together whilst she blushed nervously.

"The m-most interesting thing that's h-happened to me s-s-since last w-w-w-week is that I...I..." she drifted off, going a shade of red that no one had ever come across before. Before she managed to burst into spontaneous flames, Kiba reached out and took her hand in his.

"It's okay," he smiled reassuringly. "You can tell them."

"Th-Thank you, K-Kiba," she said, squeezing his hand softly. "I confessed to Kiba and now we are t-together." The group weren't sure what surprised them more; the fact that Hinata (adorable, quiet, kind) was dating Kiba (loud, annoying...thinks he's a dog...) or that she nearly managed to get a whole sentence out without stuttering.

"That's great Hinata!" Iruka exclaimed. "We at K.A.M.S are supportive of any constructive relationships you make during the time you are with us." He sounded like he was talking out of a book, but he honestly meant the words he was saying.

"Yosh! I agree! I wish you prosperity and great youthfulness in your romantic endeavours!" Lee shouted happily.

Kiba stood up to talk, seeing as it was his turn.

"Same." He said simply before sitting down again. The two shared a quiet moment before Shikamaru stood up lazily and yawned.

"It's too early for this..." he mumbled. "Well, the most interesting thing that's happened to me since last week is that I was offered crack from one of the adult patients and I turned it down." he said it as if he were commenting on the weather or something.

"That's a great accomplishment, Shikamaru, well done." Iruka said "But who was the patient?" He asked seriously. Shikamaru just shrugged and refused to elaborate any further.

"Alright Lee," Iruka sighed, making himself comfortable. "Go ahead..."

"YOSH!" exclaimed Lee as he punched the air enthusiastically. "The most interesting thing that's happened to me since last week is that I found out about a man who spent his whole life searching for the fountain of youth! I've decided that I shall also dedicate my life to this exceptionally youthful cause! I will restore righteous youth and prosperity to the whole world! I will-"

"Enough Lee," Neji hissed, standing up and shoving the boy down in his seat. "Please. Just shut your goddamn mouth." He growled. Lee complied and sat still...for as long as he could.

Next up was Gaara. The red head stood up and folded his arms in a nonchalant way, ignoring the green-clad boy currently running around the room.

"The most interesting thing that's happened to me since last week is that I found another spider in my room. It seems that Tyranospidusrex was actually a girl and she had babies. Unfortunately, I can only find one of her babies...so it might be wise to check your beds before getting in." With that, Gaara nodded and sat back down, ignoring the disturbed faces of the rest of the group.

"The most interesting thing that's happened to me since last week," Naruto said, quickly standing up and talking loudly to dispel the tension. It worked and everyone's attention was soon on him "was that I opened up to someone about what happened to my parents." He smiled and briefly locked eyes with Sasuke who smiled a small smile in return. The look made his heart flutter, but he put it down to the fact that he had not eaten breakfast that morning...because no food does that...make your heart not beat properly...

Yeah...

"That's great, Naruto," Iruka praised happily from his chair "Alright, Sasuke, last one for today." He looked expectantly to the raven. Sasuke nodded and rose to his feet.

"The most interesting thing that's happened to me since last week, so since I've been here at K.A.M.S is that I haven't felt depressed for even a moment since I've arrived." Sasuke smiled at the blonde next to him who returned with a hearty grin "And, I think it's all because of you, dobe." Naruto's eyes grew wide with surprise, and Sasuke himself was surprised, too. Although, he knew that as soon as the words were out of his mouth, they were definitely true. "You've not given me a damn moment to myself to mope, you annoying idiot." He teased with a small smile, hitting Naruto playfully upside the head. Naruto chuckled and batted his hand away with a laugh.

Iruka smiled warmly at the display "Thank you, Sasuke. That was a good note to finish on." He stood up to gain everyone's attention (well...mainly Lee's...the boy was still running around chanting stuff about the spirit of youth...). "Okay, everyone get out your papers."

Everyone did as they were told and pulled out the small pieces of paper they had been given last week. "Right, give your piece of paper to the person that you think it is about." Iruka instructed with a smile, gesturing for them to go ahead.

They all complied, walking around and giving their papers to each other. In the end, everyone had a piece of paper that was different to the one they had been given. They returned to their seats and Iruka beamed at them all before joining them. He looked to his direct right and saw Sakura reading her paper.

"Okay, Sakura, you can start again. What does your paper say?"

"Umm, it says: 'I am strong and independent.'" She said.

"Okay, who had that one?" Iruka asked the rest of the group. Hinata raised her hand with a light blush across her cheeks. "What made you think it was Sakura?"

"W-What m-made you think it w-was S-Sakura? W-Well, she j-just always knows w-what to d-do in different s-situations and s-she seems like she c-can handle j-just about a-anything..." Hinata said, her blush growing stronger as she spoke, twiddling her fingers together through her nervousness. Sakura was smiling.

"Thanks, Hinata. That's really kind of you." Hinata blushed even deeper and mumbled something like 'no problem'.

The rest of the papers were read out and discussed between the group. Sasuke had given his piece of paper to Neji and, apparently, had guessed right because Neji scoffed and said it wasn't him, but the light blush on his cheeks told otherwise.

Naruto had given his piece of paper to Hinata and, again, had gotten it right. In the end, he'd just decided to give it to the person he least suspected. Surprisingly, it had actually worked and he was so damn proud of himself for managing it.

Sasuke's piece of paper read: 'I'm not always grumpy and moody'. He felt his eyebrow twitch as he read it, unable to stop himself from thinking that they could have worded it better...

Naruto's read: 'I'm not always loud and annoying'. A growl almost left his lips as he read that.

"But it's so true!" Kyuubi laughed heartily and Naruto stopped himself from responding by reminding himself that he was currently ignoring the foxes.

The rest of the session passed without much a hitch and they were promptly excused to venture forth and enjoy their weekend.

Sasuke and Naruto went to get breakfast.

The cafeteria was quite empty, seeing as everyone else had eaten before therapy, so the two boys managed to bag seats by the window. Sasuke gazed out of the window, a habit that he had adorned when he's gotten to K.A.M.S. Before, he had never been able to see beauty in scenery; but this place was changing him. For better or worse, he still wasn't sure, but he didn't mind either way.

Naruto was chatting happily away around every single spoonful of cereal. Sasuke ignored him for the most part, but suddenly the idiot asked him a question.

"Ne, Sasuke? What kinda music you into?" Naruto asked, looking curious. Sasuke was a little taken aback, having not expected that question.

"Umm, well, I like Hawthorne Heights, Bullet for my Valentine, Smile Empty Soul and I also quite like Death Cab for Cutie and stuff like that..." Sasuke listed off a few of his personal favourite bands. Naruto chuckled behind his hand. Sasuke scowled.

"What's so damn funny, dobe?" he growled. Naruto laughed a little harder.

"You're just too frickin' emo, teme!" He chuckled loudly and Sasuke just decided to change the subject.

"What about you? Music wise?" He asked. Naruto's laughter fell and he looked like he was thinking hard. Sasuke scoffed "Don't hurt yourself, there."

"Hey! I'm just trying to think!" Naruto defended himself furiously. "Right, well, I like a bunch of music! None of that emo stuff though," he stuck his tongue out; Sasuke rolled his eyes "I like Owl City, Shugo Tokumaru, all that kind of stuff," he drifted off, obviously thinking a little bit more. "I also like stuff like Kate Micucci, but I doubt you've ever heard of her." Naruto laughed happily and then continued eating his breakfast.

"Just wondering, dobe," Sasuke began, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the table "Why the sudden interest?"

"Well," Naruto said, munching on his cereal "I just figured that since you're my best friend we should know this sort of stuff about each other." Naruto smiled that infectiously beautiful smile of his and Sasuke felt a pang in his stomach as the vision.

"Best friend?" He inquired with a small raise of his eyebrow. Naruto nodded enthusiastically.

"Of course, teme!" he laughed "What did you think we were?" His eyes were bright and happy and Sasuke could feel the smile stretching his pale lips.

"Nothing," he replied before turning his attention back to the window, a smile on his face as he watched birds swooping through clouds.

It was quite late on Saturday night, and Ino and Shikamaru were sat in the TV room, watching some stupid teleshopping thing.

They had gotten a pass from Shizune to use the TV room this late on account of their excellent and progressive behaviour. The two of them were quite good friends and enjoyed each other company most of the time, however, tonight...?

"Shika, can you change the channel?" Ino asked rather pleasantly. On the TV at that moment was a rather long session of teleshopping with that Chef Gordon Ramsay. He was advertising his new blender thing. It wasn't something either of them really cared to watch. Shikamaru tore his eyes away from the TV for a moment to see where the remote was. He sighed in frustration when he saw it was a few metres away on the floor. He'd have to get up...

"Hn. Too troublesome. You do it." He said before leaning further into the couch cushions. Ino scoffed haughtily.

"Don't even joke, Nara. I know for a fact that all remote controls absorb memories! I can't have the government knowing every little detail about me! You, however, do nothing of any importance; so you've got nothing to worry about. Now change the damn channel." Ino smiled triumphantly, but scowled when the frizzy haired boy didn't move an inch.

"I just can't be bothered." He replied, burying his face into the cushion.

"Fine," Ino growled "We'll just have to watch this..."

One hour and 43 minutes later?

"Cut out the clutter," the two of them spoke along in exact time with the television set, small smiles on both of their faces, "Bring on the Bamix!" (1)

"It whips," Ino began.

"Beats," Shikamaru added.

"Blends,"

"Minces,"

"Mashes,"

"Chops,"

"Liquidises,"

"Purees,"

"Grinds,"

"Grates!" Shikamaru finished the list with an uncharacteristic squeal of happiness.

"Why not make seafood sauce?" They continued in unison, unaware of the figure standing in the doorway. "Or, holy moly," the two of them grinned "MAKE GUACAMOLE!" At this, the figure entered the room.

"I hate to be a killjoy," Shizune said, trying and failing to draw their attention away from the TV. "But surely you should be going to bed around now?" The woman suggested.

At this, the both of them whipped around.

"We can't!" Shikamaru exclaimed with way too much enthusiasm than normal.

"It's just about to talk about the incredible vortex action!" Ino shouted before jumping in her seat and turning back to the TV "Be quiet! It's on now!"

The two of them turned back to the TV set and stared at it with looks of satisfaction plastered on their faces.

Shizune sighed and walked out of the room, regretting largely the decision to let them have passes.

Never again, she thought. Never again...

(1)The Bamix blender is an actual product that I do not own. It's pretty damn awesome though...I wish I did have it...

*Sigh*, I'm sorry, I promised a friend that I'd add that bit in the end for a little bit of comic relief. But god, long day over here... You have no idea how much I wish I hadn't taken French and Music...what in God's name was I thinking?
*Bashes head into desk repeatedly.*

...Oh yeah. Review. Reviews make life less crappy *Grins* xx