Hello everyone! I actually planned to get this out sooner, but I really get distracted very easily…haha, opps. Alright, so normally I put the review responses here, but I have been warned that I could get banned if I continue to do that. =( So, because I don't want to just get reviews and not respond to you guys, I have decided to answer you in a journal. It'll be on 'deviantART', and just search my name (Navybluewings13) for the journal posts! I'm hoping that this will be easy for you guys and will make sure I don't get kicked off the site. So thanks again!

Warning: Uh…if you haven't gotten the clue yet…I am a boyxboy lover lemon!

Disclaimer: Opps….forgot the disclaimers –sees angry lawyers-uh…don't own Naruto, don't throw lawsuits at me!!

Nurse my Wounds, I'm No Superman

Running away from the school sounded like a good idea at the time. Maybe I thought if I got away from where they told me the news, it would all go away. Maybe I wasn't thinking at all. Suppressed memories of my parents continued to flash in my head while I pushed through the doors, not giving my body time to breathe before I sprinted down the stairs. This wasn't real. I continued to repeat that in my head, as if somehow the fake words would make everything go back to normal. They couldn't be dead. Missing was fine, because it meant that maybe one day they would make it back and I'd finally be able to have the family that had been taken from me. But dead? There was no coming back from dead.

So caught up with my mental breakdown, I wasn't sure where I was going. Or rather how I managed to get anywhere without getting run over by a car or at least running straight into a tree. I followed an imaginary path, which my body seemed to map out on its own. I went down several streets, through town and by shops that now seemed so distant from me. Actually, everything felt frozen in my mind. I watched people look at me and then away, pity and sympathy evident in their eyes. I almost wanted to laugh at how pathetic it was. For years they had shunned and ignored me, and yet now they felt bad. Now that they realized my parent's disappearance wasn't because I was a reject or broken, they decided I was worth their emotional time. The bitterness I normally pushed down just made me run faster.

When I finally stopped, it took me a minute to realize where I was. The rain clouded any chance of seeing the sun, so I wasn't sure how long I had run for. By the pain shooting through my legs and how soaked my clothes were, I knew it was a while. My heavy breathing was the only sound in front of the silent mansion. The large black gate stared down at my tired body while I recovered. Why had I come to Sasuke's house? Hell, he wasn't even home. Despite the knowledge I moved forward, wrapping my fingers along the cold iron bars. I closed my eyes and let the metal cool my forehead when I pressed my head against the gate, trying to stop myself from shaking.

"Damnit." What else was there to say? Despite how strong I wanted to be, I was hurt. It has to hurt. That's what Sasuke had said to me. I should have known something was going on. No wonder he had been acting so strange at my house that night. He probably knew before all of the phone calls started to come in. After all, it must have mirrored what his parent's murder scene looked like all those years ago. I wondered if that was why I had come here. Sasuke knew and didn't tell me. He knew that while I sat there and goofed around and smiled and lived, my parent's lifeless bodies were being taken out of my house. Our house. I wanted to hit him almost as much as I wanted to stop the welling of tears again.

I didn't mind crying, really. I'm sure the bastard would disagree with me, saying something about how tears showed how pathetic somebody was. Most guys saw it as weakness. But really, I wasn't most guys. Tears showed the humanity inside of a person. They showed the strength of being able to care about something, to allow something into your life. It was easy to push people away and accept the numbness of isolation. It was hard to let people in and give them the power to hurt you. So I didn't bother to try and hide my mental breakdown. It wasn't like Sasuke was here anyways.

Or at least I thought he wasn't. But when the gate suddenly started to open, I stumbled back in shock. Shit, did he see me? Just how long was I out of it? I thought I had at least another hour before school got out. I wiped my eyes quickly before passing through the gate, moving up toward the mansion slowly. Emotions swished in my stomach with every step, but I tried to push it back. Like I really needed to become a train wreck in front of the bastard. I pushed open the door loudly, breathing deeply to still the trembling of my hands. I looked around the large room, waiting for a scowl or glare to be sent my way. But there was nobody there for me to yell at. Confused and completely done with the manic Monday, I cursed and stormed through the hall.

"Sasuke! Get your ass out here!" I listened to my voice echo while I peeked my head into the painted living room. The dark brown now rested comfortably against the walls in a way that made my smile appear for a second. It had come out better than I had thought. Absentmindedly I walked into the room and pressed my fingers against the wall me and Sasuke had started with. It felt like yesterday was years back instead of merely hours.

"I was surprised to see the room painted." I jumped at the quirky voice, and I turned around quickly to see none other than the perverted therapist leaning in the doorway. I knew the confusion was evident from the smile he sent me. "I expected to find you here."

"How did you know?"

"It's my job to know you. I am your therapist after all." He seemed too casual in a home that wasn't his. Which brought up another question.

"What the hell are you doing in teme's house?!"

"Ah ah ah…keep speaking like that and I may think you enjoy your punishment." Kakashi winked at me, making me blush. I hated how easily it had become. Before I could deny or scream at him, the therapist moved forward into the room. "Humans are creatures of habit. When threatened or disturbed, they normally will return to what psychologists call 'safe spots'. Unfortunately your safest spots, your or Jiraiya's house were unattainable at the time. Your home no longer was safe to you because of your parents' attacks, and Jiraiya is not mentally comforting because of your earlier argument with him. So the last reasonable place was here, your temporary home."

"So you broke into his house and waited for me? Isn't that against the law?"

"I assure you that there was no breaking in needed," he said, pulling a set of keys from his pocket. He swung it around his finger once before catching it in his palm.

"Where did you get keys?"

"I was at the school. Is it not possible that Sasuke gave them to me?"

"Sasuke wouldn't do that. The bastard's way to anal to just let you waltz into his house," I snapped, already on edge from the earlier events. I didn't need the mind games today.

"I suppose you are correct. I'm very impressed with you observation of him." Kakashi still had a mischievous look about him before he moved toward the couch, smiling while he pointed to the cushion next to him. "But let's leave that mystery unanswered for right now. I have a story to tell you, Naruto."

"Look, I don't want a story. I just want to be alone."

"I'm afraid leaving you alone wouldn't be healthy right now. And I'm sure this story will catch your interest. You are curious about how similar you and Sasuke are? Come, sit down and I'll tell you as much as I can about Itachi and the trials." I froze at the mention of Sasuke's older brother. How did Kakashi know about him? I shifted through our meetings while I moved forward, trying to remember a time either of us had brought up family. But there was nothing. Just what was Kakashi and Sasuke's connection?

"You know about them? The trials?" He nodded at my questioning.

"Yes I do. A very grim story really." As if watching the words written around us, Kakashi travelled his gaze along the painted room. "At the time, Sasuke would have been…he was about twelve, as I recall. The two boys were brought into my office about a month after the incident occurred. Sasuke was much more vocal back then, more emotional too. He was still having a hard time understanding what had actually occurred with his parents. Itachi, however, seemed much calmer and composed. It's always been his nature. Even through the trials, the examinations, and personal conversation, Itachi is nothing but refined and calm."

"Like Sasuke?"

"Sasuke may not seem very emotional to you, but he has his moments. The difference between him and his older brother is that Sasuke holds onto feelings and uses them to decide his course of life. Sasuke suffers from something called 'reaction formation'."

"Reacto what?"

"Reaction formation. What happens is that the ego, which in this case would be Sasuke, acts completely opposite of what he is feeling. His parents' deaths had left him alone and feeling unwanted, and now he insists on keeping it that way. Not because he wants to be, but because he doesn't want to face the anxiety of reality. He stays away from most everyone that has attempted to become acquainted with him. The anger, however, was sparked from an unfortunate incident with Itachi during the trials."

"That's why he got so upset when I touched that photo album! He was angry because the clippings were in it, right?" I closed my eyes when he ruffled my hair, and a slight ache in my heart reminded me of how often Jiraiya did that to me. But I didn't want to go back down that path. I wanted to focus on something else, something that didn't make me feel so vulnerable. Kakashi had said Sasuke was like me, and I needed to know how. Because I wanted to know I wasn't alone.

"I forgot about Itachi's album." At the response I blinked, slowly turning my attention back on him.

"No…no, it's Sasuke's album."

"Well I suppose he would keep it. But Sasuke wasn't the one who started that collection. You have to remember that Sasuke was very young at the time, and would have been unable to get those crime scene photographs or organized them as well as Itachi had. Because their father was a very powerful man in politics as well as the police, Itachi was able to use that in order to obtain several things a twelve year old Sasuke wouldn't be able to."

Slowly, I leaned against the back of the couch in confusion. So Sasuke claimed he hated his brother; that I knew. He may not have said it, but his glares and tone change whenever we talked about Itachi spoke up for his surface words. But that didn't add up with his actions. Not only did he continue to drive Itachi's car around, but he kept the photo album in his room with several pictures of them together. Why would he keep so much of someone that he hated inside of his world?

"None of that makes sense. Sasuke hates his brother," I said.

"Sasuke may be upset and extremely hurt by his brother, but he doesn't hate him. Sasuke simply feels betrayed because…well, because of the incident. But I'm getting ahead of myself here. Let's start with the actual custody fight over Sasuke."

"It was between Itachi and some guy, right? Because Itachi wanted to keep Sasuke, but that child service guy didn't want them to."

"Yes, it was. Orochimaru tried to defend that Itachi was unstable and unable to keep custody. Though some people could see through his false claims and sided with Itachi, many thought that his position as a social worker deemed him a liable source of information. The trials started a few months after I had started my therapy business, and I was called in to try and see if there was anything truly wrong with their mental health. Although I call myself a therapist, there is no actual therapy degree. I had to go through another major. Although most therapists go through the medical route, I decided the psychology schooling would be more beneficial to me. At the time I lived in the same town with them, and so I was the most accessible."

"You knew Sasuke before this?!" Despite my shouting, Kakashi seemed perfectly fine with nodding his head.

"Yes I did. But that is not the focus of this story, Naruto. After several weeks of talking to them and examining their reactions, I concluded that both were as stable and recommended that they be kept together. By taking them away from everything that they know, it would leave them emotionally and mentally vulnerable. Keeping family members together has been shown to be more effective after a traumatic experience. Like you showed earlier, humans like to return to places they not only feel safe in, but they know. Keeping Itachi with Sasuke would help him cope with the new aspects of his life much better than separating them."

"So then…why aren't they together?" A flicker of darkness went through Kakashi's normally happy expression, but he casually looked around the room while he smiled.

"Unfortunately, Orochimaru had more strings than I expected. Although my finding were true and backed up by several case studies, Orochimaru knew the judge personally. Itachi realized the connection almost as quickly as I had, which amazed me. For a young adult, he is extremely intelligent. And because of this genius ability, he was also able to realize how futile the fight was. Because I was extremely new in the business of therapy, I didn't have the credentials or 'experience'. It was why Orochimaru was so accepting to the idea of using me. He knew beforehand what I was going to find, as well as how fresh from college I was. It left Itachi's defense completely helpless."

"That's not fair! Why didn't you fight it?"

"We did try. Unfortunately, it's hard to get your point across to a biased judge." I fumed silently at the truthful information. And from the way Orochimaru's mind seemed to work, he had the court planned out the way he wanted. It seemed he got anything he wanted.

"Then…Orochimaru is Sasuke's guardian?" So when Kakashi shook his head, I was confused. Didn't he just say Orochimaru had set everything up? He had the judge for him, and had discredited the defense's therapist. How did he not get Sasuke? "Then is it Itachi?"

"No, Itachi is not his guardian. But he is the reason for why Orochimaru didn't become Sasuke's guardian as well."

"How?"

"Itachi—"

"Stop talking about him." The almost feral voice made me jerk my attention back to the entrance where Sasuke now stood. A glare I had gotten to know was now fixated on Kakashi, who seemed just as immune to the look. Even when Sasuke stiffly walked into the room, Kakashi was calm with his response.

"You're out of school early. I'm assuming that Tsunade finally told you where he was."

"You told her not to tell me."

"I told her I needed to talk with Naruto alone, yes."

"About my life? I'm not the one who lost—" He stopped himself, but I already had finished it for him in my head. Lost their parents today. Unwillingly my body flinched and it became hard to meet Sasuke's gaze. If he was sorry he didn't show it, but didn't continue. Well, at least he didn't twist the knife.

"Well since you've decided to join this conversation, I'm assuming you'd prefer to tell Naruto about your brother?" It was Sasuke's turn to flinch at Kakashi's casual suggestion. The two looked at each other while I tried to stamp down the ache in my stomach to focus back on Sasuke. I continued to wait in the tense silence, trying to see which one was winning their staring contest. Why did it always come down to this? And why did Kakashi always win? I could tell the match was over quick when Sasuke's body tensed even more than before and his scowl was parted with words.

"My brother attempted suicide." And as an afterthought, he spat out "And attempted to kill me."

"W-What?" My throat became dry as I stared at the stoic boy, who didn't bother to turn his head to look at me. He acted as if he was talking to the air.

"My brother tried to overdose me through a drink I had left unattended when I was thirteen. I noticed the empty pill bottle on the counter before I could take a drink and tossed the drink down the drain. I found him in his room, with slits along his wrists. Soon after he was admitted to the Suna mental institution, where he has stayed for five years. Where he will continue to stay," Sasuke explained slowly, his gaze unfocused and down cast. I couldn't speak as a mixture of anger and pain welled inside of Sasuke's features. By the way he didn't bother to hide it at first, it was obvious Sasuke had no clue how much he was showing to me. But then in a quick flash, he started to collect his emotions again. "Apparently, Itachi didn't expect my intelligence to match his own."

Kakashi stood silently, only moving back when Sasuke exited the room. I barely caught sight of the impassive face Sasuke had trained himself to use during situations like this. Where he felt unsure of himself. When he didn't want to deal with the people or situation in front of him. But after everything he had been through, I could see why. Finding out your parents had been attack was hard; I knew that from personal experience. But realizing your own brother had willingly tried to take your life was something that would scar any person. I stared at the entranceway as if expecting Sasuke to return, but he didn't. It simply remained empty.

"Sasuke is unaware of how intelligent his brother truly is. After all, it takes a genius to play with insanity." Now that had caught me off guard. I turned to stare in shock at the therapist that seemed too comfortable with Sasuke's cold reaction.

"Play?" If he heard my question he didn't bother to answer. Instead he turned his attention to me and smiled.

"Do you feel any better now?" At the random question I blinked and suddenly remembered why Kakashi had come here to begin with. How did he manage to keep my mind so occupied? Therapists were scary when they wanted to be.

"I…well, I…to be honest, I'm not sure how I feel yet." More like I hadn't had time to actually think about how I felt. Everything continued to pile on my plate, and I hadn't even gotten to look at the menu yet.

"It's expected to feel overwhelmed. I've suggested some grievance time from school. Tsunade has already informed your teachers, so don't worry about your school work for now. We'll see how you're feeling on Wednesday during our session and we'll work up from there." It felt strange to not hear any underlining meaning under his words. Normally when Kakashi spoke, it was to find something out or get information out of me. But to hear an almost concerned tone to his voice made me feel strange. I wasn't sure if I liked it or not.

"Yeah," I replied weakly, standing when he made his way toward the door. Even if it wasn't my house, I still walked with Kakashi to the door. And with his normal creepy smile and a short wave, the pervert was gone. Hesitantly I leaned against the door, staring at the downpour of rain that had begun hours ago. Really this was starting to be the longest day of my life. The house was silent when I shut the door, unsure of what to do next. I knew that Sasuke was locked in his room again. But judging from the way he left, he would probably lob my head off if I went and annoyed him. But what else was I supposed to do? I couldn't go home, not yet. And Kakashi had been right about why I didn't go to Jiraiya's house. This was the only place left for me to go.

I jumped when my stomach growled, and I was suddenly reminded that I hadn't eaten since breakfast. Well, guess I could make a late lunch or something. My stomach seemed to like the idea, and I found myself immersed in spices and fuzzy memories of my mother telling me why eating vegetables with my dinner was always good. I stared at the sizzling stir fry, trying to keep my shirt from getting spit on by the flavored grease. Sasuke wasn't the only one who remembered what his mother cooking looked like. Mom was pretty and kind, but always seemed to burn herself and let out a string of colorful words while dad tried to sooth her. Sometimes he'd bandage her fingers, and I remembered being grossed out by the kisses he would always place against the band-aids. They kissed a lot at home, but kept their touching small when in the public eye. Still, the gentle resting of my mom's head on dad's chest or the subtle hand on my mother's back showed everyone how much they loved each other. I was too young to realize how much I should have cherished those quiet moments. By the time I realized it, they were already missing.

And now they were really gone. Forever. I almost snapped the wooden spoon in my hand at the wave of pain that hit me. It burned my eyes and twisted my stomach in a way that made me step closer to the sink. The last thing I wanted to do was throw up on the floor. My hands gripped the edge of the cabinet as I hung my head over the stainless steel sink, staring at my blurry reflection on the nozzle. My floppy hair shot out in different direction, some still hanging low from the rain. When it fell like that, I eerily resembled my father. Blond hair, blue eyes, and tanned skin almost made me a replica of what he looked like. But Tsunade always told me how much my personality resembled my mother. Stubborn, loud, and by the way I cursed when the grease finally burnt my palm, her colorful language. I ran the burnt skin under the water, blaming the tears sliding down my cheeks on the pain. I felt my shoulders heave forwards when an undignified sob passed my lips. The fact I was breaking down in Sasuke's made me feel weak, but I couldn't stop the tears.

I barely opened my eyes when I felt a soft touch against the back of my shoulder. I looked up weakly, wincing when I saw Sasuke shutting off the stir fry for me. When he looked back to me, I quickly looked back down at the drops of tears that had been collected on the bottom of the sink. It was hard enough to cry in front of someone, but Sasuke being here made it only worse. I felt stupid when his palm quietly rubbed against my back. The need to lash out at him to make him go away almost made me speak, but he didn't give me time. Instead, I felt myself pulled away from the sink and into his body. His body was still tense, but I didn't care. An arm snaked around my waist, and if I wasn't so caught up with trying to pull myself together I would have blushed. I bowed my head lower to hide my face, pressing it against his chest while I grasped onto his shoulders. It was supposed to be a push, but somehow my pride got trumped by my heart. And really, his warmth was too hard to pull away from.

"Ba-Bastard," I muttered out. Because really, what else was there to say? By the way his arm silently tightened against my waist, he didn't have anything else in mind. So we sat there, me practically soaking his shirt and Sasuke remaining tensely comforting. Somewhere in the middle of the embrace I wondered how many people Sasuke freely touched like this. How many people Sasuke actually pulled into his embrace, without threat or punishment. By the way his body struggled to relax against mine, I was guessing it wasn't often. Or maybe at all. So I pulled him closer, not caring that for once, I was willingly playing submissive. I just needed to have him closer to me. I needed to know there was someone out there that was like me. I had been alone for too long, and now I felt completely lost. I just wanted someone to tell me everything was going to be okay. And maybe Sasuke wasn't talking, but he was trying to comfort me. Wasn't that something?

The bastard helped himself to half of my stir fry once I finally put my sanity back together. He never released his hold on my waist, and I settled for leaning against his side. Of course I had to protest under my breath a few times to try and pretend I didn't enjoy the warmth of him being there. We didn't get plates or bowls, just a pair of forks to eat from the pan with. The island supported our weight while we ate, Sasuke eating more of the string beans while I mowed down on onions and steak.

"It's spicy," He spoke first, wrinkling his nose at the piece of steak I stabbed his fork with.

"It's stir fry, it's supposed to be spicy." I smiled for the first time in a while before I lifted my fork up to his mouth. "Open up for the plane baby Uchiha."

"Hn." He didn't remove my hand, but simply enveloped it with his own before feeding himself. I laughed when his nose wrinkled even more than before, showing how strong the spices were for him. I did tend to make things stronger than most, but flavor was the key to happiness in cooking. Well, unless you're Sasuke. "Really spicy."

"Nobody told you that you have to eat it! If you're going to bitch about it, then stop shoving it in yo—" I almost chocked when Sasuke shoved some of the stir fry from his fork into my open mouth, but I managed to get it down. "What the hell was that for?!"

"Your mouth opens too much." I growled up at him, but he ignored it while he snacked on my lunch. "I'm staying home tomorrow."

"It's not like I need you bastard!" He scoffed and stabbed a piece of stir fry, choosing to ignore my complaint. I huffed but didn't argue again, slightly relaxing against him. We didn't talk about it for the rest of the day. Instead, I made the decision we were going to paint the hallway next. We grabbed the paint supplies again, and it was much easier to make Sasuke start the Torrey Pine painting. The hallway was small, and we had to stop every half hour to try and let some of the air clear of paint fumes. By the time we finished, the clock struck eight. We weren't able to see the darkness outside because of the rainclouds that still poured down. I didn't know when it was supposed to stop, but I was hoping soon. The last thing I needed was depressing weather.

For the first time all day, time seemed to move quickly. We both went through our shower and switched into sleepwear. Without words we made it to Sasuke's bed, and it was only after I had slid under the covers that I realized I didn't bother to complain about the sleeping situation. Without speaking I knew which side of the bed to crawl into, and already I was turning to face the wall. How I had gotten so comfortable in his bed? Wasn't I supposed to fight him? Then again, nothing seemed to be going right today. Who would have thought Sasuke could console anyone? I would have been the first to deny it. But after today, I had been proven wrong. At least with me. But he almost had to comfort me with the way I was falling apart in from of him. At the end of all of this, would he still be the cold bastard everyone knew?

"Stop moving and sleep." His quiet command should have helped me break away from my thoughts. Instead, I only scoffed into the pillow.

"I'll sleep when I want to."

"You won't sleep if you keep abusing your brain with all of your thinking."

"It's not like I'm trying to think about it bastard." I paused for a second before growling. "And stop calling me stupid!"

"Hn." For some reason, I continued to defend myself.

"My brain just won't stop. I keep trying to wrap my brain around everything but it…it's hard." I knew Sasuke could hear me, because he always complained about how people in China listened to my daily shouting. Still he didn't answer, letting what should have been a comforting silence blanket us. But without Sasuke's voice to distract me, I started to think again. This time my thoughts shifted to Sasuke. Did he not answer because he didn't know what to say, or was it because he was now lost to his own painful memories? If my head was spinning now, what would it feel like to have it happen twice? From the pain Sasuke tried to hide earlier, I knew it had been just as hard to lose Itachi as his parents. So how was he able to stare at their pictures without falling apart? Was it just a part of the perfect Uchiha package?

"How did you deal with it?" My mouth seemed to decide on its own the best route to finding out was to ask him.

"With what?"

"You know what," I muttered, not wanting to say it. There was a lingering pause and quiet shuffling behind me before he answered.

"I just did. I stopped thinking about it and focused on my schoolwork. Eventually your brain becomes distracted and the nightmares go away."

"Nightmares?"

"They're perfectly normal after a traumatic experience." His response was automatic, making me think he never intended for that specific piece of information to slip.

"Did you have a lot of them?"

"I had enough."

"What were they about?" I must have been spending too much time to the bastard, because I could practically see his scowl behind closed eyes.

"None of your concern."

"Stop being stupid and just tell me."

"Being called stupid by you is hypocritical."

"Bastard!" I jerked my head back to glare at him, but it took a few minutes to adjust to the darkness. "Just tell me."

"No."

"Why not?!"

"Because you won't want to hear it." It was the tone Sasuke used for the quiet response that sent a cold shiver down my back. By now my eyes could make out the outline of Sasuke's face, which seemed to be facing mine. But before I could make out his dark gaze, Sasuke turned his head toward the ceiling. "Now sleep."

I slowly pushed myself onto my back, my lacking eyesight trying to make out the ceiling through the darkness. Just what could scare Sasuke enough to refuse to talk about it? And just how long did he have those nightmares? If it was enough to bother Sasuke, then maybe I really didn't want to know. It wasn't that I thought Sasuke was stronger than me! I just knew I was going to have my own nightmares. I didn't need to get more ideas from him. I sighed and tried to close my eyes, but my body didn't seem to want to listen. Instead I continued to stare up at the ceiling, feeling my muscles struggling to relax. It didn't make sense. My entire body felt heavy with the need to sleep, but my mind seemed to hesitate with the idea. As if somehow the fear of what I was going to dream of was making me stay awake.

"You scared?" Apparently, Sasuke noticed my tensing muscles too. Well how couldn't he? We were practically touching from how close we were. Why that didn't bother me should have scared me more than it did. Actually, it didn't affect me at all. I blamed it on the weirdness of the day.

"No…no! Why would I be? It's not a big deal." I lied straight through my teeth while continuing to keep my open gaze on the ceiling. I was hoping that somehow Sasuke's insight would fry and he wouldn't realize how fake my short bark of laughter sounded.

"Sure." Damnit, nobody was on my side today. I didn't like the way I could feel Sasuke watching me, as if waiting for me to admit that he was right. If he thought I was just going to somehow magically give him the answer that he wanted, then he seriously didn't know Uzuma—

"Maybe a bit." …My mouth needed some serious duck tape. Realizing I was already knees deep in my confession, I quickly tried to cover it up. "I mean, it's not like I deal with this shit every day!"

"I knew you would be." I hated the tone he was using. My fists balled at my sides while I glared over him, instantly realizing my mistake. By the missing glare in his eyes, I realized the tone he used wasn't haughtiness. It was just Sasuke taking another crack at this 'comforting' thing. I felt as uncomfortable as he looked.

"I-It's not weird!"

"I know."

"Heroes can get scared you know." He didn't answer verbally, but a slow nod of his head showed he understood what I was rambling about. Feeling uncomfortable with listening to the silence, I spoke again. "And…I mean…even you've been scared before."

"Hn." He didn't seem to like that idea, but he didn't deny it. Probably because a denial would lead into an argument, and we'd somehow manage to stumble back onto the Itachi incident. I could tell from earlier that he wasn't ready to tell me everything yet. The scar was still healing over, and I didn't want to the one ripping it open again. I just wanted to keep my promise and be there for him.

I used that as the reason for why I ended curled up against his side again. Only this time, the arm around my waist came after I had buried myself into his warmth. The darkness hid my blush, and most likely his as well. I didn't dare lift my head up to look at him, because I knew the embarrassment would probably eat both of us alive. Me and Sasuke were both strong physically. We knew how to kick the crap out of anyone that threatened us. Fighting was easy. Mentally, it seemed that we were pretty strong too. Going through the same situation and still being able to function like a teenager was hard, but we managed somehow. But emotionally…

It was hard to become emotionally strong. And really, it was just another thing that separated both of us. Sasuke hide everything away. If something hurt him, he'd pull on his stoic mask and scare the world away with his scowls and cold glares. He made people leave him alone because he didn't want to deal with it himself. If he let people into his life, he'd have to let them into his thoughts as well. I was the opposite in the sense that I was completely open with my feelings. I didn't mind crying. I didn't mind telling people when I was pissed or upset. Punching walls and swearing to vent were normal for me. I also didn't mind showing people when I was happy, and I craved attention. I needed people in my life to keep me from falling back into the dark years of my past. People kept me smiling.

But that didn't mean either of our tactics were strong. Sasuke couldn't rely on others, and I relied on them too much. We didn't have control of our emotions. I tightened my hold in Sasuke's shirt at the unnerving thought. When had Sasuke ever lost control of something? He was Mr. Perfect, almost the superman of Konoha. He was smart, attractive, rich, and popular. He had everything going for him. So to know that even Uchiha Sasuke could get scared, could feel uncontrollable emotions was almost impossible for me to wrap my brain around.

"Sasuke—"

"Don't talk. Sleep." He tightened his grip on my waist for a second to add emphasis. Normally I'd fight with him and raise my voice just to make a point. But after everything tonight, I wasn't sure I could deal with another confrontation. Thoughts of what Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Sasuke had said now drifted alongside my own crazy thoughts. It was enough to keep my mouth shut when my eyes finally started to feel heavy. I hated that Sasuke seemed to have that power over me. Or I should have hated it, if not for the fact that already I could feel the darkness of sleep starting to call me. I wondered for the last awake moments of my day what Wednesday's therapy session would be like. Would Kakashi continue to explain about Sasuke's past, or would he switch to mine? Would he just ignore it all together? Kakashi was impossible to figure out, but I tried anyways. The mental debate didn't last long, because my eyelids became too heavy to keep open. I blinked languidly once, and finally shut my eyes to claim the sleep that my body needed to have.

The nightmares I had been scared to dream about never came. I wasn't really sure what I thought of that. It seemed that I had only been asleep for a few minutes before I awoke to another gloomy day of rain splashing against the window. Really, Mother Nature used my emotions to pick what the weather would be like. I rubbed my half open eyes with my fingers while I turned my head back to look at Sasuke. Like normal, he was still asleep. I debated what to do next. Did I want to stay snuggled in the soft blankets with my heat source that (even in his sleep) pulled my body closer to his? Or did I want to leave the warm comfortable bed in order to walk back into the cold reality that I called my life? As soon as my feet touched the rug, I would have to face everything I had been trying to run from.

Was there a contest?

I buried my face into Sasuke's chest and closed my eyes again, though I didn't fall asleep. Somehow I became interested in the gentle way my head would raise with Sasuke's breathing. My skin warmed with the slight twitches of Sasuke's fingers against the exposed skin on my hip. Somewhere in my stomach, a gentle feeling of content shifted through all of the pain and settled me. I'd stay until Sasuke woke up in order to deal with everything that was waiting at the door for me.

Because I knew that somehow, he needed me to wait for him too.

And that's the end of this chapter! Yup, this one was a little shorter than the other ones, but not by much. I just hope that you liked it anyways. Soooo what did Kakashi really mean before he left? What is the connection between Sasuke and Kakashi? Is there more to the past than we really think? And what's going to happen when Naruto and Sasuke go back to school together? Review and find out! And check out the review replies!Thanks!