AN: -headdesk headdesk headdesk headdesk- I quit -whines- It's too hard.
Disclaimer: ... Yeah, I got nothing. They're K. Masashi's, and the guy don't share :(
Also, poll on front page? Plx?
Naruto was staring at the boy in front of him, unable to move except to clench his fist tightly around the doorknob. This person knew where Sasuke was. He knew how to find him, whether he was all right, if he was even still alive.
Just as the blond was about to do something he'd regret, Sai pushed in front of him. He was thankful. So fucking thankful!
"Hi." Sai smiled pleasantly. "I'm Sai." He held a hand out, Suigetsu taking it and shaking it.
"You're the guy who got away, right?"
"Yes sir." Sai smirked. "And nobody but Naruto even knew I was Akatsuki. He didn't dare tell anyone when I escaped because he knew I'd come for him, didn't you?" He turned to smirk at the blond, who just nodded numbly.
"Well, I hope you enjoy this as much as I do." Suigetsu chuckled. "I love these games Pein plays. They're pretty entertaining." He moved into the unit, Sai closing the door and looking at Naruto worriedly before following the blue-haired man towards the living room.
The blond forced his legs to move. He climbed the stairs and entered the living room where Suigetsu was now seated on the couch. Sai was fiddling with the DVD player to get everything started.
"So," Naruto looked at the man seated on the couch, but he wasn't talking to him. "Weren't you the one who was all over Deidara about the kid?"
"Orochimaru was taking things too far," Sai explained. "People were noticing and asking questions."
"And you fell for him, too, didn't you?" Suigetsu's eyes flickered towards Naruto, looking him up and down.
"Wouldn't you have?" Sai stood and smirked. "He's gorgeous, you can't deny that, even if you're straight."
"I am, and you're right." He turned to grin at Sai when the raven plopped down beside him, as if they were old friends. "He's pretty easy on the eyes."
Sai's good at this, Naruto realized. First with Shizune, and now with this guy. Sai was really good. Then again, this was his job, right? Being a spy? Fitting in? It made sense.
"Come on and join us, Naruto." Suigetsu snickered. "You're gonna want to sit down."
He took the empty seat by the window, clenching his fists in preparation for what was coming. Sai shot him a glance, and then started the movie.
There was static at first, and then a brightly lit room suddenly came on the screen. Naruto's heart leapt into his throat and his fists clenched tighter.
Sasuke was alive.
Pein was sitting on his back, the Uchiha face down on the floor. The blond could see him breathing—with difficulty—and he shifted uncomfortably under the redheaded man. His hands were bound, and he was gagged, his face turned to the side and away from the camera, which was facing the top of the raven's head.
"Hello, Naruto. Congratulations on keeping everyone happy. I don't know what you said to them, but so far, no one's reported Sasuke missing. You did well." Pein reached down then, grabbing Sasuke by the hair and wrenching his head up. Naruto inhaled shakily when the raven's pain-filled eyes met the camera.
"Say hi, Sasuke." The redhead shook the raven's head slightly then let it drop back down. Sasuke groaned. "He's pretty cute. Almost makes me wish I was gay. Then again, a hole is a hole, right? I wonder who bottomed between the two of you. Based on his protectiveness I'd be more inclined to believe he was a top. He seems a little too proud to allow someone like you to top him." Naruto forced himself to ignore his words as the redhead shifted on top of Sasuke. "As you can see, we're taking very good care of him. Kid's a handful, though. I should've taken you and had him do these tasks."
Pein was suddenly unseated as Sasuke rolled to the side, the older man catching himself, rolling Sasuke all the way around onto his back, and then smacking him hard across the face. It made Naruto jump, and the sound echoed in his head.
"See what I mean? Pain in the ass!" Pein stood up and kicked Sasuke in the ribs, the raven letting out a shout around his gag. Unconcerned, the older man walked up to the camera, picking it up off the floor.
No! Naruto's mind screamed, his body jerking slightly as he was about to leap out of his seat before his brain forced him to stay where he was. Show him again! Show me Sasuke again!
But he didn't. An orange-haired man walked behind Pein and bent down. He never reappeared, which suggested to Naruto that he'd taken Sasuke elsewhere.
The camera was set down on a table, Pein taking a seat in a chair and tilting his head to the side. "Now as you can see, I've been very hospitable. I mean, he's still alive, isn't he?" A smile tugged at Pein's lips. Naruto wanted to break the television. "So now it's your turn. Task number one." He held up one finger. "We'll go through the rules, first. It's easier that way. Now Suigetsu—the man who brought you this DVD—is going to be our messenger. He's going to be your way to contact me, so make sure you get his number."
Naruto's eyes shot towards Suigetsu but the man didn't look away from the screen. He was leaning back, almost bored, with one arm thrown over the back of the couch. Sai was sitting similarly, only his arms were crossed and he had lowered himself slightly in his seat. His eyes, though, were calculating. He was seeing things Naruto couldn't.
"That being said, the most important rule in this game—and possibly the only one—is that every task you are given is done publicly."
Of course it is, Naruto thought darkly.
"The reason for this is that Suigetsu will be recording the task from a hidden location for me to have. I like seeing my work." Pein smirked. "As such, there will sometimes be dates, times and locations for each task, though not necessarily. This first task, though, will have to be specific. It will happen tomorrow morning at no later than eleven am. It will be done outside your unit, right at the front door."
Naruto swallowed hard, wondering what it could possibly be.
"Now I wanted our first task to be fun and friendly. In light of that, I've gone over everything I know about you." He smiled. "I've been watching you for a very long time, Naruto Uzumaki. And as such, I know who the most important person to you is. Aside from Sasuke, of course." Pein stood up then, stretching. Naruto could only wrack his brain to find out who Pein meant, and what was going to happen. Fuck, he better not ask him to choose between them!
"There is someone important to you still there. Someone you unconsciously rely on, and spend a lot of time with. This person is like an anchor for you. Even when something doesn't seem wrong to others, it does to him."
Him, Naruto thought. Okay, it's a guy. Kakashi? Jiraiya? No, too obvious. Someone I unconsciously rely on...
"It's because of this that you are going to destroy everything you have with him." Naruto's brain stopped working as he heard these words, his stomach rolling over. He was going to lose his breakfast. "You are going to make him loathe and despise you. I don't care how you do it, just know that I want it to be done. You are not to explain why you're doing it, because it has to be real. He can't think you're playing him, he has to believe. He was to hate you as much as he thinks you hate him."
Oh God, please don't make me do this! Naruto was leaning forward in his chair, now, gripping the arm rests tightly. Because he'd figured out who Pein meant. He knew who he was going to be hurting. And fuck, he couldn't! He couldn't do that to him! Please, don't be him! Please, please, please!
"I hope your last encounter with Kiba Inuzuka was memorable, because you won't have any more memories with him."
The screen went black.
The room was silent for a long while. Naruto was too horrified to say anything. He'd been expecting cruel, sadistic things but he hadn't expected that. That was beyond cruel, in his opinion. If there were levels, this would have been three above cruel. Maybe even four.
And just that morning he'd been thinking of how important Kiba was to him. How close they were, how much he was there for him. How much he cared about his relationship with Sasuke, and how much he cared for Sasuke himself.
How he was Naruto's first real friend.
Did Pein know that? Did he know Kiba was his first friend? How long had he been watching? Since first year? High school? His whole life? Was that why he was making him do this? He had to know that Naruto doing this was worse than killing someone he didn't know.
Looking back on last year, if he'd been given a choice between aiding Akatsuki, and destroying his friendships, he'd have done everything exactly the same way. At the time, he didn't think he'd see things that way, but right now... Fuck, he would give anything to go and meet Orochimaru and Sasori somewhere. To help them bury someone alive.
He couldn't do this to Kiba. He fucking couldn't do it!
"What happens if Kiba isn't there at the requested time?"
Naruto's head shot towards Sai angrily. How could he be acting so calm about this?! Like it was no big deal that he and Kiba weren't going to hang out anymore?! Like... Like Kiba didn't even matter? Like he wasn't important? Like he was just a person?!
Kiba wasn't just a fucking person! Kiba was his friend! His best friend, as grade school as that sounded. The brunet was important to him, he was like—like family. And tomorrow... tomorrow morning at eleven... Kiba was going to be a distant memory.
"Well, I'm sure he'll cut blondie some slack if Kiba isn't around." Suigetsu was picking his nails, bored. "But it'd be best if you could convince him to be prompt. Have him think he's invited for breakfast or something, I don't know. Get creative." Suigetsu stood up, moving to the DVD player and extracting the disc.
Sai started to open his mouth to protest, but Naruto beat him to it. He hadn't even noticed the raven was about to ask something, all he cared about was keeping the disc. He wanted to see Sasuke again.
"I wanna keep it!"
"Sorry, kid, no can do." Suigetsu waved the disc almost tauntingly at him. "Can't have this just lying around for anyone to find."
Sai cursed internally, but kept his expression schooled, something only years of practice allowed him to achieve. He made like it was no big deal, because why would it be to him? But honestly, that one disc would have helped a lot in finding where Sasuke was being held.
"So, I'll be located on the roof tomorrow, with the camera. You have to make sure you're both visible as much as possible, otherwise Pein will complain." He rolled his eyes. "Guy is such a damn nag. Seriously. You'd never expect it, but he totally is. Everything has to be perfect, or whatever." He sighed, shaking his head. "And I hate heights, too."
"Right, we'll try and make sure it works out." Sai stood up. "You should give the kid your number, too." Naruto winced at being referred to as 'the kid' but tried not to let it bother him.
"Oh yeah." He turned and held his hand out to Naruto. The blond handed it over and Suigetsu entered his name and number. He then scrolled through the blond's ring tones to personalize his number. He stopped on the Jaws theme song and threw it back to Naruto. The blond winced at the appropriateness of it.
"Well, see you guys tomorrow. Make sure the show's good and big, will you? I hate being bored." Suigetsu left the suite, the door closing quietly behind him.
And Naruto immediately started hyperventilating.
Sai was in front of him in an instant, holding his face in his hands. "Naruto. Naruto, listen to me, it'll be okay."
"I can't," Naruto choked out, his eyes wide as tears formed in them. "I can't, you don't understand. He's... I can't do that to him. I can't hurt him like that. He's important to me. I need him! I need him!"
"I know!" Sai shouted. He only did because he had to make Naruto stop. It was hurting him to see the blond like this. "I know he's important, Naruto, but so is Sa—he, and between the two, he's the one at risk the most. Kiba will forgive you, you know he will." Sai leaned forward and hugged the blond tightly, feeling him shaking. "Kiba will understand once he's back. You can tell him then, and no matter what, he'll be your friend again. He knows you better than anyone else. Even better than you know who." Sai winced, finding it was hard trying to comfort Naruto without being allowed to say Sasuke's name. "He'll forgive you."
"I don't even... How am I supposed to make him hate me when I can't think of a single bad thing to say to him?" Naruto's hands came up to clutch the back of Sai's shirt. The raven saw this as a good sign. At least he was considering how tomorrow was going to go down. That was a good step.
"You'll find things. Even if they're a lie. Even if they're things you couldn't even have begun to imagine saying to him, you'll find something." He sighed, honestly not knowing if Naruto would be able to do this.
He was scared to imagine what would have happened if he hadn't been allowed to be there.
Sai didn't sleep well that night, but only because he'd slept with Naruto, and the blond hadn't stopped tossing and turning. He even cried, and got up to get water. Six times. He understood, of course he did, but he didn't think both of them being sleep-deprived at a time like this was a good idea.
Naruto had spent all evening trying to convince Sai to let him see Kiba, but the agent knew it wasn't a good idea. If he was all chummy with Kiba now, and then an ass to him the next day, they would know something was wrong. They couldn't risk it, this had to be perfect.
Kiba would forgive him. Sai was positive. Naruto was the only one who didn't think so, but the raven was a little bit more experienced with friendships. Kiba was Naruto's first real friend, and since the blond had only had friends for the past three years, he obviously didn't understand that they weren't just come-and-go people. Sure that could be the case sometimes, but looking at how protective Kiba was... no. He was like another version of Sasuke—minus the deep rooted love and the sex.
Especially the sex.
Still, he didn't force Naruto to eat breakfast that day. He'd known the answer would be no, and he honestly wasn't sure the blond would be able to keep it down. He could only stare after him helplessly as the boy went to his first class.
It was Sai's job to make sure Kiba showed up when he was supposed to, so he knocked on the brunet's suite door at quarter past ten to tell him Naruto wanted to have a talk with him at eleven. Kiba had been suspicious when he saw Sai, but had brightened up immediately when Naruto's name had been mentioned, promising he'd be there. Sai couldn't help but smile when the door closed, because he was honestly one hundred percent positive that Kiba would forgive him.
When eleven rolled around, Sai was watching Naruto trudge home at a snail's pace from one of the upstairs windows. He ignored the knock at the door. Kiba was already there, waiting. All that was left was Naruto.
And though the blond went as slow as he could, he still made it home eventually, and found Kiba standing impatiently at his door. The brunet turned when he saw him and was about to come down the small flight of stairs before Naruto remembered Suigetsu was on the roof, and this had to be done in front of the door. He rushed up the stairs before the brunet could descend them.
"Hey, Sai said you wanted to see me." Kiba looked into Naruto's eyes, concerned. He didn't understand the blank stare he was getting. "Is everything okay? Did you hear from Sasuke or something?"
"God you talk a lot." The brunet blinked at him, then frowned.
"What?"
"Seriously, Kiba, do you ever stop talking? It's all you ever do. What, do you like the sound of your own voice that much?"
"Naruto, wha—"
"You're still doing it," the blond snapped, raking a frustrated hand through his hair. "I'm trying to talk, Kiba. Wanna shut up for a second so I can actually do it?"
The brunet's head snapped back, startled, but he kept his mouth shut anyway, wondering what he might have done to suddenly set his friend off like this.
"You really need to stop butting into other people's business. It's annoying. In fact, you're just annoying period." Naruto snorted. "It's a wonder that Hinata can fucking stand you. I mean, really, you have to be amazing in bed, cause there's no other reason she'd stick around." He looked Kiba up and down with disgust.
"What the fuck is your problem?" Kiba couldn't help himself. Naruto was seriously starting to piss him off.
"My problem, Kiba, is you." Naruto spat. "You're just... You have to be involved in everything, don't you? I mean, my heroin problem, Sasuke's cutting, our relationship. Do you fucking like the drama or something?"
"What?!" the brunet exploded, but Naruto started talking louder so that Kiba couldn't say anything more.
"You've always been relied on, right? Always conveniently there whenever I needed something, and so fucking chummy with me in first year. Are you just after my money, too?"
"What the fuck are you talking about?!" Kiba exploded. "I've never once asked you for anything!"
"Not now, but you will," Naruto hissed. "One day, you'll look back on this and call me on all the favours I owe you! Isn't that why you decided to get close to me? To make me rely on you? To try and be someone prominent and important in my life?! Well I fucking saw through it, you fucking piece of shit!"
"Naruto, I would never—Do you have any idea how crazy you sound?" It looked like Kiba was trying to calm himself down, but it was hard. And it wouldn't last.
He just didn't understand. Naruto would never say things like this to him, never. Sure, he was annoying every now and then, but who wasn't? And yeah, he happened to be around when bad shit happened between him and Sasuke, but he was also around when they were having good times, even if he wished he wasn't around to witness them. He didn't understand.
"I think for the first time ever I'm actually making sense," the blond spat. "I mean, really, Kiba, you had your uses, but you've pretty much been replaced, at this point."
And the brunet's anger flared right back up.
"I had my uses?" he hissed. "What the fuck does that mean?!"
"It means that it was fun while it lasted, but you've outgrown your usefulness. You have nothing more to give me, other than a headache."
"What the fuck, man! I thought we were friends!"
Naruto barked out a laugh. "Seriously? You seriously thought we were friends? What are you, insane? You were just a convenience, Kiba. You helped me get people to like me, but I seriously don't fucking need this anymore. Sasuke, you—I don't need you. You're just stupid, useless pieces of garbage I picked up and couldn't bring myself to put down." The blond leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms. "I never cared about you, Kiba. I love you about as much as I love my mother."
"I'm feeling that," Kiba spat, tears of anger forming in his eyes. "You're a fucking asshole, Naruto, you know that? I really thought I knew you, man. Guess I was wrong. Hope you enjoyed your fun while you had it." The brunet turned and slammed into his suite, his hands shaking with rage.
He barely made it up to his room before he was punching at his wall, screaming in anger. He couldn't believe this! He couldn't fucking believe Naruto had said those things! That he was just pretending to be who he was all this time. A part of him didn't want to believe it. Couldn't even comprehend it! How could the Naruto of the past two years have been a lie?
But as he thought about it, it made sense. Everything that had happened to him had changed him. He wasn't who he'd been at the beginning of first year. He was someone different. Someone angry, and hateful, and resentful. Someone who'd had a father and then lost him, finding out all he wanted was money. Trust was a hard thing to get these days, and apparently, Naruto had lost all the trust he'd had in everyone he knew.
Letting out another cry of rage, he fell onto his bed and punched at the mattress. He was so fucking pissed off at Naruto! He wanted to fucking rip off his head and drop-kick it across the continent. The thing that hurt the most was being compared to the fucking asshole's mother! Naruto fucking hated the bitch because she—
Kiba blinked. Naruto had compared him to his mother.
He sat up. Why would the blond have compared him to her in such an off-handed manner?
His head turned to glance out the window towards Naruto's suite. His friend never used to mention her. Ever. Because he hated her so much.
But he doesn't anymore... It took a second for the words he'd thought to even register in his head, but once they did, fear washed over him.
Something was wrong.
He didn't know if Naruto meant to tell him that. He didn't know if it had just slipped out without him meaning for it to, as if he'd unconsciously decided to give Kiba a hint, but he felt he understood. He knew why Naruto had said that, even if the blond didn't.
Something was wrong, and he couldn't tell anyone. And for some reason, he couldn't talk to Kiba. Ever.
"You stupid fucking idiot." Kiba covered his face with his hands. "Fuck, why didn't you just let me help you?"
Damn, he thought sadly. We could really use that bomb shelter right about now.
He fell backwards on the bed, staring at his ceiling. Naruto had done this, but not because he wanted to. He had to, and Kiba couldn't figure out why. Maybe it was just wishful thinking, but the more he thought about it, the more it seemed like everything that had just happened was an act. There was a reason Kiba couldn't be a part of his life.
To protect him? Possible, but unlikely. He'd just tell him if that were the case. Sure, Kiba would argue, but he'd eventually give in if only to save Naruto any grief. So it was something else.
Well, whatever it is, I'm not going to let him beat himself up over this, he thought as he sat up and then stood, heading for his desk. He pulled a piece of paper out of one of his binders and grabbed a pen, sitting down and scrawling out a message to his idiotic blond friend. Once he was done, he looked around. How was he going to get this to Naruto without anyone knowing?
"Well, shit..." He frowned. If it was as easy as walking next door and sliding it into the mailbox, Naruto would have done the same thing. It had to be more subtle.
His eyes fell on his science book and he got an idea. Moving to his shelf, he snatched up a book and sat back down at his desk to add another small note at the bottom. He then pulled an envelope out of his drawer, put the note inside, sealed it, and slipped the envelope between the book's pages. He then reached down and grabbed his jacket off the floor, yanking it on and hiding his book inside.
Okay. I'm still mad at you. I am. You're an asshole, and I hate you. I do. Seriously. Kiba took a deep breath, then stomped angrily down the stairs, knowing it would be heard through the wall next door. He kicked open the front door, then slammed it so hard behind himself one of the little windows cracked. He ignored that fact, locking the door and then disappeared down the road. He checked the time, trying to keep his angry pace, and noted he should be exactly right.
Once he passed the Village, he quickened his pace to a jog, wanting to reach his destination as quickly as possible. When he got to the teacher's quarters, he lost ten minutes trying to find the idiot professor's house until he finally spotted the name on the mailbox.
"Fina-fucking-lly," he grunted, moving to the door and banging on it. It opened seconds later, Kakashi blinking out at him confused.
"Kiba. What can I do for you?"
"I need a favour from you." He got right to the point. "Mind if I come in?"
Sai slowly opened Naruto's door, looking in and seeing the blond lying face down on his bed. He'd stopped crying, which was good, but he didn't look like he could breathe very well, and the agent hoped he wasn't trying to suffocate himself.
"Naruto, it's time for English," he said in a quiet voice.
The blond didn't move.
"I'm really sorry." He closed his eyes, clenching his jaw. "I'm sorry about Kiba, Naruto, but you have to go to class. If you don't, Kakashi will get suspicious and then Sasuke's life is more at risk than it already is. So please get up and go to class."
Naruto still didn't move.
Gritting his teeth and knowing the blond would be mad, Sai did the only thing he could do in this situation. He stomped into the room and pulled the blond off the bed. Turning around, he picked up his bag and practically hurled it at him.
"Get up and go to class! Now!"
Nothing happened, and then slowly, Naruto forced himself to sit up. He grabbed his bag, standing, and turned to Sai. His eyes were red-rimmed, but the raven was confident that the cold air outside would clear that up.
"I know that later I'm going to thank you for this. For helping me out of bed and forcing me to go to class in order to save Sasuke. But that's later." His voice broke. "Right now, I really fucking hate you for what you just did."
"Hate me all you want on your way to class."
Sai knew he didn't mean it. It was the only reason it didn't hurt. He couldn't even begin to imagine what Naruto was going through right now, but he forgave him in advance for what he'd just said. And for any other things he was going to say.
The blond shuffled out, heading slowly to class. People were grunting in annoyance and side-stepping him the whole way due to his slow pace. He couldn't bring himself to care. He only started walking faster when he neared Buchanan, trying to turn his face into a hard mask as he strode into the building. He reached his class and found most of his friends already there. Kiba was sitting in the front corner on the left, his bag on the seat beside him. Naruto chose to sit a few rows back on the opposite side.
When Kankurou entered a few seconds later, Kiba called him over and moved his bag. The other boy sat down gratefully, laughing as he slapped his friend on the back. Naruto averted his eyes, trying to look absolutely fascinated by his desk. It was made of fake wood. That was kind of cool, right?
Kakashi entered five minutes afterwards—late, as always—and started teaching the class. Naruto never looked at anyone, but he could swear he felt eyes glaring daggers at him from all over the room, and he could hear whispering. No doubt Kiba had told everyone about their fight, and now they were all going to hate him, too.
Good. That would save him any more pain if the sicko asshole who had Sasuke decided Naruto needed to destroy another one of his friendships. Couldn't destroy what he didn't have.
Class seemed agonizingly long, and once it was finally over, Kiba and Kankurou packed their things up so fast that they were gone before Naruto had even fully stood. He chanced looking up and saw Sakura shake her head disapprovingly at him before she left the room with Ino. He looked down again, getting all his things in his bag and then slinging it over his shoulder. He was heading for the door when Kakashi called him over.
"Naruto, come over here for a second."
I really don't need this right now, he thought as he closed his eyes, but turned towards the professor anyway. "What is it?"
"You know, I feel like you guys are back in kindergarten or something." Kakashi sighed, handing Naruto the book Kiba had given him. "Do I need to call a time out?"
"What are you talking about?" The blond was annoyed. He didn't need this. He just wanted to go home and pretend the outside world didn't exist. Or better yet, that he didn't exist. Yeah, not existing sounded nice right about now.
"You and Kiba. Your fight." Naruto blinked. "He said you guys got into a monstrous fight, and he's really fucking mad—his words, not mine—but this book is yours, and he wanted me to return it to you."
The blond frowned as he stared down at the book. It wasn't his, he had his in his bag. This was Kiba's book, why the fuck was Kiba giving him a book? Especially after their fight. What the hell was going on?
"I hope you're not going to make a habit of this. First Sasuke, now Kiba... Is everything okay?"
"It's fine, I'm just..." He raked one hand through his hair, frustrated. "People need to give me space. I'm feeling suffocated."
"Fair enough." Kakashi sighed. "Well, at least he's trying, so cut the guy some slack, will you?"
"Yeah, whatever." He turned on his heal, not even bothering to say good bye. Why bother being nice to people anymore? Pein was going to make him lose everyone, might as well start now, right?
He shouldered past people in the hall, headed for the stairs, and then remembered the book in his hand. He looked down at it, opening it and looking on the inside of the cover. It had Kiba's name written in it. The fucking brunet was an idiot. Why the fuck was he doing this?! It was just making things harder! He wanted to throw it back in the dumbass' face!
That was when he noticed the book's strange parting. There was something shoved between the pages near the middle. Before thinking about it, Naruto turned and ducked into the bathroom, turning to enter one of the stalls and hearing someone snicker from the urinals, muttering something about people taking dumps in public bathrooms. He ignored him and turned to the odd pages.
There was a letter.
Of fucking course there was a letter.
Kiba was going to bitch him out in writing since he hadn't gotten enough words in while they were speaking.
Naruto felt a lump forming in his throat. He didn't want to read it. He wanted to grab it and tear it into tiny, particle-sized pieces and then dissolve the pieces into acid and then evaporate the acid, and then vacuum up the smoke and throw the vacuum into a rocket and have it launched out into space.
But because he was human, and curiosity was in their stupid nature, he tore open the envelope and unfolded the note.
Hey, dumbass. This is me. Nice try, but I saw through it. I hope. If I'm completely, idiotically wrong, feel free to come and yell at me some more. This time I'll actually stand there with my mouth shut and take it. If I'm not wrong, however, then completely ignore me. Act the way you were going to before you received this note.
I don't know why you did it, Naruto, and as much as I wish I did, I honestly don't. All I know is that you're in trouble, and I'm somehow involved. You can't talk to me, and you had to get rid of me, that's all I could think of. Because of this, I'm going to go along with this. I'm going to act as if I didn't figure everything out.
When I see the others, I'm going to tell them what you said to me. I'm going to act like I hate you, like you're the biggest asshole on the planet. We won't be friends to anyone on the outside, and don't worry about having to get back to me, I understand.
Well... no, not really, but I know you'll explain it to me eventually. I just hope everything's okay. I take it something big happened, otherwise Sai wouldn't be here. He was kind of my first indicator, but again, not gonna say anything. Not gonna pry. Just gonna let it go and wait for everything to blow over so you can explain it to me.
And you owe me an apology, too. Cause that was really fucking mean! Okay, I'm done. Sorry, had to get that out. I'm a sensitive guy, all right?
So yeah, I won't tell anyone about what I think I found out. I'll hate you, and treat you like shit whenever you're near me. Because if this is anything like last year, having me know is a huge problem for you, and I don't want to be a problem for you, Naruto. Because I don't want you to be upset. So please... if I'm right, please trust me. Trust I won't fuck you over, because I won't. No one will know. I swear. I fucking swear.
Your friend (I'm serious), the protective annoyingly persistent watchdog.
Kiba.
Oh, also, I'm gonna tell Kakashi we got in a fight but the book is yours and to give it back to you. Just keep it, I'll buy another one and I wouldn't know how you could get it back to me without someone who isn't supposed to know notices, so just keep it. I hope you're okay. Seriously. I wish I could help you.
Naruto suddenly knew why Kiba was so important to him. Why he relied on him so much. Sai was right, Kiba really did know him better than Sasuke did.
A part of him, though, wanted to storm to the brunet's unit and yell at him again. Make him think it was real. Make him hate him, just to keep him safe. But another part, a selfish part, wanted to just ignore him. To have him know he was right, and that they were still friends. They just couldn't look like it.
He didn't know how long he sat there warring with himself, but it was long enough that he noticed a considerable difference in lighting in the bathroom. The sun was starting to set. But by then, he'd made his decision.
He couldn't risk anyone finding the letter, and he almost wanted to burn it, but that would mean leaving the bathroom and someone possibly seeing him with it. No matter how careful, he could never be sure. Even now.
So, he sat there and ripped the letter into tiny shreds. As tiny as he could make them. Then, he stood up, turned around, and dumped them all into the toilet, flushing it. They all looked like they were gone, but he flushed it again, just for good measure.
Making sure none of the pieces had fallen onto the floor, he grabbed his bag and left the bathroom, receiving a look from a guy who'd just walked in. It was only when he was halfway down the corridor that he realized it was because it looked like he'd gone to the bathroom and hadn't washed his hands.
He suppressed a smile, if only because he didn't know who was watching. It was amazing how Kiba's perceptiveness could lift his spirits so much. He felt so much better all of a sudden.
But still, he'd had to be careful. Sai couldn't even know. No one could know. It had to be a secret between him and Kiba. Just the two of them. He trusted the brunet, he knew he wouldn't say anything. He would keep his word. Naruto had to do the same.
He could see his friends walking back towards the unit from the Village when he approached from another street. The group was only missing four people: Shino, Gaara, Sakura and Hinata. Naruto assumed they were still in class.
It was Shikamaru who noticed him first, and though he didn't look all that hateful towards him, or even disapproving, he still made an effort to appear as though he didn't notice Naruto was there. The blond supposed he just didn't want to get caught in the middle of any drama, which was understandable.
Once the spiky-haired teen spotted him, though, it was like Kiba knew, and his head turned instinctively. Their eyes met, and the brunet glared at him. Good, he was keeping his end of the deal.
That was the only reason Naruto did what he did next. He faked missing a step and dropped the book. Making sure it landed properly so that the pages hit the pavement, he bent down and picked it up by the spine, making it very, very clear to Kiba that the letter was gone.
Then, he tucked the book under his arm, and turned down another street to take an alternate route home.