R/N: The long awaited chapter is finally up! Just a recap from last chapter: Akemi discovers helping Sasuke is going to be a lot harder than she thought. He's not the most willing of patients to begin with...
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"Hey Naruto! I thought I'd find you here."
The sudden greeting practically made the ramen-lover, his face stuffed with food, fall off his stool at the Ichiraku Ramen Shop. Akemi giggled as he turned towards her, slurping up the stray noodles hanging out of his mouth. Truthfully, she couldn't believe she had willingly sought him out at all.
Naruto grinned. "Akemi-chan! You gonna have a bowl of ramen with me?" He waved his chopsticks at his own nearly empty bowl, then glanced at it in dismay when he finally realized it was nearly empty.
"Haha. Are you going to pay for it?"
"Ummm..." He looked at his stack of eight or more bowls and tried to mentally calculate how much yen it all added up to. "Actually..." She could tell he was attempting to find a way to get out of spending money on ramen he wouldn't be the one eating. "This is my last one. I think I'm out of yen." He shook his sad, limp frog wallet as proof.
Akemi shook her head, amused. "I was just kidding. I really came because...um…I wanted to talk to you."
For the second time that day she surprised him. "Me? I mean, sure!" Puzzlement clouded his sky-colored eyes. "Whaddya wanna talk about?"
A small frown tugged at the corner of the kunoichi's lips as she pondered a good excuse. It didn't go unnoticed by Naruto, though. "What's wrong? Is it Sasuke? I haven't seen him for a few days...He still won't talk to anyone." For once the ninja didn't attack the rest of his ramen; he just sat there contemplating it, thoughts of his ill-tempered friend making him lose his appetite.
Akemi sighed. "Yeah. He's not a big talker." She took a seat on the stool next to Naruto.
"Well…I thought that's why they sent you in."
She gave a short, sarcastic laugh. "It's not so easy getting him to open his mind, either. Except yesterday…"
This caught Naruto's interest and he tore his attention away from the ramen. "Whaddya mean? Did you find anything out?" When the psychoanalyst wouldn't answer he gave her a little shake. "C'mon, Akemi-chan, I'm his friend, too." He went silent, and she knew he was probably mentally adding "or was" onto that last statement.
Why did I come to him anyway? It seems like everyone's tried something and nothing's worked. What can he do that he hasn't tried before?
Akemi became preoccupied with studying her hands. "I found out more than I needed to know. Sasuke's in bad shape, Naruto. I don't know how to help him."
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Sasuke absently swished the pale liquid around in his glass, ignoring (or trying to ignore) the mindless noise around him. A bottle flew over his head to smash against the wall. So it wasn't the bar with the best reputation, but all he wanted was a place where he could drown himself in sake and not be disturbed...much.
He thought back to the day before, when Akemi had left after dinner. She'd cautiously asked him if he was ok, as if the more she got into his head, the more she sensed some dangerous madness about to break loose in him. Why had he revealed those details to her in the first place? Was it bitterness, a cruel attempt to fend her off, or was he really insane? Not that he cared. But sometimes it seemed like the darker side of him was taking over. What had he expected? It was in his blood.
Sasuke grimaced at the thought, and at the fog that was filling his mind with each shot he unconsciously downed. Alcohol was the only thing that helped blur the line between who he'd been and who he was becoming.
"Sasuke! What are you doing here?"
The Uchiha glowered at Sakura as she took a seat on the barstool next to him. "I should ask you the same thing," he countered. So much for not being bothered.
She frowned slightly, her bright personality dimming to match the barroom's low lighting. "I saw you come in here. And that was over an hour ago, Sasuke." Shooting a look at the bartender, she hissed to her companion, "You shouldn't even be here – you're underage!"
Catching the daggers that Sakura was glaring, the bartender paused before he was about to refill Sasuke's glass and slunk away to some other customer. He worried he might pay for it later, though; giving the psychotic ninja what he wanted was better than getting eaten by a giant snake...or something like that.
Sasuke was resourceful, so he didn't suffer from the loss of the server. "How many of those have you had?" Sakura asked him as he stealthily grabbed a drink away from the man beside him, finished it, and set the glass back down. Fortunately, the man was so far gone he didn't remember if he'd already drunk it or not. He simply motioned to the bartender for another.
Sasuke smirked, dark eyes shifting to Sakura, looking her up and down. She shivered under his cold, evaluating gaze. Finally, "Let's count...One too many Sakura's, not enough sake." He was about to see if the same trick would work twice when a bolt of orange popped up between him and Sakura, greeting him with a loud, "Hiya Sasuke!"
"You too? I did not want another team reunion!" And you'd think throwing a vase at his head would get the message across, he thought sullenly, scowling as Naruto leaned against the counter.
The other ninja didn't notice; he was reading the labels on the bottles behind the bar. "Ya you did. That's what you get for coming back to Konoha." Sakura followed his gaze and punched him in the arm, discouraging him from getting any ideas about joining Sasuke on his trip down intoxication lane.
He winced, rubbing his arm. He could already feel it bruising. "Oww! Hey, Sakura, watch that Amazon-woman strength of yours!"
"Sorry, Naruto. I forgot...And don't call me an Amazon woman!" She shook her fist at him menacingly.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed in annoyance at their bickering, but he didn't drop the subject Naruto had started. "I didn't come back on my own! You dragged me here!"
"Well what was I supposed to do? Let Snake Man take over your body?"
"That's none of your business!"
"Yeah it is Sasuke. Friends don't let friends get brainwashed!"
"Can you not fight about this here?" Sakura broke in, apparently the only one of the three who noticed all the eyes turned on them.
"I'm not fighting, I'm just trying to talk some sense into this kusotare!"
"AAARGHHH!" Sasuke yelled, launching a fist at the insolent blonde.
Naruto dodged it easily before pinning Sasuke to the bar, his forearm pressing against his throat. "Make up your mind, Sasuke! Whose side are you on?"
The Uchiha's only response was to knee him in the groin, causing him to double over. A low blow, but no one ever said they had to play fair. His eyes changed from bloodshot to Sharingan red in anticipation for another attack.
Still grimacing as he straightened up, Naruto mocked, "Heheh. Can those eyes fix your double vision, Sasuke?"
"Enough so I can kick your ass, loser," Sasuke snarled contemptuously.
Both flew at each other at the same time, but Sasuke was faster by a second. He blocked the punch Naruto swung at him and delivered a swift kick, sending him reeling backwards. A moment later, a fist caught him in the forehead as he tried to duck. He could feel blood gathering at the wound, but there was no pain. Adrenaline carried him, erasing every thought and memory. There was only the instinct to inflict pain on this person who wasn't a friend, who had never been a friend. His knuckles connected with soft flesh. Naruto grunted, but came back at him with a fury of punches and kicks, landing a surprising amount of blows. The fight became a blur, the two almost evenly matched in speed and strength.
Sasuke's rage and frustration exploded. The loser had certainly improved in the last three years. Of course, his own impaired state didn't tip the odds in his favor, either. His vision was starting to waver, the red drips coming from the cut on his forehead not helping the least bit. Naruto received a stinging hit on the side of his head, followed by a rapid jab to his abdomen, knocking the wind out of him. Taking advantage of his momentary weakness, Sasuke used all his weight to slam the fox boy into a nearby table. There was a loud crash accompanied by the sound of glass breaking. He suddenly felt a cold metal blade press against his neck. The two had kunai held to each other's throats, locked in a stalemate unless one of them moved. Blue eyes held his fiery glare. Sasuke's scowl deepened, his weapon almost biting into his opponent's skin and the vital artery that pulsed beneath. Naruto didn't flinch.
As pure hatred clouded Sasuke's mind, a searing blow to the back of his head disoriented him. The last thing he saw was Sakura standing over him, her fist still clenched...and then the world went black.
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A/N: Ok, so this story might not be updated as often. College is once again going to consume my life (and a lot of my creative thinking powers). Be patient, it'll be finished…it just might take longer.