Me: Hi there

Me: Hi there. I think I have to explain myself. Concerning the reviews. I really appreciate them. I read each and every one of them and consider your thoughts and suggestions. I'm just plain lazy about answering them. So even if you don't get an answer I hope you keep on giving me reviews, support and suggestions. Thank you.

Disclaimer: Sasuke's a jerk in Shippuuden. Makes my poor Naruto cry. Oh, and I still don't own them.

Chapter 10

Huh? What the- What time is it? Groan. Oh my god, it's four o'clock in the fucking morning. Gah? Where's Naruto? Noise? Ah, bathroom. Hehe, someone's driving the porcelain bus again. Poor dobe. There shouldn't be anything left in his stomach by now. Seems to be done though. He flushes. Good boy. Gargling and sloshing. Yeah, I suppose he has a bad taste in his mouth. I know I should feel sympathetic but it's his own fault. Stupid dobe. Why did he have to get drunk in the first place?

Ah, he's coming out again. Hihi, time to fake sleep. I watch him out of the corner of a half closed eye. He's swaying slightly, sniffing and moaning. God, he looks like a half dead puppy. How can anyone not feel sympathy at a sight like this? His voice is small and a bit hoarse.

"God, Sasuke, I'm dying. Help me." He climbs back into bed and, surprisingly, cuddles back up to me, letting out a small sigh. By the looks of him he's almost back in La-La-Land. "I-I think… it's more…than a… crush…" The last word barely audible. But I'm suddenly completely awake. WHAT? MY dobe has a crush? No, not crush. He LOVES somebody? Was it this he wanted to tell me? No, this cant be! He's mine! I love him! Shitshitshitshitshit. My whole world comes crashing down. A weight to big to measure it squashes my heart. I want to punch him! No, no, it's not his fault. I don't wish him any harm. I'm going to kill that bitch he fell in love with instead. No, no, he won't talk to me ever again if I do this and that DEFINITELY won't do at all. He deserves to be lucky. But it's killing me! That bitch! How can she do this to me. Steeling his heart like this. And with random thoughts about slowly torturing a faceless girl to death my mind slips away into a restless sleep.

(Narutos POV)

Augh. Head hurts. I'm sick. What happened? No, moving's a bad idea. Huh, where am I? A bed. It's comfortable. Not my sofa. Not home. Mmh, this pillow's so soft and warm. Silky. Huh? Pillows have heartbeats? Noooo, don't want to open my eyes. Want to sleep! Sleep on this pillow with it's heartbeat in this comfortable bed. Till I feel better. Till judgement day. My eyes snap open. I'm not at home! Wha- Sasuke's the pillow? I'm at his place? Ohmygodwhathappened?? He's awake? Startling up I feel a blush coming. God no, I only have boxers on? Oh god, I hit on him! He looks so sad and…

"About time you woke up. Breakfast's almost ready." No, his voice sounds so impassive. I've ruined everything. I'm about ready to puke again. God, fuck, why did I have to get drunk? I never drink alcohol. I can only nod, I'm not trusting my voice right now. He gets up. So do I. We both put our clothes on. I'm following him down to the kitchen. Neither of us says a word. It's the most uncomfortable silence I've ever been in.

I can smell the breakfast. My stomach turns. I wasn't hungry to begin with but I think right now I'm not able to ever eat again. Still not talking we turn into the kitchen. At the stove stands an older version of Sasuke. Minus the scowl he's wearing since I woke up. He turns and smiles at us. His smile freezes somewhat when he sees the condition we are both in but his only reaction is a slight chuckle and a raised eyebrow.

"My, my, what do we have here? Two adorable little morning persons." Sasuke only grunts in response and ploffs down at the island. The older version – his brother? – turns to me and extends a hand. "Hi, I'm Itachi, the grouchy ones brother. And you are?" A take his hand and give it a small shake.

"Naruto."

"Ah, good morning, Naruto. It's always a pleasure to meet one of my brothers friends. Do you need an aspirin or something?" His smile is gentle but it cannot warm my frozen innards.

"Yes, please." God, I hate it when my voice is so small and weak. But I can't help it. Sasuke's still pointedly ignoring me. Itachi hands me two pills and a glass of water. I thank him weakly and swallow them. Itachi looks at Sasuke, then at me, then back at his brother, then sighs and shakes his head. I turn to Sasuke.

"I-I think it's better if I go now." It's very hard to fight back the tears at the moment.

"If you insist." Shit. It's over. With a rattling sigh I turn away and walk towards the entrance. I'm so lost in my sadness that I neither hear the sigh coming from Sasuke nor the steps from his brother following me. Just when I reach for the handle Itachi's voice startles me.

"Mind if I give you a ride back home?" His smile is warm and sincere. I shake my head no.

"No, it's okay. I'll walk." Now it's his time to shake his head no, still smiling.

"I insist. It's an honoured tradition of mine to drive my brothers friends home after a sleepover and I don't plan on letting this tradition go any time soon. Did you have a jacket with you? It's pretty cold outside today." I shake my head no once again. He grabs one from the coat rack and hands it to me. "Here, it's one of Sasuke's. I'm sure he won't mind. Just give it back on Monday." I take a look at the leather jacket and like an automaton I put it on. Then he leads me out of the house.

(Itachis POV)

Something's definitely wrong here. The moment these two came down and walked into the kitchen the words 'Here is something off big time' danced around them. Sasuke usually is not that grouchy in the morning and the other one, well, lets say the hangover was not what caused his state. Naruto, hm? I've never seen him before. I wonder if he's the one. Little brother, you actually have taste. He's a good looking one, this one. But what happened? Well, dress me up and call me Sally if I'm not going to find it out. I take another look at the blonde boy on the passenger seat. He looks so sad, almost ready to cry by my guess. Oh, Sasuke, what have you done?

"Naruto, do you mind if I take you out for a walk? It'll help with your hangover. And I think you will like the place." He only shrugs his shoulders, still looking out of the window by his side. Oh well, I'm going to take that as a yes. So I make a left turn and prepare myself to leave the city.

Forty-five minutes later we are at the perfect place for a walk and a nice little talk. During the ride I noticed that Naruto had once or twice stealthily rubbed at his eyes. I have to be really careful with this one. But as soon as I stop and shift to park he climbs out and stares wide eyed at the sight.

"Wow. It-it's beautiful!" It is, if I may say so myself. We are at a grove mixed of birches, beeches, maples and ashes. Now in autumn it shines in all different shades of reds, yellows and oranges. The sight is almost as breathtaking as the Indian summer in New England. A beaten path leads into the grove and to where I know is a small pond. It's a beautiful place of nature left alone. My girlfriend showed it to me and I know where our wedding's going to be.

"Glad you like it. Now come on, let's go. I want to show you something special." He nods and runs to my side. Come to think of it, when he's not sad and grief stricken he's rather cute. I may not be into men – or boys, for that matter – but I can still tell if one is good looking without asking my sexuality.

I can practically see the hangover being blown away by the crisp wind. As we walk farther into the grove Naruto looks around awe stricken.

"I've never thought we'd have such an awesome place that near the city, believe it. Thanks, Itachi." I smile at him.

"My treat." So, how to start the conversation. "Naruto, how long have you been a friend of Sasuke? I've never seen you around before." He turns his head to me, a small sad smile on his face.

"Friends. Yeah…" He sighs. "A bit over a month. But I've known him since Elementary…" His voice fades and he looks away into space. I decide to take a chance.

"He can be an outright bastard sometimes, ne?" He quickly turns to me again.

"NO! HE ISN'T!" Well, I never expected this reaction. He looks shocked and backs off a few steps. "Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you. I'm sorry." He looks positively terrified by now. I raise an eyebrow at him. What is this supposed to mean. Is he afraid of me? I smile my reassuring smile at him.

"No offence taken. You can calm down. I can't be mad at you because you defended the honour of my little brother. Besides, it's very hard to get me mad at all so there's nothing to be afraid of." Seems to be doing the trick. He calms down, his breathing's getting steadier. He tentatively comes back to my side. I still smile. Oh, well, I smile most of the time but that's not the point here. "So you don't think my brother can be a bastard sometimes?"

"Yes. No. Oh gosh, he can be, but only to people he doesn't know or like. To his friends he's loyal, sincere, warm, kind. And he's very protective. Sometimes even a bit possessive." As he tells me this a warm smile graces his handsome features and his eyes sparkle with pure emotion.

"So you like him, hm?" He still smiles.

"Yeah, I do. I really do." The last sentence a whisper, barely audible. But it's all the answer that I need. Now I need to know what went wrong last night with these two, apparently in love with each other, idiots.

"Mind to tell me what happened tonight? You two didn't seem to feel very comfortable around each other this morning." He blushes and stutters, then turns away. Ah, we're here, so how about a little distraction. "Look, we've reached our destination." I point at the pond. Naruto looks and is – again – at a loss of words.

"It's beautiful." His voice a whisper so as not to dispel the scene before us. The pond was resting there, like a crystal mirror glistening in the autumn sun, reed dancing gently in the breeze, water lilies still flowering, the white almost ethereal.

"How about a little rest? There, under the ash?" I point at one of the trees. The small blonde only nods, still in awe. We walk over in companionable silence and sit down, a perfect view of the pond before us. "So, have you thought about an answer yet?" I know, I know, I'm a sneaky git, bombarding the poor sod with all these sceneries to open him up but I am an Uchiha after all. And Uchihas always get what they want. It's only the choice of weapons that matters.

"I-I'm not really sure if you're going to like what you hear." He looks away. My my, he really is a shy one.

"Try me." He sighs.

"I don't really remember much of anything but I-I think I m-might have h-hit on him." He shudders and seems to steel himself for only god knows what. Is he really afraid I might hit him? I sure have to ask Sasuke about this boys past.

"Oh. So you're gay then. That's all?" His head whips to me and he stares at me wide eyed, thunderstruck. I smile at him, the same smile I gave my little brother when he told me. I should get it patented though as it seems that every gay teenager in this city is coming out at me.

"You're not mad? No yelling for raping your brother in his sleep? No beating?" Then, scared by his own words, he winces and tries to get up. I put a hand on his shoulder, still smiling, and gently but firmly push him back down. I sigh. He looks close to tears now.

"Shhhhhh, don't worry, calm down. I could never hit someone like you. Sasuke would kill me in my sleep if I even thought about hitting you. And no, I'm not mad. You said yourself that you don't remember a thing. My guess is that you imagined this due to your hangover. And for you being gay. I don't base my opinion of people on their sexual preferences. And I like you. You are likeable. Shy and weird, but likeable." Tone soothing, smile still in place, he finally calms down. He is weird, this one. He looks at me, first bewildered then a smile grows on his face. Yes, smiles definitely look better on him than frowns.

"Th-thank you. But Sasuke…" I start laughing, cutting him off in the process.

"Sasuke just had a bad morning. It happens once in a while. Do not think about it anymore. Tomorrow everything will be back to normal. But now we should get going. It's starting to get cold."

The rest of the walk and the ride back home were done in companionable silence. I must say I was a bit shocked by the sight of his living conditions but that's only a question of time till that changes, right? Smirk. Now to you, dearest little brother. I walk into the kitchen only to see him still sitting at the island, glaring at his cup of – now very cold – coffee. Seems like he hasn't moved an inch since I left with Naruto. I walk past him to pour myself a cup of coffee. Then I turn around, looking at the pathetic sight of my little brother.

"Is he the one you're in love with?" A rhetorical question, really. He mhhms a positive as an answer. Sigh. His first heartbreak, eh? Even if it's imaginied. "You are a complete idiot, you know?" Ah, finally a reaction. He stiffens his spine and glares at me.

"And why, oh wise one?" Good, he spits the words out. Let him be mad at me, it takes his mind off other things for a while.

"You tell me, moron." Hehe, good, he's positively furious right now.

"He's in love, okay! He told me in his drunken stupor when he came back from puking his brain out!" He deflates again, a spineless, lovesick little boy. Sigh. Okay, sue me. This technique didn't work too well.

"And has he told you who is the lucky one?" He shakes his head no.

"He thought I was still sleeping. And before he spilled the name he fell asleep again." Sigh. How one Uchiha can be so dumb it hurts is past me. A blind one could tell whom the blonde has fallen for. But Sasuke can't see it. Sigh. Time to be harsh again.

"Well Mr. Uchiha, I don't know what went up your arse tonight but it's time you remove it and apologize tomorrow for today's behaviour. That is if you value a friendship." With this I leave a shell shocked Sasuke behind and retreat into my study. I still have work to do.

...

Morning the next day

Bastard! I know he's right. Itachi's always right. God, I'm so stupid! Hell, even if he's in love with godknowswho I'm still his friend and I do value his friendship. Even if it hurts. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! I really hope I haven't done too much damage. Narutos self esteem is still brittle. I know he can't bear rejections. And that's basically what I've done yesterday. But still. It was a good advice to wait a day. I needed almost all of rest of Sunday to calm down and accept the fact that all we're ever gonna be is friends. If I'm not too late.

I've never climbed four floors so fast in my life before. Now I'm standing very irritated in front of the fucking door and hammer like a madman against it because my dobe fucking won't open it!

"What's this ruckus?" I suppress a shriek and turn around. The door to the neighbouring apartment has opened and a man glares at me. He's in his thirties, I would guess, not too bad looking for an old geezer, wears a Sepultura longsleeve and some worn blue jeans. His feet are bare. "You're disturbing my morning routine with my coffee and my online game something fierce. If you're searching for Naruto, you're too late. He's already gone to school…"

I don't listen to him anymore but run the four floors back down as fast as I can. Right! Stupid Sasuke! I should've known he won't expect me to collect him. Not after yesterday. Stupid! Jumping in my car, starting the engine I drive the way from his home to school, carefully searching the boardwalks for any sign of my blonde. After about two miles I'm greeted by a sight that makes my blood boil. My dobe forcibly pushed into an alleyway by…Sai.

I step on the gas roaring towards them. Once there I jump out of the car only to hear the first painful scream. I run into the alleyway only to see my Naruto with a bloody nose and Sai punching him full force in the gut. I see red. Just as my love falls to his knees I do a roundhouse kick, hitting Sai in the right temple. He crashes against the left wall. But I don't stop there, no sir, he's paying. Another kick, downward this time, aiming at his right knee. My foot connects. A sickening crack can be heard but I'm way past caring. Sai shrieks in pain. I elbow him in the nose breaking it. Than I grab his neck, force his upper body down and ram my knee into his solar plexus. Sai falls to his side, whimpering, trying to crawl away. Just as I'm about to kick his fucking face in I'm grabbed from behind and pulled away. From somewhere far away I can hear a panicked voice screaming.

"Stop it! STOP!! You're going to kill him!!" Someone wraps his arms around me, pushing his face in my chest and sobbing. "Stopitsopitstopitstopit. Please. Don't do this. Don't hit him anymore. Please, stop. Stop." I blink. My senses are coming back. It's Naruto who's clinging at me and crying like a madman now. Fuck. What have I done? I-I totally lost control. I turned once again into something my dobe fears the most. Tenderly I wrap my arms around his trembling body and press my face into his hair.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Shhshhshhshh, don't cry anymore. It's over. Shhhh. Everything's going to be okay. Shhshhshhshh." I whisper into his hair, rubbing his back gently with soothing motions till his crying went down to silent sobs.

"Please call an ambulance." I can't believe it. He's concerned for some arsehole who planned on beating him up and letting him lie there. But his voice, full of fear and sadness makes me do it anyway. I fish my cell out of my pocket and call an ambulance. Then slowly and carefully I lead my still trembling dobe to the car, glaring at Sai who's wheezing for air and groaning from pain. I don't know what's wrong with me but I still don't feel any remorse at all at the sight.

Once at the car Naruto has somewhat regained his composure. He pushes himself away from me, glares and starts pounding at my chest, screaming.

"DON'T YOU DARE EVER DO THAT AGAIN, BASTARD!! YOU SCARED ME TO DEATH!! YOU LOOKED LIKE SOME INSANE MONSTER!! NEVER EVER DO THAT AGAIN!!" He stops beating my chest up – thank god, since it somehow started to hurt – and envelops me again in a fierce hug. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you or hurt you but you scared the shit out of me but thank you thank you thank you for saving me just please don't ever again lose it like this I can't stand the thought of seeing you like this." I hug him back.

"I promise. I-I don't know why I lost it like that. It's just, I can't stand it seeing you in pain or anyone harming you. A-and I promised to protect you so that no one will ever hurt you again. I'm so sorry that I myself broke that promise yesterday. We're still friends, okay?" He looks up, smiling at me and nods. I'm sighing a sigh of relief. From afar I can hear the siren of the ambulance. Now I don't want to be here anymore when they arrive so I lead my dobe to the passenger door. "I'm driving you back home, dobe. You're in no condition to go to school today." With a look at my blood stained shirt I come to a conclusion. "And neither am I. Do you mind if I come home with you?" He shakes his head no.

"No, not at all. I'm glad. I don't want to be alone at the moment." I smile.

The drive is a rather short one. We also skip our usual routine of talk-silly excuse-talk and walk straight to his apartment. Once in I decide that now's as good a time than ever to tell him what I wanted to tell him at the party. Naruto gives me a baggy hoodie to change into while he washes the blood from his face. Ugh, the hoodie's orange. We sit down in the kitchen, Naruto making coffee. I clear my throat.

"Naruto, I have to tell you something." He turns around, focused only on me.

"Yeah?"

"Naruto, I'm gay."

TBC

Shikamaru: Talking about cliffhangers. You know they're going to throw rocks at you till you die a horrible death for this.

Me: I don't think so.

Shikamaru: How come?

Me: Because then there will be no more chapters. And your love will not be fulfilled.

Shikamaru: (jumping up to stand protectively in front of the author) No stones, vegetables or deaf grannies are to be thrown at this author!! If you want to throw anything at him, then it shall be REVIEWS!!