Void
By: Niiro Yuuyake
Disclaimer: Niiro does not own any of the characters of Naruto. Nor does she own Naruto.
Warnings: Yaoi, abuse, violence, language, angst, lemon, lime, fluff . . .
A.N.- It's been SO LONG! And I'm so sorry! Forgive me?! I know my apologies are worthless by now, but accept it anyway! Please! I've been typing this chapter for a good month, and had to stop for the Holidays(went away) and then this thing called RL got in the way! Ugh! But I have a little free time now, so here you go! Chapter 11! Enjoy!
Chapter 11: Deprived
Iruka smiled as he plucked a jar of cherries off the shelf, smiling mischievously at Kakashi. "It's always a plus to have something sweet in the house!" He grinned.
Kakashi pushed the cart to the checkout lane. "Is that all? I was sure you'd go grab a few dozen chocolate bars, and fudge syrup." He smiled as Iruka blushed, "Ah . . . so you've calmed down a bit. No longer as kinky? Or do you have something in mind for those cherries?"
The brunette smiled as he tried to hide his blush, "Maybe." He took a step closer to Kakashi, "What do you think?"
Just as the man was about to answer, there was a cough behind him.
Turning to see who it was, Iruka blushed harder.
Kakashi stared. Not too excited to see a Hyuuga behind him in line. There were three people in front of him, with full carts. Great.
"Hello . . . Neji."
The teen smirked, holding a small basket of assorted treats and foods. "Hello, Kakashi-san. How's life?"
"Fine. You know Iruka, right?"
Neji nodded, bowing slightly, before greeting Iruka, "Hello, Iruka-san. How are you today?"
Iruka nodded kindly, "Fine. And you?"
"Fine." Neji replied, before smiling mysteriously, "I ran into Naruto earlier . . . "
Kakashi perked up at this, "Oh, really. Anything interesting happened? Something we should know about?"
"No." Neji replied. Looking away, he said, "He was sitting in the park, talking to Gaara."
At this, both Iruka and Kakashi became more interested, "Gaara? Are you sure?"
Neji nodded, "It's very hard to mistake his blood red hair for anyone else's."
"I see," Kakashi said, looking seriously at Iruka, "We should go."
Iruka stopped him, "Why? What's so bad about Gaara?"
Kakashi shrugged Iruka's hand off his shoulder, before glancing back at Neji. "He's . . . Gaara's . . . let's just say he's as bad as Itachi."
Iruka looked at Neji, asking "Do you know what they were talking about?"
Neji frowned, "Hm? Oh . . . actually, I do. Something about getting to Sasuke's house to get him or something. You know, " He continued, "As loud as Naruto talks, he rarely makes any sense."
Kakashi nodded, looking to Iruka. "We should go, now."
Iruka nodded, "Are you sure you heard correctly?" He asked the Hyuuga one more time.
Neji looked offended, "I'm positive. " He hissed, "Now, If you would be so kindly as to move up, some of us would like to leave this place before it starts to rain to horribly."
Iruka nodded, tossing stuff onto the belt, "Thank you, Neji. You were a lot of help."
Kakashi nodded in agreement.
Neji moved forward as the line got shorter. He pulled out his cell phone, pressing a button to speed dial an all too familiar number.
As soon as someone picked up, he said, " You owe me." Then hung up the phone.
Kakashi and Iruka were far too busy to notice.
---
Naruto sipped his hot chocolate, dropping another three marshmallows in it. "So . . . " He mumbled before sipping his drink.
It was starting to drizzle slightly harder now, but nothing too harsh.
"Looks like the weather's getting worse. How're you gonna get home?"
Gaara stared into his cup of black coffee.
It was Decaf.
He wasn't allowed to have Caffeine.
When he did, it usually didn't turn out well for anyone else around.
"Hm?"
"I said, How will you get home?" Naruto asked again, "It's raining harder . . . "
Gaara frowned, "I'll drive."
"Oh." Naruto tilted his head slightly, "So . . . why are you here, again?"
Gaara shrugged. "Why are you here?"
Naruto beamed, "Meeting Sasuke!"
Gaara turned slightly on his stool, looking over at the blonde, "Uchiha?"
Nodding, Naruto grinned. Even the weather couldn't hold him down too long. "Yea. He's supposed to be here soon."
Gaara watched the blonde for a while, before glancing at the two workers in the little park-stand. "I saw the Uchiha not too long ago."
"What?!" Naruto asked, "Really?! Where?!"
Gaara smirked, though it was so small, that it went unnoticed by Naruto.
"Heading toward the Shuzoku Memorial Burial Park." Gaara murmured.
Naruto gasped, "What? Where his parents were buried?!"
Gaara shrugged.
"You have to take me there!" Naruto jumped off the bench. "Please!"
Gaara shrugged again, sipping his coffee. "It's out of my way." He said indifferently.
The blonde grabbed onto the redhead's arm, pulling him off if his stool, also, "You've got to take me, now!" He growled
Gaara shrugged again, heading toward his car. "Fine, then."
They made it to the car rather quickly in the light rain, but Naruto hesitated as he reached the passenger door of Gaara's black Porsche.
"Are you . . . sure it was Sasuke?" The blonde asked, hesitating now.
It was rather unusual for Sasuke to visit his parents' grave in the middle of the year. He usually went during the holiday times, when Itachi was more lenient toward him. Or when he really needed guidance . . . some sort of inspiration that Naruto couldn't provide for him . . .
"..." Gaara watched Naruto's facial expressions before glaring, "Do you not trust my judgement?" He whispered, only loud enough for the blonde to hear.
Naruto looked around. The park was now deserted. "It's not that . . . it's just . . . "
"Then why do you hesitate?" Gaara nearly hissed. "Come or not. I was only trying to do you a favor, Uzumaki."
Naruto nodded. "Yea . . . I know . . . but . . . when did you start trying to do anything nice for anyone?"
Gaara scoffed, "Whatever." He sat in the driver seat, unlocking the door for Naruto.
He knew, the boy was desperate enough to accept help from almost anyone. Including himself, Gaara.
And just as he expected, Naruto opened the passenger's door, hopping into the seat, " . . . Thanks . . . " The blonde whispered.
Gaara shrugged, "Hn."
Just as the redhead started the car, there was a light buzzing sound. Naruto reached for the phone, sitting in a cup-holder between the seats, when Gaara quickly grabbed the phone out of reach.
"It's rude to answer someone else's phone, " The redhead mumbled.
Naruto nodded, lightly scratching the back of his head, "Yea . . . but I was only gonna hand it to you . . . I do have some manners, you know." He smiled.
Gaara didn't reply, answering the phone, but hanging up a second later.
Naruto tilted his head, "Who was it? -If you don't mind me asking . . . "
Gaara put the car in reverse, backing out of the parking lot, before speeding down the narrow road to the park's exit, "Wrong number."
---
By the time he actually reached the park, the clouds had darkened drastically, turning an almost blackish-grey.
The sky rumbled and growled out thunder, and spat lightening bolts angrily over the land, not striking but warning.
A storm was approaching, obviously, Sasuke thought as he stopped by a bench and look around.
It was going to rain horribly, very soon, and though he didn't bring anything to keep him dry, he wasn't too worried. It had been a while since he'd actually been in the rain, meeting someone.
He immediately thought of Naruto, his bumbling boyfriend.
Kami-sama, what to do now? Look all over the park, for the blonde or what? Naruto, as always, would stand out like an orange in a barrel of Red Delicious Apples, but obviously, in a large park such as this one, it was a bit hard to find someone.
Again, the Uchiha scanned his surroundings, before heading to the center of the park. There were several food stands, only one he and Naruto visited almost every chance they got, though he wasn't too fond of their main dish.
It was right beside a Hot Chocolate Stand, but he took no notice of this as he stopped in front of the little stand.
Closed, Sasuke mused, looking over the Ramen stand, once again. Shutters were down and locked, and no one was around.
In fact, the only stand that was open was the Hot Chocolate stand, next to where he was.
Sighing, he looked around again, before taking a seat on one of the stools.
There was only a woman and man there, sitting around, drinking chocolate milk, no less. It was the woman who approached him and asked to take his order.
"Do you serve tea?" The Uchiha asked. He really didn't want any chocolate now.
The woman nodded, "Cold or hot?"
"Hot."
"Sweet or unsweetened?" She asked.
Sasuke glared. For Kami's sake, just give him some tea! "Unsweetened." He mumbled, before turning his back to her.
Still sitting on the stool, he looked around. There were about three people, excluding himself and the two in the Stand, in the park.
An old woman walked slowly with her cane, seemingly oblivious to the weather. And two women jogged along the sidewalk, chattering in the drizzling water. Perhaps, they were together, the three of them, Sasuke thought, as he turned back around to face the stand.
If Naruto did come, then he should at least know to check the Ramen Stand. And since it was right beside where he was sitting, he would see his love walk up . . .
There was a high-pitched whistle as the teapot screamed.
"Ready!" The woman said, in a singsong voice.
She turned to Sasuke, smiling brightly for whatever reason, "Would you like lemon with it?"
The raven-haired boy felt like screaming. Honestly! When did it get this hard to get a cup of tea?!
There was a small snort near the back of the stand, as the man stood up, shaking his head. "Hariko, leave the poor-boy alone. Can't you see he's miserable?"
Sasuke glowered, was it that obvious? "I just want my tea. Hot. Unsweetened. No lemon. Please." He nearly growled. Why the hell was this lady so happy, when even the weather was in a bad mood?!
"Oh . . . You said unsweetened?" The woman placed her hand on her cheek, and she smiled when Sasuke dropped his face in his hands, shaking his head in frustration. "I'm only joking . . . You know, " She started, setting his tea down, "You shouldn't let the weather dampen your mood, people would enjoy your company more, if you were able to brighten their day . . . " She said sincerely.
Sasuke sipped his tea, sighing as warmth spread through his body. "Mind your own business."
The woman looked taken aback, but continued smiling, "Want to talk about it?"
Glaring, Sasuke took his cup, getting ready to leave, when the man stepped forward. "Kid . . . " he started, "You need help with anything?"
Sasuke looked confused for a moment, before fixing the collar of his shirt. Just to be safe. "What?"
The man waved his hand in the air, as though shooing away a fly, while saying, "Well . . . You were looking around like you were looking for something? Are you lost or something?"
Sasuke looked thoughtful for just a fraction of a second, before nodding. "Actually . . . have you seen a blonde kid around here? About this high-" Here, he raised his free hand to about his eye-level, "With blue eyes, probably wearing something bright? Orange, most likely."
The man looked up to the sky, but opened his mouth as to reply, when the woman pipped up, appearing from wherever it was, she had gone. "I have!" She chirped, "Yes! And he ordered Hot Chocolate! And he complained a lot about how he wanted ramen . . . " She smiled brightly again, "I remember him because he had the brightest aura! He shined and sparkled, and kept the mood bright!" Then she waved her finger disapprovingly at Sasuke, "Unlike you, mister!"
Ignoring everything else she said, Sasuke ran back up to the stand, "What? He was here, already?! Where did he go?!"
The man answered this time, frowning, "Walked off that way-" He pointed to the parking lot, "With some other kid."
Sasuke perked up again, "Another kid?" Who the hell . . . ? "Describe him."
The man at the counter looked contemplative for a moment, before putting his hand on his chin and frowning. "Well . . . "
---
Slipping on the last of his attire, his red and black cloak, Itachi headed downstairs toward the exit.
The Uchiha Mansion was quiet, with the exception of his almost soundless footsteps.
Sasuke had already left, Itachi knew. He didn't need his guards to tell him that, though they did anyway. The littlest Uchiha was gone, and thought he was free . . .
And he was . . . Itachi admitted, but only for now.
And 'now' was a very short time . . .
As he made it to the front yard, his limo awaited him, as he expected. Inside, Kisame and Deidara sat. Sasori was sent off earlier to keep a close on that red-haired kid.
As the saying goes . . . Keep Your Friends Close, But Your Enemies Closer . . . And right about now, Itachi could really trust anyone, including someone so envious of him, like that Shukaku kid . . .
Itachi didn't waste any time for formalities. A slight nod of his head was enough to greet everyone in the vehicle. He picked up the phone, connected to the driver's, and gave direction. You can't really expect an innocent like the chauffeur to know how to stalk down the littlest Uchiha . . . besides, this guy was new.
The last driver didn't know when to keep his mouth shut . . . poor guy, his family has yet to have his funeral, seeing as how they have no body to bury . . .
Itachi smirked slightly as he glanced to Kisame and Deidara. At least they liked to stalk prey whenever told . . .
Sasuke can be such a handful at times. What, with running off, talking back, and sleeping with others . . . Itachi sighed mutely, he'd have to tame the boy all over again . . . and to think, before the blonde came along, his Otouto was at his every beck and call, no matter what the circumstances . . .
The older Uchiha smiled-though barely noticeably, Sasuke would even do some of his dirty business whenever he mentioned it. Whenever he'd allow it . . .
Turning his smile upside down, Itachi frowned. But now . . . Sasuke wouldn't even think, let alone do, anything he asked him to. He had to get physical with the youth just to get him to do the smallest of things! His Otouto did not look up to him anymore! Did not appreciate and fear his authority! Sasuke did not obey him anymore, and that, he would not stand for! Not for a second longer . . .
Only one person could have Sasuke, and only one will, Itachi mused, and he'd be damned if he'd so easily let that blonde have what he officially proclaimed as his!
---TBC---
A.N.- FINALLY! I'VE UPDATED! It's been about three months, huh? I can honestly say, RL has kept me away, and probably will continue to do so for a while. So, I bring good news . . . slightly. I've made a Yahoo! Group, called YaoiPocky . . . and you're all welcomed to join, with my approval, of course!
On this group, you'll be notified(via e-mail) whenever I update a fic! So you don't have to keep coming back here to check! Oh! And you could post your fics also, notify your readers and reviewers(of course, they'll have to join) whenever you update . . . I know I've been looking for a few Yaoi fics to read!
-The link is on my profile page!
