Chapter 13: Solaced Love

Sakura trailed her fingers along the hallway wall as she took silent steps towards Sasuke's room, a small frown adorning her lips.

Although she was fairly certain she wouldn't be able to pry anything out of Sasuke, it couldn't hurt to try and ask him just what he had been doing with Naruto. She'd seen them after all, so it wasn't like she'd believe denials.

Sakura pressed her palm flat against the door when she reached the room, her other hand falling to circle the knob. She looked to her side at the closed door of Naruto's room, noticing that Kira was not at her post. "Poor thing must have been exhausted," she thought out loud. Then, giving a faint smile, Sakura turned back to her fiance's room.

As her fingers curled into a fist in preparation to knock, she paused, a fine brow quirking upward. Sakura lowered her fist and pressed an ear to the door, jade eyes flickering curiously as mumbled streams of words spoken in Sasuke's voice reached her. She blinked once and crumpled her brow.

Who in the world was Sasuke talking to? Surely he didn't have a guest?

Sakura tilted her head and carefully twisted the knob, quietly pushing the door open just a crack and maneuvering herself so she could peer inside. The last time she had listened in on a conversation from the cover of a door, it had erupted into a bout of hate for the person she had loved most in her life. Sakura prayed this was not a bad decision and focused on what she was looking at.

A faint blush flared out on her cheeks as her gaze settled on Sasuke, standing in front of the fox portrait with no more than a pair of dark blue boxers clung to slim, pale hips. His back was to her, one hand pressing his cellphone against his ear. "So tell me, do you think it's fair to keep secrets in a close relationship?"

Sakura flinched at his words and felt her heart speed up with a beat of anticipation in her chest. She listened closely...

"Well good evening, Nara," Sasuke greeted rather smugly when the brunet answered his phone.

On the other line, Shikamaru narrowed his eyes in uncertainty. "Sasuke? Why are you calling at such a troublesome hour?" He pulled his phone away and stared at it, then put it back to his ear. "Why are calling me at all?"

Sasuke crossed his free arm over his chest, hooking his fingers into the crook of his other arm. "Nara, how close would you consider our friendship?"

Shikamaru gave a dry chuckle and shrugged. "Considering you won't even call me by my given name, not close enough to call it friendship."

Sasuke frowned slightly and looked up, locking gazes with the red-eyed fox. "Maybe not, but considering what kind of world we live in, I think we have a fairly close relationship. Wouldn't you agree?"

Shikamaru considered his words. True, they were not like brothers, but they trusted each other enough. He breathed in slowly and exhaled through a loud sigh, "I suppose so."

Sasuke nodded and shifted his weight on his feet, vaguely hearing a soft 'click' in the background but dismissed the sound. "So tell me, do you think it's fair to keep secrets in a close relationship?"

"What?" Shikamaru replied, baffled. "Where are you going with this, Sasuke? I'm not in the mood for mind fuck games."

Sasuke smirked and rolled his shoulders. "I was just wondering, Shikamaru, if you were ever planning on telling me that you were adopted...if you know, that is."

Sakura jerked, her eyes closing to slits. "Adopted?" she mouthed in repetition of the word. Shikamaru was...? What in the world was going on?

She moved a lock of hair behind her ear to listen more clearly.

Silence.

Sasuke raised a brow, about to prod further when Shikamaru spoke, "How did you find out?"

"So you're not going to deny it?"

Shikamaru pinched the bridge of his nose. "Why would I deny something that's true? That's idiotic."

"And were you just going to hoard this little secret for the rest of your life?" Sasuke quipped in a rather accusing manner.

"Frankly, Sasuke, I believe my secrets are mine and mine alone. Did I start interrogating you when I found out you were not only cheating on your future wife, but cheating with men as well as other women?"

Sasuke's ego deflated a bit at that statement. Shikamaru was right. When he'd discovered Sasuke's dirty little secrets, he'd never cornered Sasuke about them, he'd just left him alone. "All right," he clipped. "That's true. But still, this is pretty big, Nara, you could have said something when I was talking to you about Naruto. I know you went to the orphanage with him and yet when I mentioned him, you said nothing on it."

Sakura's hand flew over her heart as it continued beating erratically against her chest. Naruto was tied into this as well? She glanced back at the servant's room, then turned to Sasuke's.

What had Sasuke mentioned about him? How come she didn't know about any of this?

Shikamaru threaded fingers through his hair, frustrated. "I don't remember any Naruto. In fact, I don't remember much of anything from my time there besides the fact that I was there, and one boy named Chouji who was my best friend at the time."

"Yeah, I met a Chouji when I went over there."

Shikamaru's head shot up. "You did?" His lips fell into a frown. "Why were you over there?"

A picture of Naruto flashed before Sasuke's mind's eye. He hung his head and pushed his toes into the carpet. "That's not important, but yeah, I met him."

"How is he?" Shikamaru asked, curious of his childhood friend.

Sasuke shrugged. "Said he was leaving when he turned 18 because he was never adopted. Other than that, okay I guess...fat as hell." His lips quirked as Shikamaru chuckled.

"He used to get really ticked off when people called him that. I would always stick up for him, though."

Sasuke made a noncommittal noise and digressed from the subject. "So that's all you remember?" he questioned suspiciously.

"That's all," Shikamaru assured, then paused. His fingers began to clench and unclench around the phone. "But while we're on the topic...if you were really over there, did you find out about Gaara?"

Sasuke's eyes flashed, surprised he'd forgotten to ask. "Yes...I find it quite coincidental for you to be marrying into a family with another adopted child from the same place."

Shikamaru bit the nail of his thumb, sighing heavily through his nose. "I..." He lowered his hand and closed his eyes. "Sasuke...has your father, or Akio, told you about the plan?"

Sasuke's eyebrows shot his hairline. "Plan? What plan?"

Shikamaru smirked. "I guess not." He opened his eyes. "Do you want me to tell you?"

Sasuke's expression twisted in confusion. "What the hell are you talking about? What fucking plan?"

"The one that has to do with why I'm marrying Temari, why Gaara was adopted, and why you're marrying Sakura."

Sasuke's pulse began to race. "What? About the publicity thing?"

Shikamaru blinked and suddenly dropped his head in a fit of chuckles. "Publicity? Oh man, is that what they told you?"

"Shikamaru!" Sasuke warned.

The brunet's laughter died down, a small, amused smile on his lips. "Well, I guess that's partially true. But you're going to be pretty fucking pissed if I tell you the whole thing. Sure you want to know?"

Sasuke's nails bit into his palm. "Get on with it."

Sakura's eyes glimmered with confusion at the snippets she caught. "Someone from the Sabaku family is adopted as well?" she questioned softly to herself. She was completely lost on the 'publicity' that Sasuke was talking about.

And why had Sasuke visited Naruto's orphanage? Was that where he went with Naruto?

Suddenly, a loud bang jerked Sakura out of her thoughts, her gaze flitting up to find that Sasuke had punched a fist into the wall and was breathing rather heavily.

The girl bit her lip and quietly stepped back, closing the door soundlessly and hurrying back down the hallway, more confused than when she had come up earlier.

"Fuck!" Sasuke yelled, his knuckles still pressed and throbbing against the blank wall beneath picture.

"I told you you'd get mad," Shikamaru drawled, humor forgotten.

Sasuke growled and stepped forward, gritting his teeth as he pushed his forehead against the fox. "Why didn't they tell me this?" he breathed, blood boiling as the fury nearly dripped from his voice.

Shikamaru shrugged. "Who knows? It's not like your morals are any higher than the rest of us." There was quite a stretch of silence before Shikamaru cleared his throat to call Sasuke's attention back. "Listen Sasuke," he said quietly, "I'm not any more thrilled about this than you are...but I do love Temari, and I want to marry her. So...you're not-"

"Don't worry," Sasuke assured, cutting the other boy off. "I can keep a secret. Your engagement won't be jeopardized."

Shikamaru tipped his head with a barely there twitch of his lips. "Thanks."

Sasuke slowly lowered his fist from the wall. "It's nothing..." He shook his hand and clenched his fingers. "And thank you, Shikamaru, for telling me."

A snort of laughter, "Wow, an honest thank you."

Sasuke smirked slightly. "Don't get used to it," he murmured, then pulled the phone away and snapped it shut, letting out a frustrated groan.

He was not upset at the actual 'plan', that part wasn't entirely surprising to him. Fugaku, Shikamaru's father, Gaara's, Akio, they'd always been particularly greedy people, and willing to go to great lengths to get what they wanted.

No. What angered him was the fact that he had been left in the dark again, that those old bastards had blinded him to their intentions by feeding him that publicity bullshit. Why was he the only one they kept secrets from? Was it because he would not go to any lengths to marry Sakura? They had probably used Shikamaru's affection for Temari as a safety net when they told him, and if Gaara was loyal to anyone, it was to his fam...adopted family.

Sasuke clicked his tongue. If they had told him this from the beginning, would he still have gone through with it? Now that he saw the bigger picture? He couldn't really say he cared, but being lied to like this pissed him off tremendously. He considered his behavior from the time his engagement was set, and felt that if they had told him, he would've taken it a little more seriously. If he'd known there were more factors in this than just him and Sakura, then who knows, maybe he would've been a little more cautious about his actions.

But "ifs" and "knowns" were useless now, Sasuke was tangled up in something far more serious than he'd originally thought, and his marriage to Sakura was a crucial role in this little 'plan.' So to his father and Akio, hell, to everyone, backing out was no doubt not an option. But that certainly didn't mean Sasuke wasn't considering it, especially now.

He supposed things could work out for the Sabakus and Naras if he flat out refused to marry Sakura, but his own family would be excluded and most likely shun him for his decision. Plus, he did tell Shikamaru he wouldn't do anything to screw up the boy's marriage. But damn it, it wasn't fair! They should have told him! "Fuck," he breathed, fingers running through his hair. There were too many interferences for this fucking thing to work now, one that stood out as a sharply pressing matter in Sasuke's mind:

Naruto.

He frowned slightly, remembering his and Naruto's argument at the orphanage. His feelings for the blond servant were growing at a remarkable pace, and Sasuke wasn't so sure anymore if he could go through with marrying someone who he cared so little for and Naruto practically worshiped. And if he considered maybe allowing himself to act on his emotions, then he'd be throwing away everything. His engagement, his family title, his inheritance of the Uchiha company, he'd be tossing everything aside, for Naruto.

Could he do that? He didn't care what people thought about him, but he'd be lying if he said he wasn't interested in his inheritance, and sometimes, it didn't hurt to be in good graces with his family. He cared about Naruto, he wanted to spend time with him, that much was certain. But to throw everything away for him?

"..."

That was a hefty decision that he was in no state to make right now.

Sasuke turned and slowly made his way to the bed, resisting the urge to go seek comfort from a certain blond.

x-X-0-X-x

"With me?" Naruto's eyes narrowed, brow crumpling as his lip curled in confusion. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Sasuke grabbed at the chains of the swing again and pulled Naruto closer. "It means exactly what it sounds like; what I've been saying to you this whole time, or were you not listening to me?" He leaned forward, pushing his forehead against Naruto's, making him stiffen. "Being away from you...it drives me crazy."

Naruto flinched, his stomach giving an uncomfortable flutter. Where the hell was all this coming from? He shoved the other boy away and shot up from the swing. "Are you even listening to yourself?! Do you have any idea what the shit coming out of your mouth sounds like?!"

Sasuke stood angrily, grabbing the younger male by his forearms. "I'm only telling you-"

"NO!" Naruto bent his arms and threw them down, forcing Sasuke's hands off of him. "Stop it! The things you're saying..." He flushed. "It's like you want a fucking relationship with me or something!"

Sasuke parted his lips to retort, but whatever words he had ready died on his tongue. He closed his mouth, pressing it in a thin line.

...It did sound like that, didn't it?

He recalled his words, "get to know you", "between us", "I care about you", it sounded like a proposition of affection if Sasuke had ever heard one.

And he had, many times, just not coming from him.

A relationship...with Naruto...Sasuke was surprised to find that it actually sounded tempting, that his mind did not jump to reject the thought. But obviously, another part of him was in undeniable protest. Since when did he ever consider sticking to one person? Such a thought was ludicrous. Spending time with Naruto was already pushing it, considering the boy was still a hated asset in the Haruno household, but Sasuke was determined in achieving this anyway.

But a relationship was something completely different, he was still engaged to Sakura after all. And if being around Naruto didn't piss the Harunos off, surely leaving Sakura for him would do the trick, and Sasuke was certainly not the kind of person to risk himself for someone else.

Then again...there's never been a "someone else" in his life like Naruto.

Sasuke was at a loss. He always seemed torn whenever put in situations that involved decisions about the blue-eyed servant. The fact that he was even thinking about decisions with him at all was astounding to him.

Lost in his thoughts, Sasuke remained silent. Not affirming Naruto's words...yet not denying them either.

A brilliant blush flooded Naruto's cheeks at Sasuke's failure to respond. The possibility that an actual relationship with him was what Sasuke wanted made his heart thrum nervously against his chest, the fine hairs on the back of his neck and arms stand on end. "No," he whispered, then blinked twice and shook his head, pulling himself out of his stunned stated. "I can't do this." He shoved past Sasuke and started walking to the chain-link fence.

Naruto would admit to himself, that he yearned to know what it felt like to be someone's everything, after so long having been everyone's nothing. But if the person who wanted to give him that would wind up hurting the person he loved most, then how could he live with himself if he accepted?

Sasuke had grunted at the push and turned, quickly following behind the other. "Where are you going?" he called.

"Home!" Naruto hollered, not looking back at him.

Sasuke rolled his eyes as Naruto jumped onto the fence and started climbing the short distance. He quickened his pace to a jog and grabbed the blond's leg. "Don't be stupid, dobe! It's over ten miles!"

Naruto's eyes shot down to him. "I don't care!" he yelled back, jerking his leg out of Sasuke's grip as he did.

Sasuke grit his teeth and began to climb as well when Naruto fell solidly on his feet on the other side, then kept walking.

"Wait!" Sasuke jumped down and hurriedly reached for the other male, grabbing his wrist and yanking him back. "I said wait."

Naruto growled and pushed his free hand against Sasuke's shoulder. "Let go!"

Sasuke pulled Naruto around by the hold he had on his wrist, pushing him into the fence back-first. "Will you calm down? I didn't even give you an answer!"

Naruto felt the metal wires digging diamond shapes into his back, and he finally broke Sasuke's grip on his wrist, glaring heatedly at him. "Not saying anything was enough!" he spat, tangling a hand through his hair in frustration. "You were fucking thinking about it! And I'm telling you right now to forget it, all of it. This 'spending time with me' bullshit, I don't know where it came from, but I'm not buying anything that comes out of your mouth. After what you did to me, I don't see what the hell makes you think I would-"

Sasuke hooked his fingers into the gate on either side of Naruto's head as he cut his words, "I wasn't lying when I told you I was sorr-"

Naruto's arm struck out at him, clipping his chest as the Uchiha jumped back to avoid the hit. "Well you can take your fucking apology and shove it up your ass because I don't want it!" His shoulder shoved against Sasuke's as he tried to sidestep him again, but Sasuke was quick to grab at his arm and tug him back.

Naruto's head snapped to him with a vehement scowl. But the expression fell slightly when he locked gazes with the other boy, who's eyes gave the impression that they could very well be boring into Naruto's soul. Naruto shrank a bit at the intense look but did not let his lips move one centimeter.

Sasuke continued to stare at him. He tightened his fingers around the tanned flesh and leaned down so his mouth brushed lightly against Naruto's. "You don't want it?" he whispered challengingly.

The servant stayed quiet. He opened his mouth without releasing a sound, eyes dark and contemplating before closing it just as silently. Within another few moments, he opened again with a narrowed gaze. "All right...I do want it," he whispered back with the same degree of challenge. "I just don't want to believe it. I don't want to believe someone who's caused me and the person I love so much pain just suddenly regrets his actions." He snorted and jerked his arm closer, thus pulling Sasuke closer so their bodies collided. "You sound sincere, but liars are always the best actors. You've done nothing to convince me that you're being honest. So you brought me to see some old friends, I appreciate it, but what does it prove about who you are? How does it prove that you 'care' about me like you claim to? What have I done for you to care for?" He quieted, giving Sasuke a chance to answer.

"I..." Sasuke began somewhat awkwardly, "I already told you that I don't know. I don't know why I feel for you, I just know that I do."

Naruto blinked at him. "If you don't know, then how can you expect me to believe you?"

Sasuke's jaw clenched. "You're not being fair-"

"Fuck you!" Naruto shouted. "I'm not being fair?! When the hell have you ever been 'fair' with me? Huh? If you could pull your head out of your own ass for five seconds and see this from my side, you'd see I'm being ridiculously fucking fair with you, asshole. Hell, I'm not even supposed to be in the same room as you, and here I am trying to understand where all this shit you're spewing at me is coming from! And you have the balls to tell me I'm 'not being fair?'"

Sasuke made a frustrated sound. "You're not giving me a chance! I'm trying to tell you how I feel, being fucking honest about it, something I never do, and you're brushing me off as a liar! How am I supposed to prove to you that I don't want to hurt you anymore if you won't even accept an honest apology for what I've done?" He let go of Naruto, shooting him an expectant glare.

Naruto wrapped his fingers around his abused arm and looked down. "...I don't know," he murmured finally, eyes flicking upward to hold on Sasuke's. "But we're going in circles here, this isn't solving anything. Let's go back home." He turned, beginning to make his way to the parking lot.

Sasuke let out an agitated sigh and followed him. "Naruto, wait a minute."

"No, Haruno-sama's going to come home and see that we're not there, and we're going to be knee deep in a shitload of trouble, we have to leave."

Sasuke reached for Naruto's shoulder and pulled himself in front of him, forcing the younger boy to look at him. "At least tell me I accomplished something here, Naruto. Will you give me another chance?"

Naruto felt a whirlwind of butterflies erupt in the pit of his stomach. Sasuke just wouldn't drop it...that had to mean something in itself. Though he knew he shouldn't, he liked that there was someone so desperately willing to spend time with him, even if the reasons for it were not clearly founded. Were it not for Sakura, he would not be searching for reasons not to forgive Sasuke in the first place. He wanted the attention, the pleasant change Sasuke was offering him, but because of his care for his sister, could not allow himself to have it.

"If you're really sorry," Naruto said, "and you really want me to...like you..." He lightly pushed Sasuke's hand off his shoulder. "Show it to me with your actions, not your words. Stop cheating on Sakura, stop coming after me. If you do that, then I'll believe you."

Sasuke frowned deeply. "That's a very difficult task, Naruto. Being around you, but not being able to touch you."

Naruto scowled at him. "It's the only way I'll believe you're being honest. And I don't see what's so difficult about it-" he flinched as Sasuke suddenly cupped his face, tracing a thumb over his cheekbone with a small, amused smile. "If you knew how good it felt to kiss you, you would."

Naruto flushed and knocked pale hands off of him, choosing not to say anything as the butterflies frenzied in his stomach.

Sasuke chuckled quietly. "Because you asked me to, Naruto, I'll try...but I make no promises on it..."

...

A familiar ring locked on Naruto's attention, pulling him out of the memory. Cobalt blue held on to the ceiling. After a few moments, Naruto confirmed that the tone was for him and moved from the bed to stand up.

The young blond walked out of his room, surprised to find that Kira was not standing in front of his door. He tilted his head and scanned the area, not seeing the girl anywhere.

Well that was strange...she was there earlier, when Naruto came back. The poor woman had been utterly panicked, waking up to find that Naruto had vanished. The look of relief on her face when she saw him coming down the hallway alone had weighted Naruto's heart with guilt. She had promised Naruto that she wouldn't tell Haruno-sama about his absence, but Naruto had a sneaking suspicion that she was only doing that for her own benefit, so the man would not find out that she had been sleeping on the job.

The servant stared at the empty space before shrugging and shutting his door, hurrying downstairs to see what Haruno-sama wanted, his heart skipping a beat as he passed Sasuke's room.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Haruno Estate - 5 years ago...

Naruto lay in bed with a deep frown marring his features.

He could hear the quiet murmurs of Sakura down the hall in another room, practicing her lines for a play she was performing at her school. She'd been very excited about it for the last few weeks, it was all she talked about. It seemed that even the Uchiha, God's gift to men, had been put on the back burner in favor of this play.

Naruto wished he knew what play she was rehearsing for...of course, with Sakura ignoring him since the kiss incident, he was not sure how he would acquire this information.

He'd really fucked up this time. He'd even apologized the moment the opportunity arose, but Sakura refused to have anything to do with him. It struck him like a stake in the heart whenever she looked at him now, her green eyes icy and cold as she attempted to glare him to hell.

Naruto was pulled from his moping by the creak of his door, seeing Ruka walk inside and leave it wide open behind her. "Ruka-san," he murmured in acknowledgment, assuming his adopted mother had come up to kiss him goodnight as she often did.

The woman strolled to his bed with the elegance of a ballet dancer, the iridescent blue of her eyes nearly shining in the dark room. She leaned down and pushed her lips against his cheek, sitting down beside him on the bed so it dipped under her weight.

Naruto raised himself up slightly, assuming the woman wanted to talk to him about something since she took a seat on his mattress. "Are you all right, okaasan?" he asked quietly, the endearment slipping of its own accord.

She tilted her head, brunette waves cascading about his face as she hovered over him, palms sliding on the bed on either side of him. "I think I should be asking you that question," she whispered back.

Naruto raised a brow, showing his confusion at her words.

The soft trestles tickled his face as Ruka shook with a gentle chuckle. "Naruto, sweetheart, you've been sulking around this house like a mourner for days. Surely you didn't think I'd simply allow you to keep on without questioning what was wrong?" Her voice was clear and warm, inviting and open.

Naruto hesitated. "N...no, Ruka-san, nothing's wrong." He gave a dry laugh in an attempt to appease her. The effort was an utter failure, shown by the fine brow that rose in a graceful curve upon her forehead. Naruto frowned and cast his eyes downward. "Well..." He flicked his gaze back up to her. "Sakura's just been upset with me...and I don't know what to do to get her happy with me again..."

Ruka smiled and carded her fingers through her adoptive son's golden tresses. "And what did you do to make her so upset?"

Naruto flushed a deep crimson and looked away. "I...don't really wanna talk about it..." ice shards peeked at her from the corner of his eyes. "If that's all right," he finished quietly.

The woman laughed and nodded. "She'll be over it soon enough. After all," her fingers slid from his hair to cradle a warm, whiskered cheek, her thumb stroking the markings lovingly. "Who in their right mind can stay upset with you? You're sweeter than flowers dipped in honey, then," she moved forward and pressed her forehead to his, "coated in sugar."

Naruto scrunched his nose at the nearly sickening amount of sweetness that imagery produced, then chuckled under his breath at it. His eyes were held by hers as he spoke, "What about you, Ruka-san?" he questioned. "You and Haruno-san have been arguing a lot lately, is everything okay?"

She seemed to stiffen a bit at the mention of her husband, then calmed herself. "Don't you worry about that, Naruto. It's adult things, nothing you need to stress yourself over."

The little blond frowned sadly at her. "I don't like that he yells at you, though." He reached up and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug, moving his lips to her ear. "You don't deserve it," came out through an affectionate whisper.

Ruka flinched, then felt her lips pull into a wide smile. She reached behind her and pulled Naruto's hands away, gently pushing the boy back into the mattress. She leaned down and pressed her lips against his forehead, her mouth dropping kisses down to his temple, his nose, his cheek, until Naruto closed his eyes when she pushed her lips to his.

Naruto waited for her to move away before he opened his eyes...but the moment never came. His lids fluttered lightly when Ruka continued the kiss, his heart stuttering beats as her mouth began to move against his. This was not the motherly peck he had been expecting.

Naruto whined, his sapphire eyes widening as he shifted uncomfortably beneath the older woman. Ruka's hand slid up to his hair, tugging lightly at it while the other skimmed down Naruto's clothed torso.

Naruto's mind was reeling in uncertainty, in confusion, he lay motionless now as icy fingers slipped under his shirt to shock flushed skin. He was pushed back into the pillow as Ruka deepened the kiss, her hand still tangled in his hair as he let out a helpless whimper. The loose tendrils of her dark hair pooled around their heads like melted chocolate.

Naruto's heartbeat thundered in his ears, yet his body remained frozen.

A soft gasp filled the room, and Naruto thought the noise had come from himself, until Ruka broke away from him and her eyes jolted to the doorway, where Akio stood open-mouthed at the scene.

For what couldn't have been more than seconds, but stretched on for hours, nothing happened. Naruto's eyes were fixated on Akio through their corners, his chest rising and falling rapidly, like that of a dying animal. Ruka was still over him, her expression twisted in a mixture of disorientation and chagrin, and Akio stood at the doorway with bewilderment scrawled across his features. Then, as quietly as he had come, he abruptly turned and left.

Ruka glanced at Naruto, then back at the entrance, panting slightly and looking torn about the decision. Without warning, she shot up with glittering eyes and hurried out the door, calling to her husband as she did so.

Naruto lay silent, still in a state of shock.

Why had she done that?

What had she expected him to do?

Why hadn't he done anything? Pushed her away?

The threat of tears built a hard pressure behind his eyes, so he screwed them shut, and whispered a breath of Sakura' s name, even though he knew there would be no answer...

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Naruto stepped into Akio's study, closing the door behind him and making his way to the man's desk, where the eldest Haruno was bent over paperwork. Naruto cleared his throat, lacing his fingers behind his back. "You wanted to see me, Haruno-sama."

Jade eyes flicked up to him, his mouth set in a stern line as he slowly straightened himself to speak to the younger male. "We are hosting a party the night after tomorrow, in celebration for the nearing of Sakura and Sasuke's wedding."

Naruto stiffened at the monotone words, his breath stuttering out in response to them. He bit the inside of his cheek and forced himself to relax, being careful not to alert Akio's attention to his reaction, which could not be interpreted as a positive one. But he had no time to ponder that at the moment.

Akio caged his fingers, placing his elbows on the desk. "Have you seen the new maid? Belarmina?"

Despite himself, Naruto felt his brow crinkle and the corners of his lips pull into a light scowl. "I haven't seen much," he muttered with a bite of sarcasm. The man had locked him up in his room, and he was sitting here asking him if he'd seen some new servant girl? Akio knew very well the answer to that, and the rebellious part of Naruto refused to allow him to answer the question.

But if Akio caught the somewhat snarky remark, he did not show it, as he continued his explanation just as calmly as before, "We're going to need all the servants on duty that night, including her and including you. You must have noticed that I removed Kira from her post?"

A brief silence passed before Naruto answered, "Yes, I did see that."

The man's lips gave the faintest quirk. "You like that I moved her?" he asked, more in accusation than anything else.

Behind him, Naruto felt his nails digging into his palm, infuriated that the man was taunting him. "I will admit, I don't particularly enjoy being watched like a dog every hour of every day." He closed his eyes, "But if you think it's for the best, Haruno-sama," he opened them, "then who am I to argue?"

"It's a yes or no question, Naruto."

Naruto grit his teeth, letting out a hiss of defeat between them. "Yes," he admitted.

Akio tipped his head and leaned back. "Then you'll be happy to know she's off that assignment permanently, you are free to your chores and to move about the estate as you usually do."

Naruto's eyes widened with surprise, his lips falling apart slightly. "Ah," was all that slipped out.

"However," Akio's gaze narrowed to green and white slits, giving the blond a suspicious look. "I trust you know who you are to stay away from, Naruto."

Naruto felt an uninvited flush rush up his neck, and tried his best to fight it down as his heart pushed painfully against his chest. He'd expected the words, the moment Akio told him he had his freedom back (well, what little freedom he had), but for some reason, it hadn't softened the impact they had on him. He breathed heavily through his nose, closing his eyes as he raised one hand and ran fingers through his hair. "Yes, I understand," he whispered.

"Make sure that you do. Those types of lessons seem difficult for you to learn, keeping people away from you."

Naruto jerked violently, not having expected a blow that hard, much less Akio bringing it up at all. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but then closed it just as quickly. Letting out frustrated snort, Naruto gave a curt bow and turned around, walking hurriedly to the door and yanking it open. He stepped out halfway but suddenly stopped, Sasuke's words reverberating in his mind, full and wondering, "How can they hate you so much? How can anyone...hate you so much?"

The sound of his breathing was the only noise that broke the quiet, and Naruto abruptly turned with determinedeyes to find Akio's attention back over his paperwork. But he let out the words anyway, as if they'd flown straight off his tongue, "You know, I've tried, more than half my life, to get you to accept me, to be in your favor, and even before what happened, nothing ever worked. I know that I was wrong in not doing anything about it...but you can't blame all of it on me...you have the right to be angry, I agree that you do...but the way that you treat me, what you took from me - my friends, my school, my freedom - it's...it's not fair, Haruno-sama, I..." He wiped an arm roughly across his eyes. "I didn't deserve it! How could I have possibly reacted clearly to her?! She was supposed to be my mother and I was only thirteen! I didn't know what was happening! I still don't know why she did it! You can't continue to hate me or treat me like you do because of what happened! It doesn't all fall on my shoulders!"

Akio's eyes, green as the towering canopies of forest tree tops, lifted and held Naruto's blue. Water on leaves. And what came out of his mouth, caused Naruto's heart to sink to the pit of his stomach, "I don't know what you're talking about. Now go." His attention fell back on his work without so much as a second glance.

The blatant lie dipped Naruto's head, his bangs shadowing his eyes. "Yeah...guess that's no surprise," he murmured, then left without closing the door.

Naruto slowly made his way to the stairs that led up to the servants' quarters, taking them one at a time with his gaze still locked to the floor.

He'd been denying those feelings for years, Sasuke's words having been the triggering factor that finally gave him the courage to accept that they were true, to say them out loud. He'd never really examined how the Harunos treated him, just accepted it as a rightful punishment for what happened with him and Ruka. It took a lot for him to say that to the man, and Akio, once again, refused to acknowledge him.

But even though his outburst was brushed off, it still felt like a huge burden had been lifted off his chest, and as much as he hated to recognize it...Naruto had Sasuke to thank for that. In fact, lately, Sasuke had again and again, today especially, said things, done things, that made Naruto feel like all the shit he had been put through these past five years was not fair to him. And Naruto liked the feeling...he loved it.

It was just this morning that Sasuke had been damn near begging Naruto to spend time with him, and after how Akio had just ignored him, Naruto had a good mind to ignore him as well, break his orders and grant Sasuke the time he wanted so badly.

But then...Sakura was always a factor...

He knew it was selfish, that it was wrong, downright unfair to her, but after today...Naruto had to admit that being around Sasuke was not as...painful as it used to be. Shit, he made Naruto feel good about himself, who wouldn't crave for that feeling?

He stopped at the top of the stairs, stumbling slightly, his back hitting the wall as a loud sob tore from his throat, bringing him to realize that he had begun to cry. Naruto's bottom lip trembled as his hands fisted at his sides, and his head dropped forward only to shoot back up, banging against the wall. He did it once more, head falling before swinging back against the wall again and again. Naruto slid down the wall, the tears streaming as he hit the floor. Everything was so fucked up, so fucking complicated. Naruto brought his knees up, wrapping his arms around and burying his face in them as his breaths hitched with the warm droplets running down his cheeks.

"You sure do cry a lot..."

Naruto jumped, his crystalline eyes flying up to lock on Sasuke's pale form, clad in nothing but blue boxers as he stood in the now opened doorway of his room. He stared wide-eyed at the Uchiha for a few moments, then snapped out of his daze with a light blush and looked to his side. "F-fuck you," he stuttered out, fault of his breathing. He flinched when he felt Sasuke's presence suddenly much closer to himself, sitting right beside him to be precise, his knees bent up just the same as Naruto's.

Sasuke observed him silently before lifting an arm and winding it around his shaking shoulders, pulling him closer and pressing his mouth into the sun kissed hair. "It's all right," he whispered, then gave a soft chuckle. "I'm a little down myself."

Naruto opened his mouth quickly, tears still running, yet nothing came out. He did not have the will, the energy, to deny Sasuke's touch, and if he were truly honest with himself...not the desire to either.

Sasuke's gaze flickered over the blond head, waiting for a reaction. When none came, he sighed into the soft trestles and tightened his hold on Naruto, relieved that he did not push him away.

Ignorant to the possibility of being caught, or perhaps, for the moment, uncaring of the possibility, they sat in the darkened hallway, in the comfort of each other's voiceless words.

i cannot promote her enough, ne0guardian has created her very own doujinshi out of this story! the link is on my profile (somewhere, good luck finding it) if you're interested in reading it!

thank you all for being so patient with me!