Wake Me When I Begin To Disappear

~This is A SasuNaru Fanfic! Don't like it, then don't read it! All Naruto characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto

Chapter 20

Sasuke sat in the silence his surroundings naturally gave off.

The place had gotten much more desolated than the last time he had visited and in much need of repairs.

He hadn't stepped foot outside of the residence at all for two days.

The floors squeaked more, the doors were harder to open and sent dust flying everywhere when moved, and most of all, the atmosphere it gave off almost felt colder. Thankfully the small fireplace still worked and gave off some warmth.

As he walked around, he spotted picture frames that had developed enough layers of dust to cover up past faces.

Sasuke didn't bother to clean them.

He didn't want to re-live any unnecessary memories. There was already something troubling him.

Naruto had told him he loved him, yet after believing those words would never be made tangible they were finally said aloud.

Although his reaction was something he never planned. Also his action after hearing those precious words caused him horrible regret, but most of all confusion.

It wasn't like he hadn't heard them before; it even became annoying after being confessed that for so long.

But the fact that it was Naruto who now said it…made the words seem almost wonderful.

However, after running away the way Naruto would have done…Sasuke was now unsure what to do.

(Of course it'd only be that dobe who'd make me feel this way…)

He dusted the ground so he could lie back, staring up at the moldy ceiling.

The smiling blonde's face flashed in his mind as he drifted off to sleep, (Naruto…)

Back at the Konoha House, Naruto's friends wanted to hear the news regarding their troublesome pal.

"Hey Sakura! What happened with Naruto?" Kiba asked as soon as he caught sight of the pink haired girl.

Her eyes were still a little red from crying earlier and he noticed.

It was near closing time and while she was crunching numbers of the day's profits, Kiba and Shikamaru had stayed behind to supposedly help, but really wanted to be informed of their unpredictable friend.

Kiba was getting impatient, "C'mon Sakura! Spill the beans will ya!"

The irritated girl flicked him with her fingers when he had gotten his face too close to hers, "Cool your jets moron!"

He whined, "Sorry, but we just wanna know if the goofball is okay..." he scratched the back of his neck.

Shikamaru agreed, "He's been on edge recently ever since he claimed he got together with that mysterious crush of his…Naruto's always told us everything but lately he's been keeping secrets and it's makin' us worry…"

Sakura saw the slight hurt on the boys' faces, and sighed "It was a lover's spat."

They both looked at her with shock.

"I know, shocker right?" she pulled some hair behind her ear, "Naruto and….his crush…had an argument and that's all."

"Oh wow…" Shikamaru was astonished.

Kiba added, "That sucks…no wonder he's been so moody!" he took a seat across from Sakura.

"Don't worry guys!" she smiled wearily, "Naruto's gone to patch things up with them…"

Shikamaru couldn't help but ask, "Are you sure it's really gonna work out between those two?"

Sakura was confused.

"From what that idiot's told us and how we've seen him act…they, this person of his I mean, doesn't seem like the easiest person to have with him…and not to mention that this person was someone who he hated and they hated him back!" Kiba looked her straight in the eyes, "How is something like that possibly gonna work out? It's highly unlikely that that kind of relationship could ever last…"

Shikamaru agreed, "Yeah, honestly it does seem kinda complicated…"

The green-eyed girl slammed her fist on the table, causing the two to jump, "Haven't you guys ever liked someone so much you thought you hated them because of it!?"

They stared at her blankly.

"Never mind. I shouldn't have expected you guys to understand. How do I put this...It's like being little kids back in grade school, when you liked someone but acted like you hated them just to hide the fact of how much you liked them. You liked that person so much that it made you mad! Naruto's going through something just like that…but it's a little more extreme." She directed her eyes back to the unfinished numbers.

"Geeze, I'll never understand girl logic for as long as I live." Shikamaru sighed.

Kiba put his hands up to his head as if he had a headache, "Same here. My head's killin' me!" then he turned serious again, "But…Naruto will be okay, won't he?"

Sakura let a breath out, "I don't know…but I have faith in him. He'll fix things between them, I just know it." She smiled to herself.

"You're really rooting for those two aren't ya? I mean considering you don't even know who this person is!" Kiba said.

"Oh, I know who it is." Sakura bluntly let out.

"What!? He told you!?" Kiba shouted and Shikamaru was equally as appalled.

She flipped her hair to the side in a mocking manner, "He didn't have to tell me, I figured it out on my own."

Kiba whined, "What the-! That's so not fair!"

"It was pretty obvious in retrospect…then again those two actually ending up together was as much a possibility as a dog seeing a rainbow." She began to crunch numbers in her calculator again.

Shikamaru asked, in an annoyed tone, "Are you going to reveal who it is or not, Sakura?"

"Nah, probably not." She winked at them while sticking her tongue out.

"What the hell, Sakura!?" Kiba stood up.

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you." was her last word.

The street lights had been turned on, signifying how late the hour was.

Naruto was repetitively pounding on his old sensei's door, not caring if he had woken most of the other residents as well.

"KAKASHI! KAKASHI-SENSEI! I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE SO OPEN UP! KAKASHI-SENSEI!"

Kakashi finally opened the door, obviously annoyed at the noisy intruder. "Naruto…" he said menacingly, "Do you realize how late it is right now? ...What the heck are you still doing up?"

Naruto was sweaty and his lungs were aching but he ignored what his body was saying, "That doesn't matter right now! Where is Sasuke!? He wasn't home and I've looked everywhere! Where is he!? I know you know where he is!" he yelled even though he was almost out of breath.

"First offof all, calm down." Kakashi raised a hand to Naruto, then sighed when Naruto lowered his shoulders a bit, "Now then, why are you looking for Sasuke? Did something happen?"

"No, I just really need to talk with him!" he was becoming more anxious. He needed to talk with Sasuke, but he had to find the disappeared raven first.

"Well, if it's that important I'll tell you…" Kakashi yawned and then straightforwardly answered, "Sasuke hasn't been home for the past two days."

Naruto froze.

The older man scratched his head, "I saw him leave the afternoon before with a backpack. When I asked if he needed to talk he just told me not to worry and that it was nothing. Since he was in a foul mood, I didn't pester him with any more questions."

"Where did he go!?" the boy asked.

"I've told you all I know." He shrugged.

Again Naruto felt lost.

(He left!? He actually left!? …Was Sasuke that upset that he had to leave in order to avoid me!? Did I scare the crap outta him that bad!? He's…He's acting like me right now!) The blonde got angry now having hit a dead end.

Naruto was racking his brain and trying to figure out what to do next.

Then it struck him.

When Naruto was confused or upset he'd go to his favorite place in the world, to Ichiraku's for some ramen. So, he had to think of the one place where Sasuke could have possibly gone.

(Where the heck would Sasuke go though?!...He doesn't like the same places I like to go to and I've already searched at the tower and the park we went to last time! ...So where else could he freakin be?!)

His former student had been quiet for some time, clearly struggling to remember something and Kakashi was getting worried looking at Naruto's thinking face, "Um, Naruto…?"

Suddenly the blonde's eyes popped open in realization.

"That's it!" Naruto had regained his energy back.

"What are you talking about?" Kakashi was confused.

Naruto was too busy talking to himself, "Why didn't I think of this before!? No one else would think to look for him there! He has to be there, I just know it!" he took off in a sprint, "Thanks for everything Sensei!"

"Uh, you're welcome?" he wondered if he even actually said anything useful.

Naruto was standing again in front of the eerie house that still gave him chills.

(Sasuke's old house…)

During the day it was already creepy but the night intensified that feeling even more.

Despite having promised he would never enter the old house again, Naruto knew he could not follow through.

He had to talk to Sasuke.

Full with determination, Naruto took a deep breath and walked the steps up to the door. With only one thought he kept repeating inside his head.

(No more running away this time!)

~ A couple readers from deviantart have been wanting this chapter to be up for a long time, and I mean a reeeeeaaaalllly long time ^^; so here it is! I know it'd kind of a teaser plus its pretty short...and probably not what you were expecting for but this all I have for now...(Don't kill me Dx ) I haven't started writing chapter 21 but I will soon and it'll probably be twice as long as this one. (probably...)

I want to thank all of you who've read up to this far and I'm sorry my beginning chapters gave you the wrong impression of this story. I'd like to thank those who actually continued reading on and as you requested I will re-write some of the beginnings chapters. (Bear in mind though that I did say I wrote those a couple years back and that's probably why they sucked...)

I'll finish those soon but can't promise you anything on chapter 21! So be patient please! .

Until then, thanks for reading and I'll see you soon!

-Maya