Only In Fiction - Part 2 - Publication Blunders

Chapter Twenty-Four

There was a heavy rasp of the door that startled Sasuke from the novel he was indulging himself in. He glanced at the time, realising how late it was before he moved to his feet to answer the door. The rasp came harder, almost desperate which worried Sasuke. Was it Naruto? Did something bad happen?

Sasuke yanked the door open quickly, only to feel the person on the outside brush past him. He barely got a chance to see who it was, but the fact there was little greeting, Sasuke already guessed who it was.

Hyuuga Neji stormed into the house and began to pace, looking extremely upset. "What's wrong?" Sasuke asked as he closed the door, almost groaning as the muddy shoes (he wasn't sure why they were muddy though) left dark patches on his cream carpet. "You look upset."

"You think?" Neji hollered at him, his voice stained with tears, which wasn't the only thing. "You think I'm upset? That's not even the basis of what I'm feeling at the moment!"

Sasuke had never seen Neji cry (ok, that was a lie, there had been one other time he cried but that wasn't the point!). The fact he was so broken up really sent signals to Sasuke's brain. Something tremendously bad had happened, but what was it? "What happened," Sasuke moved quickly over to Neji, grabbing his shoulders so he stopped moving about. He must have been crying for hours, his eyes were all swollen and red. "Neji, tell me what happened?"

"G-Gaara…" he managed to choke the words out before he collapsed on the spot, loud sobs escaping.

Sasuke did the first thing he could think of, wrapping his arms around Neji and pulling him close. What had happened to Gaara? Not that Sasuke really cared about Gaara on a bad day, but knowing something happened to his friend (ok 'pretend friend' [1]) was serious.

The Gaara that Sasuke knew was strong, so something happening was really scary. "I-I…" Neji was really choked up so it took a few minutes for him to manage his breathing. "I-I was cooking di-dinner when I-I heard a-a knock on the d-door. Ga-Gaara seemed h-h-huddled over, but he-he acted normal, s-stating he was going to the ba-bathr-room. I-I thought som-something was odd an-and that's when I no-noticed bl-blood on the f-front door. I ra-raced after him to-to find him co-collapsed and b-bleeding in the bathroom…" his voice was gone and sobs followed.

Sasuke felt his stomach sink, his eyes widening. Someone attacked Gaara? Sure, he had his enemies, but no one would dare hurt him… right? "Do you know who did this?"

"H-He went to s-see your brother."

That was all he needed to know.

The buzzing sensation of Naruto's phone startled him from a nice dream. Groaning he picked it up and stared at the screen. One Message flashed up on his screen, but it was by a number he didn't know. He debated about ignoring it but opened the message up anyways.

'I know this is incredibly late, but you need to get your ass down to the hospital… Gaara was stabbed, he's in intensive care.

S'

Naruto stared at the screen, almost paralyzed to the bed.

In a flash, Naruto jumped out of bed and dressed in a hurry, startling the other person in the bed across from him. The man stirred, sitting up and rubbing his face. "Naruto?" the blonde haired man asked, yawning quietly. "What's wrong?"

Naruto hesitated in telling Minato-san what had happened, but the words rushed out anyways. "M-My friend's hurt and been taking to hospital. I-I need to go," he said racing out of the room before his father could ask what Naruto was going on about. There was no time to think about anything at all.

Naruto jumped the final two steps of the apartment building, coming to a halt at the car out front. Leaning on the side was Sasuke, dressed in all black and looking rather frightening. "I came to take you to the hospital since there's no transport there." He opened the door, his pale face reflected in the dim street lights. "Before you freak out, he's in a stable condition."

Breathing a sigh of relief, he approached Sasuke. "You saw him."

"After Neji fell asleep, I headed over. He's unconscious but alive. The wound was shallow, but a lot of blood was lost."

"Who would do such a thing?"

"Naruto," Sasuke began as his hands clenched around the open door. "You've only seen one side of my brother, but Gaara, Neji and I have seen the other, feral side of him."

…What…?

"My brother was the one who stabbed Gaara."

"WHY?"

"It's a warning, Naruto. Gaara is… working for Orochimaru." There was uncertainty in his face.

Well this was just fucking fantastic! "W-Willingly?"

"No, I don't think so. Hyuuga wasn't aware of Gaara's dealings either. Gaara got caught up in something and was sadly forced to go and spy on Itachi. Itachi retaliated and stabbed him as a warning for Orochimaru. If this had been any other case, Itachi wouldn't have laid a finger on Gaara."

With Naruto safely at the hospital and by Gaara's bed, Sasuke drove over to a dark building that appeared to have never seen the light of day. There was a reason the sight was hidden in an area like this, but Itachi had never elaborated why. Of course, Sasuke had a suspicion it had to do with the secret passages that happened to flow between his home and the work sight here. [2] It didn't matter since he was determined to speak to his brother.

Of course, it seemed like he was expected, two guards leaning against the building stopped him, and before they could ask who he was or what he wanted, he said firmly, "I'm here to see Itachi-nii-sama," and brushed past them, leaving the two men behind.

To be truthful, he wasn't quite sure where he was going, but thankfully the two men followed after him, offering to direct him to Itachi's office. Sasuke had seen the building a few times, but he'd never gone inside until today. It was different to what he expected from a Yakuza hideout. He didn't pay attention to the place, just where he was going.

On the second floor, towards the end (or the entrance if you were on the first floor) was a double door, being guarded by two more men. He recognized the red headed and the blonde, but he ignored them, the other two explaining that Itachi's brother was here to see him.

Before anyone could move, Sasuke stormed to the door, kicking it open and storming in. No one around was prepared for the first shot, and it seemed Itachi was even surprised that Sasuke drew a gun at him. Of course, Sasuke missed on purpose, since he wasn't actually here to hurt his brother…

…At least he hoped not.

"What did I do to deserve that kind of greeting," Itachi said his voice slow and uncertain. Itachi rose from his chair and ushered the men out, leaving this issue between the two brothers. "I gathered you'd be angry."

"Angry doesn't even cut it, Itachi. You stabbed my friend! Not only did you hurt him, but you've affected Neji and Naruto emotionally! Did you even think about what you were doing this afternoon?"

"Did you think I really wanted to stab Gaara?" Itachi snapped, pulling a small black case from his pocket. Itachi rarely smoked, but he often lit one up when he was anxious or upset. "You know I had no intentions to kill him. If I wanted him dead, then it would have been worse."

"You still stabbed him nevertheless!"

Itachi growled as he sat down on the edge of his desk, running a hand through his hair as he stared at the gun that still pointed at him. "Sasuke put that blasted thing away."

"Not until I get answers," Sasuke replied sharply. "As much as Gaara pisses me off, you still stabbed him and have hurt many of the people I love. Not to mention what Neji told me you said to him."

"I didn't mean any of that. It was just to provoke him. You know better than anyone that I have no intention of hurting Naruto. He's Minato's son, and you know I look up to Minato. I wouldn't have hurt Gaara if it wasn't for the fact that he was working for Orochimaru."

"But Gaara didn't want to be in that position, now did he?"

"Of course not, but Orochimaru is scheming something, and I have to work out what," Itachi sighed, the smell of smoke drifting around him. Sasuke did his best to ignore the smell, feeling sick because of it. "Sasuke, I wasn't out to hurt anyone."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes as he lowered the gun, hating himself for drawing a weapon on Itachi, who was doing everything in his power to protect him. Something was wrong, but there was no way to explain just what. What the hell are you thinking Itachi? "Yet you still did."

Itachi growled again, scratching his head rather violently. "Yet I did," Itachi agreed angrily before saying with a cruel, yet sweet smile "just like our father, ne Sasuke?"

It was just an accident, but Sasuke's eyes saw red for a sheer moment, and then he found himself standing in front of Itachi, who grabbed his fist before it slammed into his face. "How dare you…" Sasuke began, feeling choked up. "How dare you think you're like father? You're twice the man he is!"

Itachi's face didn't shift from the smile, and for the first time ever, Sasuke realised what was wrong.

Itachi, too, had experienced abuse from their father, but never acted as if anything was wrong. But something was wrong. He was just… evil as their father, maybe worse. But… it wasn't his fault it was just the trauma that made him fight on. It as probably why the last few years Kakashi hadn't spoken to his brother properly. He was suffering too, and because of it, he was slowly growing ruthless… and two faced even. Was the the man he knew and loved really throwing himself that way. Was he really destroying himself from the inside out?

"I'm a cruel man, Sasuke. We both know that."

Yeah, Sasuke knew that but it didn't mean he believed it. "You're not a cruel man you're just a scared man doing his best to keep strong, to stay sane. But because of it, you're losing your mind, nii-san. Stop acting brave and, for once, allow yourself to feel weak. Actually cry for once."

"My tears dried up a long time ago, Sasuke."

"No they haven't," with his free hand, Sasuke brushed a small tear away from the corner of his brother's eye. "Crying isn't a sign of weakness, it's just a sign of being strong for too long."

The cruel smile dropped and for the first time in ages Sasuke saw his older brother. Maybe it was out of shame or embarrassment, but Itachi hid his face in the corner of Sasuke's neck, using his brother as a support. Neither of them uttered a word, because there was no need to express any more words tonight.

When Naruto had finally left the hospital, Sasuke was waiting for him by the entrance, looking rather sad. "What's wrong, sensei?" Naruto asked as he joined him, staring up to the sky with his sensei.

"I just saw Itachi," Sasuke replied softly, sighing as the cool breeze brushed against his warm skin. "He's really depressed, almost broken. He's just… I can't describe the man I saw tonight. It was like for a long time I was talking to a stranger, but something's bugging him."

"What does that make this then?"

"I don't think he actually intended to stab Gaara, it just happened. It was just beyond his conscious to actually stop himself from doing something as dangerous as that. Then again, that's probably why he's good at what he does, because he can be frightening at the best of times. He is, after all, one of the best actors I know." Sasuke pushed away from the wall and rolled his shoulders. "I better get you home, your dad's probably freaking out by now."

Naruto winced, knowing he was going to have to explain to him about tonight. "Yeah, I guess we better go."

This was awkward, Sasuke had been so quiet Naruto was almost paralyzed by the silence, but when Sasuke did speak, he was pretty much determined to walk him back to his apartment room. Not that Naruto minded that, it was just the silence was agonizing uncomfortable.

By the time they reached the end of the hall way on the second floor, Naruto grabbed Sasuke's arm and stopped him. "Sensei, something's wrong. Are you alright? Do you wanna come in and talk about it?"

Sasuke shook his head a smiled weakly. "No, I'm just worried about Gaara and my brother. And besides, it's late, so you should go straight to bed."

"But-"

Naruto's protest was cut off when Sasuke silenced him, pressing a finger to Naruto's lips. "Please, I'm tired. It's been a long day, and we both could do with some rest."

Naruto still wanted Sasuke to talk, but maybe he should drop it here. "Alright… I'll come over tomorrow and we'll talk about it if that's better."

Sighing uncomfortably, Sasuke gave in. "Fine, we'll talk about it tomorrow," and he turned to leave.

Of course, Naruto still really didn't want Sasuke to leave, so he grabbed hold of his arm again and pulled Sasuke about. Maybe it was stupidity on his behalf, but he caught his sensei's lips between his own, giving him a small peck on the lips before smiling weakly at his sensei's shocked face. "Goodnight," he said unwillingly as he let go and turned to leave.

Sasuke acted instinctively, grabbing Naruto and pressing him against the wall, reclaiming the lips again. Naruto almost freaked but settled into the kiss, desperately wanting to keep Sasuke close to him. They both needed comforting, but maybe now wasn't the time.

However, there was no room for protesting. Sasuke's mouth trailed away from the blondes lips, tasting the skin of his throat. His hand coiled into the back of Naruto's hair, feeling disappointed that the once silky blonde hair had been poisoned by the brown hair dye. It was growing out, but it would take ages for it to return to good again.

Never mind, Sasuke was far too engrossed with the noises Naruto made as the sensitive skin of his neck was tormented. Wrapping a leg around Sasuke's back, Naruto arched forwards, desperately wanting to feel more of the warmth that tortured him just so. It was taking everything in him to keep his voice down, not wanting to disturb his slumbering neighbours.

It seemed though Sasuke wanted him to make more noises as his other hand traced down Naruto's shirt before slipping under it, running cool fingers down the warm chest.

Naruto made a startled noise, one a little too loud for his liking. Maybe it was time they needed to stop.

"S-Sensei… we need to stop," Naruto finally gasped out, though he wasn't quite convincing.

One of the reasons why he wanted to stop was because he didn't feel quite ready to step their relationship up that notch, at least, not in a public sense. Conversely, Sasuke didn't seem like he was in the mood to stop, capturing Naruto's lips once again.

The kiss didn't last long when someone cleared their throat, stopping them dead in their tracks. The kiss broke and both turned towards the tall figure standing in Naruto's doorway. The next words freaked Sasuke out the most. "D-Dad…"

Oh god… Sasuke let go of Naruto, not sure what to do now. It seemed Naruto was also in this state. "I wasn't… aware you were in such a relationship," Namikaze Minato spoke in a soft voice, one that wasn't angry, but rather kind. Minato was always softly spoken, despite being a little crazy at times. "Nor would I have guessed it was with the youngest son of the Uchiha family."

Sasuke winced at the same time Naruto spoke. "I-I'm sorry. Things just got out of hand and-"

No, Sasuke was going to take the blame. He cut Naruto off and took a step forward, bowing slightly to Minato. "I'm sorry I should have informed you I was courting your son."

Naruto spluttered at the word courting. However, it just amused Minato mpre. "I have no issues with you having a relationship with my son, Sasuke-kun. In fact, I'm more surprised that you two even remember each other."

That surprised the both of them. Remember each other…? "I don't think I understand, Minato-san… have Naruto and I met before?"

"Yes… a long time ago." Minato smile was one that promised not to give anything away just yet. "Anyways, it's late so it's off to bed with the both of you. I hope we get to speak again, Sasuke-kun."

"O-Of course," Sasuke said, the shock still in his voice. There was just one other question Sasuke really wanted to know, but instead he bid a goodnight to both of them and fled, the question circling in his mind.

How the hell did Minato know his name?

[1] Yes, pretend friend. My friend Matt and I say that to each other lol. I got upset with him so he turned around and said "let's be pretend friends' instead. I thought it was funny to add.

[2] I mentioned this a while ago, but I thought to add a note here to remind you guys that Itachi used it once before to sneak into Sasuke's room.