Yeah… um… sorry its taken forever for me to update this fic. I really wish I could have done it sooner but I was slightly braindead. I mean… hmm… well… I'm still slightly braindead, but I can try my best anyways and see how sucky the chapter comes out! MWA HAA HAA!!

I Bleed Black
Chapter Thirty-Five: You Were There

Almost a week had passed since Sasuke and Naruto had begun their relationship. They were growing closer than they were, but neither was willing to move onto the next step, especially with what had been revealed only a few months before – what with their past, it wasn't hard to understand why.

Thoughts like these usually put Sasuke into a quiet mood. Naruto was the only person, besides Neji and Gaara, who knew of his past. Neji and Gaara didn't even have any good evidence, it was all just logical thinking based on what they had witnessed, but that didn't matter.

The brunette was sitting on the couch, thinking. His mind kept wandering back to a time when he wasn't free – when Tomoe had been alive. It was strange, thinking of the man even though he was dead. But sometimes the past is not easy to let go of.

If sex was such a problem for him – then why had he and Neji established that strange stress-relief system? He wasn't entirely sure, to tell the truth. With Neji, there were no emotions involved and Neji hadn't been raped.

Naruto was much more fragile than Sasuke ever was. Naruto didn't know how to block out the humiliation of the pain of being violated like that. He had lost his memories instead, and yet only something equally as bad had brought those memories back.

It disturbed Sasuke, to say the least. He loved Naruto, that much was easy for him. He loved Naruto as he had never loved anyone else in his life. Naruto was his stone, holding him fast to the Earth.

But he was afraid.

Why?

Sasuke wasn't exactly sure why fear crept up on him whenever he thought of Naruto.

Strike that out, actually. Sasuke knew exactly why. It was the same reason for him never to become close to anyone in his entire life. But right now it was an irrational fear.

Uchiha Tomoe, his father, was dead.

So why did he feel this uneasy?

Tomoe couldn't rise from the dead! It wasn't possibly!

So Sasuke shouldn't be afraid.

He could remember the original conversation that had spawned this fear with his father well.

Uchiha Tomoe stood over his son. The boy, aging about twelve, had a black eye. It was winter break and Sasuke had been ordered by his father to return home. He didn't exactly want to, but he also didn't want his father coming to school and dragging him back. Everyone would know that he had an abusive father then, and he didn't need that. He knew that most would hate it, but he didn't want his fanclubs to continually express their sympathies in shrill voices.

They had been eating quietly on December 30th when Tomoe decided to strike up a conversation. He said something but Sasuke missed it because he was too busy thinking that this was his last day here, since he would return to KonohaAcademy the next morning. He couldn't be more glad for that.

Tomoe punched him in the eye, giving him the black eye mentioned earlier, when he saw the boy was ignoring him. "You little shit, don't fucking ignore me or I'll beat you until you fucking beg for mercy."

Sasuke hung his head. "I'm sorry, Father," he whispered.

Tomoe sneered at the boy. "That's better, brat. Now, I asked you – are you in a relationship of any sort?"

Slowly, Sasuke shook his head.

"Good!" Tomoe told him. He noticed the puzzled look in Sasuke's eyes. Tomoe got up and walked around to the back of Sasuke's chair. He wrapped his arms around the boy's shoulders, leaning over to whisper in his ear.

"Because you belong to me and me alone," he warned in a dangerous voice. "If you bothered to be in a relationship, I'll know and then I'll fuck your partner until he becomes mine." Sasuke shuddered as Tomoe kissed the tattoo that the boy had on his neck. "I'll mark your partner, and he shall be mine." The older man's tongue slowly traced the mark of the Sharingan.

"And it will be all your fault for making me angry enough to do that," Sasuke's father snarled as he sank his teeth into the tattoo.

Sasuke gasped at the pain, but made no other noise. He just knew that he could have no close friends or a partner of any sort, unless he wanted them to face the same side of his father as he had.

Yet he had broken that vow a year later when he had met the one called Uzumaki Naruto.

And now Naruto was just like him… marked, just like Sasuke was. The brunette could not break free of his mind at the moment, remembering the sight of Tomoe's eyes – burning hatred even unto death. He could remember seeing Naruto lying there, naked and broken and unconscious, under the advances of Tomoe.

The Uchiha was shaking now, though he didn't notice it. He didn't even notice when his boyfriend returned from being out.

After returning from his classes, Naruto was surprised to see Sasuke sitting like a statue on the couch. Dropping his bookbag, Naruto walked over to Sasuke. The Uchiha was thinking to himself. Something about it worried his blonde boyfriend.

"Sasurin?" Naruto asked in a quiet voice. "Sasuke?"

The brunette wasn't paying attention to Naruto. Pouting, Naruto reviewed the things he could do, trying to decide what would be best. He didn't like seeing the other boy like this. It made him feel as though Sasuke was on another planet, in a place where Naruto couldn't reach him. No matter how hard he tried to.

Furrowing his eyebrows together, Naruto waved his hand in front of Sasuke's eyes. He bit his lip when Sasuke didn't even blink. Not able to think of anything else, Naruto put his hands on Sasuke's shoulders and leaned into the other. Confidently, he softly grazed his lips with Sasuke's. It was a tease, meant only to bait a reaction out of the brunette.

Naruto did get a reaction, but it wasn't a good one.

Sasuke's eyes shot open, fear overtaking him. He completely froze, shaking slightly as his eyes darted around the room. When he looked at Naruto, he began to struggle against the Uzumaki's light grip on his shoulders.

Naruto let go, not knowing what else to do.

When he did, Sasuke curled up into the couch he was on, whimpering slightly. His hands gripped his head and he was biting his lip harshly.

Naruto felt his heart clench in his chest. He didn't like this feeling. Even as he worried about what to do about Sasuke, a lone thought drifted through his cyclone of ideas.

Was this how Sasuke felt when Naruto kept breaking down?

Impulsively, Naruto latched onto his boyfriend, rocking Sasuke gently back and forth. "Its okay, Sasuke," he whispered to the boy. His hand moved in small circles on the other's back.

Naruto felt tears come to his own eyes as he held the sobbing boy against him. HE didn't know what had caused the Uchiha's anguish but he wanted Sasuke to feel better. He looked around him, only barely noticing that Sasuke was hugging him back. Assuring himself that nothing was around him (for he swore he heard something) the blonde turned his attention back to the Uchiha.

Slowly, without realizing it, he began to sing to Sasuke. It was the same song that he had sung the last time that he had held the boy protectively against him.

Cultivate your hunger,
Before you idealize
Motivate your anger,
Make them all realize
Climbing a mountain,
Never coming down
Break into the contents,
Never breaking down
My knee is still shaking,
Like I was twelve,
Sneaking out of the classroom,
By the back door
A man railed at me twice though,
But I didn't care.
Waiting is wasting for people like me.
Don't try to live so wise.
Don't cry 'cause you're so right.
Don't dry with fakes or fears,
'cause you will hate yourself in the end
Don't try to live so wise
Don't cry 'cause you're so right.
Don't dry with fakes or fears,
'cause you will hate yourself in the end.
You say, 'Dreams are dreams.
I ain't gonna play the fool anymore.'
You say, ''Cause I still got my soul.'
Take your time, baby,
Your blood needs slowing down.
Breach your soul to reach yourself before you gloom.
Reflection of fear makes shadows of nothing,
Shadows of nothing
You still are blind,
If you see a winding road,
'cause there's always a straight way to the point you see
Don't try to live so wise.
Don't cry 'cause you're so right.
Don't dry with fakes or fears,
'cause you will hate yourself in the end.
Don't try to live so wise.
Don't cry 'cause you're so right.
Don't dry with fakes or fears,
'cause you will hate yourself in the end

Naruto's voice was as sweet as Sasuke remembered it always to be. A rich sound, speaking of innocence and understanding. Sasuke loved Naruto's voice – he loved listening to it, loved hearing it, loved it when it made words or sand songs. He just loved Naruto's voice. It was one of the many things out of the boy that he loved.

The moment he began to hear that voice, he felt the fear that he felt vanish. The song and the person singing it embraced him, shielded him from the threats of his father. Tomoe could not touch him while he was in the arms of one Uzumaki Naruto. It was as though they had been transported off the planet, to a place called Paradise.

Sasuke also felt the tugging of sleep at the edge of his vision. Naruto was still humming the song, although the lyrics had finished. Sasuke curled up, cuddling with his dobe. Craning his neck upwards, he managed to give a small kiss to the bottom of Naruto's chin before adjusting himself again, trying to get the boy's hipbone out of his stomach.

It was in this position that he had fallen asleep against the boy.

Naruto smiled at Sasuke, stroking the boy's hair. He knew that the other boy was asleep, and Naruto loved to watch Sasuke sleep. He was so innocent looking when his eyes were closed and he was dreaming. Wanting to sing a little more, he began a song that he just pretty much made up as he went along. He spoke from the heart, but this time it would not be persevered on paper – it would be preserved in the memory that this moment had become.

I can't see why nothing's some
I can't see when that day has gone
Everything's the same
Like the way it was before you came
And I never knew just how to say
I loved you
And I never knew how close we were
In my heart

You were there to slay the dragon
You were there to bring me light
In the darkness, that surrounds me
You were there to hold me tight

Forever that I've known you
Forever that I've held you
Forever it seems
Has slipped away
And I never knew
Just how close we were
In the days that are gone
That will never come back

You were there to slay the dragon
You were there to bring me light
In the darkness, that surrounds me
You were there to hold me tight

Throughout his song, Sasuke had only burrowed closer into Naruto's shoulder, letting the blonde surround him in his protective hold. Naruto buried his nose in Sasuke's hair, letting his cheek stay there as he felt sleep fall upon him too. Both wore smiles as they stayed there, on the small couch, curled up within one another.

Kyuubi-kun's Korner!

The sad part about the lateness of this chapter: it took all of two hours to write and that includes the break in the middle for dinner as well as reading fanfics and listening, singing along to music. Well, I hope you enjoy. I would do reviews, but I want this up ASAP so that all of you can read and tell me how you like it. I hope its not insanely short. And forgive the errors. Oh yeah - song, wrote years ago. It's called "You Were There"

Thank you