A Deep Cry 37

That day, Naruto received a call from Anko, which he didn't answer. He went to messages and sent her a text saying,

"Can't talk right now. Wassup?"

"Is Sasuke-kun with you?"

"Yes."

"Thank god! His location indicator didn't move for a while now so I got worried!"

"He's fine. He's just asleep."

"At the University? That's not like him."

"He's just tired. That's all. Nothing to worry about."

"I see. Take care then. Bye."

"Bye. Thx 4 ur hard work, Anko-san."

"I get paid for doing this shit. No need to thank me."

He then received another call from Shikamaru, which he also didn't answer. He sent back asking,

"Wassup?"

"Where are you?"

"Something wrong?"

"We heard you and Sasuke got in a fight! Are you alright?"

"Come 2 the roof. Bring a blanket + some water + bandages + something to clean open wounds + tissues."

"OMG! Are you hurt?"

"Don't let anyone see u coming."

"Um… Neji, Lee and Kiba are already with me…"

"They can come along. Oh & bring my mug! It's on my desk + bring Sasuke's lunch box! It's on his desk, I guess… But don't let anyone see u coming here."

"I'm not your errands boy! Give me a sec."

Shortly later, Naruto placed Sasuke's head gently on the floor and got up to open the door. He watch the four people he called climbing the stairs cautiously. He could still hear the fuss in the hall. Almost every voice his ears could hear was talking about what just happened. He heard his name and Sasuke's name more than once. He sighed to the four people,

"Hurry!"

The four people hurried up and got in to the roof fast. When they reached there, they all stopped and gasped in a shock, as they saw Sasuke right there before their eyes sleeping carelessly on the floor with damages face and trashed clothes.

Naruto brought his finger near his lips and shushed. He took the blanket and spread it on the floor. He then patted Sasuke's cheek gently,

"Sasuke. Wake up. You need to eat something."

Sasuke's eyelashes fluttered slightly. He moaned in pain and frowned his eyebrows without opening his eyes. He murmured in a slightly faded voice,

"Can we leave yet? My back hurts…"

"You were the one who made us stay until now. If it were up to me, I'd just carry you on my back and run away with you."

"My throat is sore… my neck hurt… my head is still spinning… and I'd kill for a bite to eat…"

"Your prayer is answered, Sasuke. Open your eyes, we have company."

"What…?"

Sasuke opened his left eye and picked his upped body up. He leaned on his left side and looked at the door direction, where the four people, who jut got there, were standing. They were all looking at him with sad expressions on their faces.

He sat up and grabbed his shoulder,

"You called them?"

"They called me to make sure that we're okay. So I thought I'd ask for their help."

"Why? Why did you get them involved in this?"

"Why not?"

Sasuke blinked. Shikamaru stepped closer and kneeled near Sasuke,

"He got us involved because we're his friends. That's what friends are for. We're here to bring you this."

Sasuke looked at Shikamaru face, then immediately lowered his eye when the sunlight stroke his eye, and looked at the lunch box. He said while taking the box from Shikamaru's hand,

"Thanks. I really need that."

"Glad I could help." Shikamaru said with a half smile.

"We also got you these." Neji said and passed a bag to Naruto. Naruto took it and smiled,

"Thanks! You guys are amazing."

Naruto empty the bag on the floor and said,

"Alright. A small first-aid box and tissues. Now we can take care of your wounds, Sasuke."

Sasuke didn't say anything. He opened his lunch box and got a small water bottle out. He opened it and brought it to his lips, then drained that it in one go. He felt the refreshing, cold water slid in his throat, washing the dirt that's been bothering him away. He exhaled and mumbled,

"This is all I needed. Some water."

Lee smiled,

"We brought you more water, Sasuke-kun."

Lee passed a bottle of water to Sasuke, who took it and murmured,

"Thanks."

Lee smile. He never really hated Sasuke, he was only jealous of him but he never hated him. Ha was actually happy that he could be a friend of his after this.

Sasuke almost drained the other bottle in on go as well. He stopped and exhaled softly,

"I've never felt this thirsty in my whole life."

"You should eat too, Sasuke. You will die of hunger." Naruto said while soaking a tissue with alcohol. He then brought it near Sasuke's face and touched his cheek with it. Sasuke flinched and gasped. Naruto mumbled,

"Don't be a baby about it now. I must clean your wounds before they get more infected."

"Do it gently. Don't just press on it. It hurts, Usuratonkachi!"

"Okay, I will try to be gently, big baby."

Naruto touched Sasuke's face again, and Sasuke flinched ever harder and leaned back. Naruto said in irritation,

"Hey now! Bear with me a little!"

"I'm not doing this on purpose. It's a normal reflex to pain. You have heavy hands. That's not my fault."

"What's wrong with my hands!"

"Your hands are used to climbing rocks and doing heavy lifting. They're not suitable for these kinds of things."

"Hey! That hurts, teme!"

"There! There! Let me try it." Neji said and got closer. He added,

"I have interest in the nervous system. I think I can handle this better."

"Go ahead. Sasuke is being a big baby about it so…"

"You're the one being a big baby about this! I'm being real." Sasuke said.

Neji picked a tissue and dipped it gently in alcohol then wiped Sasuke's cheek carefully. Sasuke did flinch but very slightly. Neji smiled,

"I think I'm doing a better job than you, Naruto."

"Humph." Naruto jerked his neck.

"This is horrible. You're lucky he didn't blind your eye." Neji said.

"I can't see this "luck" you're talking about, but yeah, I'll be able to see in like... two days, maybe." Sasuke said.

"Three days at least. You'll need to cover this too. Then you will need more time for it to go back to normal and for the tears to stop." Neji said.

"How troublesome." He sighed.

"This Kankuro guy went out of line. I heard he literally tried to threw you out of the window?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yeah… I think he was out of his mind." Sasuke said.

"Shino said that he was the one who threw that chair at the window in a try to hit Kankuro, but that bastard ducked it while still strangling you. He then slammed you by the window frame and tried to throw you out…" Shikamaru said.

"I don't really remember what happened there… I wasn't really aware of my surroundings… all I could think of was that grasp that was hurtling my neck."

Kiba finally spoke,

"Did you even stop and think why do you always get in troubles, Uchiha Sasuke?"

Sasuke raised his eye and looked at Kiba. He asked,

"Everyone gets in trouble. I'm not the only one. It's how life is."

"No. You tend to get in deep shit! Like this fight! And the infirmary attack!"

Sasuke lowered his eyes and said,

"Maybe I did something bad in the past to deserve this. Who knows?"

"Tsk." Kiba jerked his neck away.

"I didn't thank you for what you did that day, Kiba… Thanks… I really don't remember it, but I was told that you were there. You too, Lee. Thanks."

Lee smiled and nodded,

"Don't mention it. I'm just glad you survived it."

Kiba said nothing for a moment then mumbled in annoyance,

"Why thank us now? It's been months since the attack… why the change of attitude?"

Sasuke answered,

"Because you being here right now means that you actually cared. I wouldn't want to be saved out of pity. I could never accept that. But if you did it because you wanted to, out of humanity or some values you hold in your heart, then I'm grateful to you."

"Pity! That's why you never thanked us!?" Kiba raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"I don't want anyone's pity. I will never accept it. I will hate you for it, for that matter. That's all."

"I see…" Kiba lowered his eyes. He then said,

"Then we have to tell you about something that concerns you, Sasuke."

Sasuke blinked and asked,

"What is it?"

Naruto jumped in and said,

"I was going to tell you about this a moment ago but you fell asleep."

Sasuke looked at Naruto, who lowered his eyes and mumbled,

"I think I know what started the whole fight, Sasuke. The topic you didn't tell me about. I know what it is. My friends told me all about it."

"When? During my sleep?"

"No. I knew about it since yesterday."

"When you said that you had a group work! I knew it. You don't do homework during your breaks. Such an obvious lie that I didn't care much to exposed."

"Sorry about that… so anyway, I do kind of know about what you've been going through since the day of the attack…"

Naruto looked away and added,

"They told me about the rude comments, the annoying topics, the questioning… all of it… I was shocked to hear that even the instructors would sometimes join those kind of arguments, even when you were still there, hearing every word they speak…"

"….."

Naruto continued,

"At first I felt a little angry at you for not telling me about it, but then…"

He looked up and said,

"This is the way you are. You don't speak about what's bothering you. You don't share your pain. You don't search for help. You always deal with everything on your own… It's the Sasuke we all grew up with. The one who shows no weaknesses… at lease not intentionally."

Sasuke shut his eyes and said,

"What would telling you about it change? Besides, it's nothing. Let them waste their time and effort on it. Who cares?"

"This response is what makes me want to get inside of your mind and see what's going on in there with my own eyes."

"Well, sometimes you just don't want to talk about those trivial things… especially, when you have more important things in your mind…"

Naruto put two sharp eyes on and said,

"Sasuke, I know about the webpage they're going to publish soon…"

"What webpage?"

"You didn't hear?" Lee blinked.

"I don't think so."

Shikamaru said,

"Of course you wouldn't know about it. It's against you. They don't want you to try and stop it. They want to surprise you with it."

Neji said,

"It's a webpage about your case, Sasuke. They plan on sharing every "secret" they know… they're even going to publish photos, articles, news, comments… etc.…"

"What a waste of time and effort…" Sasuke sighed.

Shikamaru said,

"I think this page will effect not only you, but also us, the ones who are connected to your case in a way…"

Naruto said,

"We feel bad about it, but we don't know what to do to stop it… What do you think about this, Sasuke?"

Sasuke said, in a firm tone,

"Ignore it."

"What?" Kiba blinked.

"Ignore it. Don't even think of it."

"Why? We should stop it! It's going to be troublesome!" Shikamaru said.

"Yeah, maybe the first week or two, but then it will die by itself."

"How can you be so sure?" Neji asked.

"They're trying to lure us to join it. If we give them what they want, then they win and the page lives. If not, then it will fail and die."

"But… what if people react to it?" Kiba asked.

"Oh, they will! They surely well, because people are nosey by nature. They will join and ask and comment and maybe post photos, but they will lose interest slowly and stop at some point."

"You think so…?" Shikamaru pinched his chain.

"If we ignore it, then yes, it will die. If we respond to it, then no, it won't."

"I see. We treat it as if it never exists." Neji said.

"If we fight back, then the page will become known and they will use it against us as they please."

Shikamaru recapped,

"You're saying, ignoring it is better than giving it life by joining it."

Sasuke nodded. Shikamaru raised his eyebrows,

"I see your point."

Sasuke added,

"Imagine this, some other school opens a similar webpage that our school totally ignores. What do you think will happen to that page?"

"Die by itself!" Lee said.

"Exactly." Sasuke said.

Neji smiled,

"You know I thought about this as a away to deal with that webpage, but… You of all people, should know how everyone will react to such a page… They won't hesitate to discuses it so openly, especially when one of us is in presence."

Sasuke responded,

"That's why it's really important that we don't show any kind of interest in that webpage or even those discussions… Just ignore them."

Kiba mumbled to himself,

"Ignore them…"

Sasuke assured,

"Totally ignore them. Let them waste their time repeating themselves. They will get tired eventually and shut up about it."

Shikamaru nodded,

"I think I'll go with that, too. I watched you ignore this topic almost everyday since the incident … and I watched it reach a dead end and dies so many times. I think this will work."

Neji agreed,

"I think so too."

Shikamaru scratched the back of his head then shut one eyes and said,

"I'm glad we shared this with you, Sasuke."

Sasuke's lips drew a faint smile. He murmured,

"Yeah, me too…"

Naruto chuckled then laughed. Sasuke crooked an eyebrow and asked,

"What's so funny, dobe?"

Naruto mumbled,

"Sorry, I just… I think my friends like you now."

Shikamaru half smiled, Neji lowered his eyes and smiled, Kiba looked away, and Lee blushed. Sasuke shut his eyes, smiled and murmured,

"Usuratonkachi."

"Stupid Naruto." Kiba mumbled.

"I'm sorry but that was stupid." Lee mumbled.

"Genuinely stupid." Shikamaru scratched his head shyly.

"The stupidest of all." Neji shut his eyes and nodded.

"Eh..!? Why are you all ganging up on me!?"

When Neji was done bandaging Sasuke's hand that had a deep cut caused by the piece of glass he was holding back then, he nodded,

"You should see a doctor for your eye. It doesn't look good to me."

"I will make sure I do that."

Neji stood up and looked at Shikamaru and said,

"Well, I'm done. We can go now."

Shikamaru nodded and said while walking back inside with Neji,

"We should leave before someone notices our absence."

Lee asked before leaving,

"By the way, why do you have the keys to the roof?"

Naruto smiled shyly and said,

"I… hehe… I borrowed them…"

"He stole them. Don't tell on him yet. We still need those keys." Sasuke said.

"Hey! I said I'd return them!" Naruto said in annoyance.

"I see. It's a good place to hide." Lee said, smiled then left,

"Well, take care now." He said.

Kiba was the last one to leave. He walked in silence until he reached the door. Before he walks inside the building, he mumbled without looking at the two behind him,

"I'm glad I was there that day, Sasuke. I don't regret anything about it. I never did." He said that then left in a hurry and before Sasuke could say anything back.

Naruto, who was sitting next to Sasuke, grabbed Sasuke's shoulder hard without realizing it, as his mind and emotions were captured by every second of that moment. He was looking at the door that his friends just passed through after dealing with this old issue with the Uchiha kid.

Those people are finally friends with Sasuke. They finally saw the Sasuke Naruto sees. They finally could overcome their hate and become friends with the one they kept rejecting for no good reason. This made Naruto feel happy for his friends and for Sasuke. He loved them all and wished he could fix what's between them since the day he saw the person behind that gloomy face, but he couldn't change anything, since they were convinced that Naruto was only blinded by his naïve self.

He was finally able to fix this when his friends showed that they really care about Sasuke's safety, without even realizing it. This made it possible for Naruto to try again, and put them in one place with Sasuke, then watch Sasuke does his magic. He knew that if they get the chance to sit with this boy, then they would change their wrong ideas about him and end up accepting him as a friend. He was sure that this resilient human, who always fought his own battles without a hint of hesitation, could easily make them admire him.

To be Continued