Chapter 7: Answers

Ridiculous. Unbelievable. Unacceptable. Intolerable. And every other word the thesaurus could come up with for this situation. Kiba was furious. Beyond furious. There was no describing the way he felt about the fact that his best friend had to move away and change jobs due to one guy. Not just any guy. Sai, to be more accurate. Sai had some how fucked up so bad that Naruto had to uproot his life of 5 years and leave. Trying to find a word to describe how Kiba felt was next to impossible but Kiba could also admit it was probably no where close to how Naruto was feeling about all of this.

Kiba missed his friend. Truly. Life was dull and boring without him. Sure, Naruto kept in touch and they went for drinks when they could. It wasn't the same.

Because of all this, Kiba had a huge grudge to hold. So the brown haired man took it out on Sai whenever he got the chance to. Any excuse at all.

In the elevator with Sai in the morning, Kiba would shove him against the wall. In the lunch room, Kiba would steal some of Sai's food or 'trip' and spill something on him. Outside, Kiba would trip Sai so he stumbled or would smack a stack of papers out of his hands and walk away. Even fucking with his computer or desk or playing cruel pranks on him. Really anything he could get away with in the office. It gave him great satisfaction to pick on Sai.

The only trouble with it was that Sai didn't bother fighting him on anything. Sai didn't argue or fight back or retaliate in any situation. Not even when Kiba tripped him and ruined his suit pants or poured scalding hot coffee on him. It made things a little less satisfying. Kiba had been hoping to get some kind of reaction out him so that he could really give him a piece of his mind. But Sai didn't. He just quietly accepted his punishment from Kiba. Like he knew it was coming. He knew he deserved it. So he just let it happen.

That was kind of aggravating.

Kiba told Naruto so when they met for dinner one night.

"I just wish he'd get mad for once so I would have a good reason to punch him in the face!" Kiba ranted, angrily stuffing fries in his mouth.

Naruto sighed, staring at his soft drink without much expression. "I'm surprised he hasn't, to be honest. Judging by his behaviour in the past, I'm shocked he hasn't found a way to get my new location and stalk me."

Kiba shrugged, "He just seems sad all the time now. He doesn't really talk to anyone. Doesn't hang out with people outside work. He doesn't even bother with hooking up anymore, from what I hear. He used to bang Ino but he stopped and she has just been impossible to deal with since."

Naruto continued to stare at his drink in silence, taking this information in. Kiba didn't know all the details about what occurred between those two. He didn't ask. If Naruto wanted him to know, he would tell him but Kiba figured it had to be big and it had to be bad for Naruto to completely up and leave on such short notice. Not to mention the fact that Sai was just creepy to begin with, so it wasn't hard to think he did something terrible the poor little fox.

Weeks went by.

It wasn't with much surprise to Kiba that Sai eventually quit his job. The rumours started flying one Friday morning that the man had sent in his notice and was spending his morning cleaning out his desk. For just one tiny brief moment, Kiba felt guilty. Thinking that maybe he had been too hard on the bastard and made him quit. He quickly got over that though. Whatever reason Sai had for quitting was still nothing compared to what he did to his best friend.

At the end of the day, as Kiba was heading out of the building and heading home, he felt a cool hand on his shoulder that stopped him. He turned and to his dismay found he was facing the very man who was the cause of all the problems.

There was a look on his pale face… he couldn't quite place it. Quiet acceptance? Forfeit? Morose? Defeat? Kiba couldn't tell. Just that Sai's inky black eyes were half lidded and glazed over, almost lifeless, his expression was empty and pained, his shoulders slumped, and a box of personal items in his hands.

"What do you want?" Kiba snapped.

Sai takes a moment before replying with a shaky voice. "I know you don't like me much and I don't blame you, Kiba. And you don't owe me anything, there's just one thing I wanted to ask of you…"

Kiba frowned but nodded, letting Sai continue.

"Could you just tell Naruto… tell him that I'm going to leave. I'll leave him alone, never bother him again. I have… I never meant…" he shakes his head and takes a deep breath, "Could you tell him that?"

Kiba hesitated. He could tell that Sai had so much he wanted to say, so much that he wanted to explain. He also noted that the bastard looked about ready to cry but was keeping himself together, like he wasn't going to let himself. Kiba made a face but nodded.

"I'll tell him."

A corner of Sai's mouth twitched in a tiny smile of thanks. He bowed slightly, then turned and walked away without another word.

This was it. Sai was leaving and swore to leave poor Naruto alone and it left a sour taste in his mouth.

This wasn't over.

…*…

"What does that mean? Did he say anything else?" Naruto demanded over the phone when Kiba called to explain what had happened.

Kiba shrugged, even though he knew Naruto couldn't see it. "I dunno, man. That's what he said. He said 'I'm going to leave. I'll leave him alone and never bother him again.' Then he stuttered on 'I have' and 'I never meant' then he asked if I could tell you. Seriously, that's all he said."

There was a silent pause. All Kiba could hear on the other end was Naruto's breathing and a sound that made him think that the blonde was pacing his room. "I mean, this is good news, isn't it? You wanted him gone and he is! Now you can come back to work. Hinata has been asking about you an-"

"Well did he say where he was going?" Naruto snapped, sounding like he was losing his cool.

"Uh… no. Not at all. Just that he was leaving… You ok, man?"

"I… yeah. Yeah, man, I'm good. That's great news." He took a deep breath to calm himself.

"So… are you gonna come back to work?"

"I don't know. I just need to figure some stuff out first… I'll call you later, kay?"

"Sure…"

…*…

Things seemed to pick up for Naruto after that. For a little while at least. His attitude seemed to brighten, he tried to go out with his new friends at the new firm a bit more. For all intents and purposes, Naruto seemed much happier and had considered moving back to his old place and his old job so he could be closer to Kiba and the others.

When he was alone, though, it was a different story. He had a hard time sleeping, often zoned out while watching tv, and often paced his apartment or got easily distracted for no reason. He was frustrated and angry and the blonde just couldn't figure out why.

Why couldn't he just let this go? Why couldn't he move past it? Naruto would really prefer to not have to think about any of this anymore, but it seemed out of his control. Sitting in the back of his mind day in and day out.

Unresolved.

That's it!

It was an unresolved matter for him! In order to move on from it, Naruto would need closure. To get the answers to his questions so he can move on! He needed to confront Sai. It made complete sense but… Sai had just disappeared. How was he going to track him down?

Naruto slumped into his chair and ran his fingers through his golden mop of hair. He was going to figure this out! He was going to get his closure and then he was going to be over this and done with Sai and move on with his life. Leaving all of this, all of his past, behind him. He was already moving forward with his petition for divorce. This was just one more thing he had to do and dammit he was going to do it!

…*…

He was just sitting down to watch some tv and drown out his life for a bit when Sai heard aggressive knocking on his door. With a frown, he got up to answer the door and was stunned into silence as he stared open mouthed at the last face he'd ever thought he'd see again.

That beautiful, tanned skin, those adorable whisker scars on the cheeks, the untamed sunshine hair, and the stunning ocean blue eyes that seemed to be glaring at him.

How had Naruto found him?

Before he could even open his mouth to utter… something, Naruto stormed past him into his home a few paces, turned on his heel and huffed as he started talking without giving Sai a chance to speak.

"Before you say anything, there's a lot I want to get off my chest and you're just gonna shut up and listen to me, got it?"

Sai just closed the door, faced his long-time crush, and nodded, waiting for the worst.

"Ok… You lied to me, you played me like a fiddle, you've kissed me, groped me, and I found out that 6 years ago you're the one who my wife cheated on me with! Not only that but you're also the man that raped me that night!" Naruto started pacing, running his sweaty hands through his hair, his hands flailing as he ranted. "You made me care for you, you bastard! I'm not sure what sick game you're trying to play with my life but I don't fucking appreciate it! Sakura was my wife for fuck sakes! We were married for 6 months! You ruined everything you selfish prick! And then you fucked me while I was unconscious! I don't know how you live with yourself but that's pretty sick! And then you run into me later, kiss me, try to- well I don't know what you were trying to do but still! Then we end up working together and you don't say a god damn word about any of it, and you still make advances on me! You make me like you and care about you all while knowing you… I mean, come on! You have to know that none of what you've done is right! Don't you know that what you've done, what you're doing, is wrong?"

By the time he finished his rant, there were tears in those gorgeous eyes. His lips were trembling as he stopped to stare at Sai. Looking for the answers. Looking for a reason.

It was so hard to look at Naruto like this. With so much hurt and anger on his face. Sai knew Naruto didn't deserve to feel this way and hated the fact that it was him that brought him so much suffering. If Naruto was willing to listen, he was willing to tell him everything. Even about that night, all those years ago.

Sai licked his pale lips nervously, his inky black eyes never leaving Naruto's. "I can explain everything, Naruto. If you want me to explain it."

Naruto huffed and used the back of his hand to wipe furiously at his eyes. "Of course I want answers, you moron! I wouldn't have tracked you down if I didn't! I would have just been happy that you were gone!"

That stung a little but Sai could only nod in acceptance.

"Then I will explain… 6 years ago…" Sai paused to take a deep breath. His heart was pounding, his stomach churning. This was it. This was all or nothing. This conversation was probably going to be the last one he ever had with his fox, so he better make it count.

"I was a different person 6 years ago than I am now."

…*…

Naruto sat on the information for two weeks. Two weeks he pondered everything Sai had explained to him about what happened and still he felt no closer to being done. He supposed he got his closure, sure. But he didn't feel satisfied. There were unanswered questions still; unfortunately he didn't know what the questions were.

He had a hard time believing Sai. He went 6 years believing that he had been raped that night. Being told that he wasn't… well… he just had a hard time turning that around. Sure, Sai had slept with Sakura. She came on to him at a bar that afternoon. Sai honestly admitted that much. When Naruto had barged in, Sai had been overjoyed and wanted to play with him too but when Naruto passed out, Sai had immediately stopped what he was doing and just cuddled the little blonde fox. Waiting for him to wake up so they could actually play properly because Sai was many things (slut, whore, cocky, narcissistic) but he was not a rapist. He wanted to convince Naruto to play with him.

Then Sakura had come in to find them cuddling. She had gotten the wrong impression, despite Sai trying to explain himself. Sakura had freaked out and tried to pull them apart and had knocked Naruto off the bed by accident; hence his sore ass in the morning. Not wanting to deal with the problems that were going to come of her cheating, she left, but she made Sai leave with her. Then Sai couldn't remember the apartment number or the address so he couldn't go back.

He just happened to bump into Naruto in the school 6 months later and hadn't immediately recognized him. He just kind of fell for him out of the blue. Then couldn't find him again after that encounter until he found him in the library. But of course, that had been when Sakura had shown up and Naruto had gone after her. After that, he had taken many courses online and so Sai had been unable to locate him again.

It wasn't until that fateful day when Sai had started working at the same firm as Naruto that he saw him again. And it wasn't until he had started getting to know him and found out that Naruto had been married when he realized, at last, that Naruto had been the husband of that pink haired bitch he had fucked. The man he had been looking for since the beginning.

That was it. No rape. No using. Just a case of not being able to contact him and explain himself. It was all a tad hard to believe and Naruto had been carrying around that hurt and pain and anger and embarrassment for so long that it was hard to accept the fact that everything he had thought he had known was false.

Two weeks. Naruto had impatiently waited for Sai to explain himself. Then he left. Now, two weeks later, he still wasn't sure he could accept this 'truth'. He didn't know if it was true. He wasn't sure he could trust Sai's word at all. Unfortunately, there was no way at all to tell if Sai was telling the truth or just trying to cover his ass so Naruto wouldn't press charges.

It was a lot to absorb and Naruto still wasn't quite ready to deal with it yet. He needed more time.

…*…

It was just when Naruto started fretting that he would never be over what happened, at about the two month mark, that he finally did. It took little over two months for Naruto to realize, in a moment of clarity and acceptance, that he believed Sai. He believed that Sakura would have acted that way. He believed Sai hadn't done anything to him and hadn't been able to track him down to actually talk to him about it. 6 years is a long time. Anything can be forgotten in 6 years.

True to point, Naruto had already forgotten what Sakura's voice sounded like. What her skin felt like. Her kisses. Her scowls and faces. Her nagging and her living habits. It was all in the past and none of it even mattered. What do you do with all that information about a person when that person is no longer in your life? You forget about it. What had happened in the past was now all useless information and it felt so much better to just… forget…

And Naruto felt the same about what had transpired between himself and Sai. It was useless holding onto that knowledge; especially given that it had led to no pleasant memories. Naruto wasn't entirely sure he could forgive Sai just yet for knowingly fucking another mans wife but… he could at least forget it. Forget the events that transpired that night.

To make things even better, he had received a letter that day from the government saying they accepted his petition for divorce. Naruto was officially divorced and single!

His heart felt so light and free! Freedom! While he never thought he'd be divorced in his young life, at this point, given everything he had been through, he was more than happy to be.

Single. Wow. Well, to be fair, he had kind of been single this entire time since Sakura had left him. But it was different now. A failed marriage was no longer something that hung over his head.

Being officially single had also led to some interesting thought processes. Like, was he ready to date someone again? Long term? It had been a while since he'd had sex. It had been a while since he'd even kissed anyone. Well, actually, he had made out with Sai that one time at the bar…

Did that count? Sure, it was a great kiss but Sai was a dude. Naruto wasn't… he hadn't considered… but maybe if…

Naruto blinked as he stared at the tv screen. He hadn't been paying attention to what was going on at all. Something finally clicked in his brain. The questions he didn't realize he needed to ask. He jumped to his feet, grabbed his coat and keys, and left his apartment. A man on a mission.

…*…

Another chapter! This one is a bit longer. Finally have a few answers to your burning questions! Let me know what you guys think!

GMF