How to Break a Mask

Author: Kinomi Akai

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, the characters would solve their differences with dance offs.

Summary: An incident at the festival on Oct. 10th reveals that there is a lot that everyone doesn't know about Naruto. Smart!Naruto, Sasunaru/Narusasu, Rated M to be safe

Pairings: Sasunaru/Narusasu, mentions of KakaIru as of now.

Warnings: Shonen-ai, yaoi, boy x boy, whatever to want to call it. Former chapters had mild Sakura bashing, that will start to ease off in this chapter.

"Blah" – talking

'blah' – thinking

'blah' – Kyuubi talking

Last time:

Tsunade smiled tearfully, and ruffled Naruto's hair. "You're dismissed. Have Pakkun stay. I need to speak with him about something I found in Naruto's bloodstream," a thought seemed to pass her mind, and she added, "you lot have the week off. I think you all need a chance to redo the whole get-to-know-me bit, hm?"

Just before they went out the door, the Hokage spoke again. "Oh, and Naruto? Happy birthday."

Chapter 8: The Apartment

As Pakkun left, Tsunade collapsed her head into her hands. She really needed to think. The villagers had been getting away with far too much for the past few years. But the worst of it was that those who attacked Naruto were not regular villagers: they were fellow ninjas, or former ninjas. This resentment had a deep root, and it was clear that there were more than just these people who were at fault. She would have to be talking to the Uchiha to get names, and Kakashi as well. Perhaps even Iruka might have noticed certain people who treated Naruto differently.

There was a very large part of her that wanted to cry and yell at the injustice of it all. That side of her was urging her to leave, get some sake, and spend tonight doing absolutely nothing productive. But it had been Naruto that had convinced her to stop listening to that side of herself, and she would honour him by acting properly.

She lifted her head with newfound determination as she began to plan.

The door closed behind them and they walked in awkward silence. It didn't take a genius to guess that they were embarrassed that all of them had forgotten Naruto's birthday. He sighed.

"Don't worry about it," Naruto said, correctly guessing the others' thoughts. "I don't think I ever told you when my birthday was."

"We never asked," said a quiet voice that Naruto barely recognized as Sasuke's. There was an odd tone there that Naruto had never heard before, and caused him to glance back at the boy. Sasuke, however, was looking away, and his expression, whatever it was, was covered by his long black hair. Naruto sighed, and reached up to rub the back of his neck. He didn't really know what to say to that.

Kakashi, who had been fairly quiet for the past few minutes, spoke up. "How about we go and get some ramen?"

"We can get take out," Naruto added, realizing that going to a public place for the inevitable conversation was probably not the greatest idea. Kakashi glanced at Naruto for a second, and then looked away. Sakura was not so reserved, and asked;

"Take-out? With how much you eat?" Sakura had meant it to be a question out of curiosity, but it came out more condescending.

Naruto bristled slightly, and responded sharply. "I can eat however much or little as I want. I eat that much for reasons which are none of your concern."

The awkward silence came back again. Naruto looked away from them, a bit embarrassed about acting out like that. But then again, he was supposed to be himself now, right? The jig was up; he couldn't get away with being the idiot anymore. At the very least, he knew Kakashi wouldn't let him get away with it. The real reason he ate so much wasn't because he loved ramen, or always ate loads, or anything like that. Naruto didn't know when his apartment would be broken into, when his money would be stolen, or if he would be sold spoiled food. Naruto didn't know how long it would be when he ate. So, he took advantage when he want to Ichiraku, because it was the one place he could trust fully. When you accidentally eat rotten fruit or meat, it takes quite a while until your stomach is willing to chance it again.

Surprisingly, it was Sasuke who broke the silence. "Let's go, then." He started to move without looking at any if them. Kakashi was the next to follow, and then Naruto quickly followed.

Kakashi was the one who paid for the food, coming out with a few boxes, with steam coming out the sides. The smell of spices was suddenly very strong in the air, and Naruto's stomach violently, but quietly grumbled. He realized he was extremely hungry.

'Well, yeah. With all the chakra I've been using to heal you, you're going to eat a ton.' Kyuubi reminded him.

"Where to?" Kakashi asked them.

Everyone's eyes shifted around, looking to each other. No one seemed to want to volunteer. Naruto sighed. He supposed it made sense. Sasuke didn't exactly share his house with others. Sakura was living with her parents, still. And Kakashi, well it was a bit awkward to go to their Sensei's house, like they were invading on his privacy. Kakashi was awfully secretive, too. Cursing himself as he did so, Naruto spoke.

"We can go to my place," he offered, grudgingly.

'You're going to regret that.' Kyuubi warned.

'No, really Kyuubi? Why don't you make me even more pleased with the situation, hm?'

'Yeah, yeah.'

His teammates' eyes locked on him, and Kakashi's visible eye curved up. "Thanks, Naruto." He said.

"Mm," Naruto made a non-committal sound in reply, suddenly feeling like Kakashi had tricked him somehow. "It's this way," he added, nodding his head to indicate the direction.

By this time, it was late afternoon, so more villagers were out. The result of this was that Naruto blended in much more easily, and was far more comfortable walking about now. The glares had lessened, mostly because they weren't in the heart of the town anymore, and also because the villagers had better things to do right now. This was the time when families went out, and, generally, the ones with families didn't target Naruto.

Team Seven got to Naruto's apartment building, and he could feel the critical stares. It wasn't in the best of shape, but he was allowed to stay there. It was extremely unlucky for Naruto that, for the most part, it was those of the older generation who owned things like apartment buildings. The older generation who remembered the terror of the Kyuubi-

'Hah.'

-and weren't willing to forget so easily. Naruto had to pay a bit more than normal pricing for a lot less than normal quality. He had a room on the bottom floor. While that saved him the stairs, it also meant that whenever the apartment, not located in a great part of town, was targeted by robbers, his apartment was an ideal spot. Not to mention it was common knowledge around the village that he lived there. Naruto learned to take everything of importance with him on the first week of owning this apartment. He got to the door. It was already open. Sakura gasped. Even she knew Naruto wasn't so dim to leave the door wide open. Unlocked, maybe, but not completely open. He pushed it open, and looked around. A couple of broken glasses, but really, not much harm done. Not that they could; he didn't have lamps anymore or anything of use. They could try to start a fire with the stove, but then they would have to deal with the landlord as well, and she was probably the one who told whomever it was that his lock was busted. He payed for it to be fixed the first six times.

"Ah, sorry about the mess, don't take off your shoes," Naruto advised. He carefully stepped in to survey the damage. Just a few cups. No more tea then, for now. He got his broom out of his closet, aware of his team watching his every move, and began to sweep up the glass.

"Who did this?" Sasuke's voice was little more than a whisper. If Naruto were to glance back, he would have seen Sasuke's hands balled into fists, and his teeth grinding painfully together. Kyuubi noticed the anger in his voice, but said nothing. She had meddled enough for now.

To answer Sasuke's question, Naruto shrugged. He didn't know who it was. And he didn't really care; it would keep happening no matter what.

"Naruto, this should be reported to the Hokage. It is very dangerous for someone to break into a ninja's home," Kakashi warned, but Naruto spoke.

"Don't worry, nothing of value is kept here," he told his Sensei. Really, he kept his valuables sealed in different scrolls that he kept hidden in separate areas around the village. His frog summons were also helpful in keeping hold of things.

"Where is it kept?" Sakura asked.

"Around," Which was true, but far too vague for his team to be satisfied with it. Still, that was all they were going to get out of him right now. But before Sakura could ask any further questions, Kakashi cut in again.

"That doesn't make it any more okay for them to do so. You should report this, Naruto," he insisted. Naruto shrugged. He wasn't planning on telling Tsunade anything, but he knew that wasn't what Kakashi wanted to hear. On the other hand, he really was getting sick of lying. So, he said nothing.

Kakashi sighed, and Naruto finished sweeping the glass and put the broom away.

"I'm afraid I don't really have much seating," Naruto apologized.

Sasuke pushed past the team and seemed to sag into the dirty couch. They looked at him oddly, but his long bangs obstructed their view of his face. After a long, slight awkward pause, he finally spoke.

"I want to talk to Naruto."

"What?" The boy in question asked, hoping he had heard incorrectly.

Sasuke finally lifted his head, his dark eyes meeting sky blue. "I need to talk to you."

Naruto swallowed, and didn't reply.

Kakashi's eye curved up, in a calmingly familiar way. "Well then, Sakura-san, it seems we're not wanted here. Shall we go?" He asked playfully.

"What?" Sakura asked.

"Just come on," her teacher steered her out of the house, quickly grabbing two ramen boxes for them. The arrangement was probably better for all of them. Naruto and Sasuke clearly needed to talk, and now would be a good time to get through to Sakura.

At last, Naruto and Sasuke were left alone. Sasuke had been waiting for this. And now the moment was finally here...

And he had no idea what to say.

Sasuke sat, slightly hunched, with his elbows resting on his legs, attempting to remember everything he had wanted to tell Naruto. Where could he start? Almost without his permission, a question rose out of his throat.

"Why didn't you fight back?" Sasuke found himself struggling to keep his eyes on Naruto, but he forced himself not to look away. He wanted to see the emotions as they crossed the tanned boy's face.

Naruto throat was dry. All of his carefully laid out reasons suddenly seemed feeble when said out loud.

'That would be because they are feeble.'

Kyuubi's agreement let a bubble of indignation rise in Naruto's chest, and he became more confident. He settled on the simplest answer.

"It would have made everything worse."

Sasuke stared at him. "How?"

"The villagers would have gotten hurt. And then they would tell people, and because it's me, it would go to the council." His throat felt thick, and he swallowed in an attempt to clear it. "If I continuously hurt people while getting away, I would be put under trial...and then who knows what would have happened to me."

"So you..." Sasuke shook his head in disbelief. "You let them hurt you, because you were-"

"I don't expect you to understand," Naruto said angrily.

"No, I don't understand!"

Sasuke and Naruto were left at a furious standstill. Both staring at the other, but neither willing to let go of their opinion.

"I don't understand you," Sasuke repeated, his voice oddly softened.

Naruto looked away, a lump suddenly forming in his throat. He swallowed, awkwardly walking across the room in an attempt to do anything other than look back in Sasuke's confused eyes.

"Why didn't you tell Tsunade?"

Naruto didn't answer.

"Or Kakashi? Sarutobi?" Sasuke didn't let up. "How long has this been happening, Naruto?"

Naruto pulled a dirty cup from his shelf and attempted to scrub it.

"How long?"

He scrubbed harder.

"Naruto," the tone in Sasuke's voice was one that Naruto had never heard from him. He paused.

"Naruto," he repeated, "how long has this been happening?"

Naruto cleared his throat and stared into his ceiling. "I don't know."

"What do you mean?"

The blue eyes turned their gaze from the ceiling onto Sasuke.

"It depends on what part of it you're talking about, really. But things like this," he gestured around the room, "have been happening as long as I could remember."

Sasuke shook his head. "It's not right. It's not-"

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "We're ninjas. Plenty of things that happen around us aren't 'right'."

"Not in our village!" Sasuke exclaimed.

Naruto stared at him. "Really."

Sasuke was silent, realizing Naruto was thinking of what had happened to Sasuke's own family.

"It's just another one of those things, Sasuke."

"No. No, it's not. Because you, Naruto, you could have prevented this! You could have told someone! Why didn't you tell someone?" He cried.

"Because no one wanted to hear!" Naruto yelled. "No one listens, and no one would do anything anyways!"

"They would have listened, if you had-"

"Who?" Naruto whirled around to face Sasuke. "Tell me, Sasuke, who exactly would want to listen to the whining village idiot?" Naruto snarled.

"I would have!" Sasuke screamed.

Naruto stared at Sasuke, and Sasuke glared back. The black haired boy turned suddenly, and strode straight through the apartment door, slamming it behind him.

Naruto was left in total shock, with nothing but two boxes of untouched ramen to keep him company. Naruto was in no mood to listen to Kyuubi right now, and she knew it. She kept quiet as the blonde boy sank down into his couch. His mind was racing, suddenly questioning the decisions he had been so sure of before. But more than that, his mind was on Sasuke. Just because they were teammates, just because they sometimes got along, that didn't mean they were friends. Not best friends, definitely not. Naruto didn't have friends, not with the persona he exhibited. How could Sasuke want to listen to him? Why did he care about Naruto's problems? He had no reason, to right to make Naruto feel...

'Why do I feel guilty? I didn't do anything wrong.'

The fox shuffled in the back of his mind, but remained silent. The guilt that Naruto had identified began to grow into a pulsing realization. He could have been wrong this whole time. What if he was? Wrong about Sasuke, wrong about everything - almost his entire life, wasted. All of his reasons, the reasons he thought were unshakable...they were worthless. They were weak and broken. They didn't even make sense, and he could barely remember half of them anymore.

He put his head in his hands. A soft, feminine voice spoke up.

'The past is the past, Naruto. No one can change it, not even me. Letting yourself dwell on it only wastes your present, and ruins your future. It's over, kit. That part of your life is over, and now, it's time to make sure it never comes back.'

Naruto let out a shaky breath.

'Right, kit?'

'You're right.' He replied, and with another sigh, he lifted himself from the couch. He ran his hand through his hair and with one final push off of the dirty fabric, he went to make some tea for his last remaining cup.

Author's Note:

I had a heck of a time this year. I haven't been into Naruto at all, and when looking through my past notebooks, I realize how much I've forgotten. It sucks. But I've started reading more fanfiction, and GOOD GOD are the Narusasu doujinshi's adorable or what! So I kind of am feeling a lot more inspiration now. Everything's coming around, please let me know what you think! Oh, and I've taken off some of the pairings I had before. Not because I don't like them, but because I think I should focus on Sasuke and Naruto's relationship, and I feel that adding others will detract from that.

- Kinomi