Warnings: A.U; Yaoi; Incest; ItaSasu; Shota; Non-Con
If you don't like it, don't read.
Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.
AN: I'm still alive \m/
Beted by: itachifemsasu
oOo
Monochromatic.
Gloomy.
Despairing.
When Sasuke opened his eyes, he instantly panicked realizing he was not at home, but at some open area instead. Although adjusting fast to the just recovered consciousness, his vision was still blurred and he felt dizzy. He couldn't tell how many hours had he slept for, nor if the sun was rising or setting.
The faint light that managed to trespass the heavy dark clouds in the sky barely fulfilled their duty. There was almost no sunlight.
What was going on? He tried to recall, but couldn't remember anything. His head hurt. He had just a vague memory of that party... of himself throwing a glass against a wall and then, nothing more.
Why was he so angry about?
A man's face appeared in his mind... Orochimaru... those snake-like eyes...
A smirk that looked more like a scowl tried to get past his lips, now that he knew the reason behind his anger.
Did Fugaku leave him there?
No... his foggy mind still permitted him to remember that his older brother was the last person he had seen that night.
Had it been Itachi then?
No. That bastard would never discard his favourite toy somewhere like this hell. How comforting.
But where was this damned place? At any direction Sasuke gazed, the same melancholic scenario spread itself as far as the eye could see-which was not very far since the darkness's presence was the strongest one. Even the colours seemed to have abandoned that place. A gloomy wasteland that could evoke your most concealed fears. And Sasuke had been thrown there, standing tied up against the slim rotten trunk of a lifeless tree.
He heard some noises far away, yet they were so distant that Sasuke was not able to distinguish, though he knew it couldn't be human. He heard again, and this time it was closer. And closer, and closer, and louder... until Sasuke saw that was not 'it', but 'they'. And they landed near him. Again, more loud cawings.
Crows.
Their cawings were like announcements of death. Droplets of cold sweat appeared on Sasuke's forehead as he struggled to break free from his binds. Now he noticed, no wind as well.
The crows just watched his efforts with mild curiosity, some of them tilted their heads time and again to have a better view of him. And the boy saw it. He stopped and stared at the first and only colour he saw until that moment: red.
Red eyes. He had never seen crows so terrifying like that. They stared back at him like they understood what he was doing. Sasuke let his head stumble forwards, his chin almost touching his chest. He was tired. Tired like he had never been before like his strength had been drained from him. As if life was not permitted in that wasteland. As he gazed numbly at the ground, a small dark figure neared him. His eyes never leaving the crow as it approached his bare feet. Sasuke tried to kick it away irritated, but it just battered its wings, slightly jumping backwards.
"Go away," his voice was raspy, but he managed to say it somewhat audible. The bird in its turn just cawed an answer.
Sasuke yelled as something pecked his left shoulder. Another crow. He scrunched his eyes and gathered the remaining energy he had to thrash maniacally to scare all them away for once.
He was with his head down, eyes tightly shut, breathing hard, barely conscious. The only thing supporting him upright was the ropes attached to the tree. However, as he gazed at the crows again, they were all there. Worse, there were more.
They didn't go away. He tried to calm down, despite knowing he would not be able to, the killing intentions he felt coming from them were paralysing. His situation was not the best. He couldn't even scream. Besides, no one was there to help him anyway. What a pitiable way to die. He had never wanted it to be like that. Dying alone and forgotten in some desolated place.
People used to say that when you're about to die scenes of your whole life play on your mind, but Sasuke only saw one scene in particular. It could be a doubtful memory, but in those conditions, he chose to believe it, because that was the only good thing he could remember, a scene where he was with Mikoto, Fugaku and Itachi, he was very little, happy and carefree.
That's when he heard. The intense fear made his already fragile body tremble. It was the terrifying, maddening sound of what seemed an enormous black cloud of thousands and thousands of crows, and they were all coming from the sky towards him.
It was not long before he was being completely eaten alive, overwhelmed by those red-eyed enraged birds pecking his limbs and face.
oOo
Sasuke woke up screaming, sweating, and breathing hard. He gave an automatic look at his surroundings to reassure himself he was safe. It was morning. He was in Itachi's bedroom, but the owner was not there though.
Relief, pain, tiredness and disgust, Sasuke experienced all them respectively. Those feelings were constant in his life. Relief for awakening from that nightmare; the pain that made him remember of the past night; tiredness of the incessant lack of proper rest; and disgust of finding himself sticky with sweat and other body fluids.
After picking up his clothes, Sasuke went for his own bedroom as soon as possible to get rid of all that dirt on his body. Fugaku and Itachi were already on their way to the Uchiha company, and he was alone. It was in those moments the house felt somewhat comfortable, however, the boy barely ate his breakfast and left.
oOo
"Hey, Sakura, look at that," Ino discreetly nodded her head towards a boy and a girl talking very close to each other at one table few feet away from them. "Who's that boy with Hinata?"
"Now that you mentioned... I don't know." Sakura was confused. She had seen him a couple of times around the school but never paid much attention. However, now judging by the resemblance she saw between him and their classmate, she thought that maybe he was a brother or cousin. "I think they're related."
"I never knew Hinata had an older brother."
"Me neither."
"He's cute," Ino commented noticing the boy's shining long hair, beautiful features, and cold pale eyes.
Sakura grinned evilly. "Soooo, that means you finally gave up on Sasuke-kun?"
"Never. That boy may be cute, but there's no comparison. Sasuke-kun will always be my only love. We will marry someday," Ino crossed her arms and glared at the other girl.
"As if he would ever notice you." Who the hell that damned blonde thought she was? How could she say that? Sasuke-kun didn't even know she existed!
"Say that when I invite you for our mar—" Ino stopped as the boy who was talking with Hinata passed by them with such an angry face that made her pity the person who got in his way. She then glanced at the table where just moments ago he was sitting and saw the preoccupied face of the only person there.
Sakura frowned, "He's weird."
Ino turned to her friend, her face changing from playful to thoughtful.
"What's wrong?"
"Sakura, talking about weird things... Sasuke-kun didn't come to school today. Do you think he may be sick?"
Sakura assumed a worried expression, the Uchiha didn't usually miss classes. "I wish I had his number to call him."
"It's possible Naruto knows something, let's ask him later."
After the lunch hour when the last classes started, Sakura poked Shikamaru's back before he fell asleep on the table and passed a small piece of folded paper to him. He looked dumbly at it for a second and she pointed to Naruto, indicating he should give it to the blond. He yawned, scratched his head, and turned on the chair mumbling something about it being too troublesome. Sakura grimaced. How that boy that spent most of his time staring at clouds, sleeping and drooling on his chair had an I.Q higher than 200 was beyond her imagination.
Naruto was copying on his notebook what Iruka was writing on the board. He was so distracted that got a little startled when Shikamaru used his pencil to poke him. He received a paper, and as he looked back, Shikamaru pointed with his thumb to Sakura. Naruto almost stopped breathing due to the thousands of hypothesis of what was written there, and he chose the one that was more interesting for him so far: was Sakura-chan asking if he wanted to date her? But his dreams were all shattered when Naruto unfolded the paper and discovered that the question was nowhere near what he expected.
'Do you know why Sasuke-kun didn't come today?'
He felt like slapping himself, of course, Sakura-chan wouldn't do that! It might not seem but she was shy regarding those things. Plus, there was still Sasuke on his way and—wow... her handwriting was so pretty!
The blond found it strange too when Sasuke didn't show up that day, called him many times during lunch hour, but the Teme didn't answer. If he was sick, then was trying not to be bothered which was understandable, though Naruto would visit him if Sasuke remained absent the next day. He wrote a 'Nope' and gave the paper to Shikamaru to return it to the pink-haired girl.
oOo
Have you ever woken up one day and on your way to school, college, job, wherever you were supposed to go to, you felt the urge to change your route? Not just choose another path, but not actually head to the intended place. If yes, then you know what it is like when your mind is screaming for rest, for a distraction, to forget your life for a couple of hours. Just a silly but reinvigorate escape from the routine that everyday eats you away.
The small trip to Tokyo had gone smoothly. It could have been resumed at wandering alone, eating junk food, visiting places, and enjoying that quite ordinary day.
It was only past 8 pm, but Sasuke let out a yawn, feeling his eyes burn as he rubbed them. Several people, as he noticed, had that expression of drained energy which seemed accentuated in that fluorescent cold light, and Sasuke knew he was that same way, if not worse. He hated looking like that. Plus, the nightmare making him restless didn't help either. By the way, as he thought about it now, it looked as vivid as a memory. He shuddered. Sasuke had never dreamt with himself dying.
He then tried to distract his mind by glancing at a red-haired girl who was sitting on the other side of the train, almost right in front of him. She looked away pretending to adjust her oval glasses.
Funny how people react when they know they're being observed. He found interesting to induce others to think he was unaware, thus he could mind his surroundings easier. For all Sasuke noticed, the girl had been staring at him for the last twenty minutes, since she had entered. That skill of his could be used not only with his fangirls but everyone else who got somewhat near him. It was like a protection skill he once needed to learn even against his own will. It was something he could thank Itachi for.
The train cars were almost empty. It wasn't rush hour, and by that time most people were already at home having dinner with their families. Strange how the first thing you think after your daily duties is to go home.
Once more, the train stopped at another station, and a few passengers got in. He saw as one more redhead entered. He accompanied his movements as the boy recognized him, acknowledged him with a nod, and sat by his side.
"I thought you were sick," Gaara said in his nonchalant tone after many minutes of silence.
Sasuke hummed.
"Well, it seems you indeed are. You look terrible," the redhead continued as his light green irises set upon the dark bags under Sasuke's eyes, noticing the unhealthy paleness and weary expression. Those signs he knew very well. They were the signs of many disturbed nights taking its toll in the body.
Sasuke scowled. "I'm okay."
"Your face says otherwise." The corners of his mouth turned just the slightest when saw the Uchiha glaring at him, almost snapping that it was none of his business. Predictable. Gaara knew just where to aim. He was what one could call an eccentric troublemaker, quiet and reserved, cold even, but aside this aloof persona, he became an aggressive maniac every time he got himself into a fight. That was the reason why many feared him. He was an unsettling guy by nature.
The train arrived at their stop and the boys got off the car to the empty station just as Sasuke's phone started to buzz. He retrieved it just to reject the call. He would reject whoever it was but felt a slight pleasure on doing it as he read his brother's name on the screen.
"You've been acting strange lately," the redhead pointed.
"Since when do you care?" Sasuke asked as the other followed him towards the subway exit.
"No. I don't care. I'm just saying you're showing it."
The Uchiha glanced at him with a raised eyebrow but decided for not commenting anything, and as soon as they were on the fresh air of that warm summer night in Konoha, they parted ways.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he headed back home with the uneasy feeling that Gaara seemed to emanate still present in his gut.
That boy was too perceptive.