Warnings: A.U; Yaoi; Incest; ItaSasu; Shota; Non-Con
If you don't like it, don't read.
Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.
Beted by: itachifemsasu
oOo
"Sasukeeeeee!" The Uchiha cringed at hearing his name being yelled so loud by the scandalous blond boy who went running towards him. "Teme, why didn't you stop the first time I called you!?" Naruto complained trying to catch his breath.
"I didn't hear you," replied Sasuke as he restarted his walk now with Naruto by his side. That was a rare moment to witness, once the blond often needed to be reprimanded by Iruka for arriving late. "Why are you awake so early?"
He made a face as if recalling something painful. "Baa-chan found a porn novel within my drawer."
Okay... Sasuke stopped in the middle of his stride. That caught his attention. Of course, they were at the age of thinking such things and have some fun time with themselves, but that was just something he couldn't picture Naruto doing. No way. He was not interested in imagining that either.
"But it's not mine," the other boy felt the need to add with his arms desperately waving in the air when saw the look Sasuke had given him. "I've told you already, so don't look at me like that! My grandfather writes that stuff. It's something like a hobby—though I think is just an excuse to spy on girls. And this morning Tsunade found the manuscript of the new book he had written without her knowing hidden among my clothes. She doesn't like those perverted stories, and now she thinks I was covering for him. That's why I left early. But at least this time Iruka-sensei won't scold me 'cause I won't be late." The blond grinned. Then he thought... "By the way, Sasuke, wanna sleep with me tonight?" Naruto noticed the ambiguous meaning of that sentence only at the moment it left his mouth and reformulated as his cheeks were bright red. What a bad timing. "Er— I mean, sleep at my place. Tsunade will still be furious when I get back, and if I'm bringing someone along there's a chance she won't be as harsh on me." And he mumbled to himself, "I hope."
"Fine," Sasuke replied straight away. If he wouldn't need to worry about Itachi that night, then the idea looked perfect. A toothbrush was the item he most needed for a night away from his house, and he never left without it inside his backpack. Therefore, everything was all right.
"I'll show you my new games and mangas. We can spend the whole night playing," Naruto said, letting his excitement overflow and giving Sasuke a hint of why he was always late to school. "I see you're still recovering from the flu, but if you get worse, I'll take care of you. Though I think you'll get better faster if you have some fun."
Recovering from..."What?"
"Huh?"
"What?"
"What what?"
Sasuke breathed deeply. "How can you tell if I've been sick?" Naruto was the second person that bothered him with this flu thing in less than twelve hours without him feeling ill whatsoever. Did he seem that bad?
"Well, you see, you skipped school yesterday and you've got this... you know," he motioned with the hand in front of his own face, "this creepy zombie look."
The lie for the eventual question Naruto was going to throw at him had just been given by the blond himself. Sasuke was somewhat grateful, so he just played along as if the other had just seen through him, "I understand. I guess you're right."
If Naruto pointed out that he could see the raven-haired boy wasn't his usual self, it meant Gaara was not that perceptive after all. That thought wasn't in the least relieving, because if even Naruto could say he was not okay, he indeed needed to be careful. But then again, considering that out of everything both had mentioned the fact he was looking like a zombie, as the blond said, it also meant it didn't concern the way he acted, but only his appearance. And it all led to his night routine, which in its turn led to Itachi. That bastard.
"Hey, look there!"
oOo
"Good morning, Hinata," Sakura greeted as they approached the school gates at the same time.
"Good morning," responded the shy girl.
"Are you ready to receive your score on that algebra exam? Iruka-sensei said he would retrieve it today." Despite having good grades, Sakura wasn't too confident. This time, Iruka caught them off guard. Although she knew it allowed their teacher to have a clear view of the level of each of his students, a surprise test still sounded unfair. "I don't think I did well though. I was having some problems with that subject."
"Hum... yes, It was not easy," said Hinata and felt the need to reassure the other girl when she saw her preoccupied face."But you always do well, Sakura-chan. I bet you had one of the highest scores."
"Thank you. I hope so." Sakura smiled.
"I think I was not bad either." Then she averted her gaze, "but that's because Neji helped me."
"Neji?" Sakura asked. Was that the boy Ino was curious about?
Hinata explained, "He's my cousin. I was not good at algebra too, but he taught me."
"I see... that's nice." So that's the reason they were always close, Sakura thought. Hinata was very shy but was intelligent and sweet, the pink-haired girl enjoyed talking to her. "I think I saw him with you. You really loo—"
"Sakura-chaaaaaaan! Hinataaaaaa!" The girls heard someone shouting not too far away from them. They turned around and saw Naruto waving his hand.
Sasuke felt his left eardrum crying for mercy inside his head as the loudmouthed boy called out for the girls heading to the school building. "They're right there, not on the other side of Konoha, Naruto."
"Hello, Sasuke-kun. Hi Naruto," Sakura greeted as soon as they got near them. She would never get used to Naruto's hyper activeness at that time in the morning and didn't know how Sasuke dealt with it so easily. Even more in times like these when she could compare both boys. Looking at them she saw how they were the exact opposite of one another. Whereas Naruto had a bright mood, wore light colours, and was always beaming with joy like a child with a new toy, Sasuke on the other hand, was reserved, mysterious, cool, and wore dark-coloured clothes that matched his beautiful pale skin and— 'Stop that, Sakura! You're looking like an idiot staring that much to Sasuke-kun!'
"Hi, Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun," said Hinata trying not to make eye contact with Naruto as if afraid to give away some secret.
So the four students made their way to wait for Iruka while talking animatedly, which meant: Naruto talking with Sakura, who was trying to make some conversation with Sasuke, who was either humming or not giving response at all, and Hinata blushing every time her eyes met Naruto's.
oOo
The twilight was almost changing into the night when the two boys walked to Naruto's place. Sasuke with his hands inside the pockets looking at their shadows stretched along the sidewalk ahead of them, and the blond still dreaming of the food he had eaten not only ten minutes before.
"That ramen was really good today."
Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Today? You say that every time you eat at Ichiraku."
"But today it was better. I swear! You never believe me when I say Ichiraku keeps improving his cooking ramen skills."
"Hun," replied the raven not feeling in the least interested. Only Naruto could feel that excited over a bowl of ramen. He tried to remember how he even found a friend like that in the first place, but it had been at such a long time that he got no answer.
Naruto was a lonely kid like himself, and maybe that loneliness had been what they had in common. But unlike the other boy, Sasuke could have been friends with anyone he wanted, and that had been the problem: he didn't want it. He was too selective. It was like no one was good enough to be with him. Besides, his twisted relationship with Itachi made him cautious of letting another person get to know him further. But, in the end, the dobe managed to become his only real friend.
Unhurried pace, soft wind on their faces, and silence that didn't need to be fulfilled with an empty conversation. A good moment to share with a friend. However, Sasuke felt weird that Naruto was keeping his mouth shut. He was sure would be only a brief moment, but didn't complain, far from that, he was glad for he let his mind drift away again.
Sasuke admitted that the invitation to sleep at Naruto's place couldn't have happened on a better opportunity. That morning Fugaku left with a suitcase, and during breakfast, he had said he would stay a couple of days in Nagasaki regarding business issues. He feared to stay alone in that house with Itachi each time their father needed to travel because it always became a branch of hell created only to make him lose his sanity. Despite his father being stern and spontaneously forgetting Sasuke still lived there, the raven-haired boy felt safer with his presence around. Fugaku was Itachi's only restraint.
By the time they arrived, it was still early for dinnertime and Naruto said to Tsunade they were going to be upstairs so he could already settle everything to Sasuke's sleepover.
"Ok. When it's ready I'll call you," then she looked at Naruto with a 'You still owe me an explanation' look.
"Yes, Tsunade baa-chan."
"Stop calling me 'baa-chan' it makes me look older than I am," the woman complained.
Tsunade was a stunning woman. She was almost fifty, but her appearance was nowhere near her age: blonde hair as shiny as the sun of the summer, dyed of course, but looking as natural as it did when she was twenty, amber eyes full of vivacity, and clear, smooth, glowing skin. It seemed like she had found the youth potion during the years she was a doctor. It was before her gambling got in the way and Tsunade decided to drop everything to found "The Godaime", the well-known casino in the heart of Konoha—it had received that name because she thought '5' was her lucky number. Naruto always said that the name sounded like a curse.
"By the way, behave well. We'll have another guest besides Sasuke-kun."
"Who?"
"A childhood friend of Jiraiya and me."
"No need to worry. You know I always behave well."
"Oh, really?" she asked with hands on the waist. "That's not what I saw today in the morning."
"Er— okay. I'll behave," he said hurriedly. "C'mon, Sasuke."
Her eyes narrowed. If her grandson thought she wouldn't skin him alive for not telling about that amount of perverted babbling Jiraiya called a book just because he brought a friend along, then her little Naru-chan was utterly mistaken. If only she didn't have more important matters to solve...
And that white-haired pervert just needed to wait as well.
She sighed and went to her home office with a notebook and a sake bottle in hands. The spreadsheets of her casino needed to be taken care of, otherwise her assistant Shizune wouldn't stop bothering her. But they would pay. Yes, they would.
oOo
Nostalgia. The description given by dictionaries is: a word used to describe the feeling of missing something from the past, like old relationships, old routines, etc.
Yet, it's not just about missing. It's the idealized recollection you've got toward something. Usually, you just have that sense of familiarity that ends up awakening good memories hidden within the dark abyss of your mind. It makes you want to be there again, reliving that long lost chapter of your life. No wonder old people often get trapped in daydreams, for they lived too much and anything becomes a trigger, like a peculiar food taste, a perfume scent, or a melody.
Music is a close friend of nostalgia, known to bring into light all sorts of reactions on some people. It's not rare to find out there who begins to cry with a melody that ruled a good part of their past. They use music as a tool to transport them to another time. Also, there's the kind of people who has thousands of music, but despite not listening to them for such a long time, they will never attempt to get rid of them, because they're sure that in the future they'll be desperate to hear it just to keep the nostalgic feeling alive.
Simple and complex. That's nostalgia, the bittersweet and somewhat annoying feeling that makes you want to go back to a place that would never exist again, at least not the way it used to be. And it's frustrating because time is always unfavourable and egoist. To begin with, it doesn't need anyone. It just keeps going and will leave you behind, forgotten, if you strive to live in the past. That's why you need to keep moving on. It is said that the hardest part of holding on is letting go, and it is. But that's a natural part of the cycle, after all, the 'now' is already becoming past.
However, that word still has another nuance, not as common as the explained before; it also applies to a situation still not lived. Aspirations not conquered yet.
That house was warm—not the temperature, but something that one could easily grow used to. Sasuke felt good there, safe. Every time he stepped into that place the harsh truth was thrown at his face, and he could see how messed up he truly was. At the same time, it enabled him to set his own life aside and be a normal person.
And that night when he laid on the futon to sleep, Sasuke felt a little envious of Naruto. It didn't take much time to contemplate though as all the pending sleep he needed to recover right then and there made his heavy lids close.
"Sasuke, are you awake?"
The boy hummed, pulled from his half-conscious state, cursing himself for not staying quiet.
"Baa-chan said we were going to have another guest, but no one came."
"Maybe the person got tied up on something."
"Yes," Naruto pouted. "She said it was a childhood friend. Maybe this friend had some embarrassing story to tell us. It would have been funny."
Embarrassing story? For some reason, Sasuke thought about that time during the morning when Naruto told him the motivation behind his unusual early awakening. His friend was pretty, but the Uchiha just couldn't imagine him doing... things.
He could say Naruto was friend-zoned for sure. Despite that, they had kissed once. But it was an accident. One of their classmates had the bright idea of pushing the boy forward to an awkward brush of lips, just for the sake of laughing of them. After Naruto's statement of: "I'm not gay, dattebayo!", Sasuke for the first time in his entire life stopped to wonder whether he liked boys or girls. The realization he came to was that both were acceptable. Nonetheless, despite having a wider range of possibilities due to his sexual condition, no one seemed to fit his standards. Just as the people he saw didn't seem worthy enough to be his friends, they were much less qualified to touch his body.
Those subjects began to vanish from his mind and he began to fall asleep, but just as his cell began to buzz under the pillow. His eyes snapped open again. Was it possible that he wouldn't be able to sleep tonight as well?
He sighed to stead himself, and already knowing who was calling him, Sasuke grumpily reached it and answered.
"It's late, Sasuke. You should be at home by now," Itachi's grave voice sounded on the other side.
"I forgot to tell you that I'll be sleeping at Naruto's," Sasuke said unable to hold the smirk that appeared on his face at hearing the brief silence that followed his statement. When Itachi spoke again his tone was still calm.
"Ok. Good night, little brother."
"Bye." The raven-haired boy put the phone to the place underneath the pillow
"Was that your father?" Naruto asked, looking at him from his bed and Sasuke frowned at the black sleeping cap with two eyes in the frontside over the blond's head.
"No." Fugaku had never called to see if was fine. If it didn't bring shame to the Uchiha name, his youngest son could do anything for all he cared. "And my father is not in Konoha anyways."
"I thought you had told them."
"It's fine, Itachi understands. No trouble."
"Man, your brother is so cool. Ero-Sennin often says he's a true prodigy," Naruto yawned as he spoke making his words almost unintelligible. "I wish I had a brother too."
'You have no idea of what you're saying,' the bitter thought was unavoidable.
"I noticed the neighbour has a really nice garden. His grass is so beautiful..." Sasuke mumbled and turned to the side.
And that night he fell into a slumber letting a confused Naruto wondering what did Namikawa-san had to do with all that.