(Author's Note: If you're reading, please remember to review! All warnings and disclaimers apply to all chapters.)

And the Beat Goes On
Chapter 7: Cacophony

Iruka sighed in frustration, his eyes scanning over the papers he was grading. These students honestly had no clue how to read or write music. . .

"Something wrong?"

He glanced up to see his all-time favourite teacher, one Hatake Kakashi, sitting opposite of him at the table in the lounge. He wondered vaguely why he hadn't noticed him before. He shoved the matter aside and answered his crush. "Yes. . .these kids really know nothing about music, even though they claim they've taken a course before. Makes me wonder about their teacher."

Kakashi held his hand out and said, "Here. Let me see."

Iruka blinked and handed him a paper. The silver-haired man looked over it, then snorted. "Even I could have taught them what that means. . .and how to write that. . .and -"

He glanced at Iruka, who, he realized, was giving him a funny look. "What?"

"I didn't know you knew anything about music," Iruka said, almost shyly.

Kakashi shrugged. "I took guitar lessons for a little while. I play the piano now. . .when I find the time," he added, noting the other teacher was still giving him a funny look.

Iruka smiled. "Really? That's. . .cool. Naruto plays the piano too."

Kakashi blushed at the compliment, but waved it off and said, laughing, "Naruto! That little terror plays piano?"

Iruka nodded solemnly. "Yes, he does. He's really very good."

Kakashi didn't know why, but he felt slightly jealous of Naruto right then. He didn't like the idea of Iruka giving the blond his praise. "My instructor said I was a prodigy," he muttered, almost defensively.

Iruka brightened. "Really? Maybe you could come over some time and give Naruto some pointers. . ."

He blushed, realizing that he had just, once again, accidentally invited Kakashi to his home. Kakashi smiled. "That could be. . .interesting."

Iruka swore that the man must have known about his crush. The evil little grin gave him away.

- - - - - - - - - -

"Hey, hey guys! Party at Itachi's on Friday night!" Orochimaru exclaimed as he practically pranced into home room.

Itachi mentally started beating his head against the desk. Why, oh, why did Orochimaru continue to do stupid things such as this!

"So, a party, eh?"

"That sounds like fun!"

"Count me in!"

"Booze! Will there be booze! Ya gotta have booze!"

Within seconds, the entire class was abuzz with the topic of said "party". Orochimaru took his seat. Itachi glared at him. "How many people do you plan to tell?" he asked acidly.

Orochimaru smirked. "I'm going to tell all the kids in your classes, and my classes, and hell, maybe even some of the other classes!"

Itachi groaned and rolled his eyes. "You're not inviting over two hundred people to this goddamn party."

"Sure I am."

Itachi glared. Orochimaru mock-glared right back. Itachi sighed. "You're doing this just because you don't have to clean up."

Orochimaru smiled. "Aw, I'll help you clean up," he said with a sly wink. "I don't think you'll be able to stand up afterwards."

Itachi coloured a bit and hissed, "Jerk," before promptly ignoring Orochimaru.

- - - - - - - - -

"Friday night, you know the feeling is right," Orochimaru sang, trying to grope his boyfriend. Itachi pushed him away.

"Will you get off me and stop singing like you're already drunk!"
It was only half past six, on the night of the by-now notorious party. Everyone who was anyone was on their way, and even some people who weren't. Some of the kids from younger grades were planning to show up too, just because it was common knowledge that Orochimaru's parties were never boring. They were the talk of the town for weeks on end afterward.

All in all, Itachi estimated that over half the school was coming to this party. He was planning on getting so hammered, he wouldn't be able to get up in the morning. He didn't want to face the mess. Maybe he'd make Sasuke clean up.

Orochimaru was smirking and still trying to feel him up. He was still swatting the wandering hands away. "Aw," Orochimaru pouted. "You know you wanna."

Itachi snorted and glared, slapping the back of the other's hand viciously. Orochimaru winced and pulled away. "Meanie," he pretended to pout. Itachi rolled his eyes.

The doorbell rang unexpectedly. Itachi raised an eyebrow and glanced at Orochimaru. The other shrugged. Itachi sighed and got off the couch, walking to the door. He opened the door to reveal. . .

Naruto. He stared down at the short tenth grader, who looked back up at him with his big, blue eyes. The mental version of himself was bashing his head against the door. Joy upon joy, Sasuke's little "boyfriend" was here. Wonderful.

". . .Sasuke here?"

Itachi blinked and nearly asked, "What?" He held his tongue at the last moment, realizing the blond was asking for his brother. "Yeah, he's here."

An evil idea crossed his mind and with an evil idea, came the evil smirk. It spread across his features and he stepped aside, gesturing for Naruto to come in. "Come on in. He's upstairs."

Naruto didn't seem to notice the evil aura that now hung about Itachi. "Thanks!" he said brightly and all but skipped into the house.

Itachi shut the door, still grinning. Oh, he had such an evil idea. . .

Orochimaru glanced over at his boyfriend and shuddered. Itachi was grinning. That was definitely not good.

- - - - - - - - -

Ino poked Sakura in the shoulder. The pink-haired girl glared at her. "What?"

The blonde smiled. "We should go to that party. Sasuke might be there."
Sakura snorted. "Yeah, right. Why would Sasuke ever go to a party?"

Ino looked thoughtful. "Hmm. . .I dunno. . .Maybe 'cause it's at his house!"

Sakura looked dumbfounded. "Really?" she asked after a moment, already brightening.

Ino nodded. Sakura smiled. "Okay," she said. "We'll go."

Ino rolled her eyes. Sakura was plotting something. She just knew it.

- - - - - - - - -

Sasuke and Naruto's quiet conversation was interrupted about eight o'clock, by the arrival of loud noise from the outside. Sasuke raised an eyebrow and looked at the floor, as if he could see through it. "What the hell are they doing?" he muttered.

Naruto just looked confusedly at the other boy. "What's with all the noise? Why's it so loud? It isn't always this loud at your house, is it?"

"No," Sasuke snapped, giving the blond a glare.

Naruto shut up.

Itachi had cleverly "forgot" to inform his brother that he was having a party. Naruto just wasn't informed of anything, ever, so it was no surprise that he had no clue what was going on.

Sasuke walked to the door. "Come on," he said, glancing back at Naruto. "Let's go see what's happening down there."

He had a feeling it was something that would probably lead to the destruction of the house. He padded out of his room, and to the stairs. Naruto followed him closely.

Sasuke stopped at the bottom of the stairs, eyeing his living room. Currently, there were about a hundred people, talking, drinking, smoking, doing drugs, dancing, making out - just about everything wrong in the history of history. Sasuke's eyes were about the size of dinner plates. "What the -"

Naruto crashed into him, sending them both sprawling on the floor. "Oops, sorry," Naruto muttered, getting up.

Sasuke growled and glanced about the room. The music was pounding into his temples, boring holes in his head, and he hadn't even been down here for five minutes!

He spied his brother sitting on a table, giggling drunkenly. He had a bottle of vodka in his hand. Orochimaru was on his knees in front of Itachi, licking his. . .toes. Sasuke wanted to gag. Instead, though, he marched through the crowded living room, a scowl planted firmly on his face.

He didn't stop until he was standing right beside Itachi. "Itachi!" he screamed, though it didn't sound like he did. The music was too loud.

The older Uchiha looked at the younger. "Hee, hi 'suke? Whatsa matter?"

Sasuke glared, thinking of an answer. "What the fuck is going on here!"

Itachi giggled some more and handed him the vodka. "There 'suke, have that. Makes partying all the better."

He giggled some more and kicked Orochimaru. "Stop that!"

Sasuke stared at the vodka, then looked at his brother. It was official. Itachi was drunk. Or insane. Whichever came first. Itachi glanced back at him. "Well, go on. Drink it. Not like it's poison, or anything."

Orochimaru, who had taken Itachi's toes out of his mouth, decided to add his two-sense. "Yeah! Drink it! And share some with your boyfriend!"

Sasuke was tempted to smash the bottle over Orochimaru's head for that comment. Instead, he stormed away, not realizing he still had the vodka in his hand. He stormed back across the room, to find Naruto looking a little lost and confused.

Sasuke looked at him funny. "What's wrong with you?"

Naruto blinked. "I have just been. . .groped. . .at least fifteen times within the last five minutes." The blond shuddered, as if to emphasis his point.

Sasuke sighed and offered him the vodka. "Drink that. You'll soon forget."

Naruto took it eagerly, not realizing what it was. He took a big swig of it, then coughed and started choking. "You idiot," Sasuke hissed.

"What is that stuff!"

"Vodka," Sasuke answered stiffly.

Naruto choked even more. Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Oh, it's not so bad!"

He took a swig of the stuff himself. "See?" he asked, smirking mockingly.
"Give me that," Naruto growled, scowling. He snagged the alcohol back and took a huge gulp and choked it back.

Not about to be out-done, Sasuke grabbed the bottle back and swallowed the remainder. He smirked smugly in Naruto's direction.

"Oh no, you don't!" the blond cried, swiping a bottle of something or other off one of the tables. He downed it in one go.

Sasuke stared at him, then growled. He wasn't about to be beaten by Naruto! He took a quick survey of the room, then bounded across the room, finding a spot where alcohol seemed to be in abundance. Naruto stumbled after him.

By eight-thirty, both boys were thoroughly drunk. Not pleasantly drunk, more of drunk-off-their-asses. The competition had long been forgotten. Naruto clung unsteadily to Sasuke's arm as they struggled to remain standing.

"Holy shit," Naruto said suddenly.

Sasuke glanced at him, trying to make sense of the fuzzy picture his brain was telling his eyes he was seeing. "What?" he slurred.

"You're pretty when I'm drunk," Naruto chortled, then collapsed to the ground, taking Sasuke with him.

"Yeah, well. . .you're hot," Sasuke said after a moment, trying to find a suitable comeback.

That sent Naruto into hysterics. Sasuke could only stare at him for a moment, before dissolving in helpless laughter too. They rolled about on the floor a bit, giggling. Then, they bumped noses, which led to a rather sloppy kiss. Sasuke hazily noted that they both tasted disgustingly like booze.

Naruto didn't seem to mind though, and Sasuke couldn't really complain. They were buzzing with a warm burning feeling. Something of an alcohol-induced frenzy had seized them and they were mashing their faces together, sparring with their tongues.

Sasuke bit Naruto. He tasted copper blood in his mouth and vaguely, he heard Naruto give a muffled cry.

He pulled himself away from the blond. Naruto stared at the ceiling, panting. "Oh, gods," he gasped. "Sasuke -"

"What?"

"Gods, Sasuke -"
"Stop rambling, you drunken idiot!" Sasuke laughed, giving Naruto a playful slap.

The blond looked at him then, his eyes intensely focussed for how drunk he was supposed to be. The sky blue had turned dark, like sapphire, ridden with lust. "Fuck me, Sasuke," Naruto said at last.

That was almost enough to shake Sasuke from his drunken stupor. "What!" he cried, looking at the blond, who merely smiled back. "You're drunk," Sasuke concluded.

"And so are you," Naruto returned, "which means that anything that happens can't be our fault."

Sasuke blinked rapidly, several times over. "Does alcohol increase your IQ or something, Naruto?" he asked quizzically. "You make more sense when you're drunk than when you're sober."

"Call it a gift, shut up, and screw me," the blond growled, looping his arms about Sasuke's neck and pulling him down on top of himself.

Within mere seconds, they were kissing again, groping and -

The rest of the night became a blur.

- - - - - - - -

Morning sunlight streamed in through the window. Groggily, with his head pounding like a million drummers were drumming upon it, Sasuke cracked open an eye. "Ugh. . ."

The room was blurry at first, and then, gradually came into focus, despite the fact that made his eyes hurt. His hair was straggling across his face. He felt sick.

He noted that he was lying in his room, on his bed, under his covers. That, however, didn't explain why he felt so horrible. He decided he was coming down with the flu.

But his mind was working against him. Vaguely, it seemed to piece together the puzzle of the night before. Vodka, Itachi, party, vodka, Naruto, some more alcoholic beverages. . .

All right, so maybe he'd gotten drunk. Maybe he'd gotten drunk at Itachi's party. But. . .wouldn't he have been passed out on the floor downstairs? Itachi wouldn't have moved him if he had passed out. He couldn't think of anyone else that would have. And that certainly didn't explain why the sheets were rubbing against his skin like he was. . .

Oh, indeed. He was naked. That explained it. But that still didn't bridge the gap between the time he was downstairs drunk to the time he was upstairs naked. He put his head back on the pillow. Thinking made the headache worse.
Something, or someone rather, beside him groaned and rolled over. He froze. Okay. This was not good. He was naked. And somebody was in bed with him. The nausea of hang-over intensified under this new nervousness.

What if somebody had taken advantage of him? He tried to suppress the thought, but it bubbled up through his clouded mind anyways bringing with it the thought that maybe Itachi was the one lying beside him. He shuddered.

Curiosity killed the cat. And in this case, Sasuke was nearly killed by it too. He glanced over to his left. His eyes met big, blue orbs. Both he and the other occupant of the bed screamed. Sasuke tumbled off the edge of the bed.

Naruto stared at him. He stared at Naruto. They blinked, and stared some more. Naruto had the covers held up to his chest, like a girl in a movie when she's caught having sex. They stared some more, neither saying anything.

Apparently, stupidity can't be washed away by hang-over or alcohol. Naruto made a face, rubbed his back and whine, "Sasuke, why am I so sore? And what are you doing here?"

Sasuke stared in disbelief at the blond idiot. Didn't he -! How could someone be so stupid! "How can you be so stupid?" Sasuke cried, before he realized he was saying anything at all.

Naruto looked at him, then sat back in surprise. Sasuke glared as best he could, though his head still hurt. The blond near whispered, "Sasuke. . .you're naked."

Sasuke wondered what the moron would realize next. That the earth revolved around the sun? No, no! That the sky was blue! And then, Naruto would proceed to tell him, that he'd always thought the sky was green!

"You idiot," Sasuke hissed.

Naruto's cheeks slowly coloured, so that he was a pretty shade of crimson. Even his ears were burning with that blush. He looked down at the sheets, then glanced up through his bangs. "Did we-?"

"How should I know?" Sasuke growled, becoming more than irritated. He got up off the floor and commenced a search for his clothes. And Naruto's for that matter too, for the other boy was apparently nude as well.

Naruto looked steadily at the blanket, drawing a swirly design on it with his finger. "What if we did?" he asked after a moment of pensiveness.

Sasuke grunted. "So what if we did?"
There was a soft thump and he glanced over his shoulder to see that Naruto had flopped back against the pillows. He had a hand over his eyes, as if shielding them. "I can't remember," he said.

"Neither can I," Sasuke said, in an almost sympathetic tone.

"I wanted it to be special," Naruto commented.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"

Naruto flushed crimson again. "Nothing! I just would have liked to remember my first time, thank you!" he snapped. Apparently, Naruto and hang-overs didn't mix well.

The blond sat up. "Jeez! You're such a jerk! This doesn't matter to you at all!"

Sasuke made no reply. He pulled a shirt over his head. "See! Now you're not gonna talk to me! This isn't my fault!"

Sasuke turned back around. "You think I'm blaming you!"

"It's more your fault than it is mine!"

"How is it my fault!"

"How is it not!"

"It's not my fault you decided to turn drinking into a competition-"

"Yeah, well, you should have stopped me-"

Sasuke had clambered back onto the bed and was now nose to nose with Naruto. They glared at each other, gritting their teeth. Naruto pulled away first, mumbling, "Insensitive jerk."

"Blond idiot."

They looked away from each other, pointedly not talking to the other. Something started banging. They glanced at each other.

"What's that?" Naruto asked, finally giving in.

"Sounds like somebody knocking on the door," Sasuke said blandly.

Naruto glanced sheepishly at him. "What. . .What if it's Iruka?"

Sasuke looked as if somebody had struck him. He hadn't thought of that! Naruto wouldn't have known he'd be out all night, and now Iruka was probably worried and looking for him and -

"Shit. Put your clothes on!"

"I don't know where they are!"

"Well, look for them, moron!"

Naruto looked angry for a split second, then he looked shy. "Umm. . ."

"Um what?" Sasuke said impatiently, tugging on his shorts.

Naruto blushed, but didn't say anything. "Naruto," Sasuke said, his voice sharp like a blade.

"I'm bleeding," Naruto murmured softly, his cheeks becoming even more pink. Hesitantly, he held up a bloody finger.

Sasuke blinked. "What does that have to do with -"

"Oh," he muttered, realizing what Naruto meant. He was bleeding. In that place. He felt his own cheeks heat up. "Well, I guess that answers the did-we-or-did-we-not question," he said darkly.

- - - - - - - -

Itachi was hung-over. Oh, yes. And Itachi being hung-over was never a good thing. Currently, the sun thought it was a good idea to shine directly into his eyes and make his poor head throb harder.

He wanted to yell at something. Fortunately, there was someone to yell at right beside him!

"Orochimaru!"

"Huh? Wha?"

Itachi prodded his boyfriend roughly. "Get up, you lazy ass!"

Orochimaru blinked owlishly. "Why?"

Itachi smiled, despite his pounding headache. "You've got to clean up my house."

Orochimaru groaned and flopped back on the pillow. "Do I have to?"

"Yes," Itachi said sternly, sitting up. "You promised," he almost sang, smiling sweetly.

Orochimaru rolled his eyes. "You make me sick, sometimes."
"Shut up. Or maybe I'll make this a demeaning task." Itachi smiled evilly and Orochimaru shuddered. He wouldn't doubt Itachi could make this degrading.

Somebody knocked on the door downstairs. Both boys stopped and glanced at each other. Itachi snuck a glance at the clock. "Who the fuck would be here so early?" he muttered, crawling out of bed.

A few minutes later, they were both dressed and downstairs. Itachi forced a garbage bag on Orochimaru, who sighed and reluctantly began picking up the trash littered across the floor. Itachi went to answer the door.

Who else would be up at the "ungodly" hour of eleven a.m. than a worried parent? In this case, it was Iruka who was standing on the stoop, wringing his hands nervously. Itachi looked mildly surprised. "Iruka-sensei! What are you doing here?"

Iruka looked at him sheepishly. "Well. . .umm. . .I was wondering if you knew where Naruto was. He never came home last night. . ."

Itachi thought hard for a moment, but couldn't remember anything. Well, he could remember some things, but they weren't relevant to what Iruka was asking, nor were they something he should hear.

"Um. . .Oh! He was here around. . .eight-ish. . .I think. . .He might still be here. I'll go check Sasuke's room - that's where they were."

Itachi invited the school teacher in and went upstairs to see if he could find Naruto. He didn't notice how angry Iruka looked when he mentioned that Sasuke and Naruto had been in Sasuke's bedroom. Alone. Unsupervised.

Itachi padded upstairs and knocked on the door to Sasuke's room. Receiving no reply, he barged into the room. He was met with a rather amusing sight. It might have been disturbing to some, but Itachi found it amusing, somehow.

Naruto was wrapped up in the sheets, kicking and screaming at Sasuke, who was trying to pull a shirt over Naruto's head. Sasuke was fully dressed. Naruto, however, was apparently buck-naked under the sheet, or so Itachi assumed, as the blond's clothes were scattered all over the floor. What made it even more amusing, was the idea of what they had been doing. Itachi covered his mouth with his hand.

Both boys glanced up at him. Sasuke glared. "What do you want?"

Itachi smiled and shook his head. He appealed to Naruto. "Iruka's looking for you."

The blond paled, and snatched his shirt from Sasuke, hastily pulling it over his head.
Itachi looked at his brother. "So," he said with a smirk. "Did you two have fun?"

Sasuke said blandly, "We don't remember."

Itachi blinked. "You don't remember! Shit, you must have had a lot to drink!"

Sasuke didn't comment. Instead, he handed Naruto his pants. The blond struggled into them, then flew by Itachi, out the door, down the stairs and into the foyer. Or, he would have. Pain caught up with him first and he managed to stumble out into the hall. "Ow!"

Itachi raised an eyebrow and looked at his brother. Sasuke shrugged and strolled out into the hall. "Idiot," he said to Naruto, offering the blond his hand.

He helped Naruto limp down the stairs. Iruka gave them a funny look as they rounded the corner. "Good morning, Iruka!" Naruto practically chirped.

"Good morning, Naruto. Sasuke." He nodded to them respectively. He looked at Naruto. "What happened?"

Naruto glanced at Sasuke nervously. "I. . .uh. . .fell down the stairs and twisted my ankle?" He grinned stupidly and laughed nervously.

Iruka frowned. "Naruto. You're no good at lying. Tell me what really happened."

Naruto lowered his head in shame. His ears went red. Iruka glanced at Sasuke. The dark-haired boy shrugged and said, "We got drunk. We had sex."

Iruka reeled back in surprise. "You what!"

Naruto glared at Sasuke through his bangs. Sasuke just shrugged.

Iruka wasn't sure what to do. Naruto looked at him sorrowfully. "It was an accident, I swear!"

Iruka's mouth was set in a firm line. "Accident or no! You still did it! Gods! And you were drinking! You! Naruto! You're grounded!"

Naruto's eyes widened. "Eh?"

Iruka grabbed Naruto by the ear and dragged him forcibly away from Sasuke. Naruto yelped in pain. "Ow! Leggo! It hurts! Iruka!"

Iruka dragged the boy out of the house. He glared at Sasuke. "And you! Stay away from Naruto!"

He slammed the door on his way out. Sasuke blinked. "That was. . .fucked up."
- - - - - - - -

Shikamaru poked Ino. And poked her again. And poked her once more for good measure.

She sleepily batted away his arm. "G'way," she muttered and rolled over.

"Ino. . .wake up," Shikamaru said and the blonde girl sat up.

"Wha? Huh? Where am I? Shikamaru!"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "You're on my living room couch. You showed up here at about one o'clock in the morning, drunk as shit. You couldn't very well go home like that, so I made you sit on the couch 'til you crashed."

"Oh," Ino said. She'd forgotten the party already. In fact, most of the night was a blur.

"Was. . .Do you know if Sakura got home?"

Shikamaru nodded. "Yeah. You said she'd been with you, so I went to see if she got home. Lee had been at the party too. He wasn't drunk like you two though, so he escorted Sakura home."

Ino nodded. She hadn't realized what caring friends she and Sakura possessed!

- - - - - - - -

It was Monday morning. Sasuke was running late. He'd slept in the past two days, and thus, had gotten used to it. Itachi had already left by the time he'd gotten up.

He ran down the street, a piece of toast (breakfast!) clenched between his teeth. He was going to miss the first bell -

He stopped suddenly, nearly running somebody over. "Sorry," he said breathlessly, then glanced at the person.

It was that freak, Gaara. He glared down at the green-eyed boy, who glared back. It appeared they had a mutual dislike of each other. "Oh," Sasuke said in a particularly nasty tone. "It's you."

Gaara smiled. "So it would seem. And you're Uchiha Sasuke."

"How do you know?" Sasuke said warily, eyeing the other boy.

Gaara just smiled back. Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I don't have time for this."
He moved as if to walk by Gaara. The other boy grabbed his wrist and twisted cruelly. "On the contrary, Sasuke. We have all the time in the world."

Sasuke shuddered. Gaara's voice oozed poison. Gaara flung him, somehow snapping Sasuke's wrist in the process. Sasuke landed heavily on the ground. He gritted his teeth in pain, clutched his presumably broken wrist and glared up at Gaara. How had he done that! Gaara was smaller than himself - not much taller than Naruto, and yet -

Gaara leaned over him, smiling nastily. "You're not so high and fucking mighty, Uchiha. It's time to take you down a notch, teach you a lesson."

The crimson-haired boy leaned down and grabbed the Sasuke's broken wrist, and twisted it cruelly. Sasuke cried out in pain. "Stop," he managed to hiss.

Gaara smirked. "No. Hearing you scream is wonderful. I'm going to make you scream my name, bitch. I'm going to make you scream until your throat's raw. Get it, bitch?"

Sasuke felt the bones in his wrist turning, jabbing at his skin, threatening to puncture. Tears burned at his eyelashes, even though he was trying not to cry. Gaara kept turning the joint, applying more and more pressure. Sasuke, feeling as if he was about to be disjointed and his wrist was going to explode if any more force was exerted, nodded pathetically.

He understood everything, in a sort of fuzzy clear way. Gaara was going to bodily harm him, but he didn't know how.

Gaara kicked him in the ribs and smiled. "Good, bitch. Now, get up."

Sasuke did as he was told. He was scared, for the first time in his life. Gaara glared up at him. "Try anything funny, and your blond boyfriend gets it."

Now Sasuke knew he had no choice, no chance to get Gaara back, to escape. If Gaara could break his wrist, just like that, he could only imagine what the crimson-haired fiend would do to Naruto. He wouldn't risk it. He couldn't risk Naruto's safety, even if it meant sacrificing his own.

Vaguely, he was aware that Gaara had looped something about his neck. It was a leash, he realized. Gaara snapped the lead viciously, making Sasuke's head snap forward. "Come on, bitch! Walk!" the crimson-haired freak commanded.

Sasuke did as he was told. He'd get away, he'd escape, he'd get Gaara back, just as soon as he could. He just had to bide his time. . .

And suddenly, his world exploded in pain. He was on his knees, his forehead resting against the pavement. Blood flooded down his skin, matting in his eyelashes, obscuring his vision with its mad crimson.
Gaara had struck him down. He glanced around, through pain-hazed eyes, recognizing his surroundings to be those of an alley. He heard cloth rustling, but he didn't know why. He was so confused. He felt cold suddenly, and realized what Gaara's intentions were.

His eyes widened. He felt bile rise in his throat. Panic filled him, and his blood dashed back and forth through his veins. He wanted to scream and kick and beat Gaara senseless, but he couldn't. His limbs had gone weak on him, and his breath came too fast. The world was spinning about him, crashing down, like a plane out of the atmosphere, spiralling down, down, down, burning all the while -

It tore him apart. He screamed. His knees were cut, bleeding, the gravel biting into them. His hips snapped angrily back and forth at the abuse. Gaara was pulling at his hair, clawing at him, his nails piercing his skin. The gravel bit into his palms, making them cry blood.

He was crying openly. Oh, gods! It hurt! He could feel blood seeping down the insides on his thighs and he wanted nothing more than to scream, to make Gaara stop. He was screaming - he screamed until his voice was raw, but he never screamed for the torture to stop. He was in too much pain for words to form coherently.

Blood trickled down his throat. Gaara's voice assaulted his ears. "Dirty whore, aren't you? Come on, fucker! Say something!"

"Stop," Sasuke managed to choke out with a mouthful of blood.

It didn't stop. Gods, why wouldn't it stop! The pain tore through him, wrung another cry from his broken throat. 'Stop, stop, stop!' he cried mentally, begging, wishing something would save him, that by some miracle Gaara would stop, that he would die! No, instead, he was tortured, the agony making him sick, the sickness making him in agony.

Gaara was finished with him. Gaara threw him away. He lay on his side, eyes wide, breathing hard, bleeding. Bruises were already forming. Gaara leaned over him and leered. "On your knees, Uchiha, like a slut! How does it feel! Are you still proud?"

Sasuke coughed up blood. "Bastard," he growled, wiping blood from his lip.

Gaara laughed scornfully. "Now you see. The world doesn't have to bend over backwards for you, asshole. In fact, there's always going to be someone to knock you on your knees."

Throughout Gaara's little speech, Sasuke had been preparing himself. The red-haired bastard wasn't going to get away with this. Screw how much pain he was in. He was being mocked. He wouldn't stand for it. While Gaara was gloating, Sasuke had hiked his pants back up, ignoring the pain that shot through him.

Gaara was still laughing. Sasuke tackled him, sending him into the nearest wall, decking him. "You little fuck up!"

He grabbed Gaara by the temples and smashed the other boy's head into the wall, over and over again. A bloody streak was left on the wall.

Gaara growled and threw Sasuke off him, leaping at him and sinking his teeth into flesh. They fought bitterly, wrestling, biting, kicking and punching, lashing out with the desperate desire to kill.

They didn't hear the pounding footsteps across the pavement. In fact they didn't hear or see anything except for the enemy until Naruto's voice, shrill with worry and concern, cut through the air. "Sasuke!"

Both boys glanced up to see the short blond, staring wide-eyed, accompanied by Orochimaru and Itachi.

Sasuke spat blood viciously. "Go away," he growled.

He cried out suddenly. Gaara had punched him in the gut while he was distracted. "Why you -"

Orochimaru and Itachi were pulling the two fighters apart in an instant. Itachi restrained Sasuke, and when he deemed them far enough apart, blocked Sasuke's view of his enemy with himself. "Sasuke. . .what the hell's going on here?"

"Nothing," the other mumbled, glaring at his brother.

Itachi frowned. "You're bleeding. What happened." It was a demand, not a question.

Gaara, who was struggling against Orochimaru's grip, laughed.

"I'll tell you what happened."

Everyone looked at the red-haired boy. Gaara laughed again. "Sasuke thinks he owns the world. Sasuke thinks everyone needs to lick his feet. So, I fucked him. I threw him on his knees and I fucked him. I showed him that you can't always be on your pedestal. Even gods get knocked down," he finished with a pointed look to Sasuke.

He looked at Naruto. "He thinks he owns you. You're just another toy to him, you know that? He doesn't care about you, not at all. He's using you. He hates you, just like everyone else. He doesn't understand you, not like I do."

He looked at him banefully. "I understand you, Naruto."

The blond covered his ears. "No! You don't understand me! You - you! You freak! How could you! I hate you!"
Sasuke attempted to lunge at Gaara, but Itachi held him fast. Sasuke pointed a bruised and bloodied finger. "Don't talk to him!"

"See?" Gaara continued. "You think you can boss me around! You think you own me! You're just a stuck up prick who's got his head too far up his ass -"

Gaara slumped over suddenly. Everyone else glanced at Orochimaru, who shrugged. "He's crazy. He needed to be shut up."

Itachi sighed and looked back to his brother. "Did he really. . .umm. . ."

"Rape me? Yes."

Itachi said nothing more, but looked rather grim. Sasuke felt something tug on his arm. He glanced at Naruto. The smaller boy had buried his face in Sasuke's sleeve. He was crying bitterly. "Sasuke! I'm so sorry!"

"Sorry?" Sasuke asked. "For what?"

Naruto raised his tear-stained face to look the other in the eye. "For not being there for you. For not protecting you."

Sasuke sighed. "I was. . .protecting you, Naruto."

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