Chapter 3: Date Night

Sasuke sat in the waiting room for Dr. Tanaka. After hearing the news of Orochimaru's escape, he knew it was necessary to see her and given his history she always made time for an appointment with him. Once he and Naruto had started couple's therapy, they had decided to seek out a different therapist. Tsunade was great, but too close to Naruto for them to be comfortable. Tsunade had referred them to the short, yet direct, woman. She wasn't going to put up with either of their excuses and would tell them how it was, which was exactly what they both needed. There was no sugarcoating anything, she was honest, yet professional.

"Sasuke, come on in," she directed him into her office. "I think I know why you're here," she told him as she sat across from him. Her office was warm and welcoming, made for the patient to feel as relaxed as possible when they came to her. She catered to the needs of each Sasuke the room was quiet and bright, while Naruto liked to have some calming music in the background when they talked. The environment for their couple's therapy was catered more towards Sasuke's comfort, but that was a decision the couple made. "Do you want to talk about it right away, or discuss other things in your life first?" she asked, knowing Sasuke sometimes needed time to open up.

"Talk about it," Sasuke sighed. She waited patiently for him to continue, knowing he'd need to collect his thoughts before he started talking. While Naruto would blurt out whatever what on his mind, Sasuke had to organize his thoughts before he could talk about anything. "I'm terrified," he admitted quietly.

She could tell he'd become more withdrawn. It was something he always did when bad things happened. It was something they were working on, but it'd take time before he could easily be comfortable voicing his concerns rather than bottling them up until it eventually exploded in one way or another. "That's completely understandable. What terrifies you the most?"

Sasuke looked down, playing with his fingers. He was always insecure about vocalizing his fears. Saying them out loud made them real and he wanted to hide from this reality. "What he might do," he told her vaguely.

She nodded, "Can you expand on that? What do you think he'll do?" They didn't often name exactly who he was talking about, at least not at the start of a session. It sometimes made him defensive and could hinder the process, so she always worked up to calling the older man by his name.

"Kill me," he somewhat mumbled. "I feel like he's lurking behind every corner. Everyone wants me to get some sort of security team. Itachi already has interviews lined up for Monday. He wanted to do it sooner, but I told him to hold off," he explained, fidgeting in his chair.

"And why did you want him to hold off?" she asked, monitoring his behavior. She didn't want to bring up something too soon and knew she had to carefully watch his body language for any sign that a question was going to make him shut down.

He frowned, not really sure how to answer the question. Logically, he knew the sooner they hired people, the better. Orochimaru was a true threat to him, he wasn't just going to stop. Eventually the man would reemerge and no one could predict exactly what he'd do when he did. "I just want to feel normal," he looked at her as if she would judge him, but she remained neutral and understanding.

"Wanting to feel normal is natural, Sasuke. No one wants to feel like the odd person out, but it is for your own protection. Do you think having people there will give you any sense of comfort?" she asked, trying to maintain a relaxed environment for him.

"I don't know," he shrugged, once again not making eye contact. "I don't think anything will make me feel comfortable while he's alive."

"Sasuke, can you look at me?" she asked, causing him to finally make some eye contact. She could tell how scared he was of the thought of Orochimaru. "These feelings are natural. Anyone in your position would be afraid," she could tell that he didn't really believe her. "Orochimaru did a lot of things to you from a very young age that you want to forget, but you need to acknowledge it and understand that it doesn't make you any less to be afraid or worried."

"I can't help the feeling that it's my own fault for never telling anyone sooner," he looked away, barely able to keep himself from running away from the conversation.

She hated seeing her clients blame themselves, but it was very common for victims to do so. There was this stigma where people just assumed it would be easy for people to talk about or leave, especially for victims of abuse. So many people didn't understand how difficult it could be to escape long term abuse and the feeling of helplessness that came with it. "He and the people that helped him are the only people at fault for this," she told him, sensing it was better not to say the man's name again. "Anyone who tells you otherwise is ignorant."

"But I let it happen, I didn't do anything to stop it," he argued.

"This started when you were a child," she reminded him. "You weren't old enough to process it and felt helpless against a well respected adult." Blaming himself wasn't something that would just go away easily, if ever. "What matters is that you're talking about it now. You're doing something now, which some people never do. You're strong," he needed the words of affirmation. Needed someone to remind him that it wasn't his fault, even if he didn't entirely believe it himself.

"I don't know what to do," he told her, his mind once again racing with all of the possibilities.

"You do the only thing you can do," she told him. "You try to live your life, but you be careful. Surround yourself with people you trust and communicate your fears, just like we've talked about. If you feel like you can't talk to Naruto or your friends and family, you make an appointment with me."

He nodded. "On the way here, I thought someone was following me. I was driving and they seemed to make all of the same turns as me. I almost turned around and went home but then they turned on a different street," he admitted.

She understood his feeling of paranoia, it wasn't uncommon among victims, "I know I've asked you this before, but are you sure you don't want some anti-anxiety medication?"

He shook his head, "It makes me feel weird."

"That's okay," she assured him. "I'll always leave it up to you if you want it. For now, we'll stick with talk therapy, but if you ever change your mind, just let me know."

The rest of the session went by quickly. Sasuke had to admit that it did help him to hear her say his feelings were normal and valid. It was one thing to hear it from Naruto, he was supposed to say those things. To hear it from a third party was completely different. He made another appointment for the following week as he left, knowing he'd need it after getting bodyguards. As if he didn't already feel like someone was potentially following him, soon he was going to have someone follow his every movement.

He walked in the house to find Naruto on the couch, relaxing as he watch TV. "Hey baby, how'd it go?" he asked, turning his attention to Sasuke.

"Good," Sasuke slipped off his shoes before sitting next to the blond. "It was needed," he leaned his head on Naruto's shoulder, just wanting to feel close. "Let's go out tonight," he suggested, making the other man tense.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Naruto was skeptical that it was even remotely safe for them to go out before they hired some real protection. "Isn't it a little dangerous?"

Sasuke sat up and looked at him, "Please? I just want one normal night before having some guys monitoring my every move." Naruto still looked hesitant, frustrating the dark haired man. "We'll go somewhere busy where he won't dare to show his face."

Naruto was never able to deny Sasuke when he looked at him with pleading eyes. "Fine," he gave in. "But we're going somewhere with lots of people and that's bright and," Sasuke cut him off with a kiss. "I know what you're doing," Naruto said between kisses. It was one of Sasuke's distraction tactics and he hated to admit that it worked well.

"No idea what you're talking about," he feigned innocence. He just wanted one last night of freedom before everything went to hell. "Now get ready, I'm hungry," he got up, walking towards the bedroom to change for their date night.

The date started off normal. They went to their favorite restaurant for dinner and kept the conversation light. They'd agreed to not talk about Orochimaru that night, wanting to enjoy a night out. Sasuke could tell that Naruto kept looking around for some sense of danger. He didn't say anything, he wasn't even sure the blond realized what he was doing. They had just paid the check and were trying to decide what to do next when they ran into familiar faces.

"Hey guys," Naruto grinned at Kiba and Suigetsu. It was obvious that they were also on a date. Sasuke rolled his eyes, still not completely on board with them potentially getting back together. "What a coincidence."

"Hey, Naruto," Suigetsu greeted, but looked at Sasuke. The dark haired man was clearly annoyed with Kiba's presence.

Before Suigetsu or Kiba could say goodbye, Naruto suggested, "We should make this a double date." The rest of the group looked at each other, hesitant to agree. Naruto smirked, "Safety in numbers, right Suigetsu?" He knew the other man would also want to protect Sasuke and made it unlikely for him to say no. Given Kiba wanted to win Suigetsu back, he wouldn't argue with his decision.

"Right," he agreed, looking at Sasuke. It was obvious that he didn't approve of the man being out and about without some sort of security. "That's actually a good idea."

"We can go bowling! It'll be like old times," Naruto suggested, which was how twenty minutes later they ended up at a bowling alley on a very awkward double date. "This is fun," Naruto tried to lighten the mood.

"We have different definitions of fun," Sasuke mumbled, making the blond glare at him. Sasuke just rolled his eyes before getting up to bowl.

"So, what did you guys do tonight?" Naruto asked.

"So far just a nice dinner," Kiba answered, putting his arm around Suigetsu's shoulders. "We were probably just going to call it a night before we saw you guys."

"Maybe you should have called it a night," Sasuke grumbled as he came back and sat next to Naruto.

"Sasuke," Naruto and Suigetsu warned in unison. Sasuke had promised to try to get along with Kiba when Suigetsu had made his decision to allow the other man to try to win him back, but that didn't mean he liked.

"Can I talk to you?" Suigetsu asked Sasuke, though it wasn't really a question. "Privately."

Naruto took the cue, "Kiba, let's go to the bar and get everyone some drinks. I think we could use some." Kiba didn't argue, following the blonde towards the bar in the back of the bowling alley.

"Can you at least try?" Suigetsu asked once the other two men left. He was frustrated with how awkward everything was, which mostly stemmed from Sasuke's attitude towards Kiba. "You promised."

Sasuke sighed, "It's hard. You know how difficult it was on you when you guys broke up," Sasuke argued. "You may have forgiven him for whatever reason, but I can't forgive and forget so easily," he crossed his arms, leaning back in his seat.

"I haven't completely forgiven him and I certainly haven't forgot," Suigetsu sighed. "But he's trying really hard. "Hell, he keeps sending me flowers to work," the light haired man laughed.

"He asked me what you'd like," Sasuke admitted.

"And you said flowers?" he laughed.

"No, I told him to fuck off," Sasuke shook his head. "Are you sure this is what you really want?" he asked, wanting his friend to be happy but also concerned he was going to get hurt.

Suigetsu nodded, "I'm sure, but can you tell him to please stop sending me flowers? I don't know what to even do with them anymore. It was sweet at first but now it's a bit much."

"I'll talk to Naruto about it," Sasuke grumbled. He could tell how badly Suigetsu wanted them to get along or at least tolerate each other.

"Thank you," he looked over and could see that Naruto and Kiba were just standing around with drinks in hand, waiting for some sort of sign the other men were done talking. "Do you promise to behave?" he asked.

"I guess," Sasuke agreed.

Suigetsu just smiled as he waved the other men back. The rest of the night was a little less awkward. There was still some tension between the two men, but both refrained from any snide comments. As the night continued, both Suigetsu and Naruto could tell that Sasuke seemed to be getting a little anxious. Suigetsu looked at Naruto, silently telling him to ask Sasuke what was going on.

"You okay?" Naruto whispered to the dark haired man, not wanting him to feel insecure in front of Suigetsu or Kiba.

Sasuke shook his head as he quietly responded, "Maybe I'm being paranoid, but I feel like someone is watching me."

Naruto suddenly became very alert as he looked around for anyone suspicious, "I think it's time to call it a night."

"We're in the middle of a game," Kiba argued, clueless as to what was going on. Suigetsu elbowed him int he ribs and gave him a look that told him not to argue. "I mean, you're right, it's getting late," he agreed, though he still didn't quite understand. It was clearly something to do with Sasuke and he knew better than to argue with either of them when it came to the Uchiha. He understood they were both extremely protective of the other man and wouldn't interfere with that.

Naruto held Sasuke tighten than was probably necessary as they walked out to their cars. It was like everyone was a suspect, even if none of them were actually working for Orochimaru. "We'll see you guys later," Naruto said as they separated ways. He turned towards Sasuke, "Let's get home."

"Thank you," he responded quietly as Naruto opened the door for him. He hated the way his paranoia had basically forced them to end the night, but knew it was better to be safe than sorry. The drive home was quiet, but comfortable as Naruto held his hand in one hand and had the other on the steering wheel. He gave his hand a squeeze as if to say that it would all be okay.

A dark pair of eyes watched them drive away from his place in the shadows. He smirked, knowing it was just the beginning.