Notes:

Stay indoors and stay safe

xoxo, Vernie

Chapter Two - Careful

Sasuke is sitting in an obnoxiously yellow and loud muscle car with a Naruto that won't stop singing along to every song that comes on the radio. Tapping his fingers on the steering wheel, bobbing his head from side to side, his hair bouncing to every beat. And he's content, he thinks. He feels guilty…he thinks. Most of the time, his feelings are numb. Other times, he avoids them completely. Contrary to popular belief, his mind wasn't always sharp. Sure, he's book-smart, but it's been a while since they'd graduated and it's not like he was looking for any serious jobs. Besides, the raven was lucky enough to live off his parents' fortune and stay home, and continue doing what he loves most. Ever since, he can hardly remember the last day his mind wasn't foggy. The last day he wasn't…altered.

Naruto noticed Sasuke's slouchy form. He wants to say something, but he knows every time he does, nothing really sticks. He probably agreed to hanging out and didn't kick Naruto out his bedroom window the second he walked in is because he barely had the fight in him. It killed Naruto knowing he couldn't do anything to help his best friend-

No. He could.

Sasuke just wouldn't let him.

The blond looked him over once more, letting out a sigh. Sasuke seemed so…defeated.

He glared back out at the road, kept driving, kept singing, kept glancing at Sasuke. Aimlessly.

"Wanna go to the lake?" Naruto said before thinking. He just had to say something. Sasuke barely heard it, but he heard it nonetheless.

"Hn," was all he replied. Naruto took it as a yes, and made the turn that took them to the lake they've been visiting since their parents had met. What fond memories did the lake bring; their families would gather there for picnics on occasion, their fathers would go fishing, Sasuke's older brother would take the young boys deep into the woods and leave them to fend for themselves. Though of course, he never truly left them alone. He would just trick them into believing they were. It was always funny watching the two try to protect each other from the dangers of little rabbits and squirrels.

As the two boys grew into their teenage years, that lake held on to their many secrets. Secrets both boys and anyone involved from their group of friends would never speak of. Naruto felt the tips of his ears slightly heat up, and he swallowed, remembering a particular game of tru-

"Do you have any water?" Sasuke sat up uncomfortably. The scowl heavy on his delicate features. Naruto scattered his hands around his car as far as he could.

"Uh, I don't think I–" he pulled out a half empty water bottle from in between his seat and the car's door, "Found some!" He smiled, handing over the crinkly, almost flattened bottle. Sasuke grabbed it without hesitation and gulped down what was left of it. Naruto's smile faltered. He forgot Sasuke got super thirsty whenever he was on it. Sasuke fell back onto his seat, head resting on the window.

"Sas," Naruto called out softly, waiting for an answer. All he got was that familiar hum, "We can go back home if you're feeling sick."

"No. No," Sasuke sat up straighter, "I'm fine. Let's just go to the lake." Naruto stayed on the path. Reluctant, but in route..

-§-

Finally, Naruto could see the sign that read Pine Lake in big, bold letters. Only a few more minutes until Sasuke could breathe the fresh air. At some point along the way, Naruto turned the radio off once he heard Sasuke's soft snores. Granted, the lake was pretty far away, so he let the raven sleep.

He sighed. And he sighed once more, feeling the lingering anger come back in full force in the pit of his stomach. Sasuke hid it so well, in the beginning at least. Teenage Naruto was as clueless as they came to the signs. It wasn't until they were twenty-one when Naruto caught him in the bathroom of a club they'd gone to celebrating a pink-haired friend's birthday. On that fateful night two years ago, Naruto's whole world had shifted. Sasuke, on the other hand, was starting to get messy. Mainly around Itachi and Naruto, since they knew. His parents knew, and avoided the topic entirely. Naruto's parents knew, as well. But it's not like they could do anything. Naruto couldn't do anything. He gripped the steering wheel tighter as he breathed in. Change had to come from him, Naruto's dad told him. Sasuke should be the one to make the decision to change, and all Naruto could do was be there for him. He knew his dad was right, but still, it didn't help with how useless he felt.

He threw the gear into park, turned off the ignition and deeply sighed for the last time before turning his gaze to the sleeping raven. Clad in all black, like he almost always did. He let his eyes linger for a little. He brought up his hand, pushing some hair away from Sasuke's face. He looked so peaceful. However, he was anything but.

"Sas, wake up," Naurto meekly shoved at Sasuke's arm. Nothing. He shook harder, "Oi, Sasuke." Nothing. Sudden urgency was rushing through Naruto's veins, and he shook harder. Despite Sasuke's snoring. "Sasuke!"

"What?! Dobe, shut up!" Sasuke groaned.

"You gave me a fucking heart attack, you asshole!" Naruto clutched at his chest, abashedly.

"I was sleeping!" Sasuke waved a hand in front of him, obviously annoyed. Naruto knew that, but he still managed to spook himself.

"Whatever," he turned away. "We're here." He took his keys out of the ignition and got out, slamming the car door behind him. Sasuke sighed, rubbed at the foul grimace on his face, seemingly trying to push it further into his face, as if the world wasn't already aware of how unpleasant it made Sasuke feel. He got out the car and followed Naruto to their usual spot.

A small cave that wasn't deep enough to get lost in, but deep enough for fires and sleeping bags. A cozy place for a small campsite. They had a nice tunnel view of the lake, some large pine trees surrounding them. Truly a place to be if you had ever wanted to just be away. The two sat in silence for a long time. They had a good few hours until dark, so the cave wasn't that dim yet. Sasuke yawned, pulling at his sleeves.

The blond has been quiet. Really quiet. Sasuke peeked at him from the corner of his eyes. He still seemed annoyed and was trying to hide it. It was so subtle, a skill Naruto's surprisingly good at but would never admit. If Sasuke hadn't known him, he wouldn't have been able to tell.

"What did you do at work today?" Sasuke asked. Naruto's head whipped around so fast, he was sure he saw four Sasukes.

"You? Asking about work? Sasuke?" Naruto's wide eyes stared into his. The raven felt a heat in his cheeks and looked away, a smile tugging at his lips. He half-heartedly shoved the blond's shoulder.

"Just trying to not be any more of an asshole." Sasuke muttered, emitting a small chuckle from the blond and that tiny sound instantly made Sasuke feel better.

"It was…pretty boring, actually. That kid, Konohamaru, came in today. Kiba and I annoyed him to bits. Poor thing was jumping off the walls by the time we were done with him." Naruto laughed fondly at the memory, staring out at the lake, as Sasuke stared at him. At the smile that always hung a little to the right. "And that was about it," Naruto shrugged and turned to Sasuke. Almost instantaneously, the raven tore his eyes away. It was his turn to stare out into the open.

However, that didn't stop the blond from seeing those eyes again. The eyes that looked so far away. Naruto was about to say something but Sasuke beat him to it.

"Tell me more." Hearing the blond talk was good for him, though he'd never admit it. It quieted whatever ruckus was going on inside his mind, and sometimes, it helped fill the emptiness. If it had been any other person, Sasuke would've been in jail on the account of murder by now.

"More?" Naruto felt his smile widen. "Well, alright. But like I said, it was a pretty boring work day." Naruto continued to blabber on and on about Konohamaru coming back in to get the ice cream he never got the first time around, his manager's zipper was open the entire day and no one told him, there was a sticky spot in the back room that was particularly hard to clean, and so on and so forth. Sasuke hummed on occasion, laughed on another. If this was boring, what was a good day?

The men sat in silence for some time. Sasuke trying hard to keep his mind grounded, and in the moment, while itching at something on his arm that just won't go away.

Naruto was dying to sit closer to Sasuke, and itching to say something.

"Hey, Sas," Naruto scooted ever so slightly closer to Sasuke.

"Hm?" He tried staying still.

"Can I ask you somethin'?" Naruto never got to speak freely about this topic with Sasuke. He would always shut him up, shove him out, sometimes throw punches out of nowhere. But something about the raven right now seemed calmer than normal. It's a chance he's willing to take.

Sasuke nodded and looked down. His itching unabating. He kept his eyes down, knowing exactly what those blue ones would do to him if he tried to look into them.

"Can you at least tell me," Naruto started strong, but his voice slowly faded, "that you're careful?" Before he could even realize, Sasuke was staring at big blue eyes. Damn his slow reflexes. He saw Naruto's desperate expression. There was a slight…sadness. A lump in his throat proved to make things harder; that he couldn't handle seeing him like this. Sasuke couldn't bear the thought of what his actions do to the blond. Usually, he was good at pushing down these feelings, at avoiding them completely, but these past few weeks have been…particularly difficult. All the things he ignored were flooding him, demanding so much of him now. They were all coming back to haunt him.

Naruto held such intensity in his stare, Sasuke could only nod. Until the burning in his eyes forced him to look back down.

"Yes," his voice came out gruff, "I'm careful." He clenched his eyes shut.

"Good," Naruto's voice sounded closer. Sasuke wouldn't have known he moved closer if the blond hadn't spoken. "Because I really fuckin' care about you, y'know?" He felt Naruto's arm nudge his lightly. That would've knocked Sasuke over the edge, if his arm wasn't so damn itchy.

"Stop doing that," Naruto grabbed at his hand, pulling it away. But Sasuke pushed forwards, kept scratching. "Sas, c'mon," Naruto held Sasuke's hand this time. Squeezing it tight. "Stop."

Sasuke fought against the grip, trying to yank his hand back, but Naruto wouldn't budge. He pulled harder, he pushed harder, and Naruto's grip just seemed to be getting stronger. He had both arms pushing against Naruto now, his legs, everything telling Naruto to get away but the blond only held tighter. Sasuke never once breaking, grunting and cursing at the blond.

Until a sob broke out. And only then did Naruto's grip soften.

"It's okay," Naruto's voice was close to his ear, "it's okay, Sasuke," it became muffled, and Sasuke fell further into Naruto's shoulder, for once accepting the care he'd been shown. He spent too long in the quiet alone.

Naruto was taken by surprise, he'd never seen the raven break down so quickly before. But he didn't dare let go, not when Sasuke was a mess like this. Especially not when Sasuke finally admitted to some sort of defeat.

-§-