Chapter Three - Choices

They've been here for nearly two hours. Naruto comforting Sasuke, rubbing small circles on his back, it's something he picked up from his mother. Sasuke's sobs now rare, and the sniffs were more like deep breaths.

Naruto secretly hoped Sasuke would fall asleep, he didn't want to let go just yet. But of course, all good things could never just happen, and Sasuke sat up, pulling away from Naruto and his very wet shirt.

"Sorry," Sasuke whispered, wetly.

"No, don't be," Naruto reassured him, "I don't mind. How're you feeling?" he smiled softly, keeping his voice gentle. Sasuke visibly heaved in a breath, as more tears sat on the edge of his eyes.

"Tired," he answered truthfully. Naruto was doing backflips in his mind and wanted to flail around in excitement at the sudden progress but he had to stay as composed as he could. Sasuke was finally…talking to him. He wanted him back in his arms even more.

"You can take a nap if you want," Naruto's voice was full of hope. "I can start a fire and I have my equipment in the car–"

"Naruto," Sasuke shook his head slowly, "can we just go back home?" Sasuke avoided bright blue eyes, but said blue eyes could see how exhausted obsidian ones were.

"Of course," he said, much to his disappointment but he'd never show it. Besides, he was still reeling over the new-found trust Sasuke showed him, so he shouldn't really get his hopes too high up. After all, it was the weekend, and he hadn't seen the Uchiha in over two weeks. He figured he'd plan the whole thing out, but it seems like the universe had other plans.

-§-

Back at the Uchiha manor, Naruto helped Sasuke out the car, up the stairs and into bed. He ducked back downstairs to the kitchen to grab some water when he'd bumped into the older Uchiha.

"Naruto," Itachi smiled warmly at the blond, "I see you've come back."

"Y-yeah," he put up a hand behind his head, laughing nervously. "Sasuke wasn't feeling well, so I-"

His eyes went wide. He realized Itachi probably meant back as in…back at their house, back hanging out with Sasuke, after so long.

"Uhhh, yeah I-I'm back!" He smiled widely, his hands tightly clasped behind him. "Long time, no see, don't y'think?" Itachi's smile faltered a little, but Naruto could've only imagined it.

"Yes, it's been a while," Itachi's smile looked more forced than before. "Now, what's this about my brother?"

Shit. Naruto couldn't dig himself out of this one. 'I mean…he does know, but I didn't mean to-'

"S-Sas was uh," Naruto swallowed, " He was feeling a lil' sick or somethin', probably a stomach bug, so I jus' came down to grab him a drink-"

"Come, I'll give you what Sasuke should be drinking." Naruto shut his mouth, staring at Itachi before following him to the fridge. He was handed a big bottle of water, the label proudly advertising the electrolytes this brand has in their water. "Make sure he drinks all of it." Itachi nodded his head towards the bottle, (or was it towards him?), looking Naruto straight in his eyes. Naruto took the bottle and held Itachi's stare. There was something else Itachi was trying to say, he was sure of it. Itachi always spoke with double or triple or septuplicate meaning.

"I'll try," Naruto said quietly, although not exactly sure he understood the message quite clearly. He held the bottle in his hand, looking down at it. Was Itachi counting on him? Was he counting on him…to help Sasuke quit his habit? Did Itachi…even know he knew?

Of course he did. Of course Itachi knew Naruto knows about his brother, this guy knows everything.

Naruto looked up at Itachi with determination, his eyes unwavering, giving him a firm nod, finally understanding what the older Uchiha had meant. "But it won't be easy," he said more to himself, staring back down at the bottle.

"Naruto," Itachi moved to sit on the edge of a bar stool at the kitchen island, "I should warn you, I tried getting my little brother to quit before." He sighed quietly, at last confirming Naruto's suspicions. "He was always a stubborn one, that kid". The blond nodded, slowly.

"Yeah, tell me about it. Bastard's skull is as thick as stone." That elicited a chuckle from the older Uchiha. Naruto shot up, realizing he said that out loud. His face flushed and he looked away.

"Shall you need any help, Naruto, you have my number," Itachi stood and politely smiled at the blond. "I hope your efforts surpass mine." With that, Itachi walked away, pulling his car keys out of his pocket. Sasuke's parents were on another business trip, as always, and won't be back for some time. That meant they had the manor to themselves. For now.

Naruto walked back into Sasuke's bedroom and set the bottle on the nightstand. He sat down next to the raven. He thought he would be asleep by now, but here he was, staring out the giant windows.

"Can't sleep?" Naruto asked. Sasuke only sighed. He brought up the palms of his hands to his eyes, and rubbed at them.

"I'm ruining your weekend," he said through gritted teeth.

"Nah," Naruto shrugged, "all they do is party and play games and…have fun…" he furrowed his eyebrows, "totally not ruining anything," Naruto said in a playful tone as he pretended to roll his eyes. Sasuke smiled and shoved him, making Naruto laugh.

"But no, really," Naruto quietly started, "I'd rather hang out with you, if I'm being honest." The blond didn't know what those words did to the Uchiha beside him, he just sat there oblivious to the fact. "Plus, it's kinda been…well," Naruto looked down at his hands in his lap, "I missed ya, y'know," he shrugged, a small nervous puff of air came out of his nose. Sasuke turned away from Naruto, digging his face into the pillow. Naruto thought he was finally getting some rest, not a single clue about how the raven just wanted to hide.

Seemingly out of nowhere, a funny little sound came from behind him, sounded like a game or something. He turned around to find a blond fumbling with his phone.

"S-sorry, I didn't know the volume was up so loud," Naruto gave Sasuke a sheepish grin.

"It's fine," Sasuke mumbled into the covers. "What are you playing?" He nudged himself forwards a little. Closer to Naruto's lap.

"Oh, um," Naruto tilted his phone downwards, so Sasuke could see, "it's this game where you're this kind of jelly thing, and you collect lil' coins going through the levels and stuff," he demonstrated the brightly colored game for Sasuke, but frankly, he didn't care much about the game itself. The raven just watched tan fingers scroll up and down the screen, listening to the raspy voice above him, slowly feeling sleep taking over.

Naruto heard the quietest snore below him, Sasuke had fallen asleep…almost too close to Naruto for comfort. He locked his phone, tucking it away into the pocket of his hoodie. He let his fingers play with soft, black locks for a bit, grazing over his cheek, before standing up and covering Sasuke properly with the blanket. He sighed, looking at the lithe, pale body huddled up in dark gray sheets. He had to come up with a plan, well, a new plan, if he was to get Sasuke sober by the end of this weekend. It seemed impossible, but Itachi seemed to depend on him. More than anything, he felt Sasuke's life depended on him.

"People pave their own roads by the choices they make," he remembered his father telling him. He sighed.

Choices.

He walked over to the other bedside table. He opened the drawer as quietly as possible. Upon laying eyes on the culprit, his fists clenched almost immediately. He thought about taking them and flushing it down the toilet, but that would send Sasuke into a fit of pure rage. Hiding them? That would send Sasuke into a fit of pure rage, too. Maybe even worse, Sasuke could feel betrayed, lose his trust. Naruto never wants Sasuke to feel like he couldn't trust him. That wouldn't be the right choice.

He closed the drawer.

Change had to come from Sasuke. He was the one in control, Naruto was only there for guidance. He thought if he left the drugs in the drawer, he could give Sasuke the option to stay addicted, or get clean. He could only hope Sasuke would chose the latter.

In the meantime, Naruto would get some rest. Not like he needed it, but he wasn't going to leave Sasuke alone. He placed a trashcan beside Sasuke, just in case. He dug through Sasuke's dresser, finding some comfortable pants and carefully crawled in bed. He took a deep breath and rolled over on his side. Staring at Sasuke's back. He took another deep breath, quietly this time, and closed his eyes. 'I really hope you make the right choice, Sas,' he thought, before succumbing to the dark behind his eyelids.

-§-