Gasp! It's an update!
First, let me apologize for the delay. I've been struggling with the two chapters after this one for weeks now, and didn't want to post anything until I figured out what the problem was. ^^;; Ends up I needed to start over. This chapter is still good (which is why I'm posting it now, just in time for the holidays ^^ ) but the next three chapters will need to be rewritten. Having said that, it may be a while before my next post. My goal is to have it up in a month, but I can't promise so.
As always, thank you for all the great support! I was so excited to see so many people liked the last chapter.
Have a Very Happy Holidays!
Naruto was dreaming of neon colored frogs that could dance. There was a whole group of them, parading up and down the counter singing and dancing. Except everyone was watching them and Naruto couldn't get old man Ichiraku's attention long enough to order a new bowl of ramen. He sat at the counter, holding his old empty bowl and every time he'd start to call out his order, the dancing frogs would do something really interesting to distract everyone. He was about ready to cry in frustration.
And then the bastard went and started banging on his door.
Naruto's eyes snapped open just as he rolled off the bed and came crashing down on the floor. "Ow," he groaned from his pathetic pile of blankets and bruised elbows.
Sasuke just banged on the door some more. Bastard. Naruto poked his head out and glared at the door. Oh, he knew it was Sasuke on the other side. He'd recognize the other boy's chakra residue from halfway around the world. Why Sasuke insisted on tormenting him in the middle of the night was a much better question.
"Dobe! Get off your ass, and open the damn door!"
"Teme," Naruto growled before propelling himself to the door. He flung it open ready to snarl a really brilliant comeback. Except Harry was standing there too, looking a little dazed and with a fresh, shallow cut along the side of his face.
"Holy crap, what the hell happened?" Naruto yelped.
Sasuke didn't grace him with an answer. He pushed his way through and dragged Harry along behind him. Harry managed a weak smile as he passed. The blood all over his face kind of ruined it, though. Someone had tried to clean it up, but mostly they just smeared it around by the looks of it. And the wound was still slowly oozing more blood. It wasn't deep, thank god. It was the kind of thing Naruto's body could heal quickly, or that Sakura-chan could fix easily, but it still looked terrible on Harry. With his hair even wilder than usual and a pallor to his skin, the streaks of red made something in Naruto's chest feel tight and painful. He was used to blood. It really shouldn't bother him anymore. Except sometimes it did, and it made Naruto want to tear something apart.
"Do you still have an extra futon?" Sasuke demanded. He'd made himself at home, dropping his travel bag next to Naruto's empty one.
"Yeah," Naruto answered, thrown off guard by the unexpected question. He had to think for a moment to remember where he'd shoved it all those months ago. "You didn't take it when you moved out."
"Sasuke used to live here?" Harry asked.
"Temporarily," Sasuke replied before Naruto could say anything. Not that Naruto would have said anything bad, since Sasuke had already made it clear that anything even hinting at Orochimaru was off limits. Sasuke's probation being a part of that, it wasn't something to tell Harry about. Naruto could have spun some great story about how he generously opened his home to his friend in need when giant cockroaches invaded the Uchiha district… Or Sasuke could just do what he always did when he didn't want to talk about something – be a bastard.
Sasuke pulled out his field medical kit and ordered Harry to sit.
"I'm fine," Harry protested.
"You're bleeding," Sasuke countered.
"I can do it myself."
"How? You can't see what you're doing."
"I can manage - "
"Oi!" Naruto interrupted. He was still standing by the door and still waiting for an explanation. As entertaining as it was to watch Sasuke's cousin annoy the heck out of the teme, Naruto deserved a darn good explanation for missing out on his beauty sleep. "What the hell?" he demanded. "You don't just show up all bloody on someone's doorstep and not explain something."
Sasuke scowled back and pressed his lips together tightly, the bastard. He also did that thing where his eyes slowly drifted to the side the way they always did when he'd done something he kind of regretted but sure as hell wasn't admitting that he did.
"Someone broke into the house," Harry helpfully supplied.
Naruto started to grin, pleased that someone was willing to answer his questions, when the meaning behind those words sunk in. "Huh?" he shouted. Oh, sweet merciful ramen, if Itachi was already making his move…except Naruto seriously doubted that they'd have managed to get away from Itachi so easily. And Sasuke would not be this calm. His brain seemed to short-circuit whenever Itachi was around, as if Sasuke and common sense couldn't be in the same room.
"ANBU is currently escorting the only survivor to headquarters," Sasuke explained stiffly.
Naruto raised his eyebrows. "You left one alive?" he asked. How very unlike Sasuke.
The teme's eyes darted towards Harry and Naruto got the message. Some things were better left unsaid in front of the civilians. Naruto usually didn't abide by such things – he didn't like secrets – but there was no reason to go rubbing the nastier side of shinobi life in some people's faces. "The man was already incapacitated," Sasuke added as he glared darkly at his cousin. What a minute…
Naruto blinked and turned to stare at Harry. "You did it?" he asked. Harry blushed and Naruto grinned. "Way to go, Harry! Your first KO. Not bad." Sasuke growled. Apparently he wasn't as impressed. "What?" Naruto asked.
"He still hasn't explained how he did it."
"Oohh," Naruto grinned brightly before flopping down to sit on the floor only feet away from Harry. "Alright! Let's hear it, Harry-kun! This has got be a great. Did you kick ass? Hah! I bet you showed them."
"Dobe!" Sasuke snapped. He glared down at Naruto, a forgotten pad of bandaging clenched in one hand. For someone who had woken him up at an ungodly hour, Sasuke sure was irritable. "They were chunin level, at least, if not jounin. Don't you find that a bit odd?"
Naruto frowned. "But we fight jounins all the time."
Sasuke snarled and jerked his arm as if he'd like to hit something. The fact that he didn't was almost more disturbing than if he had. Sasuke and Naruto were constantly hitting each other, and throwing things, and generally being kind of rough on the surrounding environment. Except when Sasuke was really mad. Ever since he came back from Orochimaru's, Sasuke had this tendency not to touch anything when he was really frustrated. Like if he did give in the impulse to hit something, it wouldn't end there. Sakura was like that now too. She had to be real careful when she got mad not to damage things beyond repair. It was a kind of impulse control that Naruto doubted he'd ever be capable of.
"We," Sasuke announced, "are shinobi. We are highly trained shinobi. If it wasn't for the damn council, we would be jounin. Harry can't even throw a kunai. Now, Dobe, what here seems a little un-fucking-believable?"
Naruto grimaced. How the hell did Sasuke do that? Naruto cursed all the time, but he never made it sound so cool. Sasuke was down right creepy when he got like this. Naruto glanced over at Harry, wondering how the other boy was taking it. But Harry was busy crossing his arms and glaring at Sasuke.
"You don't have to be able to throw a kunai to use one, you know," he informed him smugly.
Naruto thought about that for a moment, then nodded sagely. "Hmm, hmm."
Sasuke just shot his cousin a sharp look. "And how exactly did he get those burns?"
Naruto's eyes widened and shot back over to Harry. "You burned him?" he asked. He didn't know if that was really cool or kind of bothersome.
"Only a little!" Harry protested. "And the guy was going to kill me!"
Naruto laughed and waved his hands. "Then I'm glad you kicked his ass," he reassured him.
"He isn't," Harry replied, jerking his head towards Sasuke.
Sasuke managed to scowl even more and with a jerky motion went back to his med-kit. He turned back with a bottle of disinfectant and set to work silently. Harry squirmed a little at first, but another glare had him sitting still while Sasuke dabbed at the wound. They were lucky; it wasn't deep and wouldn't need stitches. With the right ointment, it shouldn't even scar, which was great. Harry was always trying to cover up the scar on his forehead, so he probably wouldn't like another one on his cheek.
The silence and the simplicity of the task in front of him helped Sasuke calm down. "That isn't what I'm mad about and you know it," he finally rumbled out as he taping down the piece of gauze. Naruto grinned and nodded, even though he still had no idea what the teme was talking about.
Harry pulled away and Sasuke let him for now. They stayed silent, Sasuke staring at Harry and Harry staring at the floor. Naruto stared at both of them. Okaaay… "Um, why exactly aren't we all happy?" he asked with a frown. "I mean, Harry's alive. Everything's alright. Why aren't we all happy?"
Harry blushed and ducked his head down to stare at the floor even more intently. He might as well wave a sign identifying him as the guilty party. Naruto watched him in surprise. He wouldn't have guessed that Harry was the one to blame for this little tiff. After all, Sasuke excelled at annoying the mess out of people. Naruto fold his arms over his chest the way he'd seen Iruka-sensei do countless times and leveled his best disappointed look. It was hard to do without snickering. "Alright!" he announced loudly. "What'd you do this time?"
Harry glanced up at him and gaped a little. Apparently The Look didn't work as well coming from Naruto as it did from Iruka-sensei. Sasuke even snorted. While it didn't have the intended affect, things did seem to improve a little after that. Sasuke unbended enough to stopped hovering. With a frustrated sigh, he tossed his med kit back into his bag before dropping down to sit beside them. He stretched his legs out in a graceful mimic of being relaxed, but Naruto could see the stiffness in his shoulders, the narrowing of his eyes, the unnatural stillness that gave him away as anything but completely calm. He was still high-strung from the attack. It was old reflexes and years of training. Turning that part of you off was never as easy or as quick as turning it on.
Harry seemed to relax now that everyone was sitting. He shifted in his seat, slowly slumping into a slouched position. He reached up one hand to rub gently at his shoulder, but didn't give any other sign that it pained him. The movement didn't go unnoticed by either of the shinobi, but there wasn't any need to draw attention to it. It wasn't long before Harry was glancing shyly at both of them. Now that Sasuke wasn't trying to loom over him, Harry looked a lot more guilty than angry. He kept glancing around the room as if he was looking for a way out, or for some brilliant inspiration on how to lie. Naruto smirked. It was real hard to lie about something when you felt guilty about it. An angry person will say all kinds of stuff, but guilty was just way too easy to spot. It was now merely a waiting game to see how long before the other teen cracked. When Harry's eyes darted away again, Naruto leveled an exaggerated wink in Sasuke direction. Sasuke shook his head and ignored him.
"Can't we just pretend it never happened?" Harry asked weakly.
Sasuke didn't reply, merely continued staring at his cousin. Harry blushed slowly and turned back to staring at the floor. This wasn't going to get them anywhere. So Naruto shrugged and smiled. "Come on, it can't be that bad," Naruto replied. "I mean, we're pretty open minded people really. I doubt you've got any secrets bigger than Sasuke's and mine."
Harry perked up right away at that. Crap, he probably shouldn't have said that. Sasuke shot a nasty glare at him and Naruto laughed feebly.
"Secrets?" Harry asked. "What kinds of secrets? I thought you weren't going to keep any more secrets from me," he said with a sharp look over at Sasuke.
It was, perhaps, not the brightest move on Harry's part either. Sasuke turned his glare full power towards his cousin. Naruto couldn't understand why Sasuke was so angry at Harry, but it had to be important. He was sneering before he even opened his mouth. "Obviously, we're both liars then," he said.
Harry flinched. "I didn't lie."
"You just failed to tell the truth."
"You never asked!"
"And it didn't occur to you that I might need to know?"
"It's none of your business!"
Sasuke slammed his palm down on the table. "You're my business! Keeping you alive is my business! Stopping Itachi is my business! Making damn sure there's nothing else that's going to prevent you from living a full, boring life is my business!"
"Sasuke…" Naruto jerked his head back and forth watching the two of them go at it. This was seriously beginning to get uncomfortable. This was his apartment, damnit. He ought to make a rule, no fighting between friends while there. What had happened to the calm of only seconds before? Now they were yelling at each other again. They were always yelling at each other. "Cut it out guys!" Naruto scolded.
Nobody was listening to him, however. Harry had his hands balled into fists and glared back at Sasuke. "I can take care of myself!" he yelled.
Sasuke moved. He was on his feet and lunging across the table before Naruto could do much more than yelp. Harry barely had enough warning to scoot his chair back before Sasuke was on him, one hand clasping around the other teen's neck before slamming him into the wall. Naruto's poor kitchen chair clattered across the floor, one leg snapping off as it went crashing into the wall.
"Teme!" Naruto shouted as he scrambled to his feet. What the hell? Sasuke wouldn't hurt Harry. He just wouldn't! Naruto didn't know what the hell he thought he was doing, however. He didn't care how on edge Sasuke was. This was not the way to make Harry feel safe and welcomed. The teme and his damn temper…
As usual, Sasuke paid no heed to the voice of reason. He tightened his grip, lifting Harry ever so slightly until Harry had to struggle to keep his feet under him. One hand clawed uselessly at Sasuke's grip, but Naruto could still see over Sasuke's shoulders Harry's wide eyes and crooked glasses. It was enough to know that Sasuke hadn't really hurt him. Of course he wouldn't. His shoulders might be tight with tension, running like a taunt string down his back, held tightly in place, but he didn't follow through. He stopped and snarled, furious, frustrated and clearly out of patience. Not that the teme ever had much to begin with. Naruto really shouldn't be surprised. Sasuke didn't put up with anyone. The fact that he'd managed this long was probably a small miracle, but it was Naruto's job to stop him from doing anything stupid, and this definitely counted.
"Teme, calm the fuck down!" Naruto hissed. He didn't reach out to touch Sasuke, however. He knew better. He could only hover close behind. If he grabbed Sasuke, if he took it to that level right here and right now, things were only going to get messier. The two of them would get into a fight. His apartment would get trashed. And they would be lucky if Harry didn't get hurt too severely in the ensuing chaos. Shit, as it was, Harry was going to be so freaked out after this.
Sasuke ignored him. Again. "When are you going to get this through your thick skull, twit. You are nowhere near - "Sasuke sneered before he suddenly froze. And then, very slowly, he tilted his head to the left.
"Let go," Harry hissed.
Naruto glanced back and forth between the two of them. What the heck? Naruto had never seen Sasuke back down that quickly before. Naruto shifted closer nervously. He could just barely see the thin piece of wood Harry had pressed against Sasuke's throat. It didn't look sharp, but Harry held it like he expected to be able to do fatal harm with it. And Sasuke reacted instinctively. They stood, frozen like that, as Harry wheezed through the tight hold on his neck and Sasuke strained his neck muscles keeping his chin tilted back as far as it would go.
"Harry?" Naruto asked hesitantly. For some reason, calming Harry down now seemed the more pressing concern. Maybe it was something about how unafraid he seemed to be even in the face of Sasuke's temper. "Um – what?"
Harry's eyes didn't move away from Sasuke. "Let go," he repeated.
Sasuke's grip loosened just enough that he wasn't putting pressure on his cousin's neck. But he didn't let go. "And if I don't?" he asked evenly.
Harry's eyes narrowed. "Then I'll show you just how well I can take care of myself."