"You just make me feel really special."
"You feel special… What the hell are you talking about?" Sasuke asked, stepping entirely in his room. He went to his bedside table to plug in his newly bought phone - it had died pretty fast since he had had only 45 minutes to charge it before the date - then stood in front of his bed, towering over Suigetsu.
"I'm feeling special because I've just witnessed Sasuke Uchiha's first kiss!" Suigetsu said, sitting straight on the bed and bouncing a little on it.
"Wipe that smile off your face, that was not my first kiss."
"I'm sorry to tell you this Sasuke, but that time Karin kissed you when we were 7 does not count as a kiss."
"Think whatever you want, it's not like I invited you to watch."
Sasuke turned his back on Suigetsu and picked up some sweatpants and a white long sleeve shirt in the dresser. As he was about to close the door Suigetsu said teasingly, "You're blushing Sass'."
Sasuke closed the door a bit harder than necessary, and looked at himself in the mirror, he was indeed a little red in the cheeks. Tonight had been exciting, it had nothing to do with Suigetsu referring to this as his first kiss - even if it kind of was. He changed quickly, throwing his navy shirt and black pants in the hamper, then started brushing his teeth.
It had been a really good night, better than he had imagined. He could still feel his lips tingled from the kiss he had shared with Naruto and it made him feel good, like he was whole again. He knew that he should not be thinking like that. This was going too fast. He had tried to kill himself only 3 days ago, a single date could not fixed how he had been feeling for the last 7 years. It couldn't chase away the pain so fast, but it could dull it for awhile at least and Sasuke was going to embrace that. Nothing was fixed with him, but for tonight he could pretend that everything was alright.
He shook his head to discard his thought and spitted the remnant of toothpaste in the sink. He rinsed his mouth with a mint mouthwash and passed his tongue on his teeth to make sure they were soft. Satisfied, he exited the bathroom to find that Suigetsu was still in his bed, and had even move under the cover.
"Why are you still here?" Sasuke asked, sighting as he lift the cover on the opposite side of where Suigetsu was laying.
"I came all the way from London to see your pretty face. Like hell I'm gonna leave you so soon." Suigetsu answered. He did not stop smiling but it was hard, when he remembered the reason he had come to Canada.
"Whatever."
"I want to know all the details, Sass'. Don't leave me hanging."
"You're a nosy little bitch, you know that, right?"
Suigetsu just smiled and scooted a little bit closer to Sasuke. Sasuke exhaled, crossed his hand over his stomach and started to recount the night. He was fixing the ceiling all throughout his tell, not wanting to see Suigetsu's satisfied smile.
Surprisingly enough, Suigetsu mostly stayed silent. He laughed a little at him when he mentioned that he briefly thought that Naruto was about to kill him, but except for that, he only hummed to show that he was still listening.
"- and before we left he had me tried the gun -"
Suigetsu interrupted him, almost screaming. "You tried the gun? Oh my god that's awesome!"
Sasuke smirked, and looked at the jealous look on Suigetsu's face."Yeah, that was great, I even got one of the target. Right in the heart." he bragged a little.
"What kind of gun was it by the way?"
"Colt Canada C7."
Suigetsu's mouth opened in surprise. "But that's an assault rifle Sasuke. It's not legal to own that kind of gun in Canada, unless your working directly under the government or something. How can this dude have one?"
Sasuke frowned. "I didn't asked." He hadn't really been in the mood to interrogate Naruto earlier, and honestly he didn't know much about gun possession in Canada. If Suigetsu wasn't a freak that loved everything that could be considered a weapon he probably would never have known that the rifle wasn't legal to own.
"Who the hell is this dude?" Suigetsu wondered under his breath before adding louder. "Do you think he's some sort of criminal? That'd be exciting! Sasuke Uchiha dating a bad boy criminal."
"He's not a criminal."
"Sass' you've known him for like 2 minutes, he's not gonna reveal that he's a criminal mastermind until at least the fifth date."
Sasuke tried to punch him in the arm but it ended up being pretty weak considering how they were laying on the bed. "Shut up."
"But seriously what do you know about the guy? What's his job?"
"He mentioned something about being a doctor once."
"Dr Evil is a doctor. Well, at least yours is not bald." Suigetsu looked thoughtful and took his phone from where he had put it under the pillow. "What's his name? We can google him."
Sasuke swiftly grabbed the phone from Suigetsu hands and put it next to his on the bedside table. "Let me feel good about this for tonight at least. I'll try to find more about him next time we meet." Sasuke wasn't particularly worried about Naruto. True, he didn't know much about the man's situation, they had talked about several moment in their life, and Naruto had had a lot of funny anecdotes to share. He didn't know about Naruto's job, but he thought he had seen enough of his personality to be a good judge of character. Plus, no way was he going to act like a stalker.
"You'll tell me what you find out?" Suigetsu asked hopefully.
"This is not an investigation, but yes I will." Sasuke turned off the little lamp next to him. "Now you either go to sleep or you get out."
"Yes, sir."
When Naruto finally got home at twenty before two in the morning, he was greeted with the sight of his two best friend asleep on his couch. He retained a chuckle at seeing the position they were in.
Kiba was laying sideway, his feet were on the floor but his head was hanging in the air, completely off of the armrest of the couch, it looked like an awfully uncomfortable position. Sakura seemed to be in a more comfortable position, however she was definitely not helping with Kiba's comfort. She laid on the couch but she was half sitting on Kiba, one of her foot tangling softly next to Kiba's head, sometime grazing his cheek a little.
Naruto took a quick picture for future blackmail material then went to retrieve one of the spare blanket he kept in a closet. He covered them the best he could considering how they were situated then silently returned to his room, closing softly the door behind him and jumping under the covers after discarding his pants and shirt. He fell asleep with a big smile on his face.
He was woken up a little bit later in the morning by a wild Kiba. The man entered his room running and threw himself on the bed like a cannonball, almost jumping right on the sleeping form of Naruto. "Wake up!"
"Ugh.." Naruto groaned, trying to pull the cover over his head and hide in the bed. "Go away!"
"You need to get up for lunch with your dad anyway, dude. I want detail!"
Naruto poked his head from under the cover to look at the clock. "What the hell, dude?! It's 6 in the morning, I don't have to get up until noon!"
"Yeah, but Sakura needs to leave for the hospital by 8 and she wanted to know before she left."
There's a scream coming from the kitchen. "Shut up, Kiba! I said I'd call him tomorrow!"
Kiba just grinned and looked at Naruto with a mischievous smile. "You naked?"
Naruto shook his head negatively in answer and Kiba quickly moved under the cover with him. "So? Did you have sexy times?"
Naruto sighed exasperatedly and gave up on going back to sleep. He turned on his back and addressed a mysterious smile to Kiba. "Since Sakura is the reason why you woke me up, I'll wait for her." He added louder. "Please take your time, Sakura!"
Sakura joined them about 15 minutes later, all ready to go to work with two cups of coffee in her hands. Naruto sat in his bed as she handed one to him. "Too much sugar and not enough caffeine, your favorite."
"What about me?" Kiba asked looking at the second cup she held in her hand.
"You definitely don't need more coffee in the morning." She said to him with a frown.
Naruto took a large sip of his coffee before handing the cup to Kiba for him to finish it. He was not the only one that liked sugar too much. He waited for Kiba to be done with his first sip before answering the question they were both asking with their eyes "It went really well. There is definitely something there that I plan to pursue." He smiled softly. "And no, we did not have sex." He added for Kiba, looking at him at the corner of his eyes.
Sakura smiled softly, happy for him. "Is there going to be a second date?"
"Definitely! I even got a kiss!"
Kiba seemed to perk up at that. "Was it a kiss, kissss, or just a 'kiss'?"
"Oh for God's sake, are you twelve?" Sakura exclaimed.
Naruto just laughed before answering. "It was a kissssssss." He took care of putting a lot of emphasis on the 's'. "But we were kind of interrupted by one of his friend spying on us."
"What an ass!" Kiba exclaimed full of indignation.
"You'd have done the same thing" said Sakura.
"Obviously, but i would not have been caught. I'm a cop, I can do subtlety."
"You subtle? Ha ha, my ass. A bull in a china shop is probably quieter than you are." Naruto intruded, laughing.
Kiba was about to retort when they were interrupted by the sound of Naruto's phone going off. Naruto looked at the device, puzzled. He was pretty sure he had turn it to vibration yesterday. He looked at the caller ID and was surprised to see the phone number of Hashirama Senju, Kingston assistant district attorney. Weird that a lawyer would start his day so early, especially on a Sunday morning.
He shushed Kiba's scandalize sound to answer. "Hello?" That was not his best reply, but it was 15 before 7, what could his interlocutor want?
"Dr. Uzumaki? Hashirama Senju of the district attorney's office. I was wondering if you'd be free today to study a case."
"Ugh… Isn't it a bit early for that?" Naruto replied, still a little perplexed.
There was a brief pause on the other side of the line. "I'm sorry, I hadn't notice the time. My team and I have been working on this case all night." Another pause. "Anyway, now that I have you on the line, we need an emergency consultation. The trial is tomorrow morning and you've been added to the witness list."
What the fuck, Naruto thought. This was a hell of a short notice, he could not really assess someone in such a short time. He had to get familiar with the case, then with the defense they were planning on having him help use, and more importantly with the accused. One day was not enough.
"Dr. Uzumaki? Are you still there?" The worried voice of Senju came through the device.
"Yes, I'll be at your office by 8."
"Thank you." The other answered, cutting the line without a goodbye.
Naruto sighed and looked at the two occupants of his bed. "I have to kick you out it seems."
"What happened?" Kiba asked as Sakura was already getting up from the bed.
"Emergency case, I'll have to cancel our gaming night."
He quickly send a text to Konohamaru and his dad to tell them that he would have to skip lunch, also asking Konohamaru to move all his Monday morning appointments to somewhere else in the week the second he got into the office.
The next day had Naruto sitting at the back of the courtroom, with dark circles under his eyes. The previous day had not been successful. Either Hashirama's case was completely nonexistent or the defendant was one hell of a liar and had succeed to pass Naruto's "insanity" test.
To sum it up, the man had plead insanity after murdering his two children. This was in sort possible because you pretty much had to be insane to do such things, but the reason that Hashirama doubted him - except for the fact that he loved putting people in jail - was that the defense had wait last minute to plead insanity. At the first trial, the accused had simply stood up when the judge was about to end the session to plead insanity. Hashirama was certain that this was simply a ploy to have more time - since they were obligated to give an extension of 30 days to investigate the new plea - and had asked Naruto to be an expert witness of the sanity of the defendant.
Easier said than done when the guy was definitely out of his mind. Now, if he was to be called to the stage he was pretty sure that the guy would get a light sentence, maybe two years in a psychiatric hospital and then released in society with promise to take medicaments and consult a psychologist weekly. If the guy had indeed a mental disorder, he thought it would be fair. But hell, why didn't Senju called him before it was the eve of the trial. He could have given a better assessment and maybe he would not have had to face a frustrated lawyer all night trying to be sure that he was confident in his final diagnostic.
It was too late now to remove him from the witness list, so Senju had asked him to sit in the back, hoping that the defendant's lawyer had not notice his name on the list of witness. Although, when Naruto saw Itachi Uchiha take place in the opposite council seat, he knew that they would not pass under the other man nose. Maybe it was better this way, they could ask for another trial and Naruto or another of his peer would have more time to assess the man's personality.
Naruto got out of his head when Hashirama ended his closing argument without an interruption. It was the end of the trial and he had not been called forward, maybe Itachi had really not seen his name. The jury would lean towards the prosecutor's side without his witness.
"Before doing my closing, I would like to bring a last witness to the stand." Itachi declared to the crowd. He turned to Naruto with a small smirk on his face. "I would like to bring an expert witness."
"Objection! It is not time for more witness, your honor." Senju tried, in vain.
"Overruled. This is your witness after all counselor." The judge made a sign for Itachi to continue.
"I would like, Dr. Uzumaki, a psychologist who spend sometimes with my client to come to the front."
Naruto stood up, wiping his clammy hands on his pants, and started toward the witness stand.
"Nice to see you in court again, Dr. Uzumaki." Itachi started and Naruto nodded politely in answer to the man. "Could you tell us what is your impression on what was my client state of mind at the time he committed the crime?"
Naruto looked at the pinch face Senju was sporting and sighed internally. "In my professional opinion, after the short time I spent with the accused, it seems fair to say that he was not conscious of his acts when he carried out the crime."
Itachi's mouth lifted a little. "Do you think there is a chance of recidivism?"
"It is not improbable. However, the man shows clear sign of guilt when the event is mentioned."
"What about the fact that he does not remember his actions?"
"This could either be due to a complete blackout, in which case he could definitely be consider not responsible. It could also be a sign of trauma, where he shut out all memories about this night because of his guilt."
"Obj-" Started Senju.
The judge interrupted him by hitting his gavel once. "Overruled. I've had enough. We'll have a brief recess for the jury to render their decision and we'll come back with a verdict." He hit twice more. "Court adjourned."
Itachi went back to his table to whispered something to his client before shaking hand with him. Naruto watched the crowd disperse outside of the room from his position on the stand. Senju seemed ready to pounce on him and he did not want anyone to be in the room when it happened. He had only been doing his job anyway.
Luckily for him, when he stood up to face the older attorney, Itachi came toward him. Naruto had not even notice that he was still in the courtroom.
"For the first time, I can say honestly that it was a pleasure working with you, Dr. Uzumaki."
Naruto rolled his eyes comically but smiled amicably at Itachi. "Maybe next time I'll actually be working for you."
"I am sure the pay is way better on our side." He looked at Senju who seemed to be pouting behind his table. "And we don't hold any grudges."
"Are you asking me to come to the dark side?"
Itachi laughed softly and in that moment Naruto thought that he remembered him of someone else. "We live in a gray world, Naruto." He said before patting the blonde on the shoulder. "Are you staying for the verdict?"
"Yeah, I'll hang in the back. Maybe try to catch a power nap before they return."
They both smiled and split way. Itachi heading out of the courtroom as Naruto headed toward a bench in the back. He was relieved when he noticed that the ADA had left during his conversation with Itachi.
He sat on the bench and looked at his watch, the deliberation was sure to take at least half an hour, he could sleep for awhile.
He was woken up a little under an hour later when the door to the courtroom were closed noisily. The judge promptly entered the room after that and started delivering the decision.
"First, I must say that I am not proud of the ADA for trying to prevent an expert testimony. I would be more careful in the future, Mr Senju. Second, the jury came to a verdict and the accused is declared not responsible. He'll be sent to an hospital for the duration of a year to treat his problems, and if the doctors see him fit after that, he'll be released in society with the obligation to visit a therapist every week for the rest of his life."
The man next to Itachi let out a soft cry before hugging his reluctant attorney. Looking at him, Naruto thought that maybe the man had been genuine. Maybe this sentence was a good thing, maybe it was fair - after all the man would live with the guilt for the rest of his life and it was bound to hurt him much more than prison.