Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or any of its associated characters!
Summary: COMPLETE (new chapter up everyday - total of 35 chapters!). Sasuke's a writer whose been writing the same words for years. He's tired, he's annoyed, and his money situation is...pretty messed up, even by student standards. Enter Naruto. Modern AU (College/University), Sasunaru/Narusasu. Posted for Sasuke's birthday!
A/N: Less than an hour to midnight, but I made it!
Enter Naruto
Chapter 22: A Family Dinner
Sasuke took one look inside and promptly turned back around.
His mother blocked his path.
"Sasuke, please," she said, "just a dinner. Please."
He sucked in a breath through his gritted teeth. He could hear the blood rushing—pounding, surging—in his ears—she had tricked him. She promised that that man wouldn't be here—she had—Itachi had—
He rounded on his brother.
"You knew about this?"
"I assure you," Itachi's eyes didn't leave their father, "that I did not."
Sasuke clenched his fist, gauging his brother's reaction before looking away. This wasn't fair.
Someone cleared their throat. Sasuke's head snapped up to stare at Naruto, who clapped his hands together.
"So, is dinner ready?"
They stared at him.
He stared back.
"What? This is a dinner, isn't it?"
"Ah," his mother seemed to shake herself, "yes, of course. It'll only be a few minutes."
Naruto turned his eyes on Sasuke—the eyes that were far too serious for his pleasant smile.
"Want to give me a tour, in the meantime?"
It was all Sasuke could do to nod.
The minute they were upstairs, Sasuke beelined for his old bedroom. Naruto followed him, looking worried, and Itachi surreptitiously closed the door behind them.
He leaned back against the door, watching Sasuke pace.
"What the fuck was that?" Sasuke hissed—more to himself than anyone else, from the looks of it—
"I don't know," Itachi responded nonetheless. He was…unbelievably upset with both his father and his mother. They had no concept of how difficult it had been to get Sasuke to agree to this. And his mother had distinctly promised him that Fugaku would not even hear of this.
Sasuke stared at him for a moment, his face unreadable.
"If you guys want to just duck out the window," Naruto spoke up, "I'm up for that."
Sasuke snorted.
"We could leave," Itachi offered. Naruto had a point—there was not much stopping them from doing so.
There was a pause. It seemed that Sasuke shared Itachi's reluctance to do so, in spite of everything. There was a part of him that knew if they did not go through with today's meeting, the likelihood of it happening again was slim to none—and from the looks of it, Sasuke knew it, too.
Sasuke sighed, shaking his head.
"We have to stay," he said quietly.
Naruto furrowed his brow, but stayed silent.
Sasuke leaned further on his old dresser, looking as if it was the only thing keeping him upright. "I don't know if I'm ready for this."
His voice was quiet and tired. It sounded like Itachi felt.
"I've never found that to actually be a thing," Naruto said.
Sasuke glanced at him.
"Being totally prepared for something, I mean," he clarified. "Not for things like this."
Not for the first time, Itachi took a moment to regard the blonde. There was certainly more to him than that relentlessly cheerful attitude…
Sasuke seemed to concede the point.
"Would it help if I separated them? Like I distracted your dad so you could talk to your mom—or the other way around?"
"After dinner?" Sasuke asked.
Naruto nodded. "Or before. Whatever works."
Itachi considered it. It wasn't a bad idea—they could likely use the numbers advantage for their father.
"We'll see how dinner turns out," Itachi offered. "How about that?"
Sasuke let out a breath.
"Alright."
After sitting in silence for a good ten minutes, Naruto decided Sasuke had had enough time to think.
"Okay," he stood up, "d'you guys actually want to give me a tour?"
Sasuke frowned.
"There's not much to it, Naruto," he said. "It's not like your house."
He saw Itachi raise an eyebrow.
"Let me decide that," he challenged. "I'll find some of you somewhere."
They stared at each other for a moment. He was determined to prove Sasuke wrong. Sure—he remembered what Sasuke had said, about not wanting to live in a house like this—like something out of a magazine, he had said, and Naruto had a whole new appreciation of what that meant, now—but—
This had still been Sasuke's home.
Finally, Sasuke relented, rolling his eyes.
"You're going to be disappointed," he said as he stood.
"Mm, we'll see." He nudged Sasuke a little, and then turned to face Itachi—who looked almost…amused?
"Off we go, then." Itachi opened the door for them.
"Shouldn't we start with here?" Naruto asked.
"There's nothing here," Sasuke answered, walking past him. "I took everything I cared about."
"…Oh."
Sasuke was, Naruto hated to say, kind of right. Everything was beautiful—absolutely stunning, really—but looked completely untouched. Naruto could barely bring himself to go near anything, terrified of breaking something that cost more than his entire existence.
Sasuke looked some mix between bored and tired as he led him around the house. He hadn't, however, strayed far from Naruto—their shoulders were brushing awfully frequently, and there were a few moments where Sasuke would touch him for seemingly no reason.
At least Sasuke seemed to be drawing some physical comfort from Naruto being around. Maybe that's all he could ask for right now.
"Let's go to the library next," Itachi spoke up for the first time in a while.
Sasuke seemed okay with the idea, so Naruto followed Itachi, down the hall and through the archway. He couldn't help but gape at the sheer size of the place—each wall was absolutely stacked with books on books on books.
"You guys haven't actually read all these, did you?"
"No," Sasuke immediately responded.
"I think," Itachi scanned the shelves, as if looking for something, "that all of them were bought with the intention of being read. But yes, most have never been touched."
He paused for a moment.
"Ah, here."
He pulled out a book that was shorter than the rest. It had a glossy floral cover, and he held it out for Naruto to take.
"Isn't that—" Sasuke started.
Naruto opened it, and promptly burst out laughing.
"Our old photo album," Itachi said. "Yes, it is."
Naruto caught his breath, wondering if it would be too much to take a photo of this photo with his phone. It was a picture of Sasuke and Itachi, both looking incredibly awkward but incredibly serious, staring into the camera.
"You guys look like the opening of a horror movie." Naruto snickered. Sasuke peered over his shoulder.
"I hated that shirt," he commented.
"It shows." Naruto grinned back at him before flipping the page. "You really weren't one for smiling, were you?"
Sasuke snorted.
"I'm still not one for smiling."
"True," Naruto conceded, "but you look less like you want to murder me."
"Do I? I'll need to work on that."
"Asshole!" Naruto laughed, nudging Sasuke a little. Sasuke threw him a smirk.
Naruto turned the page, stifling another laugh.
"You—uh—were really into the turtlenecks, huh?"
"Shut up," Sasuke muttered, cheeks glowing a faint red as he reached out to turn the page—
"No—wait, I gotta memorize this," Naruto pulled the book away from his hand, snickering, "'cause the next time you make fun of my taste—"
Sasuke snatched the book from him, glaring.
"Okay, okay, sorry," Naruto sidled up to him, "more pictures! C'mon, please?"
He heard Sasuke let out a breath—it nearly sounded like a snort, but he flipped the page nonetheless.
"Ooh!" Naruto peered over his shoulder. "What was this—soccer? Were you captain?"
"Hn." Sasuke gave a short nod.
"Do you still play?"
"No," Sasuke's thumb ran over the edge of the paper, "I didn't enjoy it. I was good at it, but I didn't enjoy it."
"That's 'cause you didn't play with me." Naruto nudged Sasuke with his hip. "I'd give you a run for your money."
Sasuke gave him a vaguely amused look.
"We should play," Naruto insisted.
Sasuke's eyes rolled, looking back to the book.
"Maybe."
"Oh," Naruto leaned closer as the page flipped, "you—is that a piano?"
"It was a recital, yes."
"I didn't know you played piano!" Naruto rounded on him—he was pretty positive Iruka had an old keyboard, somewhere—if he could—
"It's been several years." Sasuke's voice was soft. "I'm not sure I'm still able to."
"Iruka has a piano," Naruto responded immediately, "and I'll show you what my playing sounds like, if you want proof that you don't suck—"
Sasuke gave him a look.
"I can play chopsticks," Naruto waggled his eyebrows, "or—uh, hot cross buns!" He felt a small sense of victory settle into his stomach as Sasuke let out a soft laugh—
Sasuke reached over him to turn the page.
"What's this?" Naruto frowned at it. "Like a club or something?"
"Class representatives. I was president."
"Oh my god." Naruto's mouth slowly widened into a grin. "Of course you were class fucking president—oh my god—"
He laughed as Sasuke reached over, as if to slap at him—he nearly hit the book out of Naruto's hands and a picture flittered to the floor—Sasuke bent to pick it up, Naruto immediately moving closer, too—
His smile faltered.
There was Sasuke's mother—looking exhausted, but incredibly happy—in a hospital bed, smiling down at a tiny bundle she was holding. Judging from the black-haired kid who was halfway onto the bed, that bundle was Sasuke.
Sasuke slipped the photo back into the album at random, turning away. Naruto stifled a sigh. That photo…
"Dinner's ready," Itachi said as he came back into the room. Naruto hadn't even noticed him leave.
He looked at Sasuke, who was staring at the floor.
"We'll be down in a bit," he said after Sasuke made no motion to respond.
Itachi eyed them both for a moment, before nodding and swiftly leaving the room.
"Sasuke," he walked closer, so their bodies pressed together—Sasuke still didn't look up, "it's worth it to be here. I really think it is." He squeezed Sasuke's shoulders. "And I can't believe how well you are handling this. You are amazing. I would've lost my mind by now. Punched your dad in the nose or somethin'." He ducked down to throw Sasuke a small grin—it was just as excuse to see his face, really. "This sucks. I know it does. I don't think for a second that any of this is easy, but you're trying, and I think that's incredible. I really do, Sasuke."
He did. Sasuke was the bravest person in the world. Naruto was falling more and more in love with him with each passing second—
"But—I want you to know—if you want to leave, you say the word, okay? I wouldn't blame you. No one would blame you. Even if Itachi doesn't want to—my parents can come at any point. Okay? It's whatever you need."
Sasuke stared at him for a moment—the look in his eyes awfully like that night Sasuke had kissed him for the first time—
But he'd be the one kissing Sasuke, this time.
He pressed their lips together, trying to channel all the emotion—all the compassion and worry that he felt for Sasuke—into the kiss. All the love—he wanted—he needed Sasuke to know, to feel it, to truly understand just how far Naruto would be willing to go for him—
Only the knowledge that someone would be up to check on them if they didn't come down pulled Naruto away from Sasuke. He would much rather be up here, worshipping Sasuke's body in the name of de-stressing, but…
"Let's go, teme."
He pressed one more kiss to Sasuke's lips—this one far more chaste.
"Usuratonkachi."
Dinner was…strained, to say the least. Itachi knew better than to expect an apology from his parents, although they certainly owed him one—and he knew Sasuke knew better, too.
He gently laid down his glass.
It was a miracle that Sasuke was still here. And that miracle's name, apparently, was Naruto.
"So, Naruto, I'm not sure I ever asked," he began, "what program are you in?"
Naruto looked surprised, but covered it with a large smile. It was different, Itachi noticed, from the smiles he had shared with Sasuke earlier.
"I'm in psychology."
"Not in writing?" The words seemed to burst from his mother before she had the chance to stifle them. She looked nervous after she spoke.
Well, good. He only wished his father exhibited half of that emotion.
"No," Naruto seemed to pause, "I—no, I'm not in Sasuke's program."
There was a pause.
"What year are you in?" Itachi asked. Apparently, he was going to have to carry this conversation.
"My fourth."
"Is that your last one?"
"Mhm," Naruto nodded, swallowing his food, "yeah—sorry. The food is great, by the way."
"Ah, thank you," his mother gave him a tight-lipped smile.
"And what, may I ask, brings you here?"
It was the first time his father had spoken, and all eyes turned to him. Itachi was quick to glance back at Naruto, but didn't interrupt. He wanted to see how the blonde would handle this.
Naruto shifted, ever so slightly, in his chair.
"Moral support."
Itachi quirked an eyebrow, and turned back to his father—who frowned, but couldn't seem to hold Naruto's gaze. Interesting.
"The business has been doing well." Their mother spoke up, apparently feeling the need to change the topic. She could have chosen a better one, in Itachi's opinion, but perhaps she was attempting to throw Fugaku a bone.
"Yes," he interrupted, unwilling to give his father the floor just yet, "it hasn't changed very much."
There was another silence—and, this time, Itachi was content to simply finish his meal. He was getting tired of all this very quickly.
Naruto was totally fine with finishing the dinner in awkward silence—it was better than awkward conversation, in his opinion—but as soon as Sasuke's father started staring him down again, he knew the peace would be short-lived.
"What are those things on your face?"
Naruto bristled. Sasuke's hand immediately grabbed his thigh, squeezing it tight—he didn't need to look at him to know his anger was shared—
"Fugaku!" Surprisingly, it was Sasuke's mom that came to his rescue. "My apologies, Naruto. That was a bit rude, wasn't it?"
Her gaze turned onto her husband, clearly asking him to agree with her.
He only frowned.
"I was informed this would be a family dinner."
Naruto bit his tongue until it came up with something that wasn't cussing the guy out—
"And yet, here I am. Almost like the way Sasuke was told you wouldn't be here."
Naruto let the silence ring for a moment, leaning back in his chair.
"So maybe," he glanced at Sasuke, at Itachi, and then back at their father, "you and I ought to have our own conversation, and this dinner can be what it was meant to be."
He saw Sasuke's parents both open their mouths at the same time, but Itachi beat them to it.
"A fine idea," he said. "Perhaps you can finish the tour that we started."
Naruto's jaw relaxed just a little. He was glad Itachi, at least, approved of the idea. Not that he really knew what he was doing, but—
He felt Sasuke's hand tense, again, on his thigh, and turned to look at him. Something in Sasuke's eyes calmed him. He put his hand on Sasuke's and squeezed. Sasuke squeezed back, and they both let go.
Naruto stood.
"Well then. Shall we?"
"I don't want to fight with you," Naruto said, after a moment of following the man. Naruto had to hand it to him—he had that impassive look (the look that Sasuke and Itachi must have inherited) down pat. The intimidation didn't really work on Naruto, though; he'd grown immune to the look long ago. "That's not why I'm here."
"Why are you here?" He asked again.
"Moral support." Naruto gave the same answer. "Believe it or not, it's pretty terrifying to go back to parents that wanted nothing to do with you."
Fugaku rounded on Naruto.
"You know nothing of what happened—and yet—you dare—you dare—"
He broke off, letting a breath his through his teeth.
Naruto shifted. There was a chance—a slim one—but Naruto thought he might have seen a hint of hurt in that anger.
"You're right," he said. "So tell me about it."
Fugaku looked at him, eyes still flashing, but said nothing.
"Make me understand."
"It's none of your business."
Naruto exhaled.
"Alright then, I'll answer one question in exchange for asking one. You can even go first. How about that?"
Fugaku looked him over, as if assessing his worth. Naruto didn't let his gaze waver.
"Why did you bring him here?" The question burst forth from Sasuke before he could help it.
His mother looked away. She still held the edge of the tablecloth, softly rubbing the material between her fingers—a nervous habit of hers that he had completely forgotten about.
"You gave your word that you would not." Itachi seemed willing to add his thoughts after their mother took too long to respond.
She nodded.
"I don't—I know. I know. But—I had to."
Itachi, apparently, decided just then that he preferred to stand and face the window.
"I—" She heaved a violent sigh, letting go of the tablecloth. "He is so bitter! He is hurting—and you are hurting—and none of you talk!"
She looked up, eyes flickering back and forth between them before they came to rest on Sasuke.
"I haven't seen you in two years! I can't—" she looked away, blinking furiously, "we didn't know what happened—you were just gone and you never reached out to us—Fugaku was so sure that you would but you never did—you never—"
"I never came crawling back?" Sasuke felt his blood grow hotter with each word she spoke—how dare she try to blame this on him—
"Don't sugarcoat it. You didn't expect me to reach out—you expected me to fail."
"That's not—"
"Well, I didn't," he interrupted, malice lacing his voice. "In spite of you and father's best efforts—and I'm happier than I ever was here."
Sasuke's nostrils flared as he attempted to hide how heavy his breathing was—
"That," his mother spoke in almost a whisper, "was all we ever wanted…your happine—"
"Bullshit!" Sasuke stood with such intensity that his chair slammed to the ground.
"You wanted my happiness? That's why you kicked me out—with no home, no family—because you wanted me to be happy? That's why you spat on everything I ever wanted—called my dreams pathetic and told me I would never—"
"We were trying to look out for you!" She heaved out a frustrated breath. "A career as a writer is just not feasible—you would end up on the streets with nothing!"
Sasuke's blood was ice.
"So you just sped up the process, then."
His mother's mouth opened, and shut again. She looked back down at her hands—Sasuke turned away as her shoulders started to shake.
"Why are you actually here?"
This question again? Sasuke's dad must really have been convinced that something shady was going on.
"I'm here because Sasuke asked me to be here. That's it."
"Why would he—"
"Ah-ah," Naruto stopped him, "my turn for a question."
Fugaku pinned him down with a glare.
"Why are you here?" He fired the question back.
"…Mikoto asked me to be here."
That—uh...he just realized he didn't actually know what Sasuke's mom's name was. Probably Mikoto, which sucked, because that meant Sasuke's dad might not actually want to be here…
"What are those things on your face?"
Naruto grimaced, focusing on his breath as the question wormed its way under his skin. Four years ago, he would have broken this man's nose—but this wasn't about him. This wasn't about him. This was for Sasuke, who had noticed his eyes before everything else—
"I'd rather not talk about it." Calm (a breath in) but honest (a breath out). "I'm not sure if I should trust you."
"I'm not sure I should trust you," Fugaku fired back. Naruto let himself concede the point. (A breath in.)
"You shouldn't. I'm on Sasuke's side."
"The side of a boy who abandoned his family—"
"The side of a boy who was abandoned by his family," Naruto corrected. (A breath out.)
"I came here with nothing," Fugaku hissed, moving closer—Naruto was suddenly very aware of how much bigger the man was than him. "Nothing! You see all of this?"
He threw his arms out, gesturing around himself.
"This is what I did. What I sacrificed for my family—I gave him everything! And he—"
"Sasuke didn't want this," Naruto felt his forehead crease, "he doesn't want—a big house and—money—he wanted a family. He wanted to be happy."
(A breath—in—)
"And he would be happy with no money?"
"Well he definitely wouldn't have been poor if—" (A breath—)
"There is no money in writing! There are no jobs! There—"
"You don't know that! Sasuke's writ—" (—in? Out?)
"Those are the facts! Telling him otherwise is deluding him—setting him up for failure. You would rather me waste thousands on a sham of an education—"
(Naruto lost track of his breath.)
"I would rather you had some fucking faith in your own fucking son!" These people—this man—Naruto stood in front of the centerfold of Sasuke's pain and if someone didn't start showing some fucking remorse—
"I do not expect you to understand," Fugaku's voice went low—dangerously calm, "but I did what was best for my family. I have always done what is best for my family. And in return, my own son abandoned everything I did for him."
He took a step back, staring Naruto down with flashing eyes.
"Those are the facts."
"We're not getting anywhere," Itachi suddenly spoke up. Sasuke had nearly forgotten he was still here.
"No," Mikoto sounded defeated, "we are not."
"Let's try this again, then." He cleared his throat. "Mother, do you regret kicking Sasuke out?"
She looked completely taken aback.
"Of course I do," she said, her voice a half-broken whisper. "There is nothing I regret more."
Sasuke's throat seized up.
"Why did you do it?" He was barely able to form the words.
His mother shook her head, looking helpless.
"I…didn't believe you would leave. I didn't believe it, and then…and then it was too late."
"And father?" Itachi's voice was much stronger than theirs. Sasuke was glad he asked the question.
"I keep telling him..." she shook her head, again. "You need to speak with him. He thinks…he believe that you don't wish to be part of this family. And I know—I know you left, but—"
"Me leaving had nothing to do with our family." Sasuke thought that was obvious. "I never wanted it to be about that—you were the ones who—" he let out a breath, shaking his head, "it was about me wanting to be a writer. You wouldn't have taken me seriously if I hadn't—gone through with this."
"We—" The words stopped in the same breath as they came, and Sasuke watched his mother only sink further into her chair. "I—I'd like to think that you—or we—would have come around, but…that's beside the point. I don't care what career you chose at this point."
She raise her eyes—and her chin—to meet Sasuke's gaze.
"I just want my son back."
Naruto's anger screeched to a halt.
What?
"Those are not the facts." Naruto shook his head. What? What? Sasuke had—
"They are."
"Just because Sasuke wanted to be a writer—him studying it has nothing to do with you or your business. Or the family, or anything like that!"
"It has everything to do with it—he made his choice."
"No—you have Itachi to run the business. It's not as if him being a writer has somehow doomed you—"
"That's not—"
"You're not fucking listening! Sasuke wants to be part of this family! Why the fuck would he come back here if he didn't?!"
Naruto was going to rip his hair out—this man was so fucking frustrating—
"He's here because he loves you! He's here because he misses you and he's making a goddamn effort to make up for whatever happened before he left—no matter whose fault it was! It doesn't fucking matter! Move forward! Do you want him in your life or not?!"
Sasuke's father didn't reply—but Naruto had had enough. Either he was going to listen, or he wasn't—and if Naruto kept talking to this brick wall then he might start trying to punch it, instead, and it would probably go about as well as if Naruto did try to fight an actual brick wall—
"I'm going back downstairs. You decide what you want to do."
And he was gone.
The house rang with silence. Sasuke opened his mouth, unsure of how to break it but sure that he wanted to—
The front door opened and closed. There was a brief, panicked moment where they exchanged looks of alarm, before the sound of a car starting spurred them into action. The three of them ran into the hall, only to find—
Naruto, sitting at the bottom of the stairs, head in his hands.
"For the record," he said, still not looking up, "I didn't think it went that bad."
Sasuke let out a breath. His father had left.
His father had left.
That…he didn't know how he felt about that.
He distantly noticed his mother running out the door. He didn't bother following her. If his father wanted to leave…
He sat down beside Naruto, leaning against him.
"I'm sorry," he heard the blonde mutter. "I didn't tell him to leave or anything, I promise. I…"
Sasuke swallowed. His body suddenly felt very heavy.
"He is a grown man," Itachi said, staring at the still-open doorway, "who can make his own decisions. The fact that he did so without even speaking with Sasuke…"
Naruto, resting his head on his fist, looked up at Itachi with tired eyes.
"What're your plans tonight?"
Itachi looked surprised at the sudden change in topic.
"My plans?"
They heard another car start up.
"Ah," Itachi said. "Well, they would have been to stay here."
There was a pause.
"Stay at my house."
Sasuke blinked at Naruto, who only briefly glanced at him out of the corner of his eye.
"Sorry?"
"Sasuke's coming too. We have a guest room."
Itachi glanced away.
"That's very kind, Naruto, but—"
"Please?"
Sasuke watched as his brother's shoulders visibly sagged.
"I don't want to intrude."
"You're not. Either we all stay here or you come with us."
Sasuke felt a wave of appreciation for Naruto rush through him.
"…Alright."
After a few more minutes, they realized waiting around for Mikoto to come back was futile. Itachi quietly locked the doors behind them, and they headed back to the car.
Naruto sagged against Sasuke in the backseat. It took a long moment for his brother to wake up enough to rest an arm around him. Itachi used the sound of the car starting up to stifle his sigh.
He wasn't sure what he had expected. Something better than this, at least. This felt like…
Failure. It felt as if nothing had changed.
The GPS spoke to him, shaking him out of his thoughts.
Although, if he was truthful, the meeting with their mother hadn't gone that badly. Had their father not stormed out when he did, maybe…
He turned the wheel, just a touch.
Honestly, what had possessed her to allow their father to be there? She knew how badly he handled displays of emotion—and, he thought, at least, he had made it perfectly clear that Sasuke would not have been there if he knew Fugaku would be.
What a disaster.
What an absolute fucking disaster.
A/N: I toooold you guys the 20s are wild. Let me know what you thought!
See you tomorrow,
- Kinomi
