Things had been even more strained between the pair since the fight. Naruto could tell, in his own way, Sasuke was trying to make things right between them. Sasuke had been quieter than usual and Naruto kept catching him staring with an unreadable expression. Naruto looked up as Sasuke placed something on the edge of his desk.

It was ramen, from Naruto's favourite place in the centre of town. Which happened to be quite a distance away. Naruto appreciated the effort, but still couldn't bring himself to forgive Sasuke just yet. It had hurt so much. Naruto forced his eyes not to linger on the ramen and vowed he would wait until Sasuke left the room until he jumped on it. The smell was intoxicating; he hadn't had fresh ramen in forever! He heard Sasuke sigh and walk out, and Naruto jumped on the noodles, slurping them enthusiastically. Sasuke burst back into the room and Naruto jumped, caught red-handed.

"Predictable." he accused haughtily, masking his relief that at least Naruto would take this small offering.

Naruto flushed.

"Whatever! I accept the ramen, not you." Naruto said childishly.

"I'm trying." Sasuke ground out.

Naruto was slightly impressed Sasuke had managed to keep his temper so far with all his rejected olive branches. Naruto assumed Sasuke didn't really understand the concept of rejection, on any level. Naruto put the noodles down.

"Has it occurred to you, Sasuke, to apologise?" he asked, the tiredness clear in his voice.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. He wanted an actual apology? Naruto was expecting something from him that wasn't in his nature. Considering Naruto tried so hard for the friendship, it pissed him off. Naruto condoned this relationship. Naruto insisted on nurturing this relationship. Sasuke would have been perfectly happy, as he always had been, alone. But Naruto had to screw that all up.

"I told you I didn't mean to say what I did." Sasuke reminded him. He had made himself clear repeatedly. He had regretting his actions. Yet Naruto still wouldn't let it go.

"Still not an apology." Naruto challenged.

Sasuke's patience finally broke.

"Stop acting like you don't know who I am. This is who I've always been. I'm fucked up. Just like you are. Deal with it."

"That's no excuse to be an ass all of your life! I'm trying to help you!" Naruto shot back, stowing his noodles safely under his desk. If Sasuke got irate and spilled his ramen, he'd never be able to accept any apology, let alone how sincere.

"I don't want your help!" he snarled. "Don't you get it? This is all your fault! Insisting we do everything together!"

"It's called friendship, Sasuke, though I know the concept is foreign to you!"

"A friendship you knew I didn't want!" he shot back.

His frustrations are tumbling out of his mouth and he knew this would only make things worse. Naruto didn't understand. He couldn't understand and Sasuke's pride would ever let him just explain. He can feel Naruto's frustration and it only fuelled his own. Naruto's confusion was thick in the air. They were from different worlds. They had lived completely different lives. Often, Sasuke found it refreshing. But in circumstances like this, Naruto, so free and open with his companionship, young and naieve, just couldn't start to understand.

Naruto opened his mouth, ready to tell Sasuke to go fuck himself, but Sasuke spoke first; he could see Naruto tensing and readying for further conflict.

"I'm sorry."

The words came out quiet. Sasuke stood in silence, frowning and looking strained, as though uttering just those two words caused him great, physical pain. Naruto stopped dead, his retort dying in his throat as he is suddenly confronted with the fact that he just didn't know what to do with the situation. Sasuke was acting irrationally. Someone so calculated and sure. Something was bubbling under the surface. Naruto's brain ticked over as he assessed the situation.

"There's more to this than I know, isn't there?" he asks slowly.

Naruto's thoughts relived the weird phone calls Sasuke kept getting. The way he wouldn't talk about his home or his past. How he insisted on keeping everyone and everything at a distance. A person doesn't naturally become cold and distance and shy to the world. Something causes them to be that way. Naruto looks into Sasuke's eyes and realises, perhaps, why he had been so quick to anger when he first met Sasuke. They were the same. They were kindred spirits. Sasuke had been through something just has terrible in his past. It was something that marked you, forever.

Sasuke just nods.

"You can tell me, Sasuke. I'm your friend. I care about you." He pressed.

The words pierced like a knife, though he knew if this continued he would truly lose Naruto. And the thought of that set off a panic inside Sasuke he didn't know he was still capable of. Naruto watched the emotions flicker over Sasuke's face and then, suddenly, as quick as they appeared, they were once again hidden under cool impassiveness.

"I can't. Not right now." He said, struggling to keep his voice in line with his face.

Sasuke's voice trembled so slightly that only Naruto, Naruto that knew him so well, caught it.

"But you will tell me?" Naruto asked, cocking his head a little to the left.

For some reason, it was important to him that Sasuke opened up. He didn't know why he kept pressing so hard for Sasuke to share this part of himself but he knew he wouldn't be able to stop. He could tell Sasuke hadn't shared this with anyone else. He wanted to be that one person Sasuke could talk to. The thought of being Sasuke's most important person made him dizzy.

Sasuke moved his head almost imperceptibly and Naruto took this as a nod. Sasuke walked towards the door without saying another word and Naruto finally felt ready.

"I accept your apology." He said, rescuing his ramen from under his desk and digging back in.

The tension visibly disappeared between them and Sasuke felt relief as he realised Naruto had truly forgiven him. Naruto tasted some of the noodles.

"Wow, Sasuke, these are really good! Thank you!" he turned and smiled at Sasuke.

His face lit up with genuine appreciation, his smile showing rows of perfect white teeth, whisker-like marks on his cheeks crinkled up, Sasuke's stomach jumped, a similar feeling he remembered experiencing when he had watched Naruto dance with Sakura. Sasuke's brain finally began making the connections.

Oh God, no…

Sasuke sighed heavily as he opened the door to the flat. He hated his Thursday lectures. They were taken by a particularly dull and monotonous professor, who clearly had nothing other than retirement in his near future and couldn't care less for the learning quality of his students.

Sasuke knew he would have to do a lot of extra work in his free time to try and make sense of the old man's ramblings. Time, with all his other work, he simply could afford. Naruto had often teased Sasuke for taking studies in law. He would poke fun at the old, oversized textbooks and chastise him for taking such an awful, boring subject. But studying law always made Sasuke feel comfortable and strangely at peace. Rules were rules, and policies were made to be followed and anything outside of that was rejected. Plus, Sasuke would never forget when he had mentioned to his father that he, too, would strive to become a lawyer. His father had looked upon him with pride. That had been the first time his father had looked at him so proudly. Usually, anything Sasuke managed to achieve was overlooked; Itachi had already done it. Sasuke felt punishing being the younger sibling and no matter how hard he tried to catch up to his brother, the elder sibling just had the advantage. Itachi had always had the advantage.

Sasuke froze as he heard two voices coming from the kitchen. The noises pulled him from his thoughts. He heard Naruto laugh loudly and uninhibited. It had been a while since he'd heard Naruto laugh at all. Naruto had company over? It wasn't Kiba; Sasuke would know his loud, grating voice anywhere. This voice was softer, quieter, yet distinctly male and for some reason it set Sasuke on edge.

He walked into the kitchen, guarded. He found Naruto lazing on the sofa with a fellow student. They were sitting awfully close together. He had long, silken brown hair and the lightest eyes Sasuke had ever seen. Who was this person and why was he in Sasuke's kitchen? Naruto seemed to sense Sasuke's unwelcoming aura.

"Ah, Sasuke! This is Neji!" he said. "He's on my course. We've actually got quite a few classes together!"

Sasuke could see the pages of work on the floor, accumulating by an open pizza box. There were two slices left. Sasuke felt a stab of jealousy feeling he had been replaced from helping Naruto with his studies. Apparently he didn't need any help since he had Neji now. Neji stood, politely introducing himself, extending a hand to Sasuke. Sasuke didn't shake it. There was already something about Neji he didn't like, though he couldn't put his finger on it.

"Sasuke. Uchiha Sasuke." He said curtly. Neji pulled his hand back, before sitting back down on the sofa again, next to Naruto.

Naruto snorted; it always amused as Sasuke continued to introduce himself like James Bond.

"I saved you some pizza!" Naruto said, waving towards the cold slices, trying to cut through the tension. His efforts were in vain.

"Uchiha. Yes, I've heard of your family." Neji said.

Sasuke could hear the challenge in Neji's tone. Though the statement surprised Sasuke and send his mind reeling into questions and uncertainty, he wouldn't show it. While strange, it wasn't completely impossible that he would come across someone who knew about his circumstances. His father had been very well known in their community and very respected. He had been one of the most sought-after lawyers in the country and beyond.

"Oh really." He replied icily.

You say a fucking word. Sasuke challenged him mentally. The smirk on Neji's face showing he was unafraid on the threat underpinning Sasuke's cold glare.

Naruto's eyes darted from Neji to Sasuke, and then back. The atmosphere in the room had shifted. Sasuke's glare lingered on Neji, then he left, without speaking a word.

"Ah, sorry about that," Naruto said, snatching up one of the remaining slices of pizza since Sasuke had rejected the offering. The toppings fell haphazardly in over the box. The pizza had gone cold, but Naruto didn't mind.

"Sasuke is… well, he's Sasuke." He said with a shrug.

Naruto couldn't really explain Sasuke and his strange ways.

"So, you know Sasuke's parents?" he asked curiously. "It really is a small world, eh! Are they nice?" he asked.

Neji considered Naruto for a moment. Weren't he and Sasuke supposed to be close? Was it really possible Sasuke hadn't told Naruto about the most defining moment in his life? He found this interesting. While he wasn't one for sharing intimate details of his private life, he did confide in a select few trusted friends.

"He hasn't told you?" Neji asked, testing the situation.

"Told me what?" Naruto mumbled through a bite of pizza.

"It's really not my place to say." Neji admitted. No wonder Sasuke had been trying to glare a hole through him. Naruto had no idea.

Naruto's curiosity was truly piqued. What could Neji know about Sasuke that he didn't? Sasuke wasn't exactly one to share. He pondered this while crunching the crust of the pizza loudly. Naruto wiped the crumbs away with his sleeve. He stared at Neji, eyes wide with curiosity, and his face told Neji that he wouldn't relent. The brown-haired boy sighed.

"I don't know much," he admitted honestly. "My father once did business with his father. Fugaku was very well respected and had quite the background. He was head of the police force for some time, before he moved into law."

Naruto's eyes were wide. Sasuke's father was head of the police force? Why did this seem so fitting? And why hadn't Sasuke mentioned this before?

"And then there was… the incident." Neji said slowly.

"Incident?" Naruto asked, wiping his face again.

Neji shook his head.

"It really isn't my place to tell you, Naruto." Neji said.

As much as he didn't like Sasuke from what he had seen so far, he would respect the fact that the Uchiha wanted his privacy. Apparently from his closest friend, but that was his prerogative. Naruto didn't relent. Sasuke was a closed book and Naruto would get to know him any way he could.

"I care about Sasuke," he admitted quietly. "I want to know these things, but he won't share. Is there anything you know that I can't find out on Google right now?" Naruto asked.

Neji was caught. He knew if Naruto typed in Sasuke's name he would probably come across the newspaper articles from the time of the incident. Being such a high profile family, it had been all over the news for months. It had been such a huge scandal, the media had been all but ravenous over the story.

"His family… they were murdered, Naruto." Neji breathed.

Naruto gripped the sofa tightly. Suddenly, Sasuke's whole attitude to the world made a little more sense. He wondered why, despite Sasuke's attitude, he had been drawn to the other from the beginning. Like two lost souls finding one another. Naruto could relate on how it felt not to have a family. In comparison to Sasuke's situation, Naruto preferred his own. It was better to have never had a family from the start than to have a family and lose everything.

"Did they catch the killer?" he asked fearfully.

"I don't think so," Neji said, his voice still hushed. "All I know is that the only survivors were Sasuke and his older brother, who disappeared straight after. No one has heard from him since."

Naruto sat in silence, his mind reeling. How he wished he hadn't pressed Neji for this information. This wasn't his business. He had no right to be pushing into Sasuke's life like this.

Oh God, the phone calls Sasuke was getting!

Naruto's mind spun, remembered the time he had walked in of the tail end of a phone conversation.

'You murdered our family'

Sasuke was getting calls from the person that had killed his family. He couldn't breathe. How had Sasuke been dealing with this alone for so long? Why hadn't he sought help? Naruto felt an even greater sense of dread as he remember what Sasuke had admitted to him that time.

"It was my brother. On the phone."

You murdered our family. You murdered our family. Sasuke blamed his brother for the death of his family? Surely that wasn't fair? Is that why Sasuke's brother disappeared, Sasuke pressing all the blame onto his older brother who just couldn't take the accusations any longer and he left? Naruto felt a hand on his arm.

"You alright?"

"Y-yeah, I'm just… shocked I guess? I feel awful. Poor Sasuke. He never…he never told me any of this."

He didn't reveal any of his further revelations to Neji and kept thinking it through silently in his head. Sasuke held his older brother responsible for the death of their family. And he was still calling Sasuke to this day, potentially to try and rebuild their relationship. From what Naruto remembered of overhearing on the phonecalls, and Sasuke's tone, Sasuke was in no mood for forgiveness. It seemed he really did blame his brother, for some unkonown reason, and was happier without his presence. Naruto felt struck deeply. If he had any family out there in the world, he would do just about anything to be a part of their life. Family was a gift. Something to be cherished. But Sasuke didn't feel the same.

Neji shrugged, pulling his books together.

"You should talk to him." He suggested. "I'll call you later and check you're still alive." He added with a smirk.

Swallowing nervously, Naruto camped out in the kitchen waiting for Sasuke to emerge. He hadn't had any of the pizza so Naruto knew he would come out soon for food. Just half an hour later, Naruto's prediction came true. He stared at Sasuke in a new light. How was he still standing? Naruto, too, had lost his parents but that had been different. Had Sasuke seen the murder? Had Sasuke been the one to find his parents? The thought made Naruto shake.

Sasuke took one look at Naruto's face and decided the next time he saw Neji Hyuuga he would ensure to strangle him so he couldn't spread any more gossip.

"What exactly did Hyuuga tell you?" he asked lowly.

Sasuke was pleased to note the embarrassed look fleeting across Naruto's face, caught out in his snooping.

"I wish you'd told me." Naruto said, his voice coming out small. "You shouldn't have to carry a burden like this alone."

This was exactly the kind of thing you were supposed to share with friends.

"What exactly did he tell you?" Sasuke asked again.

Naruto bit his lip.

"He told me your parents were killed." Naruto admitted.

"That's it?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto looked at him as though he'd gone insane.

"That's it?" he asked incredulously. "Sasuke, I-"

He fell silent as Sasuke sat down heavily next to him.

Sasuke couldn't explain why he suddenly felt the need to tell Naruto what happened. There were only three people alive who knew the true events of that night. Itachi, Sasuke, and the police officer who had taken charge of the case and who had also taken Sasuke in, Kakashi. Kakashi had taken over the department once his father had left and he had always seen Itachi and Sasuke as the sons he never had. Kakashi had also worked closely with Itachi on the force and Sasuke knew he partly held himself responsible for not noticing Itachi's psychiatric condition sooner. Sasuke had never blamed him.

Naruto took a breath.

"I understand, in a tradgey, its easy to blame." Naruto said, his voice but a whisper. "It's easy to be angry, so you don't have to focus on all the other things you're feeling. But don't you think you should make peace with your brother?" he asked calmly.

Sasuke let out a breath. The sound was close to a laugh.

"It was my brother. Who killed them." Sasuke said. The words felt stiff and strange.

"He was sick, and we didn't know. He'd convinced himself there was this whole government conspiracy and the only way to keep me safe would be to kill our parents. So he did." Sasuke said.

Naruto remained silent as Sasuke spoke. "I came home from school and I-I found them. Itachi was on the police force, so when he came home with a gun," Sasuke shrugged. "No one would have thought anything of it. He shot them both. It was only later I realised that my parents' home had been the last. He'd gone through the entire compound and killed all our family."

Naruto's breath hitched and he grabbed Sasuke's arm tightly. Tears were falling down whiskered cheers.

"Don't cry, idiot." Sasuke muttered, becoming uncomfortable with the situation.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that." Naruto said honestly.

Sasuke let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. There was no pity on Naruto's face, only empathy. Sasuke's one worry had been that Naruto would pity him. He couldn't stand that. It was one of the reasons why he moved away. People still didn't know the whole story, what had really happened, but they looked on him with faces full of pity anyway. It drove Sasuke to madness. Sasuke reached out before he could stop himself and wiped away a lone tear from a whiskered cheek.

"You can trust me with this, Sasuke." He said honestly. The sincerity in Naruto's eyes was almost painful. "Please don't push me away."

Sasuke considered this. How well Naruto knew him. They both knew Sasuke would try and pretend this hadn't happened in the morning, would pull away from Naruto, and make him never speak of it again.

"Whatever." Sasuke muttered.

Naruto grabbed him.

"No!" he said suddenly, almost making Sasuke jump. "You've been picking fights for no reason and being an asshole. You're trying to push me away. Why? How can you trust me with something like this in one breath, and in the other try and act like our friendship is meaningless?" he asked

He needed the answer quickly. He could practically visualise Sasuke's shell closing up around him.

Fuck it. Sasuke thought, throwing caution to the wind.

"I'm becoming dependant on you." Sasuke admitted painfully. "And it's disgusting."

Naruto blinked. This wasn't what he was expecting.

"It's not wrong to depend on another, Sasuke. It's human." Naruto admitted.

If only you really knew how I felt. Sasuke's brain supplied dully. It had taken Sasuke a few days to process and understand the strange feelings he had been experiencing around Naruto. Eventually he couldn't pretend to himself that it wasn't happening. He had a sexual attraction to Naruto. Naruto, who was the most obnoxious person he had met. Naruto, who was painfully and openly straight and currently setting his sights on a shallow, pink-haired idiot.

"I can't." he said through gritted teeth. "The last person I loved like this was Itachi."

Sasuke couldn't even believe that had come out his mouth. He did love Naruto as much as he had loved his older brother. But in extremely different ways. He hated himself for speaking out loud that he felt a brotherly love for Naruto. Now he really would never see him in any other way.

Not that he would, regardless.

Naruto felt overwhelmed as Sasuke spoke of loving him as he had loved his brother. The brother he had idolised and put his trust in. it touched him. This had been everything Naruto had been hoping for from his relationship with Sasuke. To finally have Sasuke open up this way, share himself, was exhilarating.

"You just have to trust that I'm not going to hurt you." Naruto said.

I already do. And that's what scares me the most.

Naruto's face suddenly became sunny, drawing an entirely different parallel between himself and Itachi.

"I've…I've never had a sibling, Sasuke. I know we're not family, but you're so important to me. You're like the brother I never had!"

Fucking great. Just. Fucking. Great.