I know it's been such a terribly long time since I updated. And I am sorry. I've been busy and all that stuff. (School, you know?) And this chapter is probably going to be one of the slowest-paced… what's with Sasuke moving in with Naruto and all. And one of my favourite Naruto-fanfics, Walking Corpse finally made to the epilogue. Gosh. I loved it. (If you haven't read it, go do it NOW.)

And I really don't know that much what you do with supposed criminals being released from mental hospitals after almost four years… so, I'll just make it so that Sasuke has to visit the police from time to time (or something like that) and therapist and the hospital. He can't be left alone at all, I do know you all understand that, don't you.

This is a big step for our dear boy so cheer for him, won't you?

Warnings: this chapter contains Iruka with an apron and determination to clean Naruto's apartment, OOCness from Sasuke (that doesn't surprise anyone, ne?), possessiveness from Naruto, weird nightmares and perhaps a few moments of fluffy NaruSasuness.

Thank you for your patience, my readers. 3

Songs listened:

D'espairsRay – Born & Reddish

Atsushi Tamura – Metronome

Lifehouse – Everything (I seem to be listening this everytime I write Don't Say A Word… somehow, it just remind me of Naruto and Sasuke.)

Katsuyuki Konishi (aka Soubi Agatsuma) & Junko Minagawa (aka Ritsuka Aoyagi) – Entrust. (One of the most beautiful songs on this planet. From Loveless. C'mon, everyone knows Loveless, right?)

- - -

Naruto's apartment was everything what Sasuke had expected. Or at least, what his messy mind had imagined. First of all it was messy. Messy with a big M. No, not messy like: 'oh, there's a shirt under the bed and few trousers over there and schoolbooks there...' no. It looked like Naruto hadn't bothered to clean for a very long time. It seemed like every single piece of cloth he wore was either thrown on the floor or was hanging on the edge of his couch, his TV or on his chair. Old chip bags laid near the modern-looking orange computer – with red flames on its sides – and there were two or three coffee mugs too. Sasuke was so keen on studying Naruto's apartment – or the part of it that he was able to see, that he didn't notice at all when he hit his foot on something hard and stumbled. He grabbed the nearest thing to regain his balance and took a deep breath before blinking. Naruto blinked back and then Sasuke noticed that he had actually grabbed Naruto's arm. The boy let go, coughing, embarrassed. Naruto grinned and patted his head, waving for Iruka to come in too. Then he kneeled – Sasuke carefully backed from him – and pushed his clothes away to reveal a rusty skateboard.

"Oh, geez, so this is where you've been hiding!" The blond beamed and hugged the skateboard, before navigating through the mess of clothes to put it on top of a brown closet. Meanwhile, Iruka had managed to come inside through the mess, he looked around him and started to roll his sleeves, frowning. Naruto's attention was on Sasuke, who stood uncertainly by the door, looking around him. A crash made both boys turn their heads. Naruto's eyes widened with horror and he started to stumble towards the brownhaired man.

"Iruka-sensei! No, no, no! Don't put that away! What the hell are you doing anyway?!" He shouted, lower lip starting to tremble. He could be so childish sometimes. But… but… Naruto stopped. Iruka looked determined, trapped in his hands was a black band shirt with lots of holes.

"This isn't a shirt anymore, it's just a piece of fabric with holes!" Iruka snarled back. It came out angrier than he had wanted, but it worked. Naruto looked almost frightened.

"But… but..!"

"No buts, Naruto!"

Sasuke still stood by the door, his dark eyes following as Naruto argued with Iruka, the latter shaking his head, the former looking like he was about to cry because of the becoming destruction of his beloved shirt. It looked kind of funny, really. Naruto was taller than Iruka, but still he managed to make himself look like a kicked puppy with his baby-blue eyes.

"Irukaaa! Give it back!"

"No this is going to the trash bin!" That statement was followed with even more whining.

"Senseii! It's my favourite shirt! And it's L'arcenciel!" Naruto whimpered, trying desperately to grab the shirt from Iruka.

"Naruto! You do realize the reason, why this place must be clean, do you? Clearly you don't. You really expect Sasuke-kun to live here, in the middle of this chaos?" That last question made the blond in question finally stop. Sasuke stared at him, clutching his black bag – containing his only property that Iruka had kept for all those years he had been in Akai Tsuki – against his chest. Not for one moment had his eyes left Naruto. The tall blond turned to look at Sasuke, who blinked, pale lips separated just a little. For a while they just looked at each other, before Naruto grinned and turned back to Iruka, now looking a little embarrassed.

"Eh… sorry. I didn't think about it like that… Nah, just clean if you want…but! Don't put that shirt away!" He pointed at the band shirt with (fake) teary eyes. Iruka sighed and shook his head.

"Sure, sure. But now move, while I clean this part of the apartment." The pony-tailed man shooed and Naruto flashed a toothy grin as thanks.

"I'm going to show Sasuke where he's going to sleep!" The said boy's grip on his bag tightened and his black eyes widened even more. When Naruto came closer again, Sasuke stepped back and lowered his gaze. Naruto stopped, before patting his skinny shoulder.

"Don't be afraid of me, ne…" he said surprisingly quietly before smiling gently down at him. He turned to open another door that led to his bedroom. This room too, was filled with clothes and empty Coca-Cola cans and on the walls were lots of posters from old and new anime series and bands, there was L'arcenciel, D'espairsRay, the fierce growling face of Guts from Berserk and Eyeshield 21. Naruto gazed at them lovingly a little while, then remembered why he was there after all.

"Oh sorry, it's messy here too." He cleaned the big bed and hastily pushed his clothes in to the closet and coca-cola cans under the bed and the full trash bin.

"So…the thing is –"

"I'm going to sleep… here?" Naruto flinched. He had gotten so used to speaking alone, after all those talking sessions with him behind Sasuke's door. The other boy hardly spoke, so he always managed to surprise even himself when he did. The ex-patient looked uncertain, biting his lips, his eyes downcast. This room… it smelled like Naruto. He didn't know how he knew that, but…the scent made him feel weak, made his heart beat a little more faster than he would have liked.

"Yes, Sasuke. You're going to sleep here. And no, I'm not. I'm gonna be right behind this door, on the couch."

"On the…couch?" Sasuke said slowly, blinking at the taller boy. A frown appeared on his pale face. The couch was indeed big, but Naruto was bigger. He was so tall his legs would hang over the edge. And the couch was full of stuff too… Sasuke's train of thought crashed quickly, when a hand was placed on top of his head. Naruto grinned widely down at him.

"No worries! I've gotten used to it, I mean, sleeping on the couch! When my friends have a party here with me, it's usually every time that someone falls asleep on my bed – somehow it's usually Kiba, does he like my bed or what? - And because I am such a nice guy, I never wake them up. So I take the couch." When Sasuke was opening his mouth to say something, Naruto waved a finger in front of his face, stopping him.

"It's okay! I wouldn't let you sleep on the couch. So stop worrying, okay?" For a while, the blond's blue eyes widened and he successfully managed to make himself look innocent. Sasuke blinked and quickly let his black hair cover the redness on his pale cheeks. Naruto laughed and ruffled his hair. He didn't touch him anymore after that.

It took almost half and hour, with Sasuke and Naruto moving from bedroom to the living room and to kitchen and to the bathroom while Iruka was cleaning with growing determination every single corner, an orange apron tied around him. Naruto wondered where in the world he found that. Finally, when he was ready, the three of them were in the small kitchen. Naruto was a little shocked to see how tidy his small apartment now looked. Sasuke sat next to him, a coffee mug between his slender fingers. Iruka stood near them, not looking tired at all, the orange apron still on him. He had cleaned even the bedroom in no time at all, from time to time nagging at Naruto about his place's filthiness. The blond hardly ever got mad, not even now, because he worried for Sasuke as much as Iruka did. But now…

"Thanks, sensei. But it's kinda freaky now that it's so clean…"

"Sure, because it was so chaotic and dirty before." Iruka looked at him, frowning a little before smiling.

"Now, I will have to leave, but I will leave Sasuke's medicine and instructions here. I will come visit as often as I can when you're at school, to make sure everything's okay. But when I can't, I'll send Kurenai or one of the boys here to look after Sasuke." Naruto nodded, when Iruka put a small, white medicine box into one of the shelves in his kitchen.

"And…" The older man pulled Naruto further away so Sasuke wouldn't hear. Caring was obvious in Iruka's warm brown eyes.

"I put away all of your sharp things, like knives. It's best to be safe than sorry, after all. You have seen his arms…" He didn't have to finish the sentence. Naruto had indeed seen the white arms covered in bandages, and a hint of pale red underneath.

"Good, good." Iruka smiled and they returned to the little kitchen. Sasuke had drank all of his coffee, but was still sitting on his chair. His black eyes immediately locked on Naruto, who smiled at him, blue eyes almost sparkling. Sasuke bit his lip in a bewildered manner and turned his gaze away. That only managed to make Naruto's smile wider.

"So I get it you guys will be alright by yourselves, right?" Iruka laid his hand on Naruto's shoulder and looked at them both. Sasuke didn't move, nor did he look up, but Naruto nodded. Iruka squeezed his shoulder and said his goodbyes before disappearing into the corridor.

The silence that overcame the apartment was that kind of nice silence that felt like you could dwell in it forever. But Naruto wasn't one to be quiet for a long time (unless he was sleeping), so he asked:

"So… what do you want to do? Do you want to watch TV? I need to do my homework but I will not go anywhere unless you want me to." Naruto looked at Sasuke questioningly, eyebrows raised. The ex-patient blinked, and then shrugged.

"I…don't know. Just…d-don't go anywhere…" Naruto took that as a yes – as in, 'yes, I would like to do something' – and couldn't help but smile at the almost shy expression on Sasuke's face as he stared at the ground, still holding his black bag.

"Okies! As you wish. I won't. We can go to my… living room, if you can call it that. You can watch TV while I stuff my head full of cultural history of Japan and all that other stuff you're probably not interested in." Naruto blabbered happily as he left the kitchen to fetch his own pack and to leave Sasuke's black bag in the bedroom. The said boy followed him quietly, not wanting to be left alone even for a little moment. They sat down on the couch and Naruto gave him the remote control, before starting to dig his pack for history book. Sasuke's hand trembled, when he switched on the television. Somehow, the main reason why he felt so nervous, even weak, was sitting right next to him, muttering to himself while scratching his blond hair. Sasuke looked at the other boy for a while, before turning his attention towards the TV. He didn't understand at all. He tried to concentrate on the music channel and managed to do that, after seven minutes of quick glances towards Naruto. The blond, oblivious to the silent attention he was getting, was scribbling something on his notebook and browsed through the pages of his history book. And all the time, he muttered something. If Iruka had seen the sight, he would have probably went all mother hen again and hug them both until they were strangled. Well, unfortunately Iruka didn't see it.

Sasuke had forgotten for a moment his whereabouts and was absorbed by the TV, staring at the screen with wide black eyes, enchanted by it. After all, it had been almost four years since he had last seen TV. He was like a little kid, learning to live and experiencing everything, even normal things like watching television. The peace and quiet lasted for fifteen comfortable minutes, before Naruto's head started to nod off and his eyes looking foggy. Sasuke didn't notice at all, he was staring at the TV with great interest. Until something heavy landed on his shoulder. That surprised both him and Naruto, whose had drooped on his shoulder. They both jumped, Naruto just because Sasuke had. They both stared at each other, clearly not understanding why. Until Naruto grinned and started to laugh. Sasuke blinked, not realizing the reason. That had really scared him.

"Sorry, sorry…I haven't slept well and history has never been my cup of tea." Naruto explained and smiled apologetically. He reached out his hand.

"Forgive me?" How could someone not forgive immediately after seeing such innocent blue eyes? Poor Sasuke didn't know it was just an act, although with him Naruto was always honest. Black eyes, deeper than the darkness of the night, stared into blue skies, then gazing at the tanned hand, still reached out towards him, before lowering his gaze. Unfortunately, Naruto saw his reddened cheeks and he gently patted Sasuke's head.

"I'll take that as a yes. Okay, the clock is starting to show a late hour, so it's time to go to sleep, don't you think?" Without waiting for an answer he probably wasn't going to get, Naruto had disappeared into the kitchen.

"Oh, and I almost forgot your medicine! Tomorrow you're going with me and Iruka to visit the therapist, and the police too, but don't worry about that. Now, here, take these." Naruto carefully watched that the smaller boy really did swallow the pills before he waved for him to follow. He seldom touched the other boy, but when he did, it was usually a small pat or a gentle, light nudge to his ribs. The ex-patient seemed even more fragile outside in the real world, he almost feared he would break if he touched him more than that.

When they came into Naruto's bedroom, he dug his closets for a while, before throwing a pair of pyjamas to the bed.

"Change into those. Just leave the clothes you have on now to that chair in the corner. Iruka-sensei is going to come in the morning to help you get washed and all that; I'll have to go to school." The blond happily said – like always – and finally let Sasuke have his own peace, vanishing and closing the door behind him with a cheery "Good night." Sasuke stared after him, before shaking his head. He slowly took off his shirt – or it was really Naruto's, being too big for him. He carefully removed his trousers too before stopping, leaving only a pair of black boxers on.

He had noticed a mirror and his own reflection in it.

There was only one way to say it.

It made him feel sick.

He could almost see his own bones; his skin was sickeningly white because of the lack of sun and light overall. Black hair fell over his skinny shoulders, dirty and tangled. It had once been shiny and pretty – like his mother used to say -, but it surely wasn't now. His deep black eyes looked too big and scared, making him look more like the little boy he felt he still sometimes was. Old, thin scars on his hips – from sharp, sharp claws he didn't want to remember – and the most recognizable mark. The red and white fan-like tattoo on his lower back. It was the crest of the annihilated Uchiha family. And the worst things were the bandages covering his arms. Torturously slowly, he started to rip them off, his white fingers trembling so much. His throat and lips felt dry as he threw the stained bandages into the garbage bin. Countless red and white, visible and (almost) invisible scars covered both his arms, making the boy shiver with fear and self-disgust and hate. How could this… why had he…he didn't remember almost anything before he came to Akai Tsuki, just hints and pieces here and there, but this…He slid his fingers on the rough skin and bit his lip to prevent himself from whimpering. This was a remainder. A remainder of who he was, maybe even more than the tattoo on his lower back. He was the last Uchiha, stained by his brother, lost in the darkness even before he should have learned the difference between light and dark. It was cruel and Sasuke didn't quite understand it, but anyway, this was a horrible thing and no, he didn't want to look at himself anymore.

He quickly turned away from his reflection to put on the pyjamas that were big and comfortable and soft. He didn't care, he just wanted to go to sleep. Not just because the medicine made him feel really sleepy, but just 'cause he wanted to forget everything for a while and just sleep, sleep, sleep. He turned off the light and crept between the sheets. There was a faint scent that reminded him of something…something familiar that he quite couldn't figure out what it was. Somehow it made him think of the sea, it's deep blue depths… and a pair of crystal-clear blue eyes.

He fell asleep.

The blue vanished from his mind, only to be replaced by darkness thicker than everything, thicker than the blood he felt touching his skin, everywhere. His throat felt like it was about to burst, he knew that the Sharingan was on, he saw, he saw only darkness, he saw then the redness caused by these cursed eyes. He didn't know if he was upside down or standing or floating, his mind was in chaos, invisible hands were strangling him. He coughed again and again, he tried to yell, but no sound came out. Red eyes widened even more.

'Help me…" His blood, the blood of the Uchiha family that had been dead for years, flowed freely and Sasuke knew it was their blood that he felt inside and outside of himself, touching his skin, his throat, his brain.

'Help me…' Was it him or was it someone else?

He was starting to panic. What was this…was this 'down?' was this 'up?' Was this only darkness or was this reality? He turned around (at least he thought so) and around, trying to see at least something. With these cursed eyes, there had to be something!

But no. Nothing.

'Na…" He heard a soft whimper. Was it him this time?

'Na…Naru…'

Another whimper, which this time ended with a shriek.

'Naruto!'

Red eyes flashed. That was it…his link to reality, the only thought keeping him sane in this weird darkness in his sleep. And then there was them. His mother and father, dead, dead! His aunts and uncles and cousins. All of them were dead, blank eyes staring at him, and then that voice, whispering strange things and hands touching him again and again.

And blood covered his eyes and he saw no more.

- -

Naruto had woken up in the middle of the night – 4 am or something – when he heard yelling. The boy didn't even notice that all he had on was loose orange pyjama pants as he almost fell of the couch before running to the bedroom. Sasuke was rolling around in the bed, twitching and turning. And he screamed. He screamed so loud Naruto could hear that he was, in fact, hurting. In pain. And in a lot of pain. He could make out only three words in the middle of all the wordless screaming. 'Help me, help me'… and his own name. The blond didn't know what to do, so he did what he felt was the best. He crawled closer and shook the ex-patient.

"Sasuke! Sasuke! Wake up!" He tried that several times, without a result. For god's sake, even though Naruto didn't care about his neighbours, it was a miracle no one hadn't woken up yet. He clutched his hand on Sasuke's mouth to muffle his screams. That was a big mistake, since then the smaller boy went completely crazy. He tried to reach out to Naruto, his hands like talons, trying to claw at his face. The blond didn't like this at all. He crawled closer and tried to shook the other boy again.

"Oi! Wake up!" He was starting to be very, very worried.

The only thing he could now was…but what if Sasuke actually woke up? He could break the fragile trust between them, the other wouldn't understand, he was far too confused and lost to understand. But Naruto gave up and gently pulled the other boy against him, even if the other was twitching and screaming like hell. The blond muffled the other's yells into his bare chest and didn't care about hands hitting him, didn't care about hot tears making his skin wet. He caressed Sasuke's back like he was comforting a child. And in a way, he was.

"Ssshh… stop it, now…shh…just a nightmare…" Naruto murmured, not even thinking what he was saying, just muttering random things that came into mind. And very slowly, it seemed to work, Sasuke's crazy fit vanished and the other boy became completely still. Naruto could have laid him down at that moment, but he really didn't want to. He continued to caress the other's back and stare into nothingness. It was strangely relaxing, even to himself. Sasuke had stopped crying and screaming and seemed to have fallen asleep again.

Naruto really didn't want to let go. So he carefully laid the smaller – he noted with worry how thin the other really was – boy down and covered him with a blanket. He didn't dare to sleep next to him, so he went to fetch his blanket from the couch to the large chair next to the bed. When he had done that, he sat down and looked at Sasuke, before in five minutes, he fell asleep.

And somehow, Sasuke didn't see anymore bad dreams that night.

- -

A week went by in a flash. Sasuke had a fit only once after that, which was kind of an good signal. Naruto never slept next to him, he always moved to sleep in the large chair that fortunately was comfortable enough. They went to the therapist every single day and she always asked the same questions, always in the same tone of voice and Sasuke would just look at him with tired, dead eyes. Naruto thought that the last Uchiha scared the therapist woman. Iruka always followed, never saying anything but as a silent protector and guardian of the two boys. Kurenai visited once a week, Iruka as often as he could (which indeed was almost every day.) There wasn't really a sign of fast recovery for Sasuke, but schizophrenia was something you simply couldn't heal in a short time.

Sasuke still didn't go out unless it was for the therapist lessons or when they sometimes visited the police station for reasons that last Uchiha didn't know. Or understand. Then there were times when Naruto moved two chairs to his balcony and waved for Sasuke to sit with him. At those times, they never spoke. Naruto just smiled gently, patiently and looked at the late evening sun that was colouring the sky with red and orange. Sasuke looked too, his face expressionless and almost cold, if you didn't know what kind of person he was. He liked the sunset, but he never said it aloud. He was sure Naruto noticed it. He didn't know why or how, but he was still sure.

And they both let the thing be.

The week had been very pleasant for both, at least, it was better than Sasuke always remaining inside the hospital, with blindfold covering his eyes, never seeing anything, never feeling anything. Now he was feeling something what he quite couldn't figure out, so he usually spent his evenings pondering on the bed – it never was his bed, it was always Naruto's – about things like that. Really, if you thought about it, he found it strange. That Naruto, who clearly was a popular and beloved student in his school, would care about a skinny little bastard as himself. Why? Why? Why couldn't the other answer? Sasuke didn't dare to ask, just shrugged when Naruto asked what was wrong.

The blond still didn't touch him more than an occasional nudge to the ribs, or a pat on his shoulder or the ruffling of hair. Or a hug. Sasuke knew they had hugged sometimes, he just hadn't been quite…sane. If that's the right word he could say. No, not really sane, he had had nightmares and it was always Naruto who pulled him away from those.

Perhaps it was cliché to say it, but there was light at the end of the tunnel.

Just maybe.

- -

Hope you liked. Review, people, review!

(You do notice in these chapters how something called LOOVE is starting to come in to the scene? It's not clearly there, but…but…it's there! Okay, maybe it will take a long time for it to bloom properly, but it will. That much I can say. And no, I haven't actually planned that much ahead, so it's gonna take awhile before you heard from me again.)

And remember, even if it takes long for me to update, don't ever think I'm going to abandon this story. I love Naruto and Sasuke (the latter in this story 3) too much to stop now. I'm going to see it to the end, I swear.

Thanks for your patience, again.

Ending Song:

Paradise Lost – Ordinary Days.