First of all, sorry for the terribly long wait. I've been busy and just plain lazy from time to time. And not really knowing what to write, so…
Here's the next chapter for all of you. And a time to meet the others.
Warnings: lots and lots of embarrassment, cursing, annoying bisexual sempai, annoying curious friends, random fluffyness etc etc.
"So… Naruto. Do you have a good reason? I mean, a very good reason for not visiting us for a long time? Or letting us visit you? Nowadays you always disappear somewhere and you moved away from the dorms and all that stuff -!" Kiba said with a pathetic whine and stared at his friend. Their little group of friends were sitting in the school's cafeteria. This bunch of buddies of course included Gaara, the fierce redhead who was always glaring at everyone else but Naruto, Kiba, who was now nudging Naruto's sleeve, the ever-silent Neji and the terrifying two girls, Sakura and Ino. Hinata sat next to Kiba and blushed brightly every time the dog boy looked at him. This time Shikamaru was absent, he had been sick for two days already.
Anyway, now all of them were watching Naruto and waiting for an answer. Well, except for Gaara who of course already knew the answer.
"Well? Are you going to answer? What's so important to you that you even have to skip school?" Even Neji raised his elegant eyebrows. Naruto blinked when Hyuuga's white, empty gaze settled on him. Uh-oh. They had almost found out. Almost. The very last thing would be if one of the girls suspected that he had a –
"Naruto has a girlfriend!" Ino suddenly shrieked and stood up, wide grin on her face. An identical smirk appeared on Sakura's face. Geez, these girls were always making up stupid things like that! Naruto could only sigh. The others looked at him with even more interest. Only Gaara snarled angrily and squeezed the blond's shoulder.
"Is that true?" Kiba controlled a whine that was about to burst out again.
"Err…." Naruto backed away from his friends' demanding glares.
"N-not…exactly.." He really didn't have the slightest clue how to answer.
"Hmmm…?" Ino and Sakura leaned closer, two pairs of bright eyes digging in to the poor blond's soul.
"So…" The girls took a quick glance at each other and then back at Naruto.
"It's a boyfriend then?" Duh. Trust women to hit the nail in the head. Well, almost.
Naruto was actually speechless for a while. Trust me, making him speechless was something that many people couldn't have done. But that one specific question. Now he felt like he was in some sort of a spotlight. Even Gaara's eyes were fixed on him, but for a little bit different reason. He knew about Sasuke, but he couldn't have probably doubted that there was something between them… really?
"What?" The fox finally barked back, starting to feel like a trapped wild animal. Before anyone could answer, a black-clothed arm sneaked around Naruto's shoulder and a low voice spoke right beside his ear:
"What's this? Is my Naru-chan dating someone without my knowledge?" Ino and Sakura started to giggle, the blonde girl waved to the new comer. Kiba snorted and shook his head. But Neji cracked a small smile, while Gaara gritted his teeth.
"Sai…" Naruto said, but before he could say more, the other black haired boy started to laugh that same, annoying laugh that he heard every single day. He turned to meet the smiling face of Sai, their senior.
"Tsk, tsk. Where did the honorific go?" He brushed a short strand of shiny black hair away from his face and tried to look absolutely full of pure innocence. Naruto sighed deeply.
"Sempai." Sai grinned and patted the blond's cheek.
"That's my boy. Well, anyway. Tell me what's going on? Naruto-kun, do you really have a partner of some sort?" Poor Sai-sempai looked almost disappointed at the thought, even though one could see the glint of humour in his dark, dark eyes. With grinning faces, the others told Sai what their conversation was about. Sai's eyes widened.
"Is that so…so you really are dating and probably cosily living with someone. Perhaps that someone is a seducer… an evil person…" He sniffled. Naruto actually growled.
"He's nothing like that! He's a victim himself!" He hadn't noticed that he had risen from his chair and yelled that in a loud voice.
A very thick silence fell over the table.
"Na…Naru…" Sai could only open his mouth to try to say something. The blond's face went completely pale. WHOOPS. Geez, Naruto, when will you learn to keep your mouth shut? He grabbed his bag.
"I…I gotta go." He mumbled and ran out of the cafeteria, his face now feeling like it was burning. Gaara was the only one who wasn't surprised. Just because Naruto told him practically everything so it wasn't a miracle that Gaara knew about Sasuke, especially when the schizophrenic had literally bumped into him in the hospital that day.
"S…so it is a guy then." The others said aloud and looked at each other. It had been a joke, but…anyway.
Later that day when Naruto finally came home, he found the apartment completely quiet. He opened the door and yawned.
"Tadaima!" No answer.
"Hello?" He said aloud and tossed his back to the couch. Still no answer. He frowned and walked forward. There was nobody in the kitchen. Or in the bathroom. But when he finally peeked in to his bedroom, he saw them and smiled at the sight in front of him. There was a tall, silverhaired man deeply asleep on the chair next to the bed. A small orange book had fallen to the floor. Kakashi's head was drooping against the char rest. He was snoring slightly. Naruto stepped forward and saw Sasuke. The black haired boy was sleeping on the bed, curled in a little ball like a cat. His slender hand next to his face, almost hidden by his black hair. Naruto wandered next to him and brushed the said hair away, revealing the pale face. Fluttering black eyelashes – the blond wondered what the silent boy was dreaming about – and the parted lips. Naruto caressed his cheek, ruffled his hair and left the room. He went to the kitchen to have a cup of coffee. As he watched the coffee pour into the pot, he heard a clank and light steps approaching the room.
"You're awake." Naruto smiled, as he turned to see Sasuke standing by the door, dressed in black clothes, a pair of what Iruka had bought a week ago.
"Do you want something? Coffee?" The blond continued, walking to the fridge to get the milk. Sasuke shook his head, but didn't say anything.
"Okay. But sit, please." Naruto pointed at the chair opposite to himself as he sat down too. Sasuke did as he was told, eyes staring at everything else but Naruto, who started to sip down his coffee. Neither spoke, they only sat like that for a while in a comfortable, homey silence. They had gotten used to that in the time they had spent together in Naruto's home.
But unfortunately, that said silence was broken by few loud knocks on the door. And a familiar voice shouting:
"Naruto? Are you there?!" Fox frowned. He rose.
"Stay here, Sasuke." He said to the black haired boy, whose eyes had widened because of the noise. Naruto smiled at him reassuringly and walked to his door. He opened it only to see a very unlikely pair. Kiba – with Akamaru, the white dog the size of a small pony – and Sai. They both were looking very… determined. Frighteningly so.
"What the hell are you two doing here?" Naruto asked, putting his hands to his hips.
"We came to see it it was true." Sai only said, that annoying smile plastered on his face and walking inside, Kiba and Akamaru – it was a miracle how the dog fit in – following him.
"Oi-!" Naruto only had time to shout, as he quickly turned around. His two friends had stopped to stare. Naruto closed his eyes and felt like screaming. Just because he had been stupid enough to actually say aloud that he was hiding a guy in his apartment…
"For fuck's sake…" He mumbled and pushed himself towards Sasuke, who stood frozen beside the kitchen's door.
"They are just my friends. That brownhaired kid there with Akamaru the dog is Kiba Inuzuka and the other one, the stupid-looking is Sai." He patted the smaller boy's shoulder and turned to glare at the said two people.
"Anyway… you guys scared him with all that noise." Kiba and Sai shrugged and smiled at Sasuke, who blinked at them.
"And your name is…?"
"…it-it's Sasuke." Sasuke whispered in his quiet, low voice, staring at his feet. Akamaru started to bark, making the ex-patient flinch. Seeing that, Kiba nagged at his dog to make him shut up. And then he came closer, leaning down to see the shorter boy better. Sasuke shivered and stepped back in reflex. Kiba blinked.
"What the fuck, Naruto?! You've really gotten yourself a hot boyfriend!" The dog boy saw Naruto rolling his eyes and mumbling something. If Kiba the Straightest Man In The Whole School thought like that, then what would the girls think if they saw Sasuke? Those two didn't even notice how red poor Sasuke went. Unfortunately Sai was there to notice it. And he also saw the look the ex-patient threw at Naruto before he continued to stare at his feet.
"Shut it, doggie boy. He's not my boyfriend and you very clearly know it." Naruto groaned and flashed his surprisingly pointy teeth to the brown haired boy. Akamaru whined quite pathetically for a dog his size and nudged Kiba's pantleg. Kiba didn't even notice. He shrugged and his grin barely faded.
"Oookayy…I believe you." He said with that kind of tone that clearly stated: I don't believe a word you're saying, buddy. Naruto sighed for the tenth time.
"You guys can go now. You've seen the mysterious boy, now, shoo, shoo!" He waved his hand, trying to drive Kiba and Sai gone.
"Leave us alone!" Oh shit. That was a very wrong thing to say, if the looks on the boys' faces were any indication.
"No, no, no! Not like that -!"
"Naruto-kun. Are you perhaps… cheating on me?" Sai asked, gasping. His black eyes shone with imaginary tears. He was too good at acting, Sai, the king of the drama club, for fuck's sake. Naruto cursed in his mind again. Kiba, on the other hand, was looking at Sasuke. The patient was only now getting a good hang of what was going on. Even when his cheeks were burning red, a spark could be seen in his eyes, reminding of the proud, dead soul of an Uchiha that still remained somewhere very deep, under that entire childhood trauma. Kiba stared at him. Sasuke stared back. The dog boy turned his gaze away. Back at Naruto, whom the jealous Sai was now practically strangling to death. Well, jealous and jealous, but Sai-sempai was a good actor – as said before – and everyone knew he liked Naruto. But not that way. Or so he hoped.
"Sempai! Leave him alone!" Kiba tugged Sai off the blond boy.
"C'mon, foxie, we're not going anywhere. We want to get to know our new little friend a lot better." Kiba was only going to put his arm around those skinny shoulders in a we're-buddies-way, but Sasuke very quickly slid away, black eyes wide and scared.
"What's with him?" Naruto looked at him and took Sasuke's hand in his own.
"Come to the kitchen. I'll…explain." Sasuke blinked and didn't dare to try to get his hand free. Not that he really minded. Sai saw the red tint again on those pale cheeks. The older black-haired boy smiled and followed. They sat down.
"So…"
"So."
"Explain." Both Sai and Kiba were looking very curious when they leaned forward to hear better. Sasuke looked at them, almost shyly, his black eyes too deep, too lost for a boy his age.
"I…I want to tell them myself." He suddenly said. He squeezed Naruto's hand tightly under the table.
"You sure?" Sasuke stole a glance at Naruto and nodded. Sai raised an eyebrow. His friend's interaction with that kid reminded him of a big brother taking care of a little brother. A friend caring for a friend. Or…was it something else entirely? Sai snorted.
Anyway…
"Tell us everything." Sasuke was biting his lip and trembling. But his sad, melancholic gaze settled on the two boys opposite to him.
"My whole name is…Sasuke Uchiha." A hint of sarcasm suddenly hit the quiet voice when he mentioned his surname. Kiba blinked, confused. Sai went silent and then his eyes widened..
"Uchiha! I know! You're that…that…" He went pale. Sasuke didn't look at him. He shook now harder. Naruto caressed his hair with his free hand.
"Yes I am. My family does not exist anymore." How horrifying that sounded, when it came from between the lips of a 17-year-old boy?
"My… big brother… I mean…Itachi, killed them all. Left their bodies to lie on the streets for me to find them. In their own pools of blood. I was…12. Or something back then." Sasuke was losing what was left of his self control, desperately trying to keep it in one piece.
"Itachi… he… I…" He seemed so small and fragile when he stared at the table. His eyes were so scared, like a child's who has just seen a terrifying nightmare.
"I thought…I had gotten over it…" He whimpered in a faint voice, tears turning his vision hazy. Kiba and Sai looked at him, frowning in concern.
"Sasuke… would you want me to tell them?" Naruto asked in a worried voice. He slid his hand from the smaller boy's hair to his back. Sasuke nodded.
"Okay." Naruto gazed at his listeners, while caressing Sasuke, trying to calm the trembling boy down.
"I'll keep it short. Few… nasty things happened and something snapped. And this poor thing here…ended Itachi Uchiha's life." The blond smiled sadly at his protégé.
"He was sent to mental asylum instead of prison, just because…he was diagnosed as a schizophrenic when he was only 14. He was found right in the scene of the crime, covered in blood that wasn't his own." Sasuke whimpered something and Naruto drew him closer.
"I met him only few months ago when I went to work to Akai Tsuki. I pitied him first. Could you understand what I felt when I saw him the first time? Fragile boy, handcuffed… blindfold covering his eyes. Sitting in that small, dark room, never seeing, never feeling anything…" Ex-patient trembled in his arm, now crying again. Kiba and Sai were listening eagerly, now feeling very empathetic towards the pitiful creature in front of them.
"I knew I couldn't stay still. I had to help him…well, things happened and here we are now. We still have to go to therapy every day… and visit the police and all. But otherwise, he gets to stay here. When I'm at school, someone from the hospital comes here to watch Sasuke so that he doesn't do… anything silly." The whole time those miraculous blue eyes were fixed on Sasuke, not once had Naruto actually looked at his friends.
"So now you know who he is. And I ask you not to tell anyone. Especially to those girls. Sasuke needs lots and lots of time to recover and he doesn't need any more attention than he already gets." The blond said, now earning a nod from both of his friends.
"That's… tragic." Sai mumbled, looking at the other black-haired one, who was now calming down, little by little.
"That's life." Naruto stated. Akamaru whined from his position on the floor. The dog rose and walked next to the blond and the brunette. Very carefully the big animal touched his cold nose against Sasuke's arm. The boy flinched and backed away, staring at the dog. Akamaru's ears went flat and his tail went between his legs. The dog looked almost miserable. Kiba sighed.
"Akamaru!" His animal friend didn't listen, but tried again. Sasuke trembled. Naruto grabbed his hand gently.
"He's not gonna eat you. It's Akamaru, Kiba's dog." The dog tried to pretend that he was very small and innocent and cute. Naruto placed Sasuke's hand on top of the dog's head. Akamaru didn't dare to move. Sasuke was still trembling, but his long fingers had started to carefully caress the dog's fur. Akamaru closed his eyes. Naruto could swear that he saw the dog grin in his…doggy way. Sasuke blinked his wide, black eyes. The animal was indeed quite…nice. It's fur felt soft under his hands. The patient dared even to lower himself down to the level of the dog.
Akamaru opened his eyes to stare at Sasuke. Sasuke blinked. The dog whined and dared to slide out his tongue to lick the boy's face. The patient flinched, but didn't move away. Encouraged, the dog licked his face again. A hint of smile was seen on Sasuke's face. Naruto sighed and smiled.
"Stop it Akamaru. That's enough. I think you've caused him enough trauma for today." He pushed the dog away. Sasuke wiped his face.
"You okay, Sasuke?" The boy nodded.
"Yeah…" A spark of life appeared in his black eyes, but disappeared too fast. Naruto helped him up and saw Kiba and Sai looking at them.
"We better leave."
"But… anyway…Sasuke, Naruto. We're going to visit again. I want to see how you both are doing." Sai said, smiling at both of them, this time, sincerely. Sasuke looked at him and then at the floor. Still too shy. He managed to brush Akamaru's fur one more time before the dog followed Kiba and Sai out. Naruto closer the door and sighed.
"Geez. I thought they would never leave. Not that I don't like them and all… but…Sasuke, are you okay?" He put his hand on Sasuke's forehead, when he noticed the smaller boy looking out from the window with a dazed expression. Sasuke looked confused, but shrugged.
"Y-yeah…I think I liked the dog. His fur felt nice." The boy said quietly. Naruto smiled.
"Akamaru is great. Were you scared at all?" Sasuke nodded and then had a reason to blush again, when a rough hand ruffled his hair.
"But you managed well. I think that somewhere inside, you're actually very brave."
"…Y-you… do?" Really now. Sasuke was so much like a child still. Innocent, not quite understanding this all. Well, he had lost three years of his life to a little dark room. And two years for revenge that almost ate him alive. He had almost forgotten how to live. Naruto grinned.
"I think I can analyse people like that. Yeah. What Naruto thinks is right, so don't disagree with me." He patted Sasuke's head.
"Do you want to do something?" Black-haired kid shrugged.
"I don't know…"
"Let's watch some TV. So we don't have to think about anything." So they moved to sit on Naruto's couch. They watched some strange british comedy, making the tall blond laugh out loud and making Sasuke stare at him in wonder, in amazement. He liked to hear Naruto laughing. His laugh was so contagious, you had the sudden urge to smile at him when he laughed like that. Out of pure joy.
"What are you kids watching?" A voice suddenly said from behind their backs, making them both jump.
"Kakashi! You sleepy head, you slept through all that noise?" The silverhaired man scratched his neck.
"Noise? I didn't hear any noise. I just woke up." He blinked.
"Anyway… I gotta get back to the hospital. I promised to help Iruka today. Have fun guys." Kakashi ruffled the blond's and brunette's hairs and left. The two boys were quiet for a while, before Naruto laughed.
"He's a funny guy, that man…I like him." Sasuke looked at him, not saying anything. Naruto blinked at him.
"Don't you like him too?"
"I…don't know. M-maybe…" Black eyes were fixed on the television now, pale fingers were fiddling with the hem of his shirt. Naruto's grin widened.
"I know you do. There are very few who don't like Kakashi."
And with that, they spent a good fifteen minutes, Naruto doing the talking and the laughing, Sasuke doing the nodding and the blushing. After that, he started to feel tired again. Naruto fetched him his medicine and Sasuke leaned backwards against the back rest of the couch.
"I never thought I'd felt like this but… I feel so comfortable. Like I'm…I'm…" Naruto's hands were again caressing his hair, his shoulders, his warmth right beside him.
"Is it weird if I say that I….feel… feel like…"
"…Like I'm home?" Sasuke stared at his hands, not daring to look at Naruto. But when there wasn't any answer, he raised his black eyes only to see blue eyes widening and a happy smile appearing.
"Really?" Sasuke felt his cheeks burn.
"…I- I mean what I say…"
"Thank you, Sasuke!" The blond said happily, embracing the smaller boy tightly against his chest. The said boy didn't even dare to breathe. The warmth, the happiness…it was all so over-whelming. For many years, he had only felt despair and deep sadness… but with Naruto it was different. He didn't dare to say it aloud, but he actually felt a hint of happiness inside. Only with the other boy he felt like that. Like this was his home. All those hugs, all those small smiles, reminded him so much of his childhood, his loving mother, his distant father and his big brother… but in a good way. Not all those painful things, but the good things, the love he was given, the happiness he had felt back then. He felt it returning.
"Sasuke…you made me so happy with that. I was scared how would you manage here, but…I'm so glad you feel that way." Naruto backed away a little to smile at him, to look in his eyes. Sasuke didn't dare to blink, so enchanting were those shiny blue eyes.
"I hope you don't mind me doing this…" Naruto leaned forward to press a small kiss against Sasuke's forehead. Warm waves went through ex-patient's skinny body, making him shiver. Naruto grinned.
"That's a mark of my gratitude. I like you, Sasuke." Again, ruffling of his hair but this time Sasuke didn't mind, but sat back down in comfortable silence. Right next to the other boy.
It had been such a long time when he had seen his home. Perhaps the house didn't even exist anymore? Well, it didn't matter that much now. Sasuke knew that he would cherish those moments forever, but…he had finally started to live again.
Finally.