" Oh shit!"
Deep breaths were violently pushed in and out of the blonde's chest.
Another nightmare.
A cold salty sweat glazed his body, trickling along the scars circling his bellybutton.
Another memory.
Moonlight streamed over tan skin, while shadows created fear in the corners of the boy's dorm room.
It took them over a day to find me.
Scars buckled as his stomach involuntarily twinged at thoughts of buzzing flies and rancid trash, growing in smell as the dawn broke.
If it hadn't been for…
Midnight blue.
"Sasuke."
They might never have found me at all.
The blonde's best friend was hidden by darkness, but the comfort of his presence allowed the boy to lie back down.
You were worried.
Breathing slowed. Eyelids became too heavy to hold up.
Found me.
Shadow blends with light.
Saved me.
Fear is held at bay.
Thank you.
Haze.
Aniki.
"God damn it! Will you just sign the fucking thing already?!"
Anger had warped what were beautiful features into a mask of disgust and patience lost. Eyes red with hatred, Sasuke demanded his brother's compliance. Elegant fingers warped into claws by desperation thrust a court release form under Itachi's gaze, which was glazed over by boredom and drugs. If Itachi decided to grant his little brother's request, Sasuke would legally have access to his half of the Uchiha estate.
Itachi's blank face gave away nothing, but his voice seemed to drip with unfeigned superiority, "And why would I want to do that, baby brother?"
"It's mine." Even as he said the words, Sasuke cringed inwardly at its whine.
"Ha. Yours? And, what, dearest baby brother, have you done to earn it?" In the background, one of Itachi's fellow junkies, Kisame, barked with laughter. Futilely trying not to appear as sullen as he felt, Sasuke peered at the addict's dyed skin, filed teeth, and frighteningly unstable eyes with revulsion.
This is state to which the Uchiha name has fallen?
"Tell you what, baby…brother. I'm feeling generous. Will half your portion of the Uchiha estate to me, directly, and I will gladly bestow my signature upon your little piece of paper, there."
"Why? So you can buy more drugs? Heap more shame on the pile of shit that you have buried our family under?"
"Haha. Well, I must maintain the lifestyle to which I've grown accustomed. I do what I want, because I can. And, you, can't stop me, little one." For the first time, the void filling Uchiha Itachi's face was creased, to create the semblance of a smile. Obscured by smoke in an already dimly lit apartment, the result was intimidating, to say the least.
"I'm afraid it's really your only option, baby brother."
The creases deepened further.
"Unless, of course, you just wanted to kill me. Become a murderer, like you dear older brother. Then, I suppose, you would be the head of the Uchiha estate."
Glancing back for a response from Kisame with a sardonic grin, Itachi was startled to feel something hit his chest. A look down showed,
A knife.
"What?"
Surprise lit up Itachi's dull, bloodshot eyes.
"Oh fuck!"
Sasuke twisted the knife deeper, spilling blood onto pale Uchiha skin. Red like his eyes. Red like roses. And, for a second, all Sasuke could think of were those idiotic love rhymes with roses and violets and sugar that girls tended to force down his throat, and he nearly laughed.
Nearly laughed as he plunged the knife into his brother's chest again and again and again.
Seconds, minutes, hours later, Sasuke stepped away from the mangled mess of blood and matted hair that used to be his brother. Laughter no longer existed. Peering down at his red palms, Sasuke…
"Aaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!"
Midnight darkened the dorm room of two boys, the blond slept with a contented grin on his fool's face, while his limbs twisted orange sheets into inextricable knots. In the other bed, a dark boy cried silent tears in his sleep.
The only sound was the scratch of a pencil on paper.
Then, the creak of a door.
"Ahayo, Gaara, are you busy? I need to speak with you for a moment?"
A man with a kind smile and sad eyes stood in the redhead's doorway.
"H-hai, Yashamaru."
A gentle yet guarded smile splayed itself across Gaara's face, as he closed his sketchbook and stood to greet his uncle.
"So."
Gaara's ears perked up at the sound of Yashamaru's unsure tone.
"So, how have you been doing, since your brother and sister both left you for college? I know school has always been difficult for you, and your dad…"
A flinch.
Clearing his throat, Yashamaru continued, "Well, how have you been?"
Letting his eyes rest anywhere but on his uncle's, Gaara admitted, "It's hard, but you get used to it. And, since you came to live here, it's b-been easier. I-I don't feel so alone anymore."
A pause hung heavy in the young boy's room.
"Thank you, ojichan ."
"No thanks are needed, Gaara, from my sweet sister's youngest son."
Eyes beginning to cloud over with emotion in remembrance of the pain his sister's death always causes, the loving smile Gaara's uncle sometimes revealed to his youngest nephew began to turn down its edges. As he stared at the young boy, emotions flickered across his face: annoyance, hatred, revulsion.
After a few seconds, Yashamara regained control, and a blankness took over his visage.
"But, to be honest, it can be quite the job sometimes…actually, that's what I came here to talk to you about."
Gaara's face crinkled in sudden confusion.
"I mean, you are the reason my sister is dead after all. Why your brother and sister are growing up without a mother. Your father, a wife."
Gaara's throat tightened.
"I admit, sometimes, when I think about that…well, then it gets harder for me to…I guess, the word love is the only thing close to appropriate. It gets harder for me to stomach loving you."
Trouble breathing.
"It wouldn't be so bad, but having your constant presence, always around lately, has started to grate on my nerves and ,now, just the sight of you has started to bring up a feeling not unlike…maybe I should not be telling you this." Staring at his nephew whose face seemed to be crumpling up like a used paper bag, pain and amusement divided the older man.
"It isn't like there's a way for you to change, ha, well, anything."
Tears began to make their way down the boy's cheeks. And Gaara's few happy memories are destroyed by a handful of sentences. Trying not to hiccup his plea, he asked his uncle, "Why now? Why are you…?"
Gaara's pain seem to permeate the air around him. Spilling from his mouth, "Please, isn't there anything I can do?"
Something Gaara had always seen in the back of his uncle's eyes began to sweep away the annoyance and hatred in his gaze. The last mask was coming off and Yashamaru's deepest thoughts were becoming frighteningly apparent.
"Well…there is one thing…"
"Please, anything."
A large yet graceful hand came to rest on Gaara's thigh, wrapping around and brushing against…
"Beautiful nephew."
Gaara felt his stomach turn.
"Make me forget."
If Yashamaru would love him again.
"Hai, ojichan.
"Gaara."
"Gaara, wake up, you're having a nightmare."
"Gaara!"
Trying to shake his poor roommate awake, Lee was having quite the struggle.
"Don't touch me!"
With a start, Lee looked very confused and apologetic.
"Gomen-"
"No, Lee, I'm sorry. I-I d-didn't r-realize who I was talking to. T-thank you for waking me."
Even in the darkness of the dorm room, Gaara could make out the startling glint of Lee's teeth (although the room had no discernable light source) as he smiled and promised to not only wake Gaara from all future nightmares, but there was also something in the long speech about protecting him until he died. Unfortunately, due to the waves/sunset in the background, Gaara could not hear/see properly.
Within minutes of his promise, Lee had fallen back to sleep, and the redhead was left alone with his memories, his shameful, horrible memories.
A sound like crashing waves filled his ears. Teasing, licking, nipping, his way down a slender neck, trying to coax out a smile or a laugh. Contentment and desire oozed into his bones.
And. for the first time in his life, Neji wanted something.
Someone.
But, sensation clouded lilac eyes, and the roar of the tide covered his ears. The other person's face was lost, along with their identity.
But, how can I find you, if I don't even know…
"Who are you?"
The only response to the pale Hyuuga's questioning were the sounds of laughter and the howl of the ocean.
Through the windows and souls of Konoha University, dreams hunted. Fears, hopes, desires were their prey. Some came with only an image, a feeling, a phrase. Others were stories it would take a lifetime to truly understand.
"Come, Sakuralove, let us celebrate the springtime of youth together…(insert audible blush)"
"The clouds are so nice and free. And, here I am. On my way to a cage, where I will nicely lock myself up and throw away the key."
"This dance, well, um, it's for you. All my dances were for you, and finally you are watching me like I always watched you, Naruto-kun."
"I can't do it. I'm not strong enough. Please. Please, God, don't make me."
"Are you sure you wouldn't rather go to the party with Sasuke, Ino-chan? You'd really rather go with me?"
"Just tell me what I need to do to fix you. I'll do it. Just please. Tell me."
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Author's Note:
Due to a bunch of reasons that really don't matter terribly, I put off doing anything with this story for...far far too long. I promise that it will be regularly updated until it is finished now. So, if you have any questions/thoughts, email me or review. And, I promise, I swear that I will not leave anyone hanging again.
Naruto enters the author's room and looks pointedly down at the big gaping wounds along his stomach and limbs.
Author begins to look a little nervous.
Haha, yeah, I suppose I left you in quite an awkward position for...um, so...
Naruto begins to look quite menacing with red Kyuubi eyes, as he backs the author into a corner.
Hehe (nervous laughter), if you kill me then your story is going to get left open-ended again.So, maybe you should just...
Author takes this opportunity to throw packets of ramen and porn out her door, trying to distract the scary blond boy.
And, luckily...it works.
Door is slammed and locked.
Or luckily for all of you who want another chapter sometime soon.
Sounds of raised voices begin to be heard outside.
"Do you think she has some Sasuke plushies in there, too?"
"Hey, we need to talk about this whole incest thing. That was not in my..."
"Wait, everyone be quiet, I think I can hear her just inside the door talking to someone."
The author looks extremely frightened.
Whispering, anyways, I will update within a week from now on...
Gives "Nice Guy" grin...it's a promise.
Outside the door,
"Hey, did anyone else hear a sparkly noise in there a second ago?"
"Do you think Gai-sensei is in there too?"
"Yosh! Gai-sensei is the greatest! I am sure he is taking care of her right now, as we speak."
Dead silence.
Inside the room, the author is...
Shudder.
...Oh and none of the characters of Naruto belong to me. I just cause really awful things to happen to them. :)