Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, Agatsuma Soubi would make random appearances. And Kio too! I love Loveless... If that made any sense...

Chapter 9

It was dark.

It was dark, and claustrophobic, and suffocating and he couldn't help but wonder where the light had gone.

And he knew something was horribly, horribly wrong: he could smell it, taste it, and he wondered if he really wanted find out what was hidden behind all this darkness. He reached out hesitantly (he couldn't see his own hand) and stopped when his fingers encountered something wet and he pulled his hand back, wondering if it was water.

No.

Blood.

With a sharp breath he looked up, feeling the blood drip down his fingers, and with sudden acuity he could see.

Blood-red eyes.

Sasuke gasped as his eyes flung open, his unfocused gaze staring through the window. Calm down. Breathe.

These nightmares, the nightmares that he never understood, had been plaguing him for as long as he could remember. He didn't know what caused them, he didn't know how to stop them. It seemed like they were a virus: always twisting a good dream into a horrible one, and they always burned and hurt, and they always ended with those cold red eyes looking down at him...

Sasuke turned his face into his pillow and closed his eyes. He was always afraid to look around after those dreams, thinking that he would turn and find that man staring at him...

A few days later, Sasuke was able to secure some time with Naruto, both headed back from the train station to the blond's apartment.

"Naruto?"

"Yep."

"How did you learn to dance?"

"Oh... heheh. You know that shy girl, Hinata?"

"Hn."

"Well... She likes me. And a few years back, during a dance, she was standing all alone and Sakura-chan and Ino-chan made me dance with her. So I learned then."

"Should I be jealous?" Sasuke scoffed, half-serious.

"What? Of Hinata? No way. She's really sweet, but I think Kiba has a thing for her and she's not my type."

Quite suddenly, an arm wrapped around Sasuke's waist and drew him against a chest.

"I don't mind the quiet ones, but she was missing certain parts." Sasuke shuddered as Naruto's warm breath hit his ear.

"Naruto..." He scolded, mindful of the people around them, "not in public."

Naruto nuzzled his neck, "I can't help my boyfriend is pretty."

"Pervert. Can't you wait until we get to your house for you to molest me?"

"No."

Naruto pressed Sasuke against a wall before crashing their lips together. Sasuke made a mental note to kill him later before kissing back, hands tangling into his blond hair.

They were interrupted as someone tapped Naruto's shoulder.

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to take yourself and your girlfriend to someplace more private."

Naruto grinned widely, "Sorry. I guess I got carried away. We'll go now. Bye!" He grabbed Sasuke's wrist and dashed off before anyone could get a good look at them.

Sasuke silently marveled at how Naruto could go from feral to silly in all of two milliseconds. He found his back against Naruto's apartment door that had closed only moments before.

"He thought you were a girl." Naruto snickered as he buried his face into the smaller boy's neck.

He was like a fox, Sasuke decided. He acted silly, but he was really quite feral. Naruto looked up at the small boy before giving him a (unsurprisingly) vulpine grin and hungrily claiming his lips. Sasuke kissed back, fighting to take charge of the kiss.

There was a small chuckle as they parted and Naruto looked down at him, "Since when did you get aggressive?"

"Since I decided I like you." Sasuke smirked.

"What? You decided just now?"

Sasuke gave a tiny snort, "I'm kidding, loser." He kissed the other boy chastely on the lips.

Naruto grinned, then slid his arm around Sasuke's shoulder. "Let's go to the kitchen."

They entered the kitchen and Naruto's arms fell from his shoulders, the blond taking a seat at the table and loudly propping his feet onto the wooden surface. Sasuke rolled his eyes and took a seat.

"Naruto," He began, "are you getting a job?"

The blond scowled, "You sound like Kakashi. Yeah, I'm getting a job. What about you?"

Sasuke shook his head, "No. Warujie doesn't want me to."

"Lucky..." Naruto whined with a sigh.

Sasuke frowned slightly at that, but understood that Naruto didn't realize his freedom. Orochimaru wanted him to have as few excuses to leave the mansion as possible. Sasuke wished he had a job. Just a moment of independence...

Sasuke had never been particularly fond of the parlor of the mansion. It was disgustingly elegant, and seemed like a place a woman would sit with her friends and giggle and drink tea. But since the injured raven was moved there, sitting in its cage atop a small table near a window, he found himself frequenting the room.

He was kneeling in front of the cage, the wire door swung open, and running a finger gently down the raven's back. It had become rather tame in its time of captivity—Sasuke had been worried that its tameness would be a hindrance once it was re-released, but Kabuto had assured him that it would be fine. Its wing was almost healed.

The raven tilted its head toward Sasuke quizzically as the boy petted it, and Sasuke's lips lifted into a friendly smirk.

He didn't notice Orochimaru coldly watching him from the doorway.

The next day when Sasuke went to check on the raven, he found its neck broken.

His only sign of emotion was a small sigh before gathering it up and burying it in the backyard.

Afterwards, he sat on his bed with his door closed, staring at a black feather, twirling it between his fingers.

"What do you think of life, Naruto?"

Sasuke was sitting in the park bench—yes, the park—elbow resting on the back and head propped up on his hand, eyes not quite looking at or seeing his surroundings, a tiny frown on his face.

He could tell why the park wasn't so popular.

It wasn't pretty at all, like he'd first thought. There were large patches of dead, tan grass, and the trees were old and looming and lifeless. He hadn't noticed back then, when he first came, because it was still early spring and not everything had sprung to life just yet. He supposed some thought it was ugly, and one day, it would probably be cleared out and be replaced by buildings.

Naruto was perched in a (dry, mostly dead) tree behind the bench Sasuke sat on. He looked down at the raven.

"What do you mean?"

Sasuke sighed and shook his head, mussing his own hair. "What's the point of it? Everything's so fleeting. It seems foolish to cling to anything, when in the end, it'll just disappear... and the memory will fade."

Naruto frowned at the words that seemed to thoughtlessly spill from Sasuke's mouth and recklessly scrambled down from the tree to stand behind his boyfriend.

"Are you okay?" He asked, placing a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. The raven straightened, hand falling to his side and looking up at the blond.

"Just thinking too much." He said by way of apology.

"Hm..." Naruto frowned, then placed both hands on the back of the bench and hoisted himself over, sitting next to Sasuke. "I think... Everyone's life has a meaning to it. When you're born, there is a goal that you're supposed to reach. But you can wander off that path, because of what happens around you... But it's not always a bad thing, when you get distracted, because what you reach then might be better than what you were going to get to."

Naruto stopped and laughed, scratching the back of his head. "Sorry. I guess I've been thinking too much too."

Sasuke, who had been listening carefully, snorted amusedly and shook his head. "Philosophy doesn't suit you, moron."

Naruto chortled, blue eyes crinkled with laughter. "And it suits you? Heh..." He sighed leisurely and leaned against the back of the bench. "Who knows what the point of life is? If you spend too much time thinking about it, it'll all pass you by and then what will you do?"

Sasuke had sobered, listening almost thoughtfully to Naruto words, like he was trying to wring out the meaning and study its essence and see if it was right. After a moment, he seemed to have decided something, the light frown dissolving into just a barely-there smile. Sasuke leaned forward and placed a chaste kiss on Naruto's lips before standing.

"Let's find something else to do." He suggested, raking a hand through his hair.

The blond, somewhat confused by Sasuke's actions and moods, shook his head and called up a smile, falling in step with the already-departing Sasuke.

Orochimaru noted Sasuke's return home when the front door slammed shut and there was a pointed lack of greeting from the boy. He was an amusing kid, really, so childish and stubborn, but still so fragile. He heard the teenager slam his door shut and Orochimaru chuckled in the back of his throat. He knew that Sasuke was only trying to irritate him, not that he'd really had a bad day.

With a shake of his head, Orochimaru turned back to his report, writing down notes in detail. Sasuke's health, at the moment, was somewhat delicate. The overall effect of the experiments were taxing on him, and his body hadn't quite adapted just yet. As it was, Orochimaru had just a bit further to go before everything came to a state of equilibrium and Sasuke would no longer suffer from his 'fits'.

Yes, just a bit further, and then his records would be complete. Orochimaru allowed a serpentine smile to linger on his face as he looked at his stack of papers; the records on Sasuke, ranging from mental health to the stages of the long, fine-tuned experiment.

It seemed his job was coming to a close.

Sasuke's hands absently smoothed out his shirt, frowning at the light wrinkles.

"I can't stay long. Warujie wants me back by four." He said, looking up at the blond. He was haphazardly pulling his shirt off.

"That's okay." He grabbed a random orange shirt from the couch and pulled it over his head. Sasuke realized too late he was looking at Naruto's toned chest. The blond smirked. "Like what you see, Sasuke?"

Immediately, the raven turned away and swallowed. Naruto's warm hand slipped under Sasuke's shirt, pressing against the small of his back and drawing him close. He lifted Sasuke's chin with a finger before devouring his lips.

Sasuke found himself wrapping his arms around Naruto's torso, the blond's hand entangled in his black hair. Their tongues explored each other's mouths and there was a moan before the kiss broke. Sasuke was vaguely aware that Naruto was still pressing a hand against his back.

"Sasuke..." And the blond caught his lips again, pressing the shorter boy as close as possible. Sasuke looped his arms around Naruto's neck for better leverage. He could feel Naruto's calloused fingers trace circles into his back. Naruto gently bit Sasuke's tongue, the smaller gasping slightly before kissing him harder.

They parted for air, and Naruto caressed Sasuke's cheek. "Now that was a kiss. Have you been holding out on me?"

"Moron." He buried his face into the crook of Naruto's neck. How the hell could a mere kiss be so... dizzying?

Naruto nipped at his ear. Sasuke smirked as he buried his face further into the taller's neck. He could hear Naruto's pulse.

"Sasuke?"

"Hm?"

"...Nevermind."

Sasuke didn't press the matter.

Kabuto chewed his lip as his pen scratched against his clipboard, making his hourly check-up. Sighing, he put the notes on the desk and turned to leave.

"Kabuto." He winced and turned back to the bed. It was a harsh, cold metal thing that could offer no comfort in its lack of mattress and covers. The boy that lay on it was covered in cold sweat, breath coming in gasps. His eyes were covered by a thin cloth and his arms and legs were bound down with thick straps.

"It hurts." The boy continued, a little whimper in his voice.

Kabuto sighed—he seemed to do that often—and padded toward the boy.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun. Orochimaru-sama has asked me not to give you anything. I think the chemical composition of a painkiller may conflict..." He trailed off, realizing there was no point in continuing.

Sasuke swallowed dryly and gave a slight nod, but Kabuto saw his fist clench shakily.

Again, Kabuto sighed and he turned to the sink, twirling the cold knob and thrusting a cloth under the chilly water. Wringing it out, he pulled a chair up to the bed and placed the cloth on Sasuke's forehead.

The boy visibly relaxed a little and Kabuto continued to dab at the boy's face and neck until he fell asleep.

"You've made a breakthrough." Kabuto said calmly to Orochimaru as he helped to organize materials about the room.

Orochimaru smirked, "Yes."

Kabuto's black eyes drifted toward the teenager in the bed. He was fairly sure the child was unconscious, being so still. He began to arrange files, and a silence settled into the room.

Quite suddenly, the eerie calm was broken by a shattering scream. Both Orochimaru and Kabuto rushed to the hysterical boy. Sasuke was in a seizure-like state, his unrestrained head, hitting against the hard surface of the operation table.

Kabuto rushed to hold his head, mind instantly taking note that his heart rate was too high and erratic, while Orochimaru filled a syringe full of an unlabeled liquid. A whimper on Sasuke's part as the needle slid into his neck and finally the boy's movement was reduced to a mere tremble. Kabuto released him. Sasuke's heart rate fell and evened out. Orochimaru began to flip through charts, looking for something, and Kabuto simply took a seat on a nearby stool, watching it all.

Sasuke was soon released from the room, even though he felt heavy-headed and sluggish. His throat was dry, and he kept having to get a drink of something, but most of all, his eyes hurt and he opted to sleep and hope it would go away. Every so often, Orochimaru or Kabuto would inquire into how he was feeling. 'Like shit' was his usual response. Eventually they got the point and left him alone.

Sasuke was lying on his stomach in bed, blearily staring at his phone. He wanted to call Naruto, but he didn't want the fox to worry over him. Mumbling incoherently, he turned away from the phone and promised himself to wait until tomorrow.

End Chapter 9

Well, now, looks like we're getting somewhere! But anyway: enjoy winter break. I might be unable to update next Tuesday seeing as how I will likely be kidnapped by my family for the break. But I will do my best to resist.

And how cruel am I, killing a defenseless animal?. :snicker: I almost feel bad for doing that... I hope the meaning was effective.