Author's Notes: Omg wow… o.o I'm like shocked by so many things right now. xD First being, that I updated earlier than I had planned. xD Second being, that I'm surprised at how many people actually like this, and like, read this. O.o I mean…wow. xD I have never gone this far with a story before, and now here I am. x3 lol

Oh, and btw, I tallied up everyone's opinion on if I should kill Itachi or not, and then concluded it in this chapter. :3 So read and find out. :D Thanks for all of those who gave their opinion. It's much appreciated. :D

Ne'ways, yeah, here's chapter 9. xD This chapter might seem a little weird compared to the others, reason being I was listening to Mariyln Manson while I was writing this. ;) So yeah…hehe. x) Enjoy. :)

Disclaimer.

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It had been some time since he had last left; yet his company seemed omnipresent inside the empty room.

Naruto didn't understand why all of a sudden he felt so lonely. So hopeless and empty, just like the time that his parents had abandoned him. The way they packed, and threw him in a corner inside the vacant house. They didn't even turn to face the weeping baby just once before they slammed the door behind them. They hadn't even bothered to say good-bye.

They hadn't even bothered turning around so he could at least know how they looked like…

Family comfort was unknown to Naruto, yet, he seemed to like it that way. He detested his parents for what they had done to him. He hated everyone for not caring for him, and looking upon him as if he were a runt that was good for nothing.

People did indeed hear the crying baby inside that deserted house, but no one bothered to peer inside. They didn't bother to help. They didn't bother to inform others about the discarded little boy shrieking of hunger. They just preceded their steps until all of his screams were drowned out into the distance.

But someone had helped him. Yes, after many days of crying and dying of starvation, someone had helped him. A man with tan brown skin, and hands as delicate of that of a Mother's had held him and carried him off into his arms. He could feel the trembling in the man's shoulders. The man was worried, and he had cared.

Brown strands of hair bounced in his hurried steps, and a long thin hand wrapped around his golden nest of hair; he could feel warmth. He could feel care, and he could feel comfort.

Iruka.

Was that how it felt like having a Father? The Father he never had. Comfort that he had screamed for, and warmth that he had sobbed for; that very man had answered his call.

Yet…he needed more than that, and he though he'd found it.

He needed someone to embrace in a different type of love. He needed someone to depend on, and talk about things that others would find ridiculous. Someone he could let himself loose around, and be able to act like an idiot without being laughed at. He needed lips to touch elsewhere, beyond his cheek.

He had waited for that person to come and show him what it felt like. He waited days. Weeks. Months. Years.

Then, he thought he'd found it. A certain someone with locks of hair that seemed to shine under the sun like flames themselves; gifted skin as perfect and insipid as porcelain. Harmless eyes with a whole different world embedded into them, intense with a magnificent meadow of green surfacing into their every gaze.

And his words…as soft and tender of that of an angel's hymn.

Then suddenly, all of that had disappeared, as if none of it had ever existed.

The skin was no longer perfect, for there were fresh scars and torn flesh decorating upon his arms. His eyes were no longer innocent, and instead malevolent with hatred and jealousy. Green meadows did no longer surface in his gaze, but were replaced by insanity and desperation.

And his words were no longer similar to an angel's voice, but instead distorted into a demon's hoarse mantra.

The Gaara he knew was gone. The new Gaara was nothing but a monster.

When Naruto thought about it, their 'love-making' was indeed not 'love' at all.

He was raped. And he was brainwashed into thinking it was freewill. Gaara had threatened him with the love that Naruto had held so close to his heart for him. He purposely aimed for something that was very important. Something he had worked very hard for. The old Gaara would never do that…

He wasn't going to put up with that anymore. Naruto had found someone new… and he hated to admit; yet it was ever true, that he was in love with someone else.

Someone with hair that was darker than the crow's feathers, and eyes that were dimmed to the level of resembling the night itself. Skin that was imperfect compared to Gaara's, yet beautiful in its own unique way under pale moonlight.

His body, no longer pure, yet gifted with so many good intentions.

He had fallen for Sasuke, and it was hard to admit, hard to believe. Hard to forget…

The boy who was shunned by everyone else, the one who was abused by his own flesh and blood; the boy with lips that had never really coiled into a smile, and a heart that had clung to the wrong person throughout his entire life.

Nothing about him was new…everything had already been touched. Everything had already been taken; everything was already used and exposed.

But Naruto didn't care, even if Sasuke had been a prostitute all his life sleeping with over a hundred different men, and was infected with a sexually transmitted disease, he would've still fallen for him. He would've still loved him. He would've still wanted him.

Was that wrong? Was it wrong to love someone that was already another's trash?

He didn't care. Sasuke had a heart of gold, and that heart was being offered to him.

Ever so cautiously handed into his tanned hands like a present. Wrapped with many dull and used strings, as if it had already been denied many times before, unattractive and impure; yet so undeniably beautiful and sublime.

He wanted to accept it. He really did. But then there was something that stood in his path…Gaara.

That 'something' had to go, somehow, someway. Even if it meant taking extreme measures.

A knock was heard at the door, it had nearly made Naruto fall off the bed when he heard the loud firm pounding at his door. Naruto quickly shook his head a couple of times to get all thoughts out of his head before rushing towards the awaiting visitor. He looked through the peephole, and saw a slim figure standing in front of the door with arms crossed and an unemotional expression surfaced on its face.

When he noticed the thick covering of eyeliner around the boy's eyes and the recognizable flaring hair, he knew it was Gaara. Naruto forced a smile on his lips, straining his very essence by unlocking the door and welcoming the boy in.

"Hey Gaara!" Naruto quickly jolted, forcing upon a cheerful grin on his lips, "Come in!"

Gaara's gaze lowered to Naruto's eye-level and a glimmer of lust had shown, "Hi, love."

Naruto quickly took a step back at the incident and quietly closed the door behind him, swallowing the lump in his throat as he once again approached Gaara with the slowest steps possible.

"Sorry I'm late", the goth-looking boy continued, twining one of his fingers around one of the many chains hanging down from his pants, "my sister had me do something."

"O-oh…haha, um, it's alright", the blonde stuttered, forcing yet again another smile on his face as he awkwardly rubbed the back of his head, "I'm just glad you're here…"

Lies.

"Same here", Gaara smirked, slowly approaching the already-sweating blonde in front of him, "Why so nervous? Do I really make you that excited? I'm flattered."

Tensing even more at the lusty whispers, Naruto quickly changed the subject before the older teen could get his hands any further down between his legs, "So um, what'd you do today?"

The sudden question left Gaara dumbfounded as Naruto slipped out of the locked embrace and hurried towards the kitchen's cupboards. But he smirked, nevertheless. It was clear that Naruto was uncomfortable around him at the moment. This might prove interesting.

"Nothing", he answered passively, taking a seat on one of the kitchen table's chairs, "You?"

"Oh…well uh..." the blonde silently answered, fumbling about with his hands as he searched for a believable lie, he wasn't about to let Gaara know that Sasuke was here earlier, "Um…nothing much either, just uh…had dinner with Iruka."

"Really?" was the doubting counterattack, "Where are the dirty dishes?"

"Oh, that! Well, uh, I had dinner over his house. It's a few blocks away…" Naruto quickly reacted; deeply hoping Gaara would believe his story.

He could see the fear in his eyes, and he loved it. Naruto feared him.

Beautiful.

It made him feel strong…it made him feel like he completely owned Naruto.

"Oh", Gaara whispered, raising his intense stare towards the rather-nervous blonde in front of him.

Awkward silence hit them. Naruto avoided Gaara's stare while Gaara insistently forced his gaze upon the blonde's nervous expression. It didn't used to be like this…back then, they would be laughing together by now. They would be telling jokes, and they would be sharing smiles.

Gaara was definitely different now; there was no doubt about it. And it wasn't the Gaara he had fallen in love with.

"Gaara…I need to ask you something", the blonde whispered, his voice almost nothing.

"What?"

"Why…why have you…changed?"

Green eyes shot open, and the previous smile was dropped and replaced with gritted teeth. What did he mean 'change'? He hadn't changed! This has been him all along. Was Naruto…questioning him?

"What do you mean?" Gaara silently questioned, trying his best to hold back anger.

Naruto swallowed hard, he didn't know how Gaara would react to this. He didn't know if the next thing he would feel was a sharp blow to the face, or the feel of tender lips upon his cheek.

He didn't know. He didn't want to know…because either way, it would hurt him.

"You…aren't the same. Um…you act scary now, and you always think I'm cheating on you", the blonde continued on, closing his eyes in the process so he would block out the angering stare on Gaara's face, "I'm…I'm getting tired of it…and I think it would be better for us if we just br-"

His words were sealed and interrupted with a sudden kiss, and the strength of protective arms wrapped around his waist. He choked a little from the sudden intake of breath, and he could feel Gaara begging for an entrance. When he didn't react to the kiss, though, Gaara fumed, and his eyes shot wide open in anger once again. Jealousy cascaded his being, and the need to hurt Naruto increased.

How dare he deny him!

"Gaara…just-let me talk for once…!", Naruto suddenly beamed, trying to loose himself from the constricting embrace, "Let me go!"

The red-haired boy only strengthened his hold, his force far stronger than Naruto's as he refused to let the blonde loose from his deadly embrace. Over his dead body would Naruto break-up with him. Hell, over both of their dead bodies.

"No!", Gaara shouted, digging his face in the nape of Naruto's neck, "You can't leave me! You can't!"

Unexpected tears rolled from his greenish eyes, causing a small amount of eyeliner to smear a trail of water on his pastel cheeks. He was crying, and he thought he would be strong enough to keep the pain inside. The pain of being left behind. The pains of seeing his most prized possession run off into another's arms.

He was begging for Naruto to stay with him.

He wrapped his fish-netted arms around the younger boy's waist, and he whispered a million "I love yous'" into his ears. Covering them up with plenty of butterfly kisses to mask upon the blonde's beautiful tanned skin.

Naruto's mind was blank by then, as was his expression. He didn't know what to do. The way Gaara was begging him and holding him in place. The way he said 'I love you' with such honesty in his voice. The way he felt his warm soothing breath behind his ear…

He closed his eyes and accepted the comfort. Yet he felt guilty. He felt guilty denying to himself that he was already in love with somebody else. His heart had fluttered into the hands of another; someone less perfect than Gaara…but with a heart that was a million times kinder and much more beautiful.

Suddenly, Naruto felt the kissing stop and the warm breath was torn away from his ear; there was a small pause.

Then came the hardest decision ever brought upon to Naruto's life, a decision that decided everything. He felt weak. He felt like crawling into a hole and dying there.

"Naruto…do you not love me?" was Gaara's deadly question as he caressed Naruto's cheek with one of his velvety ardent hands.

A sudden spear of worry impaled Naruto in the head. What was he to say? Was he to say what he truly felt and tell Gaara that he indeed did not love him anymore? Or would he carry on his reflex of not hurting others?

So many questions flooded his mind, questions that never had an answer. Questions that he had tried to avoid these past days, yet now, they were being slammed into him once again. And he was forced to answer them.

He took a deep breath, and fisted one of his hands when he felt a tepid tear stream down his cheek. Without further thought, he opened his mouth to say something. The last thing he remembered was having Sasuke's gorgeous face appear in his mind.

Before he knew it, the words he did not mean slid out of his mouth.

"I…love you, Gaara."

OoOoOoO

The doctors had said that he would live.

Sasuke gave out a sigh of relief at this, pain and pressure alike being thrown out of his chest. If Itachi had died on him…heavens didn't know what Sasuke would do. The least he would've done was kill himself and join his brother to wherever he went. Hell or Heaven, it didn't matter. He would follow.

"Would you like to visit? Visiting hours won't be over until 8pm", the nurse instructed.

Sasuke took a chaste glance at his watch, which read 5pm. He had more than enough time to stay by his brother's side, "Yes, um, what room is he in?"

"Itachi Uchiha, correct?" Sasuke nodded, "He's in room 23, just down the hall from here. He's in critical condition, so please don't strain him."

Without second thoughts, Sasuke rushed into the room instructed, his heart was pounding and his eyes were wide with desperation. How would Itachi look like? Would he be wrapped up into a cocoon with a million cables sticking from out of his body? Would he be cabled up to a machine that measured his every heartbeat just like in the movies?

Would he…look the same? Most importantly, would he be the same?

Quietly, Sasuke shut the door behind him, making sure not to make too much noise as he approached his brother's sleeping figure on the hospital bed. He was, indeed, cabled to a machine that measured his every heartbeat. Sasuke's heart sank to his stomach. Was his brother really that hurt…?

"Itachi…?", Sasuke quietly whispered, kneeling down next to his brother's figure.

There was silence at first, but then a familiar deep voice responded to his mute call, "Sasuke…"

Happiness and relief both fluttered into Sasuke's heart. Itachi still remembered his name. He still remembered his voice. Itachi was still…Itachi. That was both good and bad news.

"You barely made it out alive…you lost a lot of blood", the raven explained, taking his brother's bandaged hand into his palms, "If they hadn't acted quick…you would've died."

Sasuke cringed at the thought of his brother dying. He didn't know how he would react to such a thing. Maybe he would go insane and end up in a mental hospital? Or maybe he would've gleefully slit his own wrists.

"You…saved me", Itachi whispered, his eyes still closed as he let out a small smile from his pallid lips.

"Bastard", Sasuke muttered, feeling tears begin to well up in his eyes, "I had no other choice."

"Right…"

"Hn", was Sauske's loan response, pulling his hand away from Itachi's weak grip, "I only did it because…that's what mom would've done."

A deep chuckle ascended from the older Uchiha's throat, "That's not what you said earlier…"

Sasuke fumed at this, how could Itachi act so coolly like if nothing at all had happened?! The jerk was at the verge of dying, and now he's chuckling?! The nerve…after all he had gone through to save someone that didn't even deserve to be saved…how could he just act like that?

"Shut up. Just…shut up", Sasuke whispered, lowering his head as he let tears slip from his twitching eyes, "All of this…because of you. Everything I had to go through…this hell…because of you. I'm the fucking laughing stock at school because of you. Because of you I've been an idiot all my life. Everything…everything bad that has ever happened to me was because of you…!"

"Otouto…I'm sorr-"

"Don't even try it, bastard!" the younger Uchiha shrieked, knowing that deep inside he would've gladly accepted Itachi's apology, "Fuck face! You abused me all my life- and now you try to apologize…?! What about all those other nights that I begged and begged for you to stop?! What about those, huh?!"

Itachi's smile disappeared immediately when he noticed the seriousness on both his little brother's voice and face. He was right…he hadn't stopped. And he had the open choice to stop. But he never did…he never listened to his pleads.

"Now that I think of it, it would've been better if you died on that fucking floor!" Sasuke shrieked again, tears streaming down his eyes uncontrollably, his voice now nothing but a raspy squeak, "I hate you! I hate you damnit! You bastard! I hate you!"

Watching silently at his little brother's pouts, a stream of tears fell from his own crimson eyes. Just hearing the words 'I hate you' being thrown at him like that was hurtful. Especially since they came from Sasuke.

And the fact that Sasuke had said 'it would have been better for him to die' got to him. It got to him hard. Remorse hit his heart, and he felt guiltier than ever. He felt he didn't deserve to live at the moment. He felt that he deserved nothing. Even the pillow under him seemed too much compassion for what he had done to Sasuke for the past 8 years.

"Sasuke…" he whispered, letting his watery eyes be freely exposed to Sasuke's trembling figure beside him, "I…I'm sorry."

At first, Sasuke was shocked at the very fact that Itachi, Himself, was crying, but he quickly shook that thought away when he heard the words 'I'm sorry' escape his brother's mouth. It fumed him to no end to know that Itachi thought he would easily be forgiven. Sure, he's accepted his apologies earlier that day, but that was a different situation…Itachi had been literally dying in his arms at that moment.

"Why didn't you say that when I cared?" Sasuke shot back, intensely glaring down at his brother, "You're lucky you're in a hospital right now, bastard."

With that, Sasuke prepared himself to leave, a scary expression present in his face as he gave out the last of his tears. The sight of his brother half-dead on that hospital bed wasn't satisfying enough. Besides, he had no more business staying there any longer.

With a last 'bastard' escaping his mouth, he tried to stand up, only to be stopped by a firm grip holding him down in place.

It took dreadful realization before he noticed that Itachi had sealed his lips in a tender kiss. It was vague, and barely there; but their lips had indeed touched. Both obsidian and scarlet eyes met, hazy with awareness of what had just happened.

It felt somewhat…nice, but at the same time, Sasuke hated it.

Yet…he couldn't deny that deep inside… he had actually liked it.

Itachi…

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Omg yes! I'm finished! xD lol This took forever. So urm…yeah, Naruto couldn't quite break up with Gaara…yet. And Sasuke had his emotional breakdown. Now we're all happy, right? xD hehe Ideas anyone? Predictions? Comments? x3 All is appreciated. Reagrds. :)