Author's Note: Okay, so, here's the next chapter. Now, before you go on and read, there's just a few things I want to make clear about this chapter. It feels to me like I'm rushing into this, so I'm trying to slow it down a bit, but that might not happen until the next chapter. Also, just to be clear, Naruto had not met Sasuke before his first day of school. This chapter's going to explain some of what happened to Naruto earlier in his life, and a very small bit on why Sasuke is how he is. And just a reminder, this is a Sasuke/Naruto. This is a boy on boy story. Call it yaoi, shounenai, whatever, it will not change whether you like it. So I'm telling you now, if you don't like it, don't read. We all have our opinions, and I respect that, so please, respect mine. And to the two of you who were kind enough to review - dragonrider713 and injuiin-luna - thank you. You two are my favorite people of the week, so I'll give you a cookie! -tosses cookies- You two really made my day - week even - so I'll dedicate this chapter to you two!

Warning: As mentioned before boy/boy pairing, and there's a bit of foul language... to put it lightly... and Sakura bashing.

Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever, own Naruto. It's the sad, pathetic fact of life. Enjoy this fan made story though!

If Everyone Cared

Chapter Two: My World

"Sasuke." He felt himself being shaken. "Sasuke, it's time to get up."

His blurry, sleep-filled eyes slid open, and he blinked rapidly until his vision had cleared, only to see the one cause of all his pain. "Don't touch me, asshole."

His focus now set, he was staring - or rather glaring - into the smirking face of his older brother. "Tsk, tsk, Sasuke-kun. You know mother wouldn't approve of that language."

In an instant, the raven haired boy was holding the man's throat tightly in his grasp. "Don't talk about her. You're the one who killed them. Don't speak so fucking lightly about them, Itachi!" he growled, his anger radiating from every action he took. Itachi knew exactly how to push the boys buttons, and enjoyed every minute of it.

"Foolish little brother..." he paused as Sasuke's grip tightened slightly, "You're going to be late to school if you keep this up."

Sasuke growled before letting his brother free from his grip. Not a hair was misplaced on his head, and he continued smirking as he felt the glare from the younger boy. The two boys had never gotten along as children, and their relationship went from dislike to hate, after Itachi killed their parents - which the authorities never found out, because Itachi made it appear natural.

As Sasuke pulled on a pair of black cargo pants, and a blue hoodie over his white wife beater, he seethed about his brother, and everything he had done to him. The hoodie was inscribed with the Uchiha family crest, and was one of the few possessions the boy was proud of.

After finishing his morning routine, he barreled down the stairs, ignoring his brother's snide comments, as he slammed the door in the older boy's face. Sasuke had come to loathe coming home, and having to deal with his rather feminine brother, who was also more dangerous than anyone the news reported.

After settling into his car, the gas petal was pushed down harshly, causing it to accelerate quickly. Rolling his window down, he let the wind whip his anger away. Living with his brother had been hell for the teen, but he hadn't earned enough money to move out, and his attitude didn't suit many jobs. Though he was eighteen now, in his last year of high school, the boy didn't have much choice if he wanted to live physically comfortably.

He pulled up into the school, quickly dropping to the legal speed limit, before slipping into the student parking lot. Even from the distance, he could see an orange blob bounding into school grounds as if he hadn't a care in the world. Sasuke's face remained passive, but inside he was studying just how contradictory the two sides of Naruto were. He also noticed that the blonde's movement was different then before: less graceful. As he stepped out of his car, however, he had bigger things to worry about.

"Sasuke-kun!!" A shrill female voice met his ears as soon as he took a step towards the school. He turned to see the obnoxious girl who was already in front of him, as if a lost puppy. Her pink hair was as obnoxious as she was, causing him to inwardly cringe. He knew her name to be Sakura, and also knew her as the president of his fan club. He chose to ignore her, just walking towards his destination as if she wasn't there. He continued to ignore her and her indignant protests, and 'I love you's. As a matter of fact, he didn't even pause in his graceful strides until he saw a flash of blonde hair.

They both met the others gaze, almost as if it was the first time seeing each other.

"Uzumaki." Sasuke nodded.

"Uchiha." Naruto stopped himself by calling him 'Sasuke'. He didn't quite understand it, but he knew Sasuke wouldn't like it very much if they acted like friends. And with the simple acknowledgment, Sasuke continued walking, leaving a slightly confused blonde, and a jealous, hormone ridden teenage girl. The bell to get to class chimed loudly, jolted everyone to attention, as they migrated to the torture chambers, known as classes.

-.xx.xx.-

Naruto was practically bouncing in his seat, as he awaited the bell to ring, and signal the end of his least favorite class of science, and dismiss them to lunch. He was absolutely famished by now, having skipped breakfast from getting up late. He wanted to slurp down some ramen noodles, but there was no ramen at school, so he had decided to settle for the simplicity of whatever in the lunchroom looked edible.

The bell interfered with the last of his teacher's lecture, but he couldn't care less - he was on his feet and out the door before the third ring sounded. He swiftly, or as swiftly as he could, dodged between his peers, and made it to the lunchroom before anyone else. He bounded through the line, buying french fries - as he trusted none of the other selections- and made his way to the table farthest from the door, and closest to the windows.

He absentmindedly ate his french fries, as he looked out the window. The campus was actually quite exquisite if one paid attention. As he studied the landscape, and the way the sun hit certain things, causing glistening rainbow effects, he didn't notice the cafeteria slowly filling with people, or the incessant chatter that now surrounded him. His eyelids suddenly felt heavy, causing him to lay his head against the cool table surface. He felt so tired, and didn't want to move. It was not until an open palm collided with the table he sat at, that he snapped back to reality, with a jolt upward, causing him to be slightly dizzy.

"I don't know who you think you are, but you'd better stay away from Sasuke-kun!" a furious feminine voice bombarded his ears. He winced at the frequency of the girl's voice, staring at her like she had a second head.

"Um, excuse me?" the blonde responded, a puzzled look touched his eyes, replacing his normal grin. There were a few things Naruto truly hated when it came to people: hate without a reason, obsessions, and ignorance. Sure there were a few more, but that's not the point.

"You heard me. You think you're so high and mighty, just because Sasuke-kun talked to you and all, but I am the president of his fan club, and you look like you would corrupt our Sasuke-kun! So stay away from him." she demanded, tossing her short pink hair over her shoulder. By now, Naruto had become quite perturbed. This woman was fitting all three options of things he hated, and that only fueled his anger, as well as a pounding headache.

"Look, you," he stood, his voice quavering in anger. This girl had no right to speak to him like that. Hell, he hadn't even met her before, didn't even know her name, and she already disliked him. And obviously she was obsessed with Sasuke. "I don't know who you think you are, but you're really pissing me off."

"You're the one pissing me, and every other girl at this school, off. So don't talk to me like that."

The blonde glared up at the pink haired girl. "You really don't understand anything, do you? You're an ignorant bitch, and I hate that about people. You want me to stay away from Uchiha-san? Fuck you."

The girl's mouth slacked in shock. "And you know what, you don't have the right to tell someone what they can and can't do. Do you even really know Sasuke? I heard you this morning, proclaiming your love to him, but what the hell do you know? Sure, I'm new to this school, new to this area, but what the hell do you know about him?! For all you know, I could be his long lost best friend. You don't know anything." he seethed completely losing himself to his anger. The girl noticed with slight fright that a red tint was replacing his normal crystal blue eyes. He breathed in deeply, trying to calm himself down, and the girl finally found her tongue again.

"I- I know plenty about him." she stumbled over her words, "And I can tell already that you will be a bad influence on him." She then turned, and stumbled away, leaving Naruto to dwell on her idiocy. He sat back, half satisfied, half disconcerted. He didn't like to lose his temper, especially around other people, but it felt good to give her a piece of his mind.

He sighed, running fingers through his hair, before putting on his grinning mask once more. He didn't notice Sasuke watching all the while, from a table stocked full of fangirls. They were all trying to get his attention, but he was ignoring them in order to try and figure out more about the blonde. Yes, he had completely ignored the tanned blonde boy, except for this morning, but that didn't stop him from glancing at him, trying to catch him with his mask down, and see who he really was. That was how Sasuke's mind worked: find the truth, if possible. And Naruto was the only puzzle in this school left to solve.

-.xx.xx.-

The rest of the day drug on without further event. Girls took to glaring at Naruto, and he fought back the urge to tell them to go to hell. He didn't even know where this anger had come from, but all the hateful glances were enough to send him over the edge. After awhile, he began to ignore them, and simply kept up his grinning facade.

Sasuke had to deal with the normal fawning of girls, who knew nothing about him. Somehow, though it couldn't have been hard, Naruto had picked up on that fact. Sasuke was almost grateful that Naruto had snapped at Sakura, for he hit the nail on the head, and even caused her to stutter. That had made his day, just seeing the lost look in her eyes as she let that fact consume her.

Naruto made his way slowly through the quickly thinning crowd of students that lined the hall. He had left his last class later than anyone else, not wanting to join the stampede out, so now he lazily made progress towards the sunshine. The campus was almost clear by the time he finally stepped foot outside, but that's the way he preferred it. He noticed, in passing, a certain raven climbing into his ride, and drive off, at what was at least twice the legal speed limit. He didn't think much of it at the time, and just continued on his way home.

He didn't even notice when the car made a sharp U-turn towards him, and stopped next to him.

"Dobe, get in the car." Sasuke sighed.

"Uh, okay." Naruto replied, confused by his demand.

"You're not feeling well, idiot, so don't push yourself." Sasuke pointed out.

"I'm feeling fine, teme." Naruto wobbled slightly, causing Sasuke to give him a pointed look.

"Look, you can't even walk straight today, don't think I haven't noticed."

"I have been walking fine!" he stated indignantly.

"Like this morning, stumbling through the gate, but disguising it as bouncing and prancing, and what not?"

"That never-"

"And at lunch? You felt bad enough to use the cold that radiates from the tables as a pillow. You were so tired you didn't even finish your fries."

"What are you, stalking me?" Naruto said, not being able to come up with an argument. It was true, he felt horrible, but like everything else, he hid it.

"You look like you're going to pass out, get in the car."

"But I-"

"Get in the car." Sasuke said sternly. Naruto sighed defeated and walked carefully to the door, trying not to lose balance. He hadn't known Sasuke would be so attentive to the littlest things, as no one else in his life ever had. They all overlooked things, made excuses. In actuality, they just didn't get.

He sat heavily on the seat, pouting like a little child who hadn't gotten ice cream. "Why do you bother?" he mumbled under his breath, not expecting an answer. He leaned his head against the window, to find it was as cool as the lunch table had been. His eyes began to close, and before the blonde lost himself in sleep, he heard the unexpected answer.

"I don't know."

Sasuke sighed as he glanced to the now sleeping teen. It frustrated him how Naruto couldn't just be honest with him, but at the same time, he knew that if he were in Naruto's place, he would lie too. He already refused to show weakness to anyone, especially at home, but he didn't want Naruto to feel like that. As he studied the sun-kissed boy, he noticed that his face held a peaceful look. It was the first time he'd ever seen the boy look anything close to serene, and he thought the look suited the blonde. He wanted to see that look again, when the boy wasn't sleeping.

In the back of his head, he wondered just what this boy had endured for him to be so far from happy, that lying had become his reality. He realized that he did the same, but he knew his own reason. He didn't want anyone else to understand that, to go through that - he could only hope the blonde's story was different than his own.

He pulled in front of the boy's house, stepping out of the car, and going to the passenger's side. Carefully opening the door, he caught a sleeping Naruto in his arms. The boy didn't even stir as Sasuke carried him to the door. Sasuke slipped his hand into the pocket of Naruto's jeans, where he'd seen the boy take his key from yesterday, and quickly found it. After successfully unlocking the door, he invited himself in to lay Naruto on the couch.

"Foolish boy..." he sighed, seeing the house was completely spotless - almost as if no one lived there. "You push yourself too hard."

The blonde mumbled incoherently as Sasuke walked towards the kitchen, figuring he might as well cook something for the idiot child who wouldn't take care of himself properly. Looking around, the only food he had in his house was cup ramen, and bread. Sighing, since his options were so limited, he started boiling water in order to make ramen. His attention was drawn back to the blonde when he heard him mumbling again, this time clearer, and louder.

"N-No, please! Please, don't. No - STOP!" His voice shook, and his face was contorted in fear and pain, though his eyes were still closed. "NO! Don't take her from me. Don't touch her! Don't take her from me again!" His shoulders shook like he was crying. "Don't touch her you asshole! T-take me instead! She didn't do anything, why?!"

"Naruto," Sasuke shook the boys shoulders, "Wake up Naruto, you're dreaming, wake up, damn it!"

"Stop!" The boy shot up, breathing heavily, and close to tears. He buried his face into his hands, his shoulders shaking as if he was in frigid conditions.

"Naruto?" Sasuke alerted the boy once more of his existence, causing the blonde to jump. His eyes widened as if he'd been caught stealing from the cookie jar. "Is everything alright?"

"Y-yeah, everything's fine." the shaking blonde responded, earning a pointed look from the raven.

"Yeah right, Naruto, you're shaking like a leaf, and were yelling in your sleep. Would you like to talk about it?"

"I was yelling?" The blonde looked terrified now. Sasuke gave a simple nod. "Oh God..."

"Naruto..."

"You want an explanation, don't you." Naruto stated, cutting him off.

"Well, yes, I do..." Sasuke said. "If you don't want to tell me you don't have to." he assured the blonde. He didn't want his selfish thirst for the explanation to cause the boy to be hurt more.

"You have the right to know. No, it's not just that... I want you to know... I need you to know." Naruto was mumbling more to himself than to Sasuke by now. He looked up, and met Sasuke's glance evenly. "This isn't the whole story, as I don't know if I'll ever be able to remember, or relay, everything that's screwed with my mentality. I remember things, even when I was very little, because they haunt me here." he pointed to his heart.

Sasuke nodded, as an acknowledgment that he'd heard, and to allow the blonde to continue, but he was already reliving what bit of hell was on his mind.

The house was dark, except for one room - the baby room. There sat Kushina, rocking a one-year old Naruto in her arms. Her eyes were closed as she hummed to the near-sleeping child in her arms. Everything seemed fine - just like every other night. That's why when Minato ran into the room, it alerted Kushina that something was definitely wrong.

"Sweetie, take Naruto now and ran. Go through that window, and don't stop until you're somewhere safe. Go to the law firm for all I care, just go!" he whisper-shouted urgently.

"Minato, what's going o-" she started, but he cut her off with a harsh whisper of "Now!"

She glided quickly to the windows, her hair tickling Naruto back into consciousness. Kushina gave her husband one last look before throwing the window open. By this time, however, it was already too late.

"Don't move." a deep voice whispered, malice poorly disguised. It sent shivers down her spine, and froze her in place. She turned around slowly, to see Minato clutching the intruders knife with his bare hands. The sight of blood made Kushina sick, but she pushed that away with the amounting worry that swelled inside her.

"What do you want?" Minato's normally calm, collected voice growled out.

"I want you dead." the man snarled. "My boss should have been the CEO, not you. Because you have destroyed his dream, I will destroy everything you hold dear!"

"You're drunk. You're not thinking clearly." Kushina whispered, horrified. It was easy enough to tell. The stench of alcohol poured off the man, his eyes were bloodshot, and his speech was slurred.

"Shut up, bitch. I'll kill you soon enough." he glanced over at her. Minato, beyond angry, lunged at the intruder, the knife cutting deeper into his skin, but he was able to, in the end, turn the blade on its owner. He didn't like that, and pulled another knife out from his coat. He got past Minato's defenses and stabbed it into his heart, twisting the blade to earn a yelp, before extracting it once more. Minato fell to the ground, in too much pain to continue in the fight. The wound caused him to bleed to death on the floor of his son's room.

The man turned to the woman with a twisted smirk, his own blood, and Minato's blood splattered at random across his attire. "Wanna play?" he drawled, before Kushina let out a scream. It held agony, and fear - which the man seemed to enjoy. She was able to put Naruto - who was crying - into his crib before the man attacked her. She brought out a vial of poison from her jacket pocket - she'd had the habit ever since she was assaulted in an alley, and her best friend was murdered in one - and got into a fighting stance. She knew a bit about fighting, but had never actually used it since she learned it several years back.

The man's knife bit harshly into her arm. She was able to spill the poison across the man, and into the wound Minato had inflicted, allowing it access to the bloodstream. It was going to take a little longer for the full effects to kick in - and a little longer was all the man needed to finish her.

Naruto stood crying, hanging on to the side of his crib as if it was a jail cell. The man completely ignored it, as he took the pleasure to draw out Kushina's death. In the end, he'd had his way with her, and every bit of her was covered in gashes - of various sizes - and blood. The parts of her clothes that weren't torn were stained red, and clinging to her crying form. The pain the poison caused soon took effect, making the man take his own life, instead of waiting for the poison to do so itself.

Kushina stared up at her son, tears still in her eyes, as she let her last words flow from her lips. "Naruto, sweetie, I'm sorry. I-I... I'm so sorry... P-please don't c-cry... I love... you..." Her eyes slowly closed, as she gave into her body's demands.

"I will never forget how much blood had stained my room. The walls, the floor, all of it. And I will never forget the look on her face after she finished that sentence. She was peaceful, serene even. Everything that was something to her had been taken away, including her own life, but she was peaceful. So. Fucking. Peaceful. I used to hate her, because she left me. I used to hate them all. I used to hate everyone because of everything. They didn't understand - couldn't understand. I bounced between many happy families in foster care. Once they found out what happened to me, or just couldn't handle my personality, I went straight back to the foster home. One of them, I remember, one of the houses I went to live in was right by an alley. That alley is another personal hell for me, because I got raped there, and no one would believe me. No one cared..." he couldn't continue, as he let his tears overwhelm him. He couldn't stop them from falling. It was the first time he'd cried in eight years.

He froze when two arms wrapped around him, pulling him in a tight embrace, but soon relaxed enough to let his emotions continue to pour out.

Sasuke wasn't even sure why he'd done so, but it just seemed like the right thing to do. He couldn't just let the blonde cry, without showing that he wasn't going to turn away like everyone else had. He rubbed the blonde's back gentle to try and calm him down, as he remembered his mother doing for him, and he continued to cry, until his tears dried up, and his breathing evened out.

"Any better?" Sasuke whispered quietly. He received nothing more than the feeling of the boy's breath against his skin. "Naruto?"

He sighed as he realized he'd fallen asleep - and in his arms no less. He could hear the water boiling in the kitchen, so he carefully laid Naruto onto the couch, and went to finish making the ramen. He'd seen how little the boy had eaten at lunch, and figured that once he awoke that he'd be hungry.

As he finished cleaning up - after making the ramen - he couldn't help but think how quickly Naruto had gotten close to him - how easy he was to be around. For the raven haired teenager, it was quite unusual. Especially after losing his parents, and his trust for people. Ever since his brother had killed the most important person in his world - his mother - things had just gone downhill. For awhile, Sasuke wouldn't even speak, unless spoken to - and then he'd only give one or two worded answers. After a year of therapy, he started to actual associate with people more. His teachers commented on his improvement, and everything seemed to be going well.

That is, until Itachi Uchiha came back into his life. The older boy had waltzed right into his school, straight to the office, and explained that he was now Sasuke's legal guardian. Sasuke had, once told of this by the principal, proceeded to have a panic attack, and asked not to go home. Ever. He was psychoanalyzed after this display, in which they gave him medicine for anxiety, and sent home. Sasuke didn't come out of his room for about a week.

The raven shivered at the memory, hating himself for the control both the memory and his brother had over him. It didn't seem fair, but he could help feeling fear around his brother. Sure, he displayed anger and hate when he was around him, but deep inside was a never ceasing fear.

"Stop it." he told himself firmly.

"Stop what?" a second, very confused voice rang out - the sound of which made Sasuke jump. He turned around, only for his onyx eyes to land on cerulean.

"N-Naruto. When did you wake up?"

"About a minute ago. I ate the ramen while you zoned. It was really good. Thank you!" he beamed. "I was really hungry, and you knew to make ramen!"

"The only thing you have in this house is ramen and bread." Sasuke replied in a bored tone.

"Well, thanks anyway." he scratched the back of his head, grinning all the while.

"Are you feeling any better?"

"Actually, yeah, I guess I'm feeling a little better." Naruto began to bounce closer to Sasuke, instead of by the doorway, so they didn't have to talk loudly for the other to hear. However on his way, he tripped... and who better to catch his fall than Sasuke. With his lips.

That's right - when Naruto fell, he took Sasuke down as well, causing the two to lock lips. Sasuke's eyes widened, as Naruto quickly jumped up, blushing.

"I'm sorry." he said quickly, as red as a tomato.

"T-that's okay." The shock was evident on his face. "Let's just... pretend that didn't happen..."

"Y-yeah..." Naruto nodded, widen eyed to match Sasuke.

"Maybe I should leave now?" Sasuke took a step towards the door.

"You don't have to." Naruto replied quickly.

Sasuke gave a slightly sad smile. "I have to return tonight. If nothing more than to get my stuff from my house," The word was spat with hate, "and to get out of there. Tell my brother off once and for all - until I'm ready for revenge."

"Revenge?" the blonde tilted his head to the side.

"Another time, perhaps, I'll tell you." Sasuke responded in a detached way.

The fox hesitated, before nodding. "The door's open, if you ever need a place to stay." The raven nodded in acknowledgment, continuing his trek to the door.

"Take care of yourself. You'd better not be in worse condition if and when I see you at school tomorrow." he said sternly, pausing to look over his shoulder.

"Don't count on it, but I'll try not to let you down." he smiled, as Sasuke walked out the door.

Neither one of them knew what was to come of the next few days...

Authors Note: So, that's the second chapter! I do realize that the characters, more likely than not, are out of character. I'm sorry for that, but some things are tweaked to better fit the story. I'll be introducing more character in the next chapter, so be ready for more out of character-ness. And please realize, this story does not have a proofreader. I am the only one who views this before it is posted, so yes, there will be mistakes. I'm not perfect, and I apologize. If you wish to point out a flaw, that is fine. But please review. I do appreciate feedback, and constructive criticism. Flames, however will be used to make steamy hot chocolate, and roast marshmallows. There's no song list this time, because I lost the list, and am too lazy to do anything about it. Review! Reviewers get candy, cake, cookies, brownies, or anything else their hearts desire! We could throw a party! (Yes, I'm slightly desperate for reviews, please don't disappoint!)

So click that pretty button that enables you to review. You know you want to...