So chapter 8 is finaly up, it's only taken me what, 2 months. im so so so VERY sorry for the wait, and I suppode I don't really have a proper excuse, but I can try XD you see, I had to donate my laptop to the 'laptops for poor little abandoned foxes' cause, and I only just got it back.
Disclaimer - Toasted Neko does not own Naruto or the characters, and everything she thinks she owns, infact belong to her dear friends rabbit.
Please enjoy.
Guardian Angel – Chapter 8
– Discovery
Naruto was looking up at the white ceiling above of him. He smiled and snuggled deeper into the bed, he couldn't remember the last he had felt so comfortable.
There was a sudden knock on his flat door. Sighing, he got up, putting on a forest green dressing gown, and opened the door.
Stood on his door step was the raven headed Uchiha.
"About time to." He muttered, barging past him into the flat.
Closing the door, the blonde turned back around to watch Sasuke as he made himself comfortable on his sofa.
Sighing he went to the small kitchenette, and put the kettle on. He put some slices of bread in the toaster, before he heard the sound of the kettle finishing boiling.
Grabbing two mugs, he made some herbal tea for himself and Sasuke. By the time he was done doing that, the bread was lightly toasted, he put two buttered pieces on a plate for Sasuke and one on a plat for himself.
He carried them over to the sofa, handing Sasuke his, before beginning his meagre breakfast.
He was perched right on the edge of the sofa, as much space as possible between him and the other teen.
But being unused to eating a large dinner, and then having breakfast, he managed only to eat half of the slice of toast. So he put the plate on the coffee table and turned his attention to the steaming mug of tea.
Ten minutes of silence passed, before Sasuke gave a gentle cough, as if to remind the other of his presence.
"So, uh, why exactly are you here?" came the faltering question.
"To baby sit you." He smirked.
"But I don't need babysitting," was his exasperated reply.
The Uchiha nodded at him with mock sadness in his eyes.
"Oh, but you do."
"Says who?"
"Tsunade" He smirked.
"But, but, but I don't need babysitting." He angrily repeated.
"Well, my job description says that I must keep a general eye on you, make sure that you okay etcetera, and make sure that you eat every few hours." His smirk spread, he seemed to be enjoying taunting Naruto.
"But I don't ne--, wait, what do you mean, 'make sure that I eat every few hours'?"
He sighed.
"You're malnourished, Naruto, and we have to do something about that." He said not unkindly, "Tsunade doubts that you could manage a large meal, so she says that you have to eat little and often, until you can eat larger meals, spaced further apart."
Naruto looked at him as if he had grown an extra head, his mouth hanging slightly open. It closed with a snap.
"Whatever." He muttered, going to his bedroom to get dressed.
He left the bedroom, in his usual garb of an orange jumpsuit.
He hovered in the doorway, watching Sasuke. He wasn't doing much, just sitting on the sofa, twiddling his thumbs. There were a few minutes of awkwardness, before Naruto asked,
"So what are you going to do today?"
"Depends," here he paused and glanced at the blonde, "on what you're doing."
"Well, I was, uh, hoping to go to my old flat." He muttered, eyes flickering around the room, looking anywhere but at Sasuke.
Though he did not know what had occurred there just a short while a go, he got the indescribable feeling that this was not a very good idea. Though, he did not voice his concerns, and instead opened the door, and indicated for Naruto to lead the way.
The blond was incredibly quiet as he lead Sasuke through Konoha, and the young prodigy did not fail to notice the cruel glares directed at Naruto.
It took them about ten minutes to walk to the old flat. There was obvious tension between the two, it was as if they wanted to say something, but didn't quite know what. When they reached the entrance to the building that housed the flat, Naruto paused at the entrance, and took a deep breath, as if readying himself for something. As if he was fighting some inner struggle of contrasting views.
Eventually he made up his mind, and pushed the door open, making his way into the building. Hesitantly, he climbed the stairs.
It wasn't long before the two teens were stood outside of the flat. He raised his hand to open the unlocked door, his hand faltering halfway. He turned.
"I won't be long, Sasuke." He muttered, before turning back.
He scoffed in reply, "You think I'm staying out here, no chance, I'm com-" but the anguished look on his face stopped him before he could finish.
"Please, Sasuke" he pleaded.
Stunned, he found himself nodding, though it went against his better judgement.
Nodding in thanks, he made his way into his old residence.
The flat was entirely empty, it look quite eerie, the bare floor boards, covered in a thin layer of dust.
He cautiously tapped open the door to his bedroom, and entered, eyes closed. Taking a deep breath, he slowly opened them.
This room, too, was empty, the little furniture that had originally occupied it cleared away. It had also been cleaned, the floor scrubbed at, though there was still a dark patch from the soapy water on the normally pale wooden floor.
Flashes of memory invaded his mind, he felt his knees buckle, and he crashed to the ground, a strangled sob escaping from between his tightly clenched teeth. The tears began to fall thick and fast.
Time seemed to slow down, moving at the speed of thick treacle.
After an unknown time, he felt strong arms surrounding him, and began to panic, thrashing madly about.
He felt his body become paralysed, and before he could do anything, he had passed out.
Perhaps this wasn't such a good idea after all.
From his position outside the door, Sasuke heard a loud thump, followed by a heart wrenching cry.
He burst through the scared wooden door, and glancing around the room to get his bearings, he ran to what he knew to be the bedroom, almost tearing the door of its hinges in his haste.
Naruto was in the foetal position on the floor. He quietly approached, and pulled his shaking form close to his chest.
This didn't seem to help the situation; he began thrashing madly, limbs flailing in different directions.
He clamped his arms down with his hands and sat on his legs to keep him still, and after a moment he was still, his body flopping in his strong arms.
Sasuke held the fragile frame to him, and carefully stood up, not failing to notice that the boy was too thin, he could feel his bones through the thin material of the tracksuit.
Taking to the rooftops in order to avoid be jostled by the crowd in the busy village, he had reached Naruto's new apartment in no time at all.
Jumping through the window, he gently placed him on the bed, pulling the thick duvet over him.
Bringing a chair in from the kitchenette, he placed it beside the bed, to watch over his friend before he woke.
In the calm of the quiet room, he felt his thoughts begin to drift towards where he had left of from just a few days ago.
Love.
The word had many meanings. The love of an inanimate object, perhaps sentimental, or simply a favourite food, like how Naruto loved his ramen.
The love of a friendship and loyalty, community, equality and familiarity. The way, not matter how badly he was treated, Naruto felt towards the Village.
Unconditional love, the love of a parent and a child. Something he himself had lost, something that he knew Naruto had never had.
And, the other kind of love. Of giving yourself to someone completely, of wanting to protect that person, not because you have to, but because you want to. He felt that he wanted to protect Naruto, but did that mean that he loved the blonde, in the way that that implied.
His thought trail came to an end as he heard a groan coming from the bed.
His eyes felt like they were glued together, as he felt himself drifting up from the depth of his mind as his body regained consciousness, it felt like he was swimming in custard.
Eventually his eyes came unstuck, and he found himself in the still unfamiliar room that he knew to be his. He looked to the side, seeing Sasuke sat there, carefully scrutinising his face.
"Are you okay?" he asked, letting hid concern lace his tone.
Naruto slowly nodded his head, which made him feel nauseous, and he opened his mouth to speak the affirmative, only to clamp his jaw shut, pressing his hand to his mouth.
He leaped out of the bed, and flew to the bathroom, before you could say believe it!
He doubled over the toilet emptying the contents of his stomach when he felt the Ravens hand rubbing soothing circles in his back. He closed his eyes, and slumped over the toilet seat, all the strength having drained itself from his still weakened body.
"Are you okay?" Sasuke repeated. Without moving from his position, Naruto nodded slowly. He began to stand, and swayed when he reached his feet.
The Uchiha slipped an arm through his, and slowly led him back to the bedroom, gently lowering him onto the bed. Shuffling up, Naruto sat with his back to the head rest, knees pulled up to his chest.
"So are you going to tell me what that was all about," he said it as a statement, not as a question, but nevertheless the blonde did not answer, but just stared sullenly at the bed sheets, suddenly deciding that they were incredibly interesting.
"Oi, Dobe!" he balled his fists, trying really hard not to get annoyed.
"It was nothing, Sasuke." Came the quiet reply, and Sasuke was surprised that he didn't react to his unwanted nickname.
"Oh really. You want me to believe that that…nervous breakdown thing was nothing? That you just passed out for no reason?" he arched an eyebrow at this.
Naruto hung his head, knowing that he had been defeated, and that Sasuke suspected something, he knew that he would eventually find out.
The mattress shifted slightly at the sudden added weight, and Naruto flinched away from the contact with the other teen, almost slipping of the bed in his haste. Though he knew that it was just Sasuke, and that he would never do him any harm, he still felt panic rising up his throat.
"It's not that easy." He managed to choke out.
So Sasuke decided that he would drop it for now, his friend would tell him when the time felt right.
"What do you want to do now, then?" he asked, standing up and walking towards the window.
"Sleep. I just wanna sleep." Naruto sounded weary.
So he nodded once, and, half way out the window, said,
"I'll check on you later, then." without even turning around. With that, the Uchiha was gone, and Naruto sank into a restless sleep.
Although he hadn't pressed the matter, and he knew that Naruto would eventually tell him, Sasuke still really wanted to know what was wrong, and what had happened to him. So after leaving the flat, he made his way over to the academy, where he knew Iruka would be taking his lunch break.
In the yard, the children where running around, shouting and playing. He found Iruka stood over by the wooden swing. He quickly made his way over to his old Sensei.
The friendly Chuunin looked up as he approached.
"Oh, hello Sasuke, what can I do for you?" he smiled at him brightly.
The usually calm headed teen suddenly found himself tongue-tied.
"Uh, well, I was wondering if you could tell me what's wrong with Naruto, what happened to him." He muttered, looking at him hopefully.
But his hopes where dashed when he shook his head sadly.
"No can do, I'm afraid, it's not really my place to say, unless Naruto doesn't mind."
"But he's my friend, I'm only asking for his sake!" And Iruka felt guilty, knowing that he only cared because he cared, and he thought that it was important that the boy knew.
"Look I'll tell you, but you can't let Naruto know that you know, it'll break his heart, and he really doesn't need that right now." Sasuke nodded, to show that he understood, "I mean it, Sasuke, no matter what you want to say to him, you can't ever mention what I'm about to tell you."
"Okay, I get it." He was shocked by the seriousness evident in Iruka's voice.
"Are you sure you want to know, it isn't exactly pleasant." He nodded, and feeling that he would need to, he sat on the little wooden swing.
"Naruto was," he paused here, as if plucking up the courage to carry on, He took a deep breath, "Naruto was raped."
Suddenly Sasuke was very glad that he had sat down, as he suddenly felt very sick. Iruka looked at him sadly.
"I told you it wasn't very pleasant." He knew what Sasuke was about to ask. "It was his landlord."
"So that's why Tsunade moved him." He said as realisation struck.
It was only then that they noticed one factor that they hadn't before, stood a few feet away, was Sakura, green eyes widened in disbelief.
Okay so thanks for reading. Please review and what-not, they will be greatly appreciated.
and I am aware how OOC Sasuke seems, but just remember that Tsunade told him to be there, and all that jazz, and I just felt that he should at least seem a bit caring XD
Much love to all!!
Untill next time -bows-