Sasuke stared at the champagne coloured carpet in the living room, Naruto next to him on the couch, Jiraiya across from them in a rocker. The room was silent, almost too silent for Sasuke's liking. Though he preferred silence above all else, even a little noise would be comforting right now; a few words, some sympathy…anything. He had just finished telling the two what had happened in as minor detail as he could muster between sobs and shivers.

Attempting not to make noise, the boy sniffed, tears still burning trails down his cheeks. His fists were clenched in his lap, knuckles white from the pressure as he attempted to keep his body from shaking any harder than it already was. It was nearing 2am now. The boy caught a glance of Naruto from his peripheral, looking painfully over to him, though clearly not knowing what to do.

"Well…" Jiraiya started, sighing gently as both orbs looked tenderly on the teen. "You can stay here as long as you need, Sasuke. Between Naruto and I, we're making enough money to support all three of us."

Sasuke looked up slightly, brows furrowed above both bloodshot eyes.

"I've gotta get to sleep though, I need to get up in about four hours to go to work." As the man got to his feet, he glanced at Naruto for a moment then allowed a lingering gaze to set on Sasuke. "You can either sleep on the couch or with Naruto. He's got a king sized bed down there in the basement. Or we do have a guest bedroom in the loft, now that I think about it. Use what you like, Sasuke-chan. Goodnight, you two."

The Uchiha could only nod slightly, wanting to give thanks for such generosity, but couldn't seem to voice any words at the moment. He vowed to thank him later. Though he was exhausted to an impossible extent, he couldn't seem to get his body to move with Naruto sitting next to him still. The silence between them should have been awkward, but Sasuke's mind was so absorbed in racing thoughts the silence seemed to only exist, not bother. The boy's jaw quivered slightly as he attempted to force himself to stop crying. Naruto had only seen him cry once when they were kids. To see him like this must have been shocking. Not to mention it was embarrassing to Sasuke. How could he allow himself to be so open with such emotion? Swallowing, he sniffed once more, holding back the tears now as shallow breathing escaped his lips.

"…how about you sleep with me, tonight…?" A voice spoke softly at his side, near inaudible. The blonde was so loud normally it made him cringe to think what he must have been thinking. "I mean, in case you need anything…" He mumbled in addition when Sasuke didn't respond. Slowly, the raven-haired boy nodded, feeling the tears coming back and sucking in a sharp breath to keep himself from crying again. The things running through his mind had ceased, all but the constant reminder he needed to apologize to Naruto. Though, he knew if he spoke now his voice would break from lack of use. As he felt the weight beside him lessen, he looked up, seeing Naruto standing before him, hand held out to help him up.

For the first time, Sasuke felt small beneath the other.

Though he couldn't voice it aloud, his quivering lips formed the words of apology to the other in silence as their eyes met. Naruto simply nodded, not at all acting like himself. It caused the teen's brow to crease in confusion. Had he really hurt him that deeply?

Swallowing, he took the other's hand and allowed himself to be helped to his feet. The tight squeeze made Sasuke blink. Naruto had definitely gotten stronger. Had he been working out? Attempting to breath normally once more, the teen focused on more important matters, like walking, as they descended the stairs into the basement, where the blonde's room was.

"Meh, I don't really like it down here, you know, but it was the only place other than the loft that I could room in. And the loft's got no AC for the summer or heat for the winter, so I decided not to go up there." The idle chatter surfaced in Naruto's voice a beat higher than before, though not anywhere near the normal chipper level it was on a daily basis. Sasuke couldn't say anything. He didn't know what to say at this point. He couldn't tell whether Naruto was mad or hurt or just plain hated him. "Oh, uhh…ignore the mess." The blonde continued as he opened the door to his room, revealing piles of clothing and comic books littering the floor, an unfinished cup of instant ramen on his table beside his also unfinished homework.

For the second time this morning, Naruto looked directly at Sasuke, who looked up at him from beneath a shock of raven hued ebony. Both cerulean blue orbs held a stern inquiry within them.

"…are you gonna be okay?" The blonde asked slowly after a pause. The teen couldn't help but instinctively let both onyx hues drop the floor. No, he wasn't. Not yet. Not for a while. But how in the world could he say that to the other? Subconsciously, the boy nodded. Naruto forced a weak smile before sitting down on the bed and scooting over to the far side against the wall, still in a sitting position. "You wanna talk? I'm not really tired anymore…" A small laugh surfaced in the boy's vocals as he rubbed the back of his head, ruffling the already messy blonde locks. Sasuke looked around the room a moment, noticing the chalky white walls had splatter paint orange adorning them and not a single window was in sight. It was very opposite of what the boy had expected. In all truth, for as long as they had been friends, this was the first time Sasuke had ever been over to Naruto's house. In a way, it hurt the teen, wondering why he had never been allowed over before. Sure, he had been to the door to his house plenty of times, having been dragged along after school to walk with the boy to his house or to drop something off or something of the sort.

Attempting to act more like the Sasuke Naruto knew, he sat carelessly on the bed, throwing his things in a corner. "What good would talking do, dobe?" Though his words were normal in content, sure enough, his voice broke as predicted, despite the low whisper of a tone he used. Naruto smiled genuinely this time, hearing the atmosphere return to somewhat normal.

"Well what else is there to do?" Slowly, his smile faded. "Though, you're probably tired, aren't you?" He asked. Sasuke shrugged, suddenly not feeling all that tired anymore. Naruto shook his head. "Watch, you're gonna fall right asleep as soon as your head hit's the pillow. Go to sleep, teme." With two claps, the lights to his room clicked off and the two were bathed in darkness as Naruto fell back onto his bed, stretching out. Sasuke hesitated for a moment, staring at the blonde through the veil of darkness before allowing a small twitch of a smile to crease his expression. Things were gonna be okay.

Sure as it was, Sasuke found himself asleep the second he felt the pillow's soft fabric against the back of his head. Not even covering himself up for the night, he fell into a deep sleep; luckily, so deep that he wasn't even able to dream.

Today had finally come to an end.

Sasuke awoke the next day around 1pm, groggily opening both blurry eyes to the darkness of Naruto's room. Groaning, the boy sat up, a massive headache overtaking him. He always got headaches after crying. Looking around him, it wasn't till a few moments later he noticed Naruto wasn't there. Blinking, he looked to the door, noticing light flooding the floor from the crack. A sigh escaped his lips as he recalled the events of last night. Slowly, he slid out of bed, swaying slightly as his feet got their holding. He was always tired when he just woke up and it always made him uncoordinated. Making his way to the door, he hesitantly reached for the handle, only to twist it open and be blinded by sun from the windows in the hallway. Furrowing his brow as the light hit him, Sasuke inched his way down the hall, raven locks askew atop his head. As silently as he could, he made his way up the stairs, only to be welcomed by the scent of pancakes.

Looking to the right, he noticed Naruto there, flipping the materializing batter in a pan. Blinking, the blonde must have felt eyes on him for he looked over to meet orbs with Sasuke, who's gaze flickered to a more tender shade than the prior surprised one.

"G'mornin'." Naruto slurred, undoubtedly having woken up just minutes before the other. Sasuke nodded in reply, making his way to the blondes side.

"…it's 1 in the afternoon." He whispered, eyeing the pancakes. Naruto shrugged.

"Yeah, but I just woke up so it's breakfast time for me. Want some?" He asked, smiling to his friend. Sasuke eyed him with discontent.

"I'm surprised you're not having ramen for breakfast. That's all you ever eat…" The Uchiha spoke slowly, voice a monotone, despite the interlaced sarcasm. "…no thanks" He added more quietly in response to the inquiry. The two stood there for a moment in silence; Sasuke being sure to avoid eye contact, Naruto keeping a steady stare of concern on the other.

"…You feeling any better?" He asked softly, turning back to the pancakes. The Uchiha let out a slow breath as he thought.

"I'm fine." He said after a moments pause. Naruto noticeably stiffened at his side, causing Sasuke to glance at him from his peripheral in silent question.

"Sorry." The blonde shrugged. "Um, well I gotta do my homework today. Come to think of it, you do, too, don't you? You're here so I can give you all the assignments since you missed Friday…" It came out as more of a change-of-topic type dialogue than an offer. Though he could tell his friend had tried to hide it, Sasuke took inevitably direct notice of it. "How 'bout we work on it together…? It'll get done faste-"

"I'm dropping out."

The dark words cut off the blonde's babbling and caused a silence to fill the room, the only sound to fill the void being the sizzling from the pancakes on the stove. Naruto looked slowly to the other, eyes wide.

"…what?" He gasped lightly, not sure if he had heard the Uchiha correctly.

"I said, I'm dropping out." Sasuke repeated in a more assertive tone, then proceeded to walk towards the living room to take a seat on the couch.

There was a pause before Naruto turned off the stove, leaving the food to run after his friend, catching him by the wrist in the archway. "Why!?" He demanded, grip tightening as Sasuke attempted to pull away.

"Because I can," The syllables were sharp, but quiet as the boy flung his friends hand off him. "I'll be downstairs." He added in a whisper as he quickened his pace to the stairs before Naruto could pull himself out of his stupor to catch him again.

"Sasuke, wait!" The blonde begged, running after him once more as the other reached the last step.

"Leave me alone!" Sasuke finally shouted, quickening his fast walk to a jog down the hall till he rounded the corner into Naruto's room, closing the door and locking the blonde out right before he reached him. As the other's pleas echoed through the wood, Sasuke's knees finally gave, reducing him to sliding down the door into a position of hugging his knees to his chest, burying his head in them.

Near half an hour later, Naruto had finally given up and was upstairs once more. Sasuke had forced himself to the bed after a few minutes later and curled up after getting his laptop out and turning it on. He watched through a blur as the Windows Vista booted itself up and logged him on.

As his mouse hovered over the Crisis Code icon, Sasuke hesitated, pushing himself reluctantly into a seated position. A twitch befell his lips as he drifted over to the AIM icon instead; something that rarely happened. Almost instantly an IM popped up on his screen.

xSilverScarecrow (2:17:02 PM) Hey. I haven't seen you online in a while. :3 What's up?

Sasuke's fingers hesitated, shaking above the keys as they light tapped in a word.

QuothTheRaven (2:18:09 PM) hi…

Once again, the ellipses stuck themselves to the greeting as though impossible to separate. Sasuke laid down on the bed, positioning the laptop to where he could still see and type with one hand if need be.

xSilverScarecrow (2:18:22 PM) Are you okay, Sasuke-kun?
QuothTheRaven (2:18:32 PM) im fine…
xSilverScarecrow (2:17:02 PM) =/ Are you sure…?

Sasuke didn't answer. Slowly, his mouse veered over to the Crisis Code icon once more, clicking it to open the game. He figured he might as well grind whilst laying here.

xSilverScarecrow (2:19:58 PM) You can talk to me, you know.
xSilverScarecrow (2:20:01 PM) I'm here if you need me.
QuothTheRaven (2:20:38 PM) …i did something stupid and got kicked out of my house…so now im living with a…friend…at least I think hes not an ex friend yet…
QuothTheRaven (2:20:40 PM) …sorry…

The teen inhaled shakily at the words he typed, not thinking before he had pressed enter what the consequences would be. Yet, at the moment, all he wanted was a little sympathy; something to free him from this seemingly endless turmoil of depression.

xSilverScarecrow (2:21:07 PM) Aww, sweetheart. You poor thing. You don't need to be sorry for anything.
xSilverScarecrow (2:21:11 PM) If you don't mind me asking…what happened? =/ I mean, it's probably personal so you don't want to tell me or anything.
xSilverScarecrow (2:21:14 PM) I'll understand if you don't.
xSilverScarecrow (2:21:22 PM) Maybe I can understand, though. I've had my fair share of experience in life.
xSilverScarecrow (2:21:28 PM) Maybe I can help…if you give me a chance.

Sasuke sat up at this point, pursing his dry lips carefully before deciding he'd tell this Laharl guy what happened, in much more elaborate detail than what he had given Jiraiya and Naruto. He figured he'd never meet him in person or anything of the sort, so telling him things this personal would be okay.

It was at this point that Sasuke realized he had a scapegoat.

And, for now, this scapegoat might just save his life.