A/N: Okay. I upped the rating after thinking about it for a while, lol. And I realized this is one of the first fanfics I'm really writing just because I want to write it and that be the only reason. Normally, I have other core motivation for writing fanfic. Haha. Oh well…just a revelation on my part, I guess. And I normally type with my two index fingers (98wpm lol) but my left index finger is bleeding so I have band aide on it so I have to type with my middle finger. o,...,o Annoying, much…Slows me down. Ahem. Onto the fic…

Strands of raven locks began to litter the tile as the boy tugged at his hair. It was a lie. All of it was a lie. He had no one. He was alone.

"Sasuke…" The worried voice on the other end of the door rose an octave as the boy crawled desperately for the drawers beneath the sink. He hadn't eaten in two days now; his frail frame beginning to look thinner by the second as he raised a shaky hand to the handle, tears forming a small trail of puddles as he grasped it, pulling the drawer open. The teen had to pull himself up to look inside it, the cluttered contents causing a muffled crash to echo about the small bathroom as the drawer slid open. No longer attempting to silence his sobs, the boy sucked in a shaky breath as his hand formed a fist around the bottle inside. Pills rattled within the plastic depths as he took it from the drawer. "Sasuke!" The voice sounded stronger this time, more assertive, more dominant…it was almost unfitting to the blonde. Sasuke had always considered him a sidekick-like figure rather than the hero, albeit the fact it was quite opposite.

"NO! I'm fucking DONE, Naruto!" The teen screamed through quivering sobs, voice breaking as he felt himself collapse against the tub.

They were liars, damnit. All of them were liars. Everyone was against him and the few that weren't, he couldn't see. His family, his peers, Laharl…the only ones he had ever trusted in his life had betrayed him. All but Naruto, yet. But he couldn't see Naruto. Not now. Not when he was like this.

"Sasuke, please!! Don't do this!" The formerly assertive voice of his friend had dwindled down to masking the sobs he was experiencing himself; a weak plea that barely even grazed the Uchiha's ears as his shaky hands attempted to open the childproof cap on the bottle of pills. As hysterical as he was, the boy was having trouble realizing he had to align the arrows, push down, then turn.

"Please, come back home sweety. We love you. We love you, okay, so come back. Please!"

The boy was almost tempted to hang up the phone with Naruto watching him as he clenched his knuckles at his mother's voice. Silently, he shook his head, forgetting his mother couldn't see him. A rustle on the end of the line sounded before a much deeper, yet still maturing voice took hold of his ears.

"Damnit, you fucking idiot. Get back here, you're making mom cry."

The boy swallowed at his brother's voice. "Shut the fuck up, Itachi." He growled, attempting to keep the blonde from hearing.

"Oh come on, she's not lying. We miss you, stupid. Now get your pathetic ass back home. Dad was joking, kay?"

Joking…He was joking? Sasuke let out a sharp breath in a scoff. "Joking?" He asked disbelievingly, sarcasm dripping from each syllable. "Fucking joking?" A small, maniac laugh surfaced from his throat. "You tell him to get on the fucking phone and tell me to come back, then. You want me back, he's got to fucking say it himself!" Though he rarely spared this many words on his family in such situations as these, normally taking the more silent of paths, the desperation in his mind was swimming with the need to be accepted. He had to make his father bow to him before he'd bow back. There was no giving in until someone gave first.

"…" The silence on the other end made Sasuke's lips twitch.

"Knew it." The boy had so foolishly hoped his father would take him back, would tell him to come home…something, anything. Why had he hoped? He knew it would be like this. "Fucking knew it."

A lump caught in his throat as the painful memories resurfaced. He no longer heard Naruto's voice. Had he given up on him? He had gone away, hadn't he? That meant he didn't care. All the more reason to go through with it…right?

Sasuke's jaw quivered slightly as he wrestled with the pill cap.

What had he hoped for? That Naruto would keep trying to stop him? How stupid was that? Swallowing the lump in his throat, another memory resurfaced; one that had only just prior taken place, one that had pushed him over the edge.

QuothTheRaven (4:18:08 PM) uv got some damn explaining to do

He had waited for instants as the other didn't type back. His flesh was crawling as Naruto scooted beside him, looking at the screen. "Who are you talking to?" The words stung. He didn't know. He didn't know who the fuck he was talking to anymore.

The boy didn't answer and straightened himself out as the words 'xsilverscarecrow is typing…' appeared at the bottom of the IM window.

xSilverScarecrow (4:19:02 PM) What?

Sasuke flinched back a second, angered by the one-syllable inquiry.

QuothTheRaven (4:19:22 PM) what!? r u fucking kidding me! dont ask me what! u kno what! so tell me who the fuck im talkin 2 becuz I want to kno NOW

Naruto blinked as Sasuke's slammed his fingers against the keys, somehow forming words in his apparent rage. "Sasuke-teme?" The blonde stared for a moment, wondering what in the world was going on. Sasuke ignored the boy at his side, glaring at the screen intently. This man was sure taking his time typing, wasn't he?

xSilverScarecrow (4:22:02 PM) I'm just someone that knows you, cares about you, and wants to be close to you. Names aren't really important, are they?

Sasuke blinked disbelievingly at the screen. A lie? It had been a lie? What else was a lie? Was he really 23? Was it someone around him? Was it Naruto? No, it couldn't be. Naruto was sitting right next to him. Jiraiya? No, Jiraiya was at work. But where did Jiraiya work? Itachi? Could it be Itachi?

The teen's mind began to swim, eyes panning the words over once more in a frenzy. "What…" He breathed, fingers beginning to shiver above the keys. "Lie…"

"Sasuke?" The blonde laid a hand on Sasuke's shoulder, leaning in closer to him, as though to embrace him indirectly. The raven-haired boy stiffened at his side, as though a simple touch could shatter his entire existence. Naruto looked to his friend, seeing him bite his lower lip. It was then he laid his arms around the other, hugging him to himself. "What the hell's going on with you, teme? You haven't called me dobe in ages." Though his words had a pained innuendo within him, the vocals pushed out strongly and rather jokingly, a gentle laugh submerging with the hurt. Sasuke let a shiver run the length of him in the other's arms as his eyes veered back to the screen, then widened as he read the words in the IM box.

xSilverScarecrow (4:22:02 PM) I have to go. I'll be back later, though. We can continue this later.
xSilverScarecrow has logged off.
xSilverScarecrow will receive your offline IMs when signing back in.

The boy's mouth dropped open in disbelief as he reread the words four times. Offline? Offline…?

"Sasuke?" The concern in the blonde's voice finally reached the Uchiha after the umpteenth time, causing him to jump slightly in the other's arms. Naruto tightened his grip. "Sasuke-teme…?"

"Liar…" The word fell almost silently in the vacant bathroom. The room felt deserted, alone, and cold; exactly parallel to what Sasuke was feeling. A shiver ran the length of him as he swallowed hard, choking on his own saliva. "No…no!" He screamed, finally throwing the bottle as hard as he could against the wall, causing the plastic to shatter and large pill capsules to flood the tile floor. Stupidly, the boy stared at them for a moment, wondering what they were.

Oh right…those are freedom.

It wasn't his voice that spoke in his mind, but a voice he had only begun to recognize; a voice that he had been listening to more and more often lately. A voice of sin.

A soft tap at his bare foot caused him to look down, seeing a couple pills roll towards his toes and stop whence they hit the barrier of flesh.

Take them.

Both eyes widened slightly as he witnessed his own hand reach out to grasp the pills. "No…" He whimpered. He hadn't told himself to do that! Shivering, he shook his head, tears pouring from his eyes as his trembling hand twitched open to reveal seven narcotics in his palm. "N-no…"

"Sasuke, open the door."

Both onyx hues shot open at the voice behind the door. He knew this voice. It was much too deep to be Naruto's, yet much too high to be Jiraiya's. It was a voice he had heard drone on and on everyday in class in English. Hearing his voice in Japanese was almost unrecognizable. But what was he doing here? Oh, right. Jiraiya lived here. He used to work under Jiraiya, didn't he? He learned everything he knew from Jiraiya. Yet, here? Now? Of all times?

Sasuke dropped the pills, immediately lacing his fingers through his hair and pulling with all his might as he backed himself into the crevice between the toilet and the bathtub. Soon, his nails found their ways to his arms, clawing at the flesh avidly, trails of blood forming as he ripped the skin from himself. It felt like heaven, yet only made him cry more. The contradiction made his head spin till he heard the voice once more.

"If you don't open the door, I'll break it down. One way or another, you're coming out of there, Sasuke."

The serious syllables cut into him slightly, yet he couldn't seem to voice a single word of response. He could retaliate against anyone…

…anyone but Kakashi.

A/N As always, review if you want an update.