Out Of It
III
Iruka looked back and forth between an annoyed Kakashi and a grumbling Sasuke. They both stood in front of his desk with their arms folded crossly.
"What happened?" Iruka asked at length.
Sasuke merely hmph-ed and turned his head to the side. Kakashi gave an irritated sigh. Iruka eyed the clock on the wall; it was almost 10:00 a.m. How much could possibly have gone wrong before 10:00 a.m.?
"Apparently, Sasuke and Naruto shared a bed last night--" Kakashi began.
"Again?" Iruka asked surprised, looking at the sociopath.
"Just sleeping," Sasuke muttered in the direction of the wall.
"--and Kyuubi woke up before Naruto."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed and Iruka gathered that whatever had happened was still a sore subject.
"He won't tell me how it started but when I got to their room, the two were going at it like there was no tomorrow," Kakashi said in mock exasperation.
Sasuke turned and stared disbelievingly at the orderly. Could the man have possibly made that sound any more inappropriate? Iruka stared too, a red tinge slowly spreading across his face.
"We were fighting," Sasuke interjected hurriedly.
Iruka coughed, looking a little relieved. "Yes. Well. That's still not good news." He turned back to Kakashi, whom he swore looked smug through his mask. "Maybe we should think about rearranging the roommate system."
Sasuke blinked and found himself protesting that idea in his mind, much to his surprise. It was just because he couldn't stand many of the other patients, he reasoned. He'd learned to live with Naruto/Kyuubi and now had a comfortable routine going.
"I don't think so," Kakashi said, thoughtfully, much to Sasuke's relief. "Sasuke seems to be good for Naruto, wouldn't you agree?"
"That is true," Iruka said, eyes dropping to scan the charts on his clipboard.
"And I believe Naruto is good for Sasuke despite Kyuubi's outbursts," Kakashi continued.
Sasuke concealed his surprise but gave Kakashi an odd look, speculating why the orderly was pleading his case for him.
Iruka looked up. "I agree that this may serve as good motivation to Naruto in fighting Kyuubi. Nevertheless, some time away from each other will do them good for now. A volatile Kyuubi and an on-edge sociopath isn't the best combo."
Sasuke frowned. He wasn't on-edge. Alright, just a little. Iruka's words had confused him. How was he 'good' for Naruto?
As Kakashi and Sasuke left Iruka's office, the therapist noticed Sasuke's hand absently drifting up towards his neck to cover the mysterious tattoo. The two made their way through the maze of hallways that led back to the C-class, and Kakashi told Sasuke that he'd be spending a night or two in Seclusion.
"We won't lock you in. And depending on your actions, you could only spend one night there or you could spend a week."
"I need to know..." Sasuke started, then stopped.
"Yes?" Kakashi prompted gently.
"I need to know if Itachi is really there, two floors above C-class," Sasuke said quietly.
Kakashi sighed and slowly stopped walking.
"That hallway not the S-class, it's merely the Seclusion hallway for this building."
All the way back to the rec room, Sasuke couldn't help but feel slightly foolish. It had frightened him a little: that he wanted to kill his brother so badly that it was literally driving him crazy. That it was keeping him here.
He took in his surroundings as they walked. It was keeping him here with barred windows and regulated meals. He hated the control the hospital had over his actions but what he hated most was that he could get himself out if he wanted to. He could work toward freedom and eventually return to the real world. The problem was, he wasn't sure he wanted to.
The only purpose his life had was locked away in S-class. Sasuke knew he could eventually leave this hospital but a jolt of despair ran through him when he realised he didn't have a reason to.
As they walked down the girls' hallway, Kakashi was about to comment on Sasuke's gloomy state but was distracted by Gai running across the rec room and the loud crash that ensued.
Kakashi jogged towards the noise to see the green blur that was Rock Lee cheerfully zooming around the room. The boy easily leapt over Asuma's head and then proceeded to flip over the couch Ino and Sakura were sitting on, managing to blow a few kisses at Sakura before taking off down the boys' dorm hallway, a broad grin on his face the entire time. Sakura giggled and Ino scoffed.
Sasuke was surprised. No one had told him Lee was an acrobat. Well...that explains the outfit, he thought to himself. Maybe he worked at a circus. He was so busy watching Lee's antics that he accidentally tripped over Hinata, who had been sitting outside her dorm room.
Sasuke's hand had still been over his tattoo so his reaction time was delayed slightly and as such, he nearly landed on his face. He was about to snap out at the shy girl but stopped when she said very quietly:
"S-sorry, Sasuke-kun." She buried her face in her arms as Sasuke pulled himself to his feet. This was the first time he'd heard her say anything, let alone anything to him.
"Aww, that's okay, Hinata!" Naruto said loudly, bounding over and crouching down in front of the girl. "It was just an accident and Sasuke doesn't care. Right, Sasuke?"
Hinata peeked up timidly, her arms still wrapped around her knees. Sasuke looked at Naruto's expectant eyes.
"Yeah. Don't worry about it," he said, still looking at Naruto. Hinata's pale cheeks were turning a fabulous shade of pink. Naruto gave her an enthusiastic grin.
"Th-thanks, Naruto-kun," she whispered.
Behind them, Kurenai was leading Temari down the hall to the double doors.
"It does mean something that you come," the orderly said kindly. Temari didn't answer and continued looking straight ahead as she left.
Naruto looked after them curiously and then stood up.
"Come on," he said, grabbing Sasuke's wrist and pulling him along as he marched down the hallway.
Sasuke automatically tugged his wrist free but kept up with his roommate. Naruto veered into the rec room and turned down the boys' hall.
"What are you doing?" Sasuke asked.
"Gaara's usually in a good mood after his sister brings him one of those pumpkin things," Naruto answered as he skidded to a halt in front of Gaara's door.
Sasuke frowned, knowing perfectly well that Gaara was notorious for letting no one into his room. Nevertheless, Naruto rapped on the door a few times.
"Go away!" A muffled voice yelled.
"Definitely in a good mood," Naruto murmured to himself with a smug look on his face.
Sasuke raised an eyebrow and folded his arms.
"Come on, Gaara! Lemme in! It's Naruto!"
There was no noise from inside the room and Naruto's face cracked into a grin. He opened the door and slipped inside quickly, pausing to once again latch onto Sasuke's wrist and drag him inside too. Sasuke had no interest in why Gaara liked his privacy but closed the door quietly behind him nonetheless.
Naruto's eyes widened and even Sasuke stopped to stare for a minute. There was sand. Everywhere.
It was spilling over the dresser drawers. It was engulfing the lamp on the nightstand. It was all over the floor. And Gaara sat with a new gourd in the middle of a bed that was so covered in miniature sand dunes you couldn't see the colour of the comforter anymore.
"Wow," Naruto just said.
Gaara looked at him blankly for a second before his gaze shifted to Sasuke. The two glared at each other hostilely before retreating into a cool indifference. Naruto looked between the two before shrugging and flopping down to make himself comfortable in the middle of the sandbox of a room.
"What do you do with all this sand? Do you make sandcastles?" Naruto asked flippantly.
"Hn. No," Gaara said monotonously as he calmly opened the gourd his sister had given him and poured the sand onto where Sasuke guessed his pillow was. Sasuke also observed the teddy bear half-drowned in sand near Gaara's leg.
"Hey!" Naruto said suddenly. He had been looking around in awe at the room when his eye caught on the small stack of sandy suitcases. "You're all packed up."
Gaara nodded. "I'm leaving in a month. My father got me an apartment."
"Really? Where?"
"Near the beach."
"Checks," an orderly called in, opening the door unexpectedly. It was Genma. He halted before leaving, saying with some surprise, "Oh...You've got friends here, Gaara."
Naruto just gave Genma an overly enthusiastic grin while the other two characteristically said nothing. The orderly nodded and continued with his rounds.
"So, Daddy buys you your own place and no one'll ever get in, huh?"
Sasuke nearly winced at the tone of voice and didn't need to look over to know Kyuubi had decided to pay them a visit.
"You never leave except when Kakashi makes you go to the cafeteria...where you never eat...And everyone knows that you almost never sleep..." Kyuubi continued, his arms folding as he smirked. But before he could say anything else, he was interrupted.
"If you're going to leave soon, we definitely need to do something fun," Naruto said, his eyes sparkling.
At this, Sasuke sharply looked over at the orange-clad boy. Naruto was back already? Often, he had to put up with Kyuubi for hours before Naruto came back. He glanced over quickly to see how Kyuubi's taunts had affected Gaara. Unsure of Gaara's condition, Sasuke wasn't aware of off-limits conversation topics. Though had Kyuubi stuck around, the alter-ego would no doubt have exploited every one of them. But Gaara appeared utterly calm. Kyuubi's taunts would probably have had more of an effect on the sandy wall.
Naruto stood with his hands on his hips, appearing to have made his mind up.
"Alright. Tongue your meds tonight. You too, Sasuke. Listen, after 1 a.m. checks, Asuma always goes out for a smoke. Check the corner ceiling mirrors. If they're clear, go to the art room, and it will be open."
And that's why Sasuke found himself sneaking out of his room in Seclusion to creep down two flights of stairs and along the darkened hallways of a mental institution in the dead of night. Seeing by the nightlights that lined the walls, he silently met Naruto outside their shared bedroom. They stealthily made their way to the art room, where Naruto whipped out a keychain with three keys on it. He easily slid the key into the lock and the two boys quietly entered.
Naruto made a beeline for a door on the opposite end of the room and Sasuke stayed by the entrance, keeping an eye out. Sasuke heard another of Naruto's keys do their work and not long afterwards, Shikamaru and Kiba showed up. Kiba mockingly saluted Sasuke as they entered, the white dog clutched against his chest with the other hand. Gaara was next, entering the art room without so much as a sound.
"Who're we waiting for?" Kiba asked impatiently from his perch on one of the supply tables.
At that moment, Lee's distinctive haircut appeared in the doorframe. Behind him stood an irritated-looking Sakura in her striped nightdress. Lee bounced on his toes as he quietly clicked the door shut.
"What's she doing here?" Sasuke asked, suddenly aware that they were all in their pyjamas a.k.a. t-shirts and boxers.
"Sorry. She was awake and wanted to come."
"And if you didn't bring her she'd wake the orderlies, right?" Shikamaru asked, his quick mind having already assessed the situation. When Lee nodded, he sighed. Sakura stuck her tongue out.
"Come on!" Naruto whispered loudly as he went through the now-open door, which apparently led to a small wooden staircase.
The rest of the boys and Sakura followed, with Sasuke at the rear of the line, shutting the door behind them.
"This is how Naruto gets out when he escapes!" Lee enthusiastically informed Sasuke as they climbed down.
Naruto led them to what had to be the basement and expertly made his way to the far wall. Everyone squinted as the fluorescent ceiling lights flooded the room. Naruto proudly skipped from the light switch to an old wooden entertainment centre against the far wall.
Sasuke took in his surroundings. The room was fairly big and had a scattering of old chairs and a table or two. A tatty green carpet was spread wall to wall and there were two bookcases stacked with dusty books and worn board games.
Suddenly, the beat of a pop song floated quietly towards him. Sasuke looked over to see Naruto upping the volume on an old grey boom-box.
"Heeeey," Kiba crowed happily somewhere to his right.
Sasuke looked over to see the wolfish boy leaning over an unplugged mini-fridge in the corner that was stocked with old, warm soda. The boy spun around, Akamaru tucked securely in his shirt, as he held up four cans of ginger ale and cream soda.
Sakura giggled in excitement, Naruto grinned, and Lee gave a thumbs-up in his nice-guy pose. The party was on.
The stereo played out pop hits one after the other for hours. They guzzled soda, a taboo drink in the ward, and told ridiculous stories about previous adventures and laughed until they were rolling about the couches and chairs, choking and teary-eyed. At one point, Sakura was so weak that it took her two or three tries to get back to her feet from where she had collapsed on the floor.
The vertigo of the late night and the massive intake of caffeine on them after such a long stretch of absence (there was no soda in the Konoha cafeteria) had a dizzying effect. Sakura couldn't stop giggling and she inched closer and closer to where Sasuke sat on the floor with his knees to his chest and his back against Naruto's armchair.
Lee was doing handstands and ended up picking a fight with Shikamaru. A fight that they subsequently decided to settle through a race on the wheelchairs found in an adjoining supply room. Shikamaru won the race because he was still calm enough to remember to steer around Kiba, who had been spinning in circles in the middle of the room.
Lee hadn't bothered, and so he and Kiba ended up sprawled across the floor, Kiba near the half-empty mini-fridge and Lee on Gaara's sandy feet. Gaara was sitting in the armchair across from Naruto's and was working his way through his third cherry soda. At Lee's wipe-out, a faint smile ghosted across his face.
Naruto was laughing loudly, sloshing his own can of soda and spilling some on his t-shirt. His leaned forward, his head nearly hitting Sasuke's.
"This was the loons' rec room until last year when it was declared too dungeon-like, being in the basement and all. Then they redid the C-class dorm floor, where we live now," Naruto said before tipping his head back, draining his soda can.
Sasuke took another gulp of his, noting that this wasn't the first time Naruto had spouted off facts about Konoha Hospital's history. How long had the kid been here? Sasuke frowned, puzzled.
"Aww, you look so gorgeous when you're brooding," Sakura crooned, leaning suggestively against Sasuke's shoulder, her breast 'accidentally' brushing against his arm. Sasuke gave her a nonplussed look.
"Knock it off, slut," Sasuke heard Kyuubi growl from behind him.
"I'm going to knock your fucking teeth out," Sakura snapped, turning to glare at the blond. Sasuke recognized the sudden change of tenor for what it was: Inner Sakura had popped up. What was it with alter-egos having foul mouths?
Kyuubi chuckled nastily. "With what? Your massive forehe--"
"YOU KNOW!" A loud voice suddenly said, interrupting the inevitable bitch fight.
Sakura looked around at Lee, who was still lying with his head on Gaara's feet, staring blearily up at him. Relieved, Sasuke took another swig of his soda and also shifted his attention to the other armchair. From the lack of noise above him, Sasuke assumed that Kyuubi or Naruto--he wasn't up to finding out which right now--had done the same.
Lee reached out, putting a hand on Gaara's knee and pulling himself up. Sugar had an interesting effect on Lee's system. It was almost like he was drunk. After nearly getting to his feet, a swaying Lee supposedly changed his mind and toppled into Gaara's lap instead. Everyone froze. Shikamaru had been helping Kiba to his feet, and, at this point, they chose to join the other three in hesitant watching.
In C-class, there were certain things that everybody--patients and orderlies alike--knew that you just didn't do: give Lee alcohol, talk about family with Sasuke, discuss food with Ino, frighten Hinata, etc. 'Touch Gaara' was also on that list somewhere. Even the strident and friendly Naruto didn't attempt to hug Gaara.
Fortunately, for the moment, Gaara seemed too stunned to react; his normally emotionless eyes widening in surprise.
"You know..." Lee said again as he flung an arm around the stoic Gaara's shoulders. "I really don't have a grudge against you or anything..." Here, Lee hiccoughed before continuing. "...for beating me in that fight we had the first day I got here."
The upbeat music still played, oblivious to the tension. Sasuke heard a soft laugh and then Naruto's quiet voice behind him. "I remember that fight. It practically destroyed the rec room. Eventually Gai stopped it but not before Gaara knocked Lee unconscious."
Sasuke frowned. Gaara's movements were always slow and controlled. Sometimes it seemed he didn't move at all--how could he have beaten the hyperactive, fast-paced Lee in a fist fight?
Lee yawned and ducked into Gaara's pale neck. "I went through tough times because of you," he muttered sleepily.
Gaara hadn't moved throughout Lee's caffeine-fuelled rant or the snuggling, even though Lee had thoroughly invaded Gaara's personal space and was now undoubtedly breathing directly onto his neck. Gaara's dark-rimmed eyes watched the boy on his lap intently but his arms and legs remained still.
At length, he finally said, "Is that so?"
Half the room seemed to stop breathing as the red-haired boy finally moved, lifting a hand to the face of the boy draped across him. But he merely ran a thumb gently along a thin scar Lee had on his cheek.
"Gaara gave him that in the fight," Naruto whispered before chucking his empty soda can over his shoulder.
"Oy!" He suddenly yelled above the music, startling everyone. Lee looked over from his comfortable position on Gaara. It seemed his sugar rush was beginning to wear off. "I've got an idea! I know somewhere else we can go."
"They put the tunnels in so the loons didn't have to go out in the cold," Kiba commented later that night as they walked through said tunnels.
"I must've missed that in the brochure," Sasuke said wryly, keeping his eyes ahead so as not to stumble or take a wrong turn. The tunnels resembled a labyrinth and must have been hell to navigate. Sasuke speculated that that was probably the reason they were unused. Now, half the halls served as storage space.
"Come on, Sasuke!" Naruto called back enthusiastically as they reached several steps leading up to the basement floor of a different building. If Sasuke was counting the turns correctly, they were most likely under the therapy offices. He felt a small wave of smug superiority when they found themselves in the carpeted corridor outside Iruka's office.
"Hey, open the door," Naruto said, waving Kiba over.
"Hold Akamaru for a second then. Be careful, he's still a puppy," he said, handing Sakura the stuffed toy before dropping to crouch in front of the doorknob.
Sakura looked as though she wanted to try and convince Kiba that it wasn't a real dog. But one glance into Kiba's sincere eyes and she couldn't do it. She merely nodded and took the toy into her arms, holding it like she would a baby.
Sasuke marvelled at how everyone just played along with each other's quirks. He wondered if Kiba understood why he was here. Or maybe, he thought, that was another one of those taboo topics. Sasuke certainly didn't want to talk in depth about why he was in a mental hospital. And realising this, Sasuke wondered if empathizing with other lunatics was considered progress or retrogress.
"Hehe, good thing this place has a sliding scale. We get to mingle with the lock-picking trash," Naruto said teasingly.
Just then a loud click was heard and a cheer went through the group. Kiba stood up, stuck his tongue out at Naruto in triumph, and gratefully retrieved Akamaru from Sakura, who gave him a sad smile.
"Dr. Iruka's office," Lee said in awe, promptly leaping into the room before anyone else.
The rest meandered in after him. Naruto skipped over to Iruka's desk, turned on the lamp, and plopped down in Iruka's squishy swivel chair. Gaara sat cross-legged on the floor and Lee happily settled himself next to him. Sakura snagged one of the plush chairs that were tastefully placed around the room while Kiba sat on the wide window-ledge, toy dog in his lap. Shikamaru and Sasuke chose to lean against the wall, Shikamaru with his hands in his pockets, Sasuke with his arms folded.
"All right," Naruto said, pulling out a handful of manila folders out of one of the deep desk drawers. "Uchiha Sasuke," he said in his best therapist voice, a cheeky smile blossoming on his face.
Sasuke silently moved towards the desk and took his file from Naruto's hand.
"Hmm...Sabaku no Gaara," Naruto said, tossing the folder to the floor in front of the boy.
Naruto continued down the line, calling out names as he found their files, and one by one, the patients finally read their therapist's notes and thoughts about them.
"Uzumaki Naruto," he finished quietly, opening his own folder on the desk.
Gaara looked blankly at his file for a brief second before picking it up and opening it. There were a few minutes of quiet reading, which were punctuated by the occasional scoff or chuckle or sigh.
"Fuck you, Iruka," Kiba muttered at his diagnosis sheet.
Naruto looked up from his evaluation to see Sasuke close his file slowly, a pensive look on his shadowed face.
"Wanna see mine? Let me see yours," Naruto said with a grin gracing his features. Sasuke's lips quirked slightly and he once again approached the large desk. After trading records with Naruto, Sasuke then sat on Iruka's uncluttered workspace rather than return to the wall.
"This is from before you ran away," Sasuke commented off-handedly.
Naruto gave a small laugh and replied with, "Says here that sociopaths are very rare."
"You think you're hot shit because you're a sociopath?" Kiba asked from his spot by the window.
Sasuke didn't bother to reply to the bantering remark.
"...tends to be narcissistic..." Naruto continued. "...good though distant relationship with other patients...uncertainty about goals...impulsive in activities that may be self-damaging in the long run...such as casual sex," he finished.
Sasuke nearly choked. His head whipped around and he stared at his roommate. As soon as Naruto realised Iruka was alluding to the nights he'd spent in Sasuke's bed, a deep blush raced across his face, causing the three scars on each cheek to stand out.
Everyone but Gaara, who was still absently reading, and Lee, who had fallen asleep with his head on Gaara's lap, looked over at the two at Iruka's desk.
"I like that," Shikamaru said with a wink.
"Well, that's you," Kiba added, leering at Sasuke.
"That's everybody. I mean, what kind of sex isn't casual?" Sakura said before returning to scan the numerous documents in her record.
"They mean promiscuous," Shikamaru said with a smile, his closed file in hand.
"I'm not promiscuous," Sasuke said, not sure if he really wanted to go on and defend himself in depth. It wasn't that he didn't want to disclose information about himself to a gathering of lunatics, it was that he was reluctant to announce to a bunch of teenagers that he was a virgin--like he'd said, sociopath meant he wasn't a people-person.
Sasuke noticed the smiles his comment had sparked.
"I'm not," he protested again, fighting his own smile.
Yawns caught like the plague as the caffeine's effect faded from their bodies. Everyone passed their files back to Naruto, who put them back in the desk drawer. As they all gradually pulled themselves out of their chairs or off the floor--Gaara had to prod Lee several times to get the boy awake enough to stand--Naruto stood and flicked off the stylish desk lamp, plunging the room into a momentary, blinding darkness.
Sasuke heard several stumbles and one or two grumbled complaints as the group made their way to the bright hallway. He heard Naruto stand and make his way around the desk until Sasuke felt his roommate's hand land on his knee. He felt a slight pressure from Naruto's hand on his leg and then a pair of warm, slightly chapped lips tentatively pressing against his own.
End Part Three
Author's Note:
Some reviewers who have more knowledge of mental diseases than I have pointed out a few things for me. emily altered my definition of autism, saying that it's not really a psychiatric disorder, though it is usually treated as one. It's actually a neurodevelopmental disorder but I did get the charictaristics right. So woot. Glad to know I wasn't too far off.
And mkh2 made some corrections of her own. I'll post her comment rather than attempt to summarize them:
"It should be mentioned that both psychopaths and sociopaths do both exhibit similar antisocial behaviour (the definition you listed for psychopath can also be listed for sociopath), a psychopath is a person who does not understand the concepts of right and wrong and that is the reason they act out badly without empathy or remorse: they simply do not know better. Sociopaths, however, do have a sense of right and wrong but, as they tend to be narcissistic, they simply do not care and proceed to act thusly either way."