Out Of It
VI
The only light in Iruka's dark office was the desk lamp, which Naruto had turned on. Sasuke closed the folder he was holding and slowly brought it back to the desk, upon which Naruto was sprawled out and dozing with his mouth open.
"Oy, dead-last," he said, prodding his friend's shoulder.
"Eh...what?" Naruto said groggily. He sat up reluctantly, rubbing his eyes. "Ya done?"
Sasuke nodded and handed the file over.
"Anything good?"
The dark-haired boy watched as Naruto hopped off the bureau and replaced the file in the large drawer.
"My brother is..." Sasuke searched for the word with a slight frown. "Crazy."
"Um...no offence but, duh," Naruto said over his shoulder as he fixed the arrangement of Iruka's knickknacks, which he had accidentally shifted while slumbering.
"No, my brother's really crazy."
"Dude, I'm up," Kiba said, sitting upright suddenly. He had curled up and fallen asleep on the carpeted floor not long after Sasuke had cracked open Itachi's file.
"Good. Do your thing, lock-boy," Naruto said, indicating the desk drawer.
Without standing, Kiba dragged himself around the desk with a yawn. Tucked into the back of his shirt, Akamaru shone a very visible white under the lamplight.
A second after an audible click was heard, the blonde chuckled and too late Sasuke realised that that wasn't Naruto's laugh. He turned just in time to see Kyuubi snatch Akamaru out of Kiba's loose t-shirt.
Kiba spun around, anxiously staring at the small toy clutched roughly in Kyuubi's fist.
"Look what I found," the blonde drawled, his eyes gleaming in the dim light.
Sasuke was rooted to the spot, unsure if his actions would dissuade Kyuubi from his task or merely provoke him. Every imbroglio caused by Kyuubi had vastly different circumstances and Sasuke's involvement being helpful was always 50/50.
Stupid, you KNOW Naruto has less control when he's tired and you dragged him out here anyway. Stupid! Sasuke berated himself silently.
"Give him back," Kiba said in shaky voice, his hands braced against the floor like he was holding on for dear life. His eyes flickered to the prone Sasuke for a quick second before rushing back
"What? Your toy? Your little stuffed dog toy?"
"That's Akamaru," Kiba said. Sasuke noted the touch of hysteria in his tone.
He looked from Kyuubi's vicious smile to Kiba's wide eyes. He knew that Kiba was expecting him to help. It hadn't taken long for the entire ward to glom onto the fact that Sasuke was the only one who had any measure of control over Naruto's volatile other half.
So Sasuke had found himself stuck in the middle of an overdose of messy situations. It was really starting to tick him off. Especially when the girls would come to him all watery-eyed and hoping for some comfort.
"It's a toy, you moron! If I ripped his little head off, you know what would come out? Fucking stuffing!" Kyuubi hollered.
Kiba's breathing quickened. He looked like he was going to have a panic attack.
Sasuke rolled his eyes. Was he the only one who had what it took to stand up to Kyuubi? He was a bully, plain and simple. Sasuke could handle bullies. He prepared to do his best to ease the situation and opened his mouth to speak. But before he could utter a word, Kyuubi looked at him straight in the eye.
"Ah, lover," Kyuubi said in a voice laced with poison. The blonde glanced over at Kiba, who was still on the floor. A sneer spread over his face and Sasuke couldn't help but think how...wrong it looked on Naruto's still boyish features.
"Weak," Kyuubi said with disgust, chucking the toy across the room. Kiba hurried over to his crumpled dog on all fours. He gently lifted Akamaru and cradled him against his chest. Kyuubi snickered and Sasuke's dark eyes narrowed.
"Leave," he commanded.
Kyuubi merely cackled. "I never leave. Want to know something? Something little Naruto doesn't want you to hear? I can't leave. I don't live in the idiot's body, I am part of him. I'm the part he doesn't want you to see, lover-boy."
Sasuke didn't respond, his firsts clenching and his icy glower holding its ground.
"So when you end up fucking him, you'll be fucking me too. Now? You're not glaring at me, you're glaring at him. The only reason he's so goodie-goodie is because he's got me to be the fucking bad guy when it's really just--"
"Shut up," Sasuke growled.
"--every bad thing Naruto's ever thought--"
"Shut UP!"
"--or felt coming to the forefront like a crack addict overdosing."
Sasuke was seeing red. He was just barely restraining himself from throwing a punch at the blonde. His jaw clenched and he drew in several deep breaths. Then, much to Kyuubi's irritation, Sasuke's mouth morphed into smirk.
"If that's true, then you're not even real. You're just an emotion Naruto doesn't know how to control yet. Heh, how long until Naruto wins?"
"Oh I'm real, alright, brat," Kyuubi snarled. "And little Naruto's been fighting me for years. He's never told you just how long he's been here, has he?"
"Why don't you leave and let me ask him myself?" Having firmly gotten his temper under control, Sasuke put his hands in his pockets and shifted his weight onto one foot. He had never looked so bored in all his life.
"Have your fun. I'm not going anywhere," the blonde finally said through another sneer that really didn't belong on Naruto's face.
Then his blue eyes started to close involuntary. Naruto was exhausted and Kyuubi couldn't be much better, Sasuke reasoned, seeing as Kyuubi was, in effect, just a dark corner of Naruto's mind.
The blonde stumbled towards one of the plush armchairs and haphazardly crashed face-first into its cushions, fast asleep.
Sasuke wasn't sure he was okay with how Kyuubi spouted off about his and Naruto's distorted, somewhat hormone-charged relationship in front of Kiba. But a glance at the dog-loving teen dissuaded his worry. Kiba was still curled nearly into the fetal position, rocking Akamaru back and forth in his arms.
So against a passed-out Naruto/Kyuubi and an oblivious-to-the-world Kiba, Sasuke turned out to be the last man standing. He gave a frustrated sigh. Great. He'd have to somehow get Kiba back on solid ground long enough to get back to his room, and not only that, they needed him to lock the office door behind them. Sasuke realised he'd have to carry Naruto and resisted the urge to groan.
Something told him he wouldn't be getting sleep anytime soon.
Sasuke decided he hated winter.
It was one thing to be cooped up but being cooped up in a loony bin was a whole other level of going crazy. Or staying crazy, as the case may be. Not to mention that events from the night before were still replaying in his head like some trashy VCR.
Slowly, he redirected his attention to what Iruka was saying.
"Your sociopathic tendencies seem to be doing better judging by your effect on Naruto. Much better actually. I've heard reports of you being social with a number of other C-class members."
Sasuke stifled a yawn and scowled at the ground. He wanted to explain to Iruka just how badly he'd failed trying to calm down Naruto/Kyuubi last night. His eyes roamed over the spots he, Kyuubi, and Kiba had been during the entanglement. He wanted to explain that he wasn't so much socializing as putting up with people. Instead, Sasuke resorted to a more familiar conversation.
"I want to see my brother."
"Sasuke..."
"I know it's not allowed but I've thought about it. I have other things, other...people in my life, however contained my life may be. I need to see if my brother is really still the centre of my world or if he's now just another aspect."
Flashes of Naruto flew through Sasuke's mind in a whirlwind of orange and blonde accompanied by a warm feeling in the centre of his stomach. Sasuke blinked to clear his mind of his distracting roommate.
Iruka just stared for a moment. His patient sounded like he'd put a lot of thought into it. "I think that's more than you've said in your last two sessions combined," the therapist said with a smile.
"You said I've been doing better," Sasuke added.
"Yes, you're interacting on a level closer to that of an average teenager. But how you'll be around the person who...who murdered your entire family... I'm not sure it's a good idea."
Sasuke didn't say anything and merely looked away. He wouldn't plead.
"But," Iruka said with a sigh, running a hand through his chocolate-coloured hair. "We can certainly try."
All the way back to the ward, Sasuke's heart felt lighter than it had in months.
The first thing he noticed when he returned was that it was quiet. Some of the girls were playing a game of cards and a handful of patients were watching TV. A fair amount were missing; probably in their rooms or at the cafeteria or exercising grounds privileges. He noted that Kiba wasn't around.
"Where's Naruto?" Sasuke asked, turning to Kakashi.
"Kyuubi got a bit much this morning. He'll be staying in Seclusion for tonight. Possibly tomorrow too." All this was said from behind a worn copy of Icha Icha Paradise.
Kakashi peered over his book after Sasuke didn't respond (and after he had finished the paragraph) only to find the dark-haired teen gone. Kakashi glanced over his shoulder to see Sasuke's back as he walked up the stairs behind them. The orderly smiled and made his way to the nurses' station, his nose back in his story.
Sasuke didn't pause to greet any of the people he passed on his way up to the seclusion floor. Fortunately, this was not a new occurrence and so not many passers-by seemed to care.
Starting at the very beginning of the tiled corridor, he went from door to door, glancing in every window until he found his roommate. Naruto looked vastly different without his loud orange and black clothes. The hospital gown made him appear smaller almost.
He was sitting alone in the small padded seclusion cell with his knees drawn up to his chest. Against the walls and floor, which were an odd shade of off-white, Naruto's unruly blonde hair was impossibly vibrant.
Sasuke tried twisting the doorknob and the rattling made Naruto look up.
"It's locked," he called, pulling himself tiredly to his feet. He leaned against the wall.
"What did Kyuubi do this morning?" Sasuke asked, getting straight to the point, his voice slightly muffled by the door.
"Eh," Naruto said, flashing an apologetic grin. "You know how it is, sometimes I know, sometimes I don't. I don't even remember getting up this morning. I frickin' woke up here."
He gave a short laugh and approached the white-ish door. Sasuke's small frown was visible through the little window. When Sasuke didn't say anything, Naruto just kept going.
"At least it feels like he ate something," he said, poking his stomach. "Nice and full."
"Naruto..." Sasuke started.
"Sorry, I'll try to be more careful in the mornings while you're at Iruka's. I know you're good at shutting Kyuubi up. Everyone says so. Everyone loves you for it." Naruto's smile faltered slightly.
"It's remarkably irritating," Sasuke said.
"Sorry," Naruto said automatically.
Sasuke sighed and resisted the urge to knock his head against the window. "Don't be stupid. I don't tell off your bad side for their sake."
"I know, I know. You like your quiet."
"Dumbass, you like your friends. Even though they're stupid enough to judge you on only one part of you."
Now it was Naruto's turn to frown. "You do it so I can have friends? Aren't you not a people person? And why aren't you using Kyuubi's name?"
"It's in my best interests that you're happy." Sasuke's bored facial expression was slowly betrayed by a small smirk. "You're more willing to make out with me when you're in a good mood."
"Promiscuous bastard," Naruto said, blue eyes flashing.
"So you're going to have to get better," Sasuke stated.
Naruto opened his mouth before realising he didn't have a retort.
"So I can get better," the dark-haired teen finished.
Naruto's mouth shut in confusion.
"See you later," Sasuke called before turning away from the window and vanishing from Naruto's sight.
As evening fully settled on the C-class ward, Sasuke decided to turn in early, seeing as his usual source of distraction wasn't there. He brushed his teeth (under the watchful eyes of the orderlies posted in the bathroom) and pulled on his pyjamas. He climbed into his bed and was asleep before 9:30 checks.
It was probably because of the early bedtime that Sasuke was so easily awoken by a noise in the middle of the night.
Groaning slightly, Sasuke sat up. He turned his gaze to the glowing digital clock. It was 3:48 a.m.
He heard soft, nearly inaudible footsteps making their way towards his door. Now wide-awake, Sasuke waited for the night nurse to enter for checks. He'd ask for a sedative; that would get him back to sleep pronto.
The door opened and immediately, Sasuke knew something was wrong. The hallway's night lights were all off, and the figure in the doorway was merely a dark silhouette.
Sasuke squinted and when the figure spoke, his very blood froze in his veins.
"Hello Sasuke."
Sasuke took a shallow breath and swallowed slightly before speaking in a voice barely above a whisper. "Orochimaru."
End Part Six
Author's Note:
To answer IceNight009's question, the Shock Shop is the patients' slang for electrotherapy.