Falling Inside the Black

"When are you going to tell him?" Ino asked her fellow blonde haired, blue eyed, male lover. He was staring at Sasuke who as usual he'd gotten to hang out with them and was now having a small conversation with Hinata and Sakura.

"What was that, Pig?" He asked having not really heard her over the noise in the cafeteria. They usually sat outside for lunch. Now you know why, but since it had rained so hard earlier everything was too wet to eat outside.

"Hey if I can't call you Fishcake, then you can't call me Pig. Verstehen?" She asked showing off her German knowledge. Although it wasn't much. "When are you going to tell Sasuke-kun?"

"Tell 'em what?" He asked.

"Are you really that dense? I'm talking about your feelings for him."

He looked at her. "I'm not." He answered.

"What?" She asked.

"I'm not gonna tell him." He repeated. "I…he's…he probably wouldn't want to be with someone like me."

"WHAT?"

"I said probably!" He defended.

"Look, take a chance for once. I thought you weren't spineless!" Ino stabbed.

"I'm not, it's just…"

"Just what? That you're scared to death that he's not gay? That he is and has fallen in love with someone else?" She demanded.

"Look it isn't your business anyway…" He began to argue.

"Not my business?" She exploded. "You're my friend and I'm trying to help you here, but you gotta meet me half way!"

"Ino just drop it…"

"I'm not gonna drop it, Fishcake!"

"Fine! Look I don't think he wants to get close to anyone like that right now because he's having problems at home. Okay? Now just drop it!"

"What kind of problems?" Ino asked.

-XxX-

Itachi told him he was working late tonight and even normally on Wednesday he wouldn't get home until at least ten. But the car in the driveway didn't necessarily surprise him either. The license plate was recognizable to him by now since they had at least one surprise visit a month. So Sasuke just entered his house as if it was a normal day unbothered at all by the two in his living room. Although he kind of was now. He didn't know the second guy.

He was glad that nothing happened last night because nothing got cleaned. The only things stained had been left in the washer and forgotten about, unless Itachi decided to put them in the dryer. But Itachi never did anything like that leaving Sasuke to do it most times when he would lock him in the laundry room. Things got done that way. The first time Itachi made Sasuke clean his bedroom closet he'd locked him inside without light, food, and water for a day.

"Ah, Sasuke-kun, home from school?" His usual social worker greeted. To be honest Sasuke had never really remembered his name.

"Where else?" Sasuke stated simply before taking off his shoulder bag and placing it by the door. "Who's that?" He asked nodding his head at the other man.

"This is Ibiki-sensei. He's a psychiatrist."

Sasuke was then suddenly vaguely aware that Itachi had mentioned something like that before.

"He's here to learn a little about you."

"Is he gonna sit there and ask 'how that makes me feel?'" Sasuke asked. Ugh Naruto was starting to rub off on him.

His social worker seemed shocked by what he was saying. Sasuke was normally a lot more aloof.

"No. I hate that question too." Ibiki spoke up assuringly. "I'm only here to observe and study you."

Sasuke gave him a look but sighed anyway. "Right, I'll go make tea then."

-XxX-

Sasuke stared up at the ceiling to his bedroom and waited. He wanted to sleep but he couldn't. Apparently Itachi had known about his skipping school the previous day and had called the social worker informing him that Sasuke had been difficult lately. This only assured his suspicions that Itachi was planning to do something. Although that something was still unknown to him.

Finally he turned away from the unchanging ceiling to rather look at the alarm clock on his bedside table. The digital numbers creating a red glow in his room through the darkness.

Every minute that clock would change. A new number would take its place. It only remained constant when the batteries were dead. He watched as the number at the far left side blinked off and back on again only with a different number in place. How was it that time would always speed on, and yet the ceiling remained unchanging?

How was it that so many people were like that ceiling? Refusing to change. And so very few welcomed the change. Challenged time. Or were so used to everything changing around them they went through life learning to get along. But at least they weren't scared of the changing time anymore.

Only eight years old and things changed for Sasuke constantly.

"Sasuke-chan, didn't I tell you to clean your room?" Mikoto asked raising an eyebrow.

Sasuke looked up at his mother from where he was reading to himself. "When was this?" He asked.

"Three hours ago." She answered.

"What was I doing then?" He asked.

The question temporarily threw her off. "Same thing you're doing now, reading." She answered.

"See, you shouldn't tell me these things while I'm reading. I tend to ignore you." He replied with a small mischievous smile.

"I can see that now." She replied looking around his still messed up room. "Fine, will you go tell your brother to come inside, he's in the backyard I need his help with some chores."

"Uh…okay." Sasuke replied book marking the book and leaving it lying on the floor to his room with everything else he cared to pull off of shelves.

He went down the stairs and passed by his father's office on the way to the backyard.

"Sasuke." Fugaku called noticing the spiky hair boy pass his office.

"Yes, Father?" Sasuke asked hustling back to the doorway.

"You cleaned your room yet?" He asked.

"I was getting around to it…" Sasuke answered kind of truthfully.

Fugaku frowned. "You were supposed to have started…"

"I know, I've got to find Nii-san though, for Mother." Sasuke rushed his words before scurrying away from the office. He hated lectures and he knew it was coming so he rushed out into the backyard.

"Nii-san?" He called looking around for his older brother.

He walked back to the garden figuring that would be the place Itachi would hide. It usually was. But it was empty. Sasuke made a face. Did Itachi run off? He tended to do that a lot lately. Then he would always come home acting really weird. Talking to inanimate objects. Breaking things. Yelling at nothing in particular.

He decided to just head back into the house now. He walked past his father's now empty study and stopped seeing Itachi at the bottom of the staircase looking up at something.

Sasuke turned and looked up as well trying to figure out what Itachi was staring at.

His eyes widened as he finally noticed the sight. Flickering beautifully and dangerously at the top of the stairs.

"Itachi!" Sasuke exclaimed confused. His brother the only one he can see.

"Mom! Dad!" Sasuke called knowing his Mother had been upstairs and not knowing at all where his Father was.

"Itachi!" Sasuke called again but his brother never looked away from the flames so he went of and started tugging on Itachi's sleeve desperately trying to break whatever spell had his brother like this. "Itachi! We have to get out of here!"

Itachi finally looked down at his brother with cold eyes.

"Nii-san…"

He was cut off when he was slammed against a wall hard. Had Itachi just shoved him? But the thought hadn't plagued him too much at the time. All he knew was for some reason of another his head hurt pretty badly.

The front door suddenly burst open immediately Itachi ran towards Sasuke without hesitation.

"Holy shit! Itachi what are you doing in here? There's a fire you need to get out!" Shisui yelled. He'd noticed the fire from outside through a window and hadn't seen any of his relatives leave the house yet. "Where's Aunt and Uncle?" He yelled in a rush noticing his brother head over to help Itachi with Sasuke.

"What happened?" Obito yelled picking Sasuke who didn't seem to know where he was or what was going on right now.

"I don't know!" Itachi yelled. "Mom and Dad are upstairs! We gotta get them out!"

Shisui stopped his cousin. "We can't! There's no way you can get past that fire. Get out of here Obito! I'll get Itachi!"

Obito obeyed his younger brother taking Sasuke with him ran outside and took him towards on of the ambulances.

"I can't leave them!" Itachi yelled over the roaring sound the fire was making. He tried to run up the stairs only to be wrestled back by Shisui.

"There's nothing you can do!" Smoke was beginning to fill the house and Shisui knew if they stayed much longer they'd get killed as well. By now it was too late for Mikoto and Fugaku. So he did all he could think to do and kneed his cousin using this moment of breathlessness to drag him outside and away from the house.

The house burned down to ruble nothing left not even the remains of Mikoto and Fugaku. There was no way an investigation could be done to figure out the cause of the fire.

"Mind if we speak to your brother?" A cop leading the investigation asked Itachi.

Itachi nodded slowly not taking his eyes from the ground and led the cops into the room Sasuke was staying in at their aunts. Obito was in there attempting to talk to Sasuke about whatever came to mind since Sasuke hadn't said anything much since he left the hospital. He only mumbled a "good morning" or "good night" depending on the time of day.

Obito looked up at his cousin and the two investigators dressed in suits and gave them a small smile. "Hey, I'm gonna go make some food okay, and just tell me if you get hungry and I'll give you something." He informed Sasuke before getting up and leaving the room.

"Outoto?" Itachi called.

Sasuke looked over at his brother then at the people with him.

"These people want to talk to you about some stuff, okay?" His voice seemed so sweet, but his face was cold. Neither of the investigators noticed since they were either looking around the room or at him. It was a warning. Of that Sasuke was sure.

"Sasuke-kun right?" The cop asked taking a couple steps toward him. "Look could you tell us about the fire?"

Sasuke looked at Itachi but it seemed the look had only gotten colder. "Like what?" He asked quietly.

"It started upstairs right?" She asked sweetly. She looked nice too.

"Yea." He answered.

"Well did you see anything while you were in there."

"I hit my head. Everything got blurry after that."

"How'd you hit your head?" The other investigator asked sounding less kind.

Sasuke didn't look at Itachi this time. He was too afraid. Somehow he could feel those piercing eyes, telling…no…forcing him to lie.

"I was upstairs near the staircase when the fire started. Aniki saved me by pulling me back but I lost balance and hit my head on the stairs on the way down." Sasuke answered looking at his hands and he felt tears beginning to form.

"That's enough." The girl said finally. "That's all Sasuke-kun. Thank you."

He nodded slightly starting to cry but not wanting to in front of these people. What the hell happened to his brother? The one that would never look at him like that. Who would never make him lie. Who wouldn't throw him against walls. The one who loved him.

"Thank you." She informed Itachi.

"We're going to talk to your cousins before we leave." The other investigator chimed in. Even he seemed less cold then Itachi.

"Please go ahead." Itachi replied. "If you don't mind I'll stay here with my brother for a bit."

"That's fine." She replied.

The two left the room and Itachi closed the door once he'd seen them begin the decent down the stairs towards where Shisui and Obito would be.

Itachi walked over to his brother and grabbed his chin forcing the tear stained face to look at him. "You did well enough this time. But you will do better next time."

Where was that warmth Itachi once had? Why was he so cold? Even as Itachi kissed him shocking him and disgusting him all he could think of was the Itachi he once loved and admired.

Sasuke woke up suddenly feeling as if he'd lost his breath which he had. A pain in his chest confirmed this.

"They think you're being abused by someone at school." Itachi's voice whispered in his ear.

Sasuke tried to respond but he still hadn't been able to catch his breath as something was still obstructing his lungs.

"I told them I'd noticed this blonde boy who had chased you into the school the other day, and he'd said a couple nasty comments to you in front of me as well one morning about a week ago. His name's Naruto right?"

The pressure lessened as Itachi moved his knee and Sasuke did his best to catch his breath. "A-aniki…" Sasuke tried but couldn't continue as he was hit closed fist to the face knocking his head to the side and made him bite his tongue hard enough to taste blood in his mouth.

"I warned you, Sasuke."

Tonight I'm so alone

This sorrow takes a hold

Don't leave me you're so cold

Falling Inside the Black by: Skillet

Itachi: Holy shit I'm a bastard!

Sasuke: Hadn't we established this already?

Naruto: No, actually Sasuke you're the bastard, Itachi you're the fucking bastard.

Sasuke: There's a difference?

Itachi: Apparently in Narutoland there is.

Sasuke: Heheh nice.

NearKunn: *yawning* writing fanfiction wears me out! *whines like a little girl*

Sakura: *pats her on the head*

Suigetsu: Alright so, we're going to try this again. REVIEWS!

NearKunn: I never tire of reading them! :3 I do appearently get sleepy when it rains. AND IT WON'T STOP RAINING!

Sai: Ah, just ignore the hack for she is boring.

NearKunn: SCREW YOU SAI!

Sai: At least you're awake now

NearKunn: *snore*

Shikamaru: *lays down with her and begins to snore*

Sasuke: You're all dumbasses.

Sakura: Okay, so do us a favor and PM NearKunn w/ song suggestions. She has a whole bunch lined up but some are really wanted and NearKunn-sensei would perfer to relace them.

We hath decided to sponsor each other's NaruSasu stories. We meaning Mitsu Amarante and I (the Great NearKunn-sensei).

So please check out her wonderful story. It's funny and it's gay (haha get it?). A Wedding, 2 Break Ups, & a Make Up. Written by Mitsu Amarante. If you like NaruSasu. If you like Comedy. And hell if you like lemons, cuz I kno she does, that is the story for you. So check it out lovelies! XD