A/N: Hi guys, I hope you're all enjoying your Thanksgiving break. I'd like to apologize because of how long this took to update, but I will absolutely be doing quicker updates in the future. I was actually really excited to write this chapter, so I hope you guys enjoy, please leave reviews! They'll definitely make me update quicker. Also, I decided for Naruto to have somewhat of a country accent, I hope you guys like it as much as I do. Well, time for me to stop rambling, I hope you guys like it!
It was around 4 o'clock in the morning and Sasuke was still wide awake. He wanted so badly to tell someone about the way he was feeling, but he knew the only person he could turn to was no longer there to comfort him.
He arose from his bed and headed to the bathroom, he figured it would help him by splashing some water on his face. He roamed through the dark house. He knew this place so well, since it was the place where he and Itachi grew up together.
Making his way to the bathroom, he noticed a faint light in the kitchen. "I wonder who it is so late." He wondered.
His gaze focused on silver hair shining in the dim light.
"Sasuke." Kakashi spoke up. He was sitting on the floor by the refrigerator with a lantern by his feet. He signaled for Sasuke to sit next to him.
"You couldn't sleep either huh?" He asked Sasuke.
"Guess not."
They sat in silence for what seemed to be an eternity. Only now had Sasuke become aware of the sink dripping in the background.
He went still when he heard a sharp intake a breath come from next to him. When he looked over he saw a tear glimmering its way down Kakashi's face. He inched closer to him and leaned his head on his shoulder. Kakashi then took a hold of Sasuke's hand, and Sasuke squeezed it softly as Kakashi's shallow heaving breaths disappeared into the remainder of the night.
"The guests will probably start arriving after six, what time is it now?" Madara asked Sasuke.
"It's a little after one."
"Well, you pretty much handled all of the preparations, Kakashi said he would be in charge of the hors d'ouvres and drinks, so you should probably take it easy and go take a walk or something outside. If there's anything left to do, Madara and I will handle it." Said Obito, one of Sasuke's cousins.
"Yeah." Sasuke replied softly and headed towards his room.
He didn't plan on going outside, but he didn't want to stay in his room either. He settled with trying to get a bit of rest if possible before he had to make himself presentable to the guests that were coming in for the prayers. As he laid down in his bed, something immediately caught his eye from outside the window.
"Blond hair?" His eyes had followed the spikes of blond just barely making themselves visible through his tall window as they grazed right by out of his sight.
He rubbed his eyes in maybe considering that he had imagined it, but the curiosity got the best of him. Before he knew it, he was bolting out of the house looking to see if he would catch a glimpse of the blond haired culprit behind his piqued curiosity. He searched the perimeter of the house but found no one and nothing that even resembled the blond-ish yellow he had seen just moments ago.
"Gone huh? Must've been my imagination." He thought to himself as he shook his head and returned back inside the house and back into his room.
A feeling of unease washed over Sasuke as he made his way around the house. There were just too many people around and he felt completely uncomfortable. He wasn't quite used to being surrounded by so many people at the same time.
Every minute he would find himself surrounded by people he only vaguely knew trying to strike up simple conversations with him. While he was glad that there were so many people who loved and cared about Itachi, this sort of atmosphere was too much to handle. He needed to step out for a bit
He sat under the dim light of the back porch. The gentle breeze stroking his cheek and the soft noises of the country helped calmed him down.
"Sasuke?" He heard a familiar voice call his name. He turned around and saw it was his long time friend Shikamaru.
"Shikamaru."
"What are you doing back here all alone?"
"I had to get out for a bit." Sasuke shrugged as he replied.
"Yeah, you were probably getting swarmed weren't you? How troublesome."
Suddenly, the blond hair he had seen earlier sprung into his thoughts and he figured Shikamaru might be the best person to ask about it.
"Shikamaru, uh, do you happen to know anyone around here with blond hair?"
"Blond hair… Hm, Ino maybe?"
"Any others? I think Ino's hair might be a little too blond."
A shrilling girly voice suddenly appeared from what seemed to be out of nowhere.
"Shikamaru! Sasuke!" The coincidence was too unreal, it was Ino, who came as if she knew her named was mentioned before.
"Ino, what are you doing here?" Asked Shikamaru.
"Well, believe it or not, I felt that you mentioned my name, so I rushed over here as quickly as I could."
Sasuke couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed, he had come here to get away from people and more and more kept appearing, he was completely okay with Shikamaru, but Ino was someone he couldn't ever exactly get along with.
"Sasukeee, what are you doing here all alone with Shikamaru?! You could've totally came to me if you wanted someone to keep you company!" Ino said while nudging Sasuke playfully.
"Ino, would you keep it down a bit, it's probably not the right time to be so troublesome anyways." Said Shikamaru while sighing.
"I'm sorry. What were you guys talking about anyways?" Ino asked, her eyes lit with curiosity.
"Actually…" Sasuke suddenly spoke up.
"Good idea Sasuke, Ino knows just about everyone here so maybe we should ask her." Shikamaru said almost as if he read Sasuke's thoughts.
"Ask me what?"
"Ino, who do you know around here that has blond hair?" Shikamaru asked.
"Well for one, your girlfriend has blonde hair, or did you forget?" Said Ino sneering.
"I did think of that, but Temari isn't even here, she's on a business trip with Gaara and she won't be back until tomorrow."
"Hm, do you know what kind of hairstyle they had Sasuke?" Ino asked.
"It was spiky, but um actually, I'm heading back inside." He said as he stood up and quickly left.
"Do you think it might be Naruto?" Ino asked Shikamaru.
"Why didn't you think of that earlier? You definitely scared off Sasuke you know, he's already having a hard enough time as it is."
"Aw jeez, I was just trying to be cheery enough for all of us, since we all know you're a drag!" Ino shouted at Shikamaru and stormed off.
"How troublesome, guess I'll have to go after her." Shikamaru sighed to himself.
Sasuke didn't actually go back inside, instead he was wandering around in the garden. He and Itachi used to play there often when they were younger. Being there seemed to bring back warm memories.
He heard footsteps approaching behind him. He was a bit confused because around this time, everyone should have been inside for the prayers.
"Hey." Said the voice approaching him.
Sasuke couldn't help but jump a bit at hearing the sudden greeting.
"Sorry, did I scare ya?" The voice said again sheepishly.
Sasuke turned around. The first thing that caught his eyes was spiky blond hair. This person was considerably taller than Sasuke, who was about 5'11. Even in the darkness of the evening, he could see two striking blue eyes staring back at him. This person looked incredible, Sasuke was immediately certain this was the person he was looking for.
"What's the matter? Cat got ya tongue? Did I really frighten ya that much?"
Sasuke was frozen, he couldn't exactly find any words to say and for some reason his heart was beating rapidly and he could feel himself burning up.
"Well, no matter, I'm Naruto, what's yer name?"
"I-I'm Sasuke." He said in a low voice.
"Oh, so yer Itachi's lil bro, nice to meet ya then. What are ya doin' out here anyways?"
"I can ask you the same thing can't I?" Sasuke said, quickly covering his mouth after realizing how brash he sounded.
"Ha, yer a funny one aren't ya." Naruto chuckled while Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance.
"Were you here earlier?" Sasuke said.
"Yeah, I was actually, I came to help out with the preparations. Itachi was a good friend a mine ya know."
"Oh."
"How come I didn't see ya earlier? Were ya hidin' or somethin'?"
"No, I wasn't really."
"Ya don't talk much do ya?" Naruto said while chuckling.
"Not usually." Sasuke muttered.
"Well don't worry, I can do enough talkin' for the both of us." Naruto flashed a smile in Sasuke's direction. His teeth were perfectly straight and were white enough to be seen in the darkness.
"Thanks." Sasuke said while looking up at him.
"I'll see ya tomorrow then, I've got to get goin', it was nice meetin' ya Sasuke, night!" Naruto said as he waved and walked away.
"Night." Sasuke muttered in response.
He couldn't understand why, but his heart picked up pace when Naruto said his name.