"That bastard tricked me!" Naruto yelled in frustration. He should have known that that Uchiha was a sly bastard.

"What did you expect? Did you honestly believe he would do you a favor without getting something in return?" Shikamaru laughed under his breath.

"He's not getting anything in return!" Naruto's cheeks turned a shade of red.

Shikamaru cleared his throat. "Did you know that Sasuke is an artist?"

Naruto raised a curious brow. "Right, and I'm the presisdent." he replied sarcastically.

"Ask anyone if you don't believe me. His pantings are hung in the art museum a few blocks from here."

Naruto shook his head in disbelief. "There's no way that prick is an artist."

"Well he is, and quite a famous one at that."

Naruto sat back in his chair, a blank look on his face. "Then why is he working here?"

"You mean you don't know?" Shikamaru eyes widened. "I figured Itachi would have told you."

Naruto just shook his head in reply.

"Sasuke's parents were killed about a year back. His Father owned this Casino and left it to Sasuke and Itachi. I'm surprised Itachi never mentioned anything to you."

"I knew his parents died but he's never mentioned anything about it. I suppose he doesn't like to talk about it."

"As for Sasuke, some say he lost his sanity and others believe he just gave up drawing simply because he had plenty of money. No one knows the truth, one day he just stopped. I can only imagine that losing his parents was traumatizing and he just lost it."

Naruto looked down at his arms that were now shivering, though he wasn't cold. He bit his lip and kept his eyes fixed on the floor. For the first time, he felt compassion towards the young Uchiha.

I found myself staring at the ceiling once again, my thoughts running in ten different directions.

"Are you going to accept Orochimaru's offer?" The little voice in my head kept repeating.

"No" I spoke aloud, speaking to myself as though there was another present. I could have been hallucinating for all I knew.

"Are you sure?" The voice asked.

I didn't answer, I just turned my head to stare out the window. It was rather cold, but I was sweating. I over did it again... I moved my eyes to the empty bottle of pills lying on my dresser, an un easy feeling settled in my stomach. I felt as though I swallowed venom and now it was slowely deteriorating my insides. Suddenly I felt a presence in the room. I looked up quickly and stared at the doorway. Itachi stood there, his pale face glew in the darkness.

"What do you want?" My voice was harsh, just the way it always was when I spoke to him.

"Are you sick?" He asked, his voice filled with concern. I wanted to punch him in the face for making me look like the ass-hole. His pitty was fucking pathetic and he knew it.

"No, I'm fine." I mumbled.

"What are those pills there?" Itachi pointed at the empty bottle.

I snatched them quickly and threw them in the top draw. "From the doctor for my blood pressure."

"Right," He folded his arms across his chest. "I heard Orochimaru was here tonight, what did he want?"

I bit my bottom lip, how the hell did he find out? I had to come up with something good. If I didn't he would find out for sure. "He wanted a job." I blurted out.

He raised his eyebrow and let his arms fall to his side. "A job?"

"Yeah," I glanced up at him then focused on the floor. "I told him to get lost."

He was silent for a few moments, he seemed puzzled by what I had said. Then he said the last thing I ever expected:

"Do you honestly believe I'm a fucking idiot?"

I looked up, my eyes were wide. When Itachi used the "F" bomb he was definitely pissed off. It didn't just flow out of his mouth when he spoke, like it did with me. His eyes turned a shade of red, I remembered when I was younger watching his eyes turn crimson. I knew when that happened to run for my life, but I had to remind myself I wasn't a child anymore. I had to face him.

"He wanted a job," I repeated. "I told him to fuck off, alright?"

He just stood there, his eyes still red. I wasn't sure if he was going to scream or throw a punch. I squinted my eyes and waited for the impact, when nothing happened I opened my eyes. He was still standing there, but then he reached in his pocket and threw a twenty dollar bill at me.

"Go get something to eat, you don't look healthy."

And with that he left. I hated myself for lying, but it was neccesary or at least that's what I told myself. I couldn't believe the way he acted, for once I had no idea what he was thinking. Deep down, I believe he knew I was doing drugs, but he couldn't face it. The thought of his little brother doing such things made him sick. So instead of accusing me, it was easier to walk away and pretend it wasn't happening. It was the easy way out of everything for him, just pretend, if you had the imagination nothing bad was happening. It was only until you had to face reality and realize nothing was right.

I looked down at the money, Itachi never gave me money. I made just as much as he did a week, except he would put most of his away. I would blow my entire paycheck on the drugs alone so I barely ate. He thought I was saving mine as well, but I also believed he knew there was no money in my bank account. He just couldn't bare to check himself. It was pretending time once again.

I shoved the money in my pocket and glanced at the clock. It was three in the morning, Itachi would be heading off to bed, and I would roam around like a night owl. Suddenly I heard a knock at the door, and before he opened it, I knew who it was.

"Dude, your turning in already?" Neji sat at the end of my bed, a drink of some sort in his hand.

"Are you ever going to go home?" I asked, ignoring his last question. It was true, Neji had been there for three days straight and every night he'd spend it in my room. It wasn't that I minded his company but being around anyone for that long would just drive me crazy no matter who you were.

"Well... I can't actually go home." He kept his eyes fixed to the floor.

I rolled my eyes and sighed deeply. "Don't tell me, you didn't pay the rent again and they kicked you out?"

He nodded, a painful look came upon his face.

"God dammit, Neji!" I stood up. "What did you do with the rent money I gave you?"

He didn't reply.

"Wait, don't tell me, alcohol right?" I asked, but I knew.

He still didn't respond because he knew I was right. There was no point in arguing.

I snatched the drink from his hand. "Is this that important you'd rather be on the streets?"

"I'm sorry..." He responded like a weak child.

I watched his face, and I saw in his eyes an image of myself but when I looked closely I resembled my brother. I looked away and sat down next to him.

"Look, I just don't want you out on the streets. When I give you money I expect you to use it on what you really need. If you want drinks that badly, you know you can have free ones here. There's no need to buy anymore, you don't need it."

Who was I to talk about needing? I needed drugs just as Neji needed alcohol. And that need was stronger than either of us could handle.

He nodded in reply.

"For now you can stay here, until we find you another apartment." He looked up and smiled.

"Thanks." He said, his voice sounded more normal.

We sat in silence for a few moments, then my cell phone vibrated in my pocket. The name was flashing 'Gaara'

"Well what do you know, it's your boyfriend." I smirked and showed Neji the phone. His eyes widened, it was rather cute how nervous he was when Gaara was mentioned.

I flipped open the phone. "Yes?"

"Hey, where are you? Itachi said you'd be coming down here."

"I was actually just on my way with Neji." I glanced over at Neji who had gone completely pale. I chuckled softly.

"Alright, I'll be at the bar."

I hung up the phone and placed it back in my pocket. "Come on then."

Neji didn't move. "I'll just wait up here."

I raised an eyebrow. "Are you serious? You just came up here to get me out of bed, now your coming with me whether you like it or not?

"No."

"Don't be such a baby, if you don't come with me I'm going to tell Gaara you like him." I had almost laughed, almost. It was so much fun messing with him.

Neji glared. "You wouldn't dare."

"I would." I smirked.

"Alright, fine." He threw his hands up in defeat. "Could you be anymore childish?" He asked.

"I think you know the answer to that question."

He glared at me once more and then we headed down stairs.

I couldn't take my eyes off him, him being Naruto of course. He would occastionally look up and meet my stare. At first I would try to look away but then I decided not to. I wanted to make eye contact then somehow I might have been able to put him under my spell. Our longest time was about thiry seconds. Even though that sounded very short it felt like hours to me.

"Is that the one?" I broke our stare and turned to Gaara.

"One what?" I asked as though I didn't know.

"That blonde, he's the one right?"

"What does that mean?" I asked, sounding annoyed.

"I think you know. Neji told me about him."

I glanced at Neji. "Did he now? Well it's nothing, it's just an infatuation...it's nothing."

Gaara raised an eyebrow and studied my expression. "It's nothing?"

What was with the all the questions? I was getting aggravated, I felt like everyone was looking at me as though I was a love sick puppy. Not me, never.

"It's not your concern," I snapped. "Why the sudden interest in my love life?"

Both Neji and Gaara's mouth's fell open. "Love?" Neji asked.

I suddenly realized why they were gawking. "Don't be morons, you know what I meant."

"Sure..." Neji said in a sarcastic tone.

I rolled my eyes and turned away from them. I had some business to take care of, Naruto still owed me for earlier when I covered his break. Our employees don't usually take breaks unless they can get someone to cover for them hence why they are payed so well.

"Hello Naruto." I smiled.

He glared. "Yes?"

"Did you enjoy your break?"

His face was becoming a tint of red, it was cute, I had to admit.

"I owe you nothing." He suddenly said.

Since that was an unexpected statement I decided to give him an unexpected answer. "I suppose your right, nevermind then." I began to walk away.

"1..., 2...,3..."

"Are you serious?"

I glanced back over my shoulder. "Did you say something?"

"That's it? Your just going to accept defeat and walk away?"

"Why not?"

He looked confused, it was adorable. "Because . . . you just don't seem like youself today."

"How would you know? Maybe I'm like this all the time."

He nodded, "I suppose."

"Alright then, have a good night." I started to walk away again.

"Wait," I stopped in my tracks and turned around. "As a thanks for helping me, how about dinner tomorrow night? But only dinner."

"If you insist." I turned around and continued on my way, reverse psychology worked everytime.

Happy Christmas everyone! I wanted to get this chapter out before Christmas because I know everyone is going to be busy. Hopefully everyone enjoyed it. Please review!