This Is How A Heart Breaks

By Jasmine Starlight

Full Summary: Yaoi/het. Neji/Sasu Sasuke's slightly mordant; Itachi just might be a sociopath. Maybe Gaara is from a broken home. Neji just may be in the closet. Maybe Naruto might be lonely. Maybe Kabuto needs someone to love. Maybe Kakashi might need someone to hold. Maybe Sakura might need real friends. Maybe Temari needs a reality check. Maybe Kankurou needs anger management. Maybe Jiraiya needs Tsunade. Maybe Orochimaru needs them both. Maybe Hinata needs freedom. Maybe Kiba might need acceptance. Maybe Ino needs confidence. Maybe Tenten needs medication. Perhaps Shikamaru needs love. Shino, quite possibly could need companionship. Maybe Tayuya is hiding behind her personality. Maybe Haku fears rejection. Maybe Kimimaro desires friendship. Maybe Lee is crying out for attention. Maybe Obito needs compassion.

Pairings: Neji/Sasu…Kimimaro/Haku…Obito/Kakashi eventual…then Itachi/Kabuto…Tenten/Kankurou…Naruto/Gaara Orochimaru/Jiraiya/Tsunade…Open to suggestions. Shikamaru/Temari…Kiba/Ukon! Zaku/Kin… Hinata/Shino…Tayuya/Lee. Dosu/Kidoumaru…Zabuza/Haku…then…Zabuza/Kisame! Shisui/Sakon! Ino/Sakura.

More mentoring of the homosexually retarded. And I don't know why the last chapter came out to be entirely in italics.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

TELL ME BABY

"The constellation of Leo is twinkling again, bestowing this earth with tears

From that day onwards, this back has one side's wing
The day dawns, memories from the stars fade away

Even this sky, even this song, why?
Losing colour, losing sound, they're not real
Your dream enfolds me, it becomes a star that goes on resonating

The starry sky is twinkling again, this earth is exalted with tears
The galloping time gives out light, this world without you is "fantasy""

---Alice Nine; Fantasy

§§§§§§§§§§§

When Sasuke had arrived home from his rendezvous with Shisui, Itachi was already locked in his room showing no sign of coming out anytime soon.

Sasuke made a face at the door and hoped that he wouldn't have to tell his brother what he had seen too soon. Itachi was likely to get violent. Fast.

Sighing and hanging his head, Sasuke bemoaned his status of little brother to Uchiha Itachi and wished that that status would make it easier for his elder sibling to take the news.

§§§§§§§§§§§

It was shortly after Shisui had gotten a call from one of his coaches and subsequently left that Sasuke was sitting at their table alone boredly willing his phone to ring.

After fifteen minutes of this, he picked up his stuff and walked out of the coffee shop. He meandered aimlessly around the streets until he came across his favorite bookstore.

Upon entering he immediately went to the section that was most deserted; Historical Fiction. Sitting down on an overstuffed chair he picked any book and began reading.

Several minutes had passed and Sasuke had fallen asleep, book in hand. The Treaty of Versailles could only hold the interest of an angst ridden fifteen year old boy for so long.

But Sasuke was jarred from his sleep when he heard the unmistakable sound of an avalanche of books falling to the floor. Blinking he looked at his cell phone and noted that some idiot on a ladder had probably done something idiotic. He was about to go back to his book when he heard another sound.

Now, Sasuke had been bullied long enough and early in his childhood enough to recognize the sound of a fist hitting flesh. And the subsequent sound of pain that were now coming from an aisle not to far from his.

Setting aside his book, he crept slowly toward the aisle in question and peeked around the corner. What he saw warranted a second glance and a third and a fourth…

The supposedly MIA Yakushi Kabuto was holding his split lip and shaking in pain as an older man Sasuke didn't recognize towered over him. Sasuke's shock was overridden by curiosity and then apprehension for his brother's "friend."

"Filthy whore." The evil man hissed, grabbing Kabuto's chin and forcing the silver haired boy to look him in the manic eyes.

Digging through his omnipresent hoodie Sasuke quickly accessed his phone and its video capabilities and was soon recording the whole ordeal. The crazy man struck Kabuto three more times before extracting an agreement to meet again tonight at a hotel. Before leaving he also kissed Kabuto with bruising force.

Realizing that the this scene was over Sasuke quickly hurried back to his chair and his book and pretended to not have seen whatever he had just seen. His heart pounded as he waiting for the footsteps to recede before he got up and got the hell out of there.

§§§§§§§§§§§

Sasuke carefully connected his phone to his computer and uploaded the video, making sure the volume was not on and his door was locked. His mother would assume that he was working on a project and his father was never home to care anyway.

Opening the file, he also brought up his screen capping function to get a better look at the attacker. The resolution was gritty and the man's face had never been shown fully but Sasuke also opened his Photoshop CS 2.0 and set to work.

After several minutes of painstaking cleanup, the picture was still barely usable. Carefully hiding the file in his English homework folder he closed all his applications and stared at his computer.

If he listened hard enough he could hear Itachi typing furiously in the next room. Steeling his resolve, Sasuke opened his net browser and searched the name of the hotel where Kabuto was to have his "date".

"The Broken Rose?" Sasuke said to himself incredulously as the name was translated from English into Japanese.

"What the hell?" he said as he scrolled through web pages. Finally after what seemed like hours of searching he found a description of the place. "A quiet getaway for you and your secret love. Continental breakfast available upon request."

He exited all his programs and stared at his wallpaper. What the hell was going on?

Sasuke was awakened from his reverie when his phone started ringing and flashing at him violently. Looking at his screen he noted that Neji was calling. Oh. Ohhhh.

"Hello?"

"Hey. What's up?" Neji said affably.

Sasuke took note that the sound of Neji's voice made him feel warm in the pit of his stomach and grinned weakly before trying to distance himself from the debacle that had turned into his afternoon.

"So, what did you want to tell me before?" he asked.

"Well it all started in PreCal. Well actually before Precal…"

§§§§§§§§§§§

"Well you see I have a problem." Sakura said bluntly.

Neji remained silent, "Are you pregnant?"

"NO! NO! No, no, no, no!"

"Then what can I do for you?" Neji asked as he took his seat behind Sakura in their classroom.

Alphabetical order and all that.

"Give me a minute will you?"

Class had already started and Neji was engrossed in factorials when his phone vibrated indicating that he had a text message.

From Sakura-chan

To: Neji

You see. I think I might be a lesbian. Actually I don't think, I know. Well you see, you can't tell anyone about this because the girl I like won't admit that she likes girls and since you've only recently started dating Sasuke-kun (yes I know about that, don't ask it's just something I know) albeit in secret how does one go about this sort of thing? I'm completely at a loss. Ino is afraid of what everyone would think but I think other people should be the least of her concerns when she's lying to herself everyday. I mean I figured that me stalking a gay boy for most of my adolescence would have negative repercussions and since almost all the male friends I have are gay would affect me in some way but I didn't think it would end up like this. But…I'm so lost. Help me?

Neji looked over Sakura's shoulder to see that she had finished her work early and was now biting her nails to the quick in apprehension. Looking at his own paper and realizing that he wasn't even close to done he quickly tapped out a response.

From: Neji

To: Sakura

I assume then, that you've talked to her and her reaction is one of complete denial. And that this is your last resort. And I feel like I'm going out on a limb here but has one or both of you gotten really drunk and done something that made the other think that she was a lesbian? Like copping a feel, etc.

Sakura's response was stalled by the fact that their teacher had started going down the rows in order to check their homework. She hid her cell in her shirt pocket and resumed her façade of a perfect school girl.

Neji didn't even wait until his teacher finished with their row to check his reply.

From: Sakura

To: Neji

Eh. I think that's what happened. T.T Well something had to have happened that was strictly non-platonic or she wouldn't be avoiding me right now.

To: Sakura

From: Neji

The best thing you can do is confront her. Or get drunk again and do something rash. I mean, what could it hurt? And by the way, I really don't think that I was the best possible choice for this advice thing. I'm pretty sure you could have found several more experienced people for this job.

To: Neji

From: Sakura

I didn't want experienced, I wanted someone experiencing. If I had gone to someone who'd always been gay and always been out then I wouldn't have gotten objective advice from someone who'd been in my position. You have and besides how else am I going to blackmail Sasuke-kun with juicy details of his not-so-secret-secret relationship?

To: Sakura

From: Neji

Well. Don't say I didn't warn you.

To: Neji

From: Sakura

So what now, Sensei? I am your student. Remake me in your image. :D

§§§§§§§§§§§

Gaara felt as if he would float away, he heart was so light. If this was what love was supposed to feel like then he owed Hinata his first-born child.

He sighed breathily and touched a hand to his lips; his date with Naruto had gone so well.

Even though Gaara secretly hated ramen and the mere smell of it almost made him hurl. Naruto made everything better. The Sabaku hated the corniness of the idea but the orange-clad boy was like the light of his life.

§§§§§§§§§§§

Naruto smiled goofily as he closed his apartment door. Gaara was so cute, thinking that Naruto was too dense to realize the other boy hated ramen. But the red head got an A for effort.

§§§§§§§§§§§

Listening to Neji's tale of his crazy afternoon did not even rank in Sasuke's weirdness scale. He supposed it was because he'd been gay-mentoring Shisui for what felt like forever.

But it did pass the time until Kabuto was to have his date with the crazy enraged man. It was nearing steadily and Sasuke was debating whether or not to tell his brother.

"Sakura and Ino? Well it must be the water. Neji, got to go. I'll be online later. Bye."

Sasuke groaned and left the safety of his room to break the news to Itachi.

§§§§§§§§§§§

Itachi was supposed to be working on a term project of his but all his fingers wanted to do was type more emails to Kabuto. The Uchiha rubbed at his face in frustration and closed his email account in a vain attempt to get back to his work.

Sasuke knocked on the door, hoping that Itachi would be asleep, in a coma, or had snuck out the window. Unfortunately for him, none of those were true.

"Come in." Itachi called robotically.

"Hey Aniki. What're you up to?" Sasuke said awkwardly, inwardly cringing at how suspicious it sounded.

Itachi didn't even look up. "What do you want?"

"This is going sound really bad but keep this in mind. I tell you because you're my brother and despite any previous claims I may have made, blood is thicker than water. So hear me out before you decide to beat me up."

Itachi looked at him strangely.

"So today, I was at the bookstore. And I saw Kabuto." He began hesitantly.

His brother looked up at him. "What?"

"Uh—yes. Kabuto—your friend."

Itachi's gaze was boring holes into Sasuke's face. This was not going to end well.

"He was with someone. A man."

"A man? Was this man a person?"

Sasuke graciously ignored the insult, "The man forced himself on Kabuto and then is making him come to a love motel tonight. In an hour." He said quickly.

Itachi was silent.

Sasuke began to inwardly panic and began to back away slowly, he was caught unaware when Itachi threw a text book at his head.

"Great. This is why we don't do things for each other. It always ends up with you throwing something at my head."

"This isn't a funny joke."

"That could be because it's not a joke." Sasuke pointed out mordantly, holding his hand to his split lip. He played the video for Itachi. Whose eyes then went red.

Sasuke had learnt his lesson the first time, because Itachi was blind with anger he was able to run out the door before he was beaten into a pulp in his own house.

He held the door closed with all of his weight.

"Itachi I'm really telling the truth here! Calm down!" Sasuke said gripping the doorknob for dear life. The door was jarred ominously most likely by Itachi throwing his body weight against it. Sasuke cursed his genes that had cursed him with his shorter and lither frame. It usually worked against him.

Maneuvering carefully he managed to jimmy a chair to the doorknob so it wouldn't open from the inside. Rolling his eyes heavenward he hoped that anyone up there would take note of his one deed of brotherly love and count it in his favor later on.

Wincing at the telltale crunch of plastic and wiring that used to be his cell, Sasuke slipped a piece of paper under the door.

"It's the name and address of the place Kabuto is going tonight. Maybe you can figure out why he's disappeared from school. I'm leaving now." Sasuke said as he slowly backed away.

§§§§§§§§§§§

Mikoto hummed as she came back from grocery shopping, after she had put away her goods she made her way up the stairs. Knocking on Sasuke's door and finding no reply she moved on to Itachi's where someone had leant a chair against it.

Knocking and receiving no response, she went in and saw her eldest son's normally pristine room in chaotic disarray. Textbooks were strewn everywhere, things knocked over and she had stepped on something that remotely resembled a phone.

Lastly, she noticed the open window with the curtains blowing, she sighed and closed it.

Boys will be boys.

END

YoungSasuke- slightly longer, yes?

Errisu-chan- Some of the names are deliberately ambiguous. But a lot of them are stated in the chapters. Or least I think they are.

Taiy-chan- it is! Manga is the manna of life.

BlankPanther17- Ew. I don't write Sai that interloper! Or I might have been tempted to write it for you. You can make it up to me by reviewing this chapter. Thank you, after reading so much good fic, sometimes I'm paranoid about my characterizations. And I personally hate it when Sakura is paired with Sasuke or Naruto or made to be so out of character that I can't do anything else but bash her.

Niver-that's cute. In a bloodthirsty way.

Rivalovery- Aw. Blushes. You're cute too. Thanks for reviewing.