Since I was a tard and didn't update for like a month I'll give you two chapters in two days… congradulations! Please review and I don't own Naruto in any way shape or form and never will. T_T

Sleepless nights 6

Grown Men Don't Cry

"Would you put that thing down and help me out? This is a serious crisis Sai!" Naruto yelled at his pale friend who was a little too busy with his painting to give Naruto his undivided attention. It was morning by the time Naruto actually made it to his friend's house for Sakura wouldn't let him go until she was sure Kyuubi had healed him all the way. She made him wear the bandages anyway, just in case.

"I can multitask," Sai said without taking his eyes from the piece, "just tell me what's going on with you and Sasuke-kun."

Naruto sighed and settled a bit more in the uncomfortable chair Sai had him sit in. honestly this was the last person Naruto had wanted to tell his problems to due to the whole 'emotionless shinobi' thing he had going on, but Sakura was more than busy at the hospital and none of his other friends would understand.

Naruto peered past Sai to the canvas on which he was hurriedly splattering paint, it was a sitting woman wearing a Victorian ball gown with pale skin and two children in her arms, he had not subject by which to paint.

'Weird… I'll never understand artists.' Naruto thought.

"And what happened to your nose?" asked Sai, "you look like you got in a bar fight."

Naruto scoffed, "Rokudaime doesn't go to bars, and that's part of the problem… Sasuke punched me… twice."

The emotionless ninja stopped what he was doing and turned to face Naruto who though realized if he could feel Sai would have looked worried.

"What did you do?" Naruto rubbed his sore nose subconsciously before continuing.

"Well, lady Tsunade made me keep him till he's a real Konoha citizen or something and… I yelled at him and pissed him off, there was drinking and we… um, we kind of…"

Sai leaned in and gestured for him to continue.

"We-we fucked! We were both drunk and we didn't know what we were doing! I'll never be able to look at him again if I don't tell him how I feel about it, and-and I need to know how he feels!" Naruto delved his hands into his hair trying to stop the sudden flow of emotion that took over his senses as tears stung his eyes, threatening to overflow. But Sai was not paying that too much attention, he glanced around his studio for an empty canvas big enough for his new vision.

"You two fucked huh… that would make a great painting-ouch!"

Naruto retreated back to his seat after thumping Sai upside the head with his fist. "Would you quit being a pervert for one second? This is serious!"

Sai just stared at him, "it was a joke." Somehow, though, Naruto couldn't believe him. "What happened after that, you know, the broken nose?"

Naruto shrugged and folded his arms over his chest.

"Not much. He went to work and I went to training and when we" he gestured to his Anbu 'copy ninja' who was with him, "caught up with him I let my big mouth get away from me and pissed him off even more so he broke my nose and ran away."

"Wow that's rough," said Sai dryly, "I was wrong about you Naruto. If you picked a fight with Sasuke-kun you do have balls."

X

Uchiha Sasuke slowly lifted his head from the damp grass and wrapped his arms around himself to keep him from shivering. He was soaked and sure he was catching a cold. He had stayed there in the cemetery all night but he wasn't alone.

He reached out, letting his hand brush against the chiseled letters that made up the name 'Uchiha Itachi.'

This was the only favor Tsunade had ever done him and would probably be the last. He had begged her, on his hands and knees, face to the floor and tears in his face to bury his brother for him here in Konoha where he belonged. This was the first time Sasuke had cried in front of anybody save Itachi and if he had his way he wouldn't in front of anyone else ever again, but the tears welled up in the broken man's eyes anyway. He sat back a little bit but did not take his hand from the stone.

"You probably don't want me here but I can't leave… not yet." He paused, muffling a sob, "please brother, I need help, I'm so confused and i-I don't know what to do! Everything just feels so wrong! I can't… I can't do this by myself. Please. Tell me what to do, anything to make this better."

He knew his request was silly, that he was just speaking to the wind but somehow as the gray clouds parted for the sun as the soft breeze dried his tears and blew his hair from eyes Sasuke had to smile as a single brilliant thought crossed his mind. Albeit sadly, but it was a smile.

Using the headstone to push himself up off his knees Sasuke stood before his brother's grave for a moment before bowing.

"I'll be back, brother, thank you."

Sasuke did not know if the idea came from his brother or not but he had gotten his answer. He turned back down the way he'd come, taking off some of his waterlogged clothing to keep sickness ad bay, he was headed home to Naruto, it was obvious to him now that he was put in this situation for a reason, to be able to fix his life, to turn it around for the better. Sasuke had lost so much in his life, his parents, his brother, friends, and self worth. This lasting friendship was the only thing he had left and suddenly, Sasuke didn't want to give up anything else.

He smiled through the tears running down his face, he felt it, crawling beneath his skin, the need for something to take him away from his sorrow like a hunger to find a place he'd never thought he'd be. He knew the only way to save what was left of him was to take it and give it to some else, a trustworthy person who would take care of it, someone like-

X

"Naruto? Are you home?"

Sasuke jolted awake at the harsh knocking and voice coming from the other side of his door, well technically Naruto's door but he wasn't home at the moment. Sasuke went straight home to find the door unlocked but no one home, figuring that Naruto was just at work and would be home later Sasuke lay down on the couch for a well deserved nap. He hadn't slept a bit the previous night, he'd been too cold.

Now someone was at his door, constantly knocking and asking if Naruto was home though no one had answered. That should have told this person that no one was home.

"Just a minute!" Sasuke hopped off the couch, pulling a shirt over his head and throwing on some sweatpants, it was hot in the house because he turned the heat up to ninety to get rid of his chill. Of course he planned to reimburse Naruto for the heat bill later.

He wretched the door open to have to step back when Iruka fell into the apartment, it seemed as though he was listening for sounds through the door, behind him stood Kakashi sensei and Naruto's mentor that Sasuke had only met a few times before, Jiraya.

"Sasuke?" asked Kakashi worriedly, "you look awful, what happened to you?"

Sasuke's hand shot to his face as he turned to the small mirror hanging by the doorframe to see the puffy red bags beneath his bloodshot eyes and his disheveled hair in addition to the bruises caused by both the blonde and his disaster of a job.

Sasuke immediately seized one of Naruto's jackets from the back of a chair and put it on hoping that if his injuries were out of sight they'd be out of mind, but that wasn't his only problem.

"And why are you in Naruto's apartment?" asked Jiraya.

"By the way," said Iruka, "where is Naruto?"

Sasuke's face reddened as he cleared his throat, trying to avoid their expecting stares.

"I'm in Naruto's apartment because I live here," Sasuke turned back to Kakashi, "I thought you would know that, and the dobe isn't here. I don't know where he is."

They were silent. For a moment none of the older men spoke, they just looked at each other.

Suddenly Sasuke was shoved aside and all three men forced their way into the home closing and locking the door behind them.

"Thank you for inviting us in." said Iruka as he and Jiraya sat down.

"Look, you guys can't just barge in here! This isn't your house and I can't invite you in because it's not mine-" Kakashi grabbed Sasuke's arm and shoved him into a chair, forcing him to sit still.

"Sit down and shut up Sasuke, I'm going to go easy on you because I'm your sensei but I can't speak for the other two. Now you're going to sit here quietly and listen. We need to talk."

X

"There's a simple way to tell him how you feel." Said Sai as he worked on another portrait without a subject, "ask him out."

Naruto shook his head. "That's not going to work, I don't even think Sasuke's gay and if he was would he really go out with me?"

"Why wouldn't he?" Sai asked, turning to face his friend, "you've been his only friend for years and you did take his virginity didn't you?"

Naruto sighed and looked up at the clock, he had sent his Anbu to check and see if Sasuke was home yet and he had not yet returned with news. Technically Naruto had orders from lady Tsunade to not go outside without a shinobi with him since he was to-be Hokage and Kyuubi vessel but Naruto had something better than ninja to protect him. The Kyuubi itself .

He hadn't actually spoken to the beast since that morning when he neglected his studies from the time he arrived at the office to lunch just because he needed someone to talk to.

'I know what you're thinking; I'm you conscious you know.' Kyuubi growled, 'he's not mad at you, don't worry.' But Naruto didn't answer him.

"Ask him out… you know, I would if that were acceptable but you know about this palace just as well as I do Sai. The citizens won't stand for it if one of their fellow villagers is gay how would they deal if they knew their Hokage was into men?"

"Probably not well," said Sai, "but there's no harm in trying, the worst he can do is say no right?"

Naruto nodded in affirmation. He never knew his friend could be so helpful when he wanted to be. "For a guy with no emotion you sure give good advice, maybe there is a bit of human in there somewhere?" Naruto smiled as Sai shook his head and turned back to his work.

"I read it in a book."

Naruto got up to show himself out of Sai's studio, "well I got to go get myself a boyfriend, see ya later Sai."

The man waved over his shoulder at Naruto, "let me know what Sasuke thinks about that painting of you two I wanted."

Naruto smirked and shut the door behind him. "Pervert."

X

"I swear to god if you hurt my Naruto I'll beat the shit out of you so hard your grandchildren'll be able to feel it!" Iruka screamed, the only reason he had not yet carried out his threat was because Kakashi was holding him back. Quite literally.

Sasuke had nearly climbed over the back of his chair to get away from the overprotective man but Jiraya was there to make sure he could not get away. The raven had a white knuckled grip on the arms of the chair and he gritted his teeth, now he would never admit he was afraid but someone so hostile getting in his face like this was terrifying.

'They have the right to distrust me but-but I'm supposed to be here to regain their trust! How can I do that if they won't give me a chance?' Sasuke shut his eyes trying to force back tears that threatened to give him away, through Iruka's yelling he could see his life as it would be if he stopped trying like he so dearly wished he could. Cold, lonely, and the same as it was.

Sasuke froze, mortified as a single tear slid down his face, followed by so many more than in a moment his face was soaked.

Suddenly Iruka stopped yelling and glared at the tearful man before him.

"Tch! You don't deserve Naruto's pity, someone weak like you." he turned to the side, unable to look at the man any longer lest he explode in another display of parental fury, "you should have stopped crying like that years ago."

The three men continued to lecture the raven but he didn't hear them, Jiraya let him go and Sasuke covered his face with his hands to hide his shame.

'I-I wish Naruto were here… where is he?'

Review please, that would be the best Christmas gift ya'll could ever give me. :3