Heyo readers!

Here's the seventh chapter of A Messed up Version of High School Sweethearts! Seeing as (for our American readers) it's Thanksgiving Break, we figured we'd give you guys another chapter! For all of our other readers, love you guys!

Ah-chan plays Sasuke and Itachi, and Da-kun plays Naruto.

Water fell down Sasuke's cheeks as his fingers froze holding onto the metal chains. He rocked back and forth slowly on the swing, looking up at the sky. It had been fine earlier on in the day, but of course when he arrived at the old playground it started to rain. Not even the tree above his head kept the down-pouring on him.

Though no matter how soaked Sasuke got, he still sat alone.

Somehow missing school and keeping his distance from Naruto made life even worse. He didn't like how they last left off, and he knew that skipping today probably made the kitsune's day horrible. Just imagining all of the torture he probably got from his peers made Sasuke's heart ache. He hated feeling this way… He barely felt any pain at all, especially not for others… So why now? Why the Dobe?

Naruto stood outside of the back of the school, face skyward as rain pelted him, chilling him to the bone. But he was numb to it all, unable to feel any of the hard hits of the buckets of icy water pouring over him. He'd screwed up all day. It didn't even start off well. Sighing in aggravation, Naruto started off on the long trek towards his house, which would now be much, much longer because of this rain.

Unwilling to break down, Naruto fought back his tears viciously. He would not give in while in public. Were he to eventually fall apart, he would wrestle himself together to last until he arrived home. Sasuke's absence hadn't really helped with the day, nor did Naruto lashing out at Iruka. The man had avoided him for the rest of the day, and Naruto hated it. He couldn't have been more ashamed of himself. But the students around him seemed to be feeding off this chance to ridicule the poor, family-less boy who's every move was watched.

Unable to hold back any longer, Naruto sprinted in the direction of the park he'd always found sanctuary in. Blinded by his tears, the blond was lucky not to have tripped or crashed into anybody. The rain didn't help either. Crashing his way through the bushes on the edge of the playground, Naruto finally collapsed by one of the trees, which aided no protection from the pounding rain. Naruto let out a raged cry, slamming his fist into the ground angrily.

After hearing the outburst, Sasuke quickly turned around, causing him to fall off the swing into the puddle in front of him. With his ass even wetter then it should be, he raised his head to see that the person on the ground in front of him was none other than his blonde kitsune. In shock, and completely embarrassed, the raven-haired boy attempted to get up and calm himself, but he ended up tripping over his muddy, wet shoelaces. This time he fell flat on his face, covering himself in mud.

Under normal circumstances, hearing a splash, looking up, and seeing Sasuke flat on his ass in the mud would have made Naruto laugh hysterically. But the blond was terrified. The boy that had evaded him the entire day, haunted his thoughts, and been the cause of all the insults and glares Naruto suffered today was in front of him. Even as he panicked and fell again, Naruto found no amusement in it nor could he go after Sasuke. Freezing up, the kitsune tried to look for an exit to escape yet another confrontment. Unable to move or think of anything, Naruto found huge interest in the muddy grass at his feet.

"Hn, luckily for me you were too busy looking at the mud under your feet to notice me fall." The raven didn't care if he was being mean or not. He didn't care how the blonde took it. All Sasuke wanted was to live the rest of his life alone. He didn't need Naruto, he never did. All the boy did for him was kept him busy for five years. Or at least that's what he thought. The trust was that he loved Naruto more than anything. If it wasn't for the kitsune, Sasuke would have given up a while ago. Though he never would admit that.

Naruto ignored the movement of Sasuke returning to the swing. He could care less if the Uchiha face-planted again. But he did see that the feet were now pointed in his direction from his slight view. He didn't even become angry over the rude and harsh comment. Keeping his head low, Naruto pushed himself off the ground. Not taking a second glance at the mud spattering his clothes and water soaking him to the bone, the blond sent an emotionless look at the raven. "Whatever…" he sighed, slowly standing up. Picking up his bag, Naruto turned his back to the raven-haired boy and started to walk away. The painful truth was that naruto had never really been an optimistic kid himself. Until Sasuke offered to help to him, Naruto had never had someone be nice to him. He was fostered not long after, and he found people a bit like a family to him. Naruto knew the Uchiha kept him alive.

Sasuke just stared at Naruto for a moment. He looked into his eyes and noticed that they weren't as deep as usual. He missed the sky blue eyes always shining and happy. Today they were clouded, hiding all emotion.

"Tsch… Naruto…" he growled.

Not being able to hold back his feelings, Sasuke stood up from the swing and walked over to Naruto before he got too far. The raven grabbed his friend's shoulder, turning him around. "What do you mean 'whatever'?! Is that all you can say!"

Naruto ignored the stare, only meeting his eyes once. Looking away after a brief moment, the blond brushed at the mud dully. Naruto couldn't find it in himself to even consider brightening up. His day just ultimately sucked ass. He only got around two hours of sleep, was constantly teased, harassed, and insulted, his fatherly figure hated his guts, and now he ran into the boy who'd caused him most of his troubles.

He ignored Sasuke calling his name completely and continued to trudge away, taking slow steps and fighting to keep himself together. The footsteps were drowned out by the rain and Naruto jumped as the hand landed on his shoulder. Being spun around was a bit new as well, and the kitsune tried not to go into shock as Sasuke snapped at him.

"Why does it bother you of all people? Huh? You seemed to hate my guts yesterday, and now you're flipping out 'cause I said 'whatever'!" Naruto yelled back, waving his arms in the air.

"Maybe because I care about you more than anyone else!"

Shit.

Naruto stared in shock. No way had those words just come out of Sasuke's mouth. He must be dreaming, hallucinating, passed out in the rain. The blond's lack of sleep was getting to him or something. But it wasn't. The rain was cold and pounding against his skin as he was dragged into harsh reality by those few words.

He felt weak-kneed as he blinked in shock. "You… you do?" Naruto breathed, staring at him. Shaking his head, he shoved Sasuke's hand off his shoulder. He took a few steps back, glaring now. "Okay, what type of joke is this now? Another way for you to torture me?" Naruto demanded, eyes blazing with a furious new fire.

Naruto was being an idiot. He was making Sasuke do something that he would really regret.

He grabbed the blonde's hand, throwing him in the direction of a nearby tree. The Raven softly pushed against the center of his friend's chest so his back was against the tree. Sasuke placed his hands on the tree, right above Naruto's shoulders, so there was no way out.

"How many times do I have to call you an idiot, before you get it through your thick head!"

Naruto only glared at the equally pissed raven-haired teen standing in front of him. But he was caught off-guard as Sasuke suddenly snatched is hand and shoved him back towards the tree that the swing was hanging from. He stumbled slightly, trying to recover a bit. Sasuke's hand pressing against his chest had Naruto's want to beat faster and the blond struggled to deny the feeling. He sucked in a breath as his back made contact with the bark and Sasuke placed his hands on either side of Naruto's head. Eyes darting from side to side, Naruto knew he was stuck.

"I don't know! Why does it matter? Stop toying with my feelings, god dammit!" he shouted, feeling his eyes prick dangerously with tears suddenly. No, no, no, no. Naruto would not cry now. Of all times, why now?

Sasuke's angered expression turned into a much kinder, softer look.

He raised his right hand from the tree, and caressed Naruto's cheek. Quickly releasing it, he stared at the ground.

"I can't believe you really think so little of me…"

Sasuke removed his other hand that was still on the tree, and he looked as if he was about to walk away.

Naruto watched Sasuke's face change and tried not to stare. That look, that emotion… it was beautiful on the raven-haired teen's face. He had the beauty of Adonis in him in that instant. The hand that stroked down his cheek caused his heart to finally speed up. Naruto attempted to fight the rising blush down, but a light pink tinted his cheeks, betraying him.

The sudden drop of hand and mood had Naruto feeling terrible all over again. He looked down and felt his eyes burning up. Slowly, his tears made their way down from his eyes and along his cheeks. Shoulders shaking slightly, Naruto wanted to bash his head into the tree. He screwed up for the second time.

Sasuke glanced up to notice that Naruto was crying. He had never handled a situation like this. The raven had been such a loner that he never actually had a friend in distress. To sum it up, he was terrible when it came to cheering people up. To make things worse, this was Naruto. The person he absolutely adored. He didn't want to do anything to make him upset.

Not knowing what he should do, Sasuke put out both of his hands, and placed them on Naruto's cheeks. He gazed into his glassy eyes, and pulled his best friend into an embrace.

Great. Just great. Breaking down, falling apart, and shattering there, in front of Sasuke of all people. What a wonderful impression to leave on someone you wanted to spend your whole life with, collapsing all over them. Naruto hated this, but he couldn't stop his sobs. His entire body shook with each one, and he struggled to keep the noises begging to escape in him.

Feeling warm hands encasing his cheeks, Naruto let his head turn upwards towards the Uchiha. Gulping nervously, he sniffled pathetically, wanting to run off into the shadows and curl into a tiny ball. But Sasuke had other ideas, obviously shown as he dragged the smaller blond into a tight hug. Naruto sobbed into his shoulder, not holding back anymore.

If it wasn't for the rain pouring down their shoulders, Sasuke's shirt would have been drenched from tears.

He sighed.

"Naruto… I'm sorry… It was never my intention to make you cry like this… I'd never want you to become unhappy because of me."

Not knowing what to say, his grasp on the smaller boy tightened, making little, or almost no, space in between them.

Crap. That about summed up how Naruto felt. Like crap. He was drenching Sasuke's shirt with his tears if it wasn't already soaked by the rain. Head buried into the raven-haired boy's shoulder, Naruto felt the sigh. He sniffled, waiting to be yelled at for something or shoved away.

"G-gomen nasai… I-It's my fault. D-don't bl-lame yours-self." he forced out. He buried his face farther into Sasuke, feeling the grip tighten against him, pulling him closer to the intoxicating smell that was the Uchiha.

"What the hell…"

"Why, why are you always so down on yourself? This is completely my fault! If I wasn't such an ass I wouldn't have played with your feelings. I would have just told you how much a really-" Sasuke stopped when he felt eyes watching him. He turned to see headlights of a car shining on him and Naruto.

No.

He heard a click and the car door swung open.

No…

A set of feet were visible coming out of the door way.

NO!

Uchiha Itachi stepped out of the car and glared at his younger brother.

"I don't know what the hell is going on here, but I do know I've been looking for you all over. I can't believe you. Not only did you ditch school, but you got yourself soaked with the rain. Ugh, you're such an idiot. Now get in the car before you get sick."

Naruto only sobbed, clutching at the boy's shirt. "Gomen nasai… gomen nasai… I… no, please don't bring it on yourself. I went along with it… just… please, don't leave me alone again." He muttered, face buried in the raven-head's chest. He looked up at the boy as he felt movement. Sasuke's face was illuminated by some form of light. Turning, Naruto gulped as he stared into the blinding beams of car headlights. As the door began to open, Naruto pulled himself closer to Sasuke in terror. He shuddered as Sasuke froze up. Not a good sign.

He saw the feet emerging, and Naruto gulped as Sasuke tensed up even more. The figure standing by the car looked angry, very angry. Naruto trembled, wanting to run. Why now? Why couldn't this day do anything good for him?

The yelling made it all worse. Now he'd gotten Sasuke in trouble, hadn't he? He shook his head, resisting the urge to hide behind Sasuke. The young man who'd stepped out of the car was obviously related to the raven-head, and probably his guardian. Hearing the demand for Sasuke to leave, Naruto sucked in a deep breath. He started to pull back, but his back hit the tree. Well, he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

Sasuke's face changed from a very shocked one, to a very pissed one in an instant. Not only could Naruto sense his fear, but he bet his brother could as well.

Having to make a decision quickly, he let go of his friend and took a step back. It looked as if he was going to cave into his brother's demands, but Sasuke had a different idea. He grabbed onto Naruto's wrist and made a dash across the playground into the woods.

Naruto saw Sasuke's expression switch to one of rage and debated whether or not to run, not that it was very possible. It wasn't as much fear as nerves that Naruto had sensed. The boy had tensed up and the blond caught half of his expression. So it wasn't too hard to figure out what Sasuke was thinking.

Naruto held back a complaint as Sasuke pulled away and tried not to lunge at him again, or cling to his chest in terror. He hated showing how he really felt and bringing his issues down upon others, but he couldn't really help it. The kitsune hadn't seen his friend when he screamed his pain to the heavens. Suddenly Sasuke grabbed his wrist and yanked him away. Stumbling slightly, Naruto ran after the raven, trying not to fall down.

Itachi stood in the rain staring after Sasuke running away, with the blonde boy dragging behind him.

"Fag."

There was nothing else to describe what he was thinking right then besides that. He thought that he had just stepped into his brother's gay, dramatic life. Now he really did not want to know.

Sasuke slowed down, and came to a stop. He bent over and started panting hysterically. Having to vent his anger, he punched a tree, and screamed in rage.

"God damn it! He completely ruins my life!"

It seemed that every time his life started to get better, or he was actually happy, Itachi ruined it. This time, he didn't care what was awaiting him at home. He just couldn't leave Naruto alone… again.

Naruto skidded to a stop, not breathing as hard as Sasuke was. He'd gotten fit running away after all of his pranks. And from all of his bullies. He cringed as Sasuke attacked the nearby tree. The scream of rage shattered his ears and he winced.

Without thinking, Naruto wrapped his arms around Sasuke, preventing him from hurting himself anymore. "Please… stop. Don't hurt yourself anymore." he pleaded, burying his face between Sasuke's shoulder blades. He had nothing at home other than probably a few calls on his answering machine from work. No-one waited for him, nor did anyone watch over him.

Sasuke rested his forehead on the top of the blonde's head, and controlled his breathing.

"Naruto…"

He was about to complain about having to go home, but instead he sucked it up and asked what he had wanted to for a while.

"… can I crash at your place tonight…? There's no way in hell I can go home."

Naruto liked Sasuke's head on his. It made him feel… safe. He felt like no-one could touch him as Sasuke began to breathe even breaths, the air flow ticking the blonde's head.

"Yeah, Sasuke?" Naruto asked, looking up at the raven-haired boy. Hearing the broken up question, the blond nodded. "Sure! But… there's not a whole lot of room… so… you can have the bed and stuff."

Though it was dark, a smirk was visible on Sasuke's face.

"Hn, we'll see about that." he said quietly.

Most people would have never thought that the raven could laugh, but it seemed a small one leaked from his mouth.

Naruto smiled back at Sasuke, pulling back slightly. "C'mon, it'll be warmer to argue back at my place. We have to get out of the rain anyways, no use getting a cold or something." he said, tugging on Sasuke's hand.

He was happy to hear the laugh from the Uchiha and continued to lead the raven towards the apartments and out of the rain.

Alrighies, that's all for this chapter! Much longer than usual, and wait until we get farther in. Hope ya liked this one; we sure did.

Thanks to our reviewers: Dancing Roses and Sunny Rain, narutoisuke, ooxshinobixoo, Sochi-Uzumaki, ShamaLamaDingDong, and Hypergirl321. Another special thanks to Hypergirl321 for always reviewing to each chapter!

Please review, we wanna hear your opinions on this! We like to know what our readers think about this story!

Next time on AMUVoHSS: "Try not to hurt yourself…Naru." "Dinner's ready!" "Ya know… if you blushed like that every time I called you Naru." "Naruto! Sasuke! What the hell!" ~ Tune in next time for Sorta like a Sleepover Pt1 !

Ja ne!

Da-kun