Friday rolled around and Sasuke welcomed being released from school into the cold bitter wind that blew the snow around that had been piling up in the past week. Sai was supposed to drive him home, but ended up needed to stay after school to work on some art project that he was supposed to have finished in class that day. And so Sasuke walked home, not wanting to be on the overcrowded bus teeming with the screaming banshees that were his fangirls. It wasn't far, and it didn't take long to get there. When he arrived, he set his things down by the door and took off his shoes. He moved into the kitchen to make some tea.
Itachi's car wasn't in the driveway, so Sasuke assumed he either went to the office for some more fillies and to do a check up, or he was out visiting Deidara. The blonde man came to the Uchiha household sometimes, but more often than not, he ended up spending more time with Sasuke than Itachi, since the older Uchiha was working on his cases at home more than at his office. Not that Sasuke minded spending time with the blonde man since Deidara was practically family, but Sasuke could tell that the other really wanted to be with Itachi. He would catch the blonde staring off with a blank expression or even a smile and a blush, or sometimes Deidara would drift off in the middle of a sentence to lose himself in his thoughts. Sasuke knew he was thinking of Itachi.
Bright blue caught his eye suddenly from the counter top. Finishing his tea, Sasuke went to put his cup away, ignoring the bright object that was begging for his attention. It was the flyer to Kiba's party, which happened to be tomorrow. He wasn't going. He wasn't exactly the social type, no matter how popular he was, and going to a party required one to be sociable. No, he wasn't going.
As he entered his room, boredom settled over him. It was the weekend. He had homework, but it would only take him an hour at most to finish it. Deciding it was better than doing nothing, he pulled out his schoolbooks. He was halfway done by the time he heard the door open. The door had been locked, so it was either Itachi or—
"Sasu-chan! Oh Sasu-chan!!"
—Sai.
Sasuke sighed. He could hear the cross-dressing boy make his way through the kitchen, and then coming up to his room. Sai opened the door, and Sasuke didn't even look up from what he was doing.
"Homework? Sasu-chan, you're so boring!" Sai exclaimed as he flounced over to the young Uchiha.
"Hn. At least I get it done," Sasuke replied. He could hear his friend pout and he resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
"I get my homework done!" Sai said indignantly. Sasuke didn't say anything.
"Okay, sometimes I get it done. But I still pass, don't I?" Sai muttered.
"And every time I wonder how," Sasuke replied.
"Oh, you know, just a little…private persuasion…" Sai told him. Sasuke finally turned to the other boy, his eyebrow raised in skepticism. Sai only smiled innocently and held up his hand.
"Cookie?" he asked, waving the confection in front of the Uchiha. Sasuke swiped the cookie from his friend's hand and bit into it, letting it hang from his mouth as he went back to his homework. Sasuke wasn't the kind of person who liked sweets and cookies and other things like that, and neither was his brother. But Deidara, as girly as he was, liked to cook and bake things for them. And so they had cookies made especially by the blonde that weren't too sweet or too bland. And they were spectacular.
"Maa, Sasuke, you're boring. Let's do something," Sai whined. He poked Sasuke in the side, making the boy twitch. He poked Sasuke a few more times until the Uchiha turned to glare at him, asking a silent 'What?'.
Sai merely leaned down and bit off a piece of the cookie still hanging out of Sasuke's mouth. He pulled back and chewed happily, leaving Sasuke with his mouth hanging open, the remaining piece of cookie falling from his mouth.
"These are really good. Where'd you get them?" Sai asked.
Sasuke finally gathered his wits enough to hit the other over the head. Hard.
"Deidara made them for us. And if you ever do that again, I'll hit you so hard you'll be in a coma," he told Sai with a glare. The other held his head with one hand and raised them other before him in signal of surrender.
"Okay, won't happen again. Got it," Sai said. Suddenly an evil smirk came on his face.
"Naru-chan doesn't mind it much though," he lied. He may have kissed the blonde, but he was quite sure the other would punch him if he tried it again, or anything like it. Sasuke's eyes narrowed before they went to their usual indifference, making Sai smirk even more.
"Why should I care? You're gay and Uzumaki is a girl. It's different," Sasuke said.
"Is Sasuke afraid of his sexuality? Or is he just jealous of me and Naru-chan?" Sai asked slyly. Sasuke glared harder than before.
"Neither," he said.
"Reeeeeeeeeeeeaally?" Sai pushed.
"Yes Sai, now drop it," Sasuke replied. He picked up the forgotten cookie on the floor and threw it into the trashcan by his desk. Sai sighed.
"Oh Sasu-chan, you're so stubborn. Just admit it and all your stress will go away," he said dramatically.
"Admit what? That you're annoying as hell? Because yes, you are, and now that you know, you can leave me alone so I won't have stress in the first place," Sasuke said sarcastically as he stood from his desk, putting his things in a neat pile.
"No, not that. I already know I'm annoying, and you already know that I won't leave you alone anyway. I mean admitting the fact that you like sweet little Naruko-chan," Sai replied, then added as an afterthought, "or that you're gay. Whichever you want to admit first."
Sasuke met Sai's eyes with a level gaze, anger burning in his stare.
"Sai. I neither like Uzumaki, nor am I gay. You know this, and I know this. Now stop insisting that you know otherwise. Besides, you say that I both am gay and like Uzumaki, which is impossible since Uzumaki is a girl and if I were gay, I would like guys. It's contradicting," Sasuke stated.
"Nothing is impossible," Sai muttered too low for the Uchiha to hear clearly.
"Why are you here anyway? Other than to annoy me," Sasuke asked. They didn't have anything planned, so he was curious.
"No, that was pretty much it," Sai replied. Sasuke rolled his eyes and walked around his friend. Sai followed after him.
"Okay, so maybe that wasn't the only thing I came here to do. I wanted to convince you to go to Kiba-san's party tomorrow," he admitted.
"I'm not going," Sasuke said.
"But it'll be fuuuuun," Sai said in a singsong voice.
"No."
"Come on! Naru-chan will be there!"
Sasuke stopped and turned to look at his friend with a glare. "Knowing that that dobe is going to be there doesn't make me want to go any more than before."
Sai shrugged then said nonchalantly, "Oh well. Just thought you might want to know. You know how parties can be though. Plenty of opportunities for me to molest Naru-chan."
"Sai…" Sasuke growled. He really didn't want to go to that party. Plus, he and the blonde weren't exactly as friendly as they used to be, but damn it, Sai was making his resolve waver. He'd seen his friend attempt to molest the blonde quite a few times already, although he really had no clue as to why his gay friend would want to molest a girl. Naruko was already oblivious to enough things that it was certainly easy to imagine Sai, or even someone else getting the blonde alone to molest her. And for some reason, as these thoughts pushed themselves to the front of Sasuke's mind, he felt his heart clench uneasily.
"Well, I guess there's no changing your mind about going to the party. Poor Naru-chan will be so defenseless. Don't worry, I'll make sure to keep her all to myself," Sai said, walking past the Uchiha and into the living room. He sat on the couch and smirked at Sasuke who ground his teeth together in frustration.
Sasuke really didn't want to go to that party…
"…I changed my mind," Sasuke said lowly through clenched teeth. Sai's smirk only widened as he hopped off the couch. Suddenly both boys were next to the front door. Sai already had his shoes back on and was starting to put on his coat. He paused when he noticed the Uchiha wasn't moving.
"What are you waiting for slowpoke? Put your shoes on!" he said.
"Why?"
Sai gave an exasperated sigh and replied, "Because we're going shopping silly."
"…What?"
"Just put your shoes on."
Sasuke sighed. Sai would stop bugging him until he did, so he might as well go with the boy to save himself the annoyance. Although he wasn't sure which was worse, Sai's annoying persistence or Sai in shopping mode. Of course, Sai didn't actually shop for himself. He normally shopped for whomever he was with at the time, making them try on every last thing in the store. Sasuke shuddered, remembering the many times he'd gone shopping with the boy. Maybe staying home and enduring Sai's annoyance was the better idea.
"Too late," Sai said, as though reading the Uchiha's mind. He pulled Sasuke, who barely had time to grab his coat from the rack, out the door and to his car.
"Time to get outfits for the party!" Sai exclaimed happily. Sasuke sighed mentally as he was shoved into the passenger seat, the door slamming as soon as he was in, leaving no room for escape. He just hoped that Sai wouldn't go too overboard.
So of course Sai did exactly what Sasuke was dreading. They had ended up staying at the mall until closing time, and Sasuke had tried on too many outfits to really care what Sai ended up picking out for him. Sasuke sighed as he threw his bags on the floor near his bed. He could put them away tomorrow before Sai came over. His friend hadn't said he would be coming over, but Sasuke knew he would. That's just the way his friend was.
Itachi had come back before Sasuke woke up the next day and decided to cook for his little brother. He was in a particularly good mood since he was taking a break from the frustrating case of Snake while Tsunade was off investigating the person he'd asked her to. He'd been able to spend a day and night with Deidara just relaxing and letting out his tension.
Sasuke walked tiredly through the house, still waking from sleep. Sasuke was not a morning person, no he wasn't. The smell of eggs and bacon wafted from the kitchen to his nose. For a moment he was back in the past, when his mother would get up early and make huge homemade breakfasts like one would see on TV. Sasuke always thought that they couldn't compare to his mother's cooking at all. He walked into the kitchen, still thinking of the past, but was pulled out of his pleasant dream when he saw Itachi pushing the last of the eggs onto a plate from the pan in his hand. Sasuke looked from his brother to the food, and then back again before sitting down and helping himself to the food Itachi had set out. He didn't say anything until Itachi joined him.
"It reminds me of mom," he said, pushing his eggs around. Itachi was mildly surprised by the statement, but thought it over. Ever since their parents had been killed, Itachi hadn't exactly cooked for them. He'd been busy at work trying to get at the Snake case that had reopened at his family's death, making funeral arrangements for his parents, and finally trying to find some place else to live. He knew staying would only hurt his brother more, being completely surrounded by things that reminded them of their parents wasn't healthy. He'd hoped a change of scenery would be good for his brother, and from what he'd noticed it had been.
"It's been a long time since we sat down like this together," Itachi replied. Sasuke nodded and took a bite of his eggs.
"Did you have a good time last night with Deidara?" he asked.
"I had a very good time otouto. Perhaps you'd like to hear about it," Itachi teased. Sasuke's ears turned red and he glared at his brother.
"No I wouldn't. I'm not particularly interested in your sex life aniki," he said. Itachi chuckled quietly and Sasuke's glare let up. Itachi had missed times like these, when he could just banter with and tease his little brother. He'd have to make more time to do so in the future.
"It's the weekend now. Do you have anything planned?" Itachi asked, just wanting to know what was happening in his brother's life. He'd have to make more time to keep up with that as well.
"I'm going to a party tonight at Inuzuka's," Sasuke replied with a grimace.
"Doesn't look like you want to go," Itachi stated seeing his brother's expression. He sipped the coffee he'd made earlier as he continued to observe.
"Sai wouldn't stop annoying me until I agreed to go," Sasuke said. The older Uchiha smirked.
"That sounds like him," he said.
"What sounds like me?" Sai asked, walking into the kitchen. He immediately set about finding a plate and silverware to use. The two Uchiha were not surprised by his sudden entrance. He had barged in on them enough before they moved to expect it.
"Kidnapping me to a party I'd rather not go to," Sasuke said nonchalantly. Sai made a triumphant sound as he found what he was looking for and brought it to the table.
"But Sasu-chan," he said as he took portions of the eggs and bacon that was left, "You agreed to go remember? So you could protect poor defenseless Naru-chan."
"I wouldn't have to if you didn't try to molest her every two seconds. Actually, never mind. Whatever. I don't care anymore. I'm not going to the party," Sasuke said, standing from the table. He noticed that his brother had somehow slipped out of the room while Sai had occupied his attention.
"Huh? Why? You already said you'd go," Sai said with confusion. "Besides, who's going to protect Naru-chan if you're not there to scare everybody away?"
Sasuke glowered at him and Sai realized the younger Uchiha wasn't joking. He followed the other to his room.
"Come on Sasuke. You said you would go, and if I have to drag you there myself, I'll do it," Sai said seriously.
"I'm not going. I didn't want to go in the first place, and it was a stupid decision to change my mind over something I don't need to worry about," Sasuke told him firmly. He pulled out a book he'd been reading recently, laid down on his bed, and proceeded to ignore his friend. Sai watched from near the doorway impassively.
"So you do worry about Naru-chan," he said. It wasn't accusing; it was just a statement.
Sasuke didn't reply.
Sai walked over to the bed and lay down by the other. He stared up at the ceiling and rested his hands on his stomach. He twiddled his thumbs for a while in silence before Sasuke got fed up and turned to him with a glare. Sai met his stare unwaveringly.
"She likes you, y'know," he said simply.
"Hn." Sasuke turned back to his book, but didn't read it. He just stared blankly at the words trying to comprehend what had been said to him. Sai watched him mull over his thoughts.
"No she doesn't," Sasuke said as he continued to stare at his book. How could she like him? They fought nearly every time they spoke to each other now.
"She does. She won't admit it, but I can tell. Just like I can tell you like her too," Sai told him. He looked back up at the ceiling. "I may not be the best person at emotions myself, but I've observed people long enough to be able to tell from the little things."
Sasuke looked over at his friend with a slight frown.
"You like her too," he said, not quite realizing he'd just admitted. Sai turned to him and grinned.
"Honestly, yes I do. But I can always find another," he said. "Besides, how could I interfere now that you've admitted your feelings for cute little Naru-chan?"
"I didn't…" Sasuke began, his brow furrowed in confusion. Then his words replayed in his mind.
You like her too.
Damn.
Sai just grinned and hopped up from the bed. He twirled around to face his friend. "Now come on, let's go get ready for the party."
"It's only ten right now. The party doesn't start until seven. We have nine hours," Sasuke said.
"Oh…well that means we'll have just barely enough time, won't it?" Sai said with a wink. Sasuke groaned and rolled his eyes at the other.
"Whatever," he said, and allowed Sai to pull him to the clothes he'd discarded in front of his closet the day before. It was going to be a long nine hours.
Naruto sipped on his drink as he leaned against a wall near the punch table. He was certain someone had spiked it, and thought it might have even been Kiba who'd done it. It wasn't a party without alcohol right? Naruto normally wouldn't have that much, but today he felt the urge to have more than usual.
The party had started nearly two hours ago, and he'd started drinking about then. Any normal person who hadn't been drunk before would have been smashed by then, but Naruto learned that he had an unusually high tolerance for alcohol. He only felt a little tipsy. Or maybe he was so drunk it felt like he wasn't…
A head of spiked black hair appeared on the other side of the room. He quickly recognized it as Sasuke, and stumbled through the crowd out of the room. He'd been avoiding the Uchiha all night. Since they weren't on the best of terms, he certainly didn't want to have his night ruined by arguing with Sasuke. He didn't want to ruin Sasuke's night either though. So he thought it best to just stay out of the way.
He felt his cellphone buzz in his pocket and quickly pulled it out. It was Iruka-sensei. Whoops. He'd forgotten to tell the man. Tsunade had taken off earlier in the week and left Iruka to check in of Yumi and him to make sure everything was okay. And it had been. He'd just forgotten about the party. Naruto pushed his way through the crowded hallway toward the back door. It would be quieter outside. It seemed like nearly half the school was packed in Kiba's house. As he neared the doorway, he did a double take when he went past an open doorway. The room was a recreational one where Kiba kept all his games. There were multiple couches and chairs, and at the moment, multiple people occupying each space. But the ones that surprised him were a certain red head and brunette that were all over each other. Well…he hadn't quite expected that.
Shaking his head, and regretting it instantly as the room spun a little, he continued toward the back door. Once outside and away from the small group of people smoking on the back porch, Naruto redialed Iruka's number. It rang twice before it was picked up.
"Naruko-san?"
"Yes, Iruka-sensei it's me," Naruto replied. He was mildly surprised that he was speaking so clearly. He was beginning to feel the alcohol take effect. Goosebumps started to crawl up his arms as well as the cold air caressed his skin. He'd forgotten that it was winter now and that it would be cold outside.
"Where are you? I went to check up on you and your mother, and you weren't there." He could hear Iruka's frantic, worried expression through the phone. Naruto nearly giggled, but stopped it before it could escape his lips.
"I'm at Kiba's. I forgot to tell you that I was going to his house," he replied.
"Are you staying overnight?" He sounded a little calmer than before.
"Yeah," Naruto said. He began to lose his balance, and stumbled to regain it with a surprised 'whoa'.
"Are you alright?" The concern was back again.
"I fine. I almost tripped over something though," Naruto told his teacher. He needed to end this fast before Iruka realized something else was up. He shivered as a cold wind blew against him.
"Be careful then."
"Don't worry Iruka-sensei, I will. I have to go now though."
"Oh. Alright then. Have fun."
"Thanks. I will. Bye Iruka-sensei. See you tomorrow," Naruto said quickly, snapping his phone shut before Iruka could even say goodbye. Sakura had just come out and was heading toward him. He smiled.
"Narukooo," the pink girl shouted. She hung over the blonde, who had to support her weight as she slouched. Naruto could tell she was plastered already.
"Hey Sakura-chan," he said with a grin.
"I've been looking for you," she slurred. Her cheeks were red as she smiled up at him. She squinted at him, and then looked him up and down as she stood up on her own.
"You look like a guy!" she exclaimed. "I thought you'd wear a skirt or somethin'."
Naruto shrugged.
"Why were you looking for me?" he asked, getting the attention off of his clothing. He was wearing a pair of slightly baggy jeans with a belt to hold them up, a pair of bright orange sneakers, and a light blue t-shirt that fit him loosely. All had been bought from the boys' section of a store he'd gone to with Yumi when Tsunade had decided he needed some actual boy clothes. Sakura brought a finger to her lips and a look of concentration crossed her face.
"Oh yeah," she said as her face lit up. "I saw you being a wallflower and all depressing and stuff inside and I was going to make you come dance with me, but then you left, and I couldn't find you, and I saw Neji and Gaara going at it, and that was interesting, but then I saw you out here, so came out here too and here I am and there you are, and I want you to stop being such a loner and dance with me."
"Um…okay," Naruto replied with a shrug. Sakura squealed and began to pull him back inside, but stopped suddenly and gave him a strangely serious look despite her being drunk.
"You're not usually like this. Normally you're all over the place. Something wrong?" she asked. Naruto shook his head and grinned at her.
"It's nothing a little dancing won't help," he told her. He didn't want to tell her that he was preoccupied with a certain Uchiha who was confusing the hell out of her. He needed a distraction, and this was as good a distraction as any. Besides, Sakura still had that crush on Sasuke. And admitting that he actually liked the teme to the friend who was crushing on said teme just wasn't something a good friend did. Naruto groaned mentally as he realized what he just thought. No. There was no way in hell he liked that jerk. He really did need a distraction from these stupid thoughts. It was probably from that alcohol he was drinking earlier.
"Come on then," Sakura said happily, forgetting her concern as she pulled her blonde friend back to the house. She nearly tripped and took Naruto down with her, but they regained their balance and kept going, laughing as they did. Yes, he needed this. Naruto was quite glad that Sakura had come to find him now.
Naruto had been dancing for a while now. He didn't know how long he'd been in the center of the mass of writhing bodies that occupied Kiba's living room, but he knew it was a long time. Everyone was moving, and everyone was hot and sweating from it. Naruto cut his way through the crowd to the edge, feeling the temperature as soon as he was out of the crowd. He wished he'd worn shorts instead of pants, or that he could take off his shirt, but he knew not to. He was nearing being drunk, but he still had enough sense to remember that nobody knew he was a boy.
He stumbled into the kitchen, intent on getting something to drink. He was really thirsty now, and water sounded amazing at the moment. He found an empty red plastic cup and filled it with cold water. He drank half of it at once, letting out a satisfied breath afterward. He surveyed the room, wanting to preoccupy his mind with something lest the thing he was trying to forget come back to his mind. He wasn't quite sure what he was trying to forget now, but he wanted it to stay that way.
A few other people were milling about in the kitchen. Four guys sat around the table with another standing behind one of them, making a pyramid with empty beer cans. They were nearly out of cans and there were still a few more layers that were needed to complete it. They seemed to realize this and sent the youngest of them to get them more beer. The boy stumbled out of the room and Naruto's attention drifted away from them.
A couple was making out by the doorway. He thought about telling them to get a room but decided they could do whatever. It wasn't his problem. His eyes moved on. Two girls were comforting another who was crying in the corner, and a little farther along the wall were three guys talking quietly to themselves. He caught the eye of one of them as they looked at him, and he flashed them a grin to be polite before moving on. There really wasn't anything of much interest in the kitchen, and Naruto sighed.
Sakura was still in the living room, dancing away. He'd lost track of her after the first few minutes of dancing with her. But it hadn't mattered because it was easy to get lost in that crowd of people and just move along with them. He remembered seeing Hinata in the crowd with Kiba right along side her. At one point he was pretty sure he'd danced with Sai. He'd almost left when he'd mistaken the cross-dresser for the Uchiha, but when he looked closer he'd seen it wasn't. So he'd stayed and danced with Sai for most of the time. Eventually Sai was lost to the crowd as Sakura had been, and Naruto went on dancing with whomever was around him until he had decided to leave. Which resulted in where he was at the moment.
"Hey," a voice said from his right. He turned his gaze to the owner of the voice, who happened to be from the group of guys who had been by the wall. He smiled confidently at the blonde.
"Hmmm?" Naruto replied slowly as he looked over the male. Fuzzy as his head was at the moment, he didn't think the boy was even from their school. "I dun 'member seein' you. Friend a' Kiba's?"
"Yeah. My name's Takeru. What's yours?" the boy replied smoothly. Naruto grinned.
"'S Uzumaki Naruto!" he said proudly, not really thinking. They weren't from his school, so who cared if they knew his real name or not.
"Well, Naruko-san, my friend over there thinks you're really cute and wants to ask you to dance with him," Takeru told him, discreetly slipping an arm around the blonde. Naruto looked up at him with a confused expression.
"Then why're you askin' me?" he asked.
"His name's Kanto. He's really shy with cute girls like you," Takeru explained. Naruto giggled.
"Oh. Which one's he?" he asked, looking over to the other two. The taller one was smirking while the other was averting his eyes as a blush covered his cheeks.
"Kanto's on the left. Why don't you go ask him? I'm sure it would make him happy," Takeru suggested. Naruto agreed and sashayed over to the two boys by the wall. He stopped before the blushing boy.
"Kanto-saaaan?" he asked in a sweet voice. The boy looked up at her with surprise and smiled politely.
"Yes?" he replied. Naruto giggled.
"I'm Naruto! You're cute too. Come dance me, please," he said with a grin. Kanto's blush grew as he nodded his consent. Naruto giggled happily.
"Watch my drink Takeru-san," he called to the other boy he'd been talking to as he took Kanto's hand and began to drag him to the living room.
"I will. Have fun," Takeru replied, but the two were already out of the room. Takeru smirked as he looked at the abandoned drink, and the other boy against the wall's smirk grew wider.
Naruko danced with the boy until Sasuke suddenly appeared by them.
"Sasuke!" Naruko cried with a smile as she saw the other. In the back of her mind, she wanted to run away, but the rest of her wanted to jump on the Uchiha and hug him. So she did. They were near the edge of the dance floor, so it didn't matter much when Sasuke stumbled backward a little. Sasuke pried the blonde off of himself and then took Naruko's hand. He pulled the blonde away from the dancing crowd to the wall, and ended up bringing along another person, whom the blonde had linked hands with. The boy had short brown hair and was blushing. When they stopped, Naruko didn't let go, and the boy made no move to release their hands either. Sasuke noticed this and narrowed his eyes at the boy before staring Naruko down.
"Youuwan'ed ta see me?" Naruto asked.
"You're drunk," Sasuke stated with mild surprise. He couldn't really say he expected that, but guessed it was inevitable really with as much alcohol as people had brought to this party.
"Yes!" Naruko replied with a toothy grin. And the idiot knew she was drunk.
"You've been avoiding me," Sasuke said, getting to the point. He noticed the other boy fidgeting nervously, and Sasuke ignored it. Let the boy squirm. He deserved it for holding hands with the blonde. Naruko frowned at him.
"Na-uh," she denied, shaking his head to emphasize the point. She started to fall off to the side, but the boy beside her caught the blonde and pulled her upright quickly. Naruko giggled and looked up at the boy.
"Thanks," she said. "Ya wanna dance while I talk with 'Suke-teme?"
"No, that's okay," the boy replied. Sasuke felt himself bristle at the familiarity that the two seemed to have. Who was he?
"And this is?" Sasuke asked, keeping his voice calm while the inside of his mind raged. He'd admitted that yes, he did like the blonde, but he refused to show that seeing her with another guy set him off. Uchihas weren't jealous.
"I'm Kanto. Nice to meet you," the boy said politely. Sasuke decided he was much too polite to like and glared at the boy icily.
"I'm Sasuke. Now fuck off," he replied before focusing on the blonde again. Naruko glared at him.
"Tha's not nice teme! Go be a jerk s'mwhere else!" she told him angrily.
"No," Sasuke refused. "We need to talk. Actually, you need to sober up first, then we need to talk."
"'M nah drunk!" she denied. Sasuke scowled and let out an exasperated breath.
"Yes you are. You even said you were earlier," he said. He saw the boy fidget more and scowled even more.
"Tha' was then! 'M nah drunk now!" Naruko said vehemently. "When'd you star' caring 'nyway teme?"
"You're my friend dobe, of course I care," Sasuke replied a little softer. Naruko frowned, and stared at him, seeming to be debating internally with herself over something. All of a sudden, he was down. Naruko stood over him, shaking her hand out. Then she turned to Kanto.
"Le's go. 'M thirsty," she said tiredly. Kanto nodded hesitantly, and Naruko dragged him off immediately. Sasuke stared after her with confusion and rubbed his jaw where she'd decked him. He was certain it would bruise.
"You know, for being drunk, she has surprisingly good accuracy," Sai commented as he appeared by the Uchiha's side. He helped his friend up. "What'd you say to make her punch you?"
Sasuke frowned and replied, "I told her I cared."
"Huh. Funny thing to get mad over," Sai said nonchalantly, as if he'd expected that answer. Sasuke leveled him with a stare and Sai shrugged. "Come on, let's get you some ice."
Naruto felt bad. He'd just knocked Sasuke over for saying he cared. In all honesty, hearing that from the normally stoic Uchiha made his heart flutter up into his throat. The suddenness of the feeling and how it had made him speechless scared him, so he'd lashed out. Then he fled instead of apologizing and seeing if Sasuke was all right. He felt strangely sober afterward, like a fog had been cleared from his vision. He realized that he hadn't let go of Kanto yet, and did so on their way back, apologizing if it made him awkward at all. Kanto had replied that it didn't with a blush, and Naruto was reminded that he'd called the boy cute before. He said it again with a smile, and enjoyed the fact that he could make him blush. Maybe Kanto could be a good friend in the future if he ever saw the other again.
When they returned to the kitchen, Naruto took his water from Takeru and gulped the rest of it gratefully. It tasted a bit strange, but he disregarded the thought. Takeru invited him to talk with them for a while and he agreed. He wanted to disappear somewhere for a while so Sasuke couldn't find him, and Takeru's offer seemed like a good excuse. He'd talk to Sasuke later; he just couldn't do it now. He'd apologize then too.
So they talked in one of the non-occupied bedrooms. When Masako, the third guy whose name he learned when they moved to the quieter room, offered him a drink, he accepted. It had a strange aftertaste again, but once again he disregarded it. The rest of them had another round as well.
Naruto learned that they went to a nearby school. They talked about how they knew Kiba, and a few other things until something strange started happening. Naruto's vision began to swim before him. He couldn't tell if it was from the beer he had in his cup or something else, but everything was blurry. Everything tipped off to the right suddenly, and he caught himself as he realized that he was falling over.
"Something wrong?" Kanto asked worriedly. Naruto couldn't seem to focus on his face and his voice sounded far away.
"Mm dun feel s'good," he said. And then his world went black.
"I'm leaving," Sasuke said finally.
"Nooooooo! Not yet!" Sai cried, holding onto the retreating Uchiha's arm and keeping him in place. Sasuke glared at him.
"Why? I didn't want to come in the first place. It's after one. I'm tired, and I'm going home. Now let me go Sai," he said. Sai pouted at him.
"Just a little longer. Please? I at least want to find Naru-chan and say goodbye before you drag me out too," he pleaded. Sasuke stared at him, and Sai batted his eyes. The Uchiha groaned.
"Whatever. I'll wait for you here," he replied, finding a wall to lean against.
"Why don't you come help me find her? You wanted to talk to her didn't you? And you saw how drunk she was before. Maybe we could take her home before she does something stupid," Sai said.
"Hn. She probably already has. Besides, I doubt she wants to see me now. That punch pretty much said what she thinks of me and what I have to say," Sasuke replied with a scowl. Sai rolled his eyes.
"She was drunk and you finally said you cared. Right after you'd been being a jerk to her, mind you. Just let her sober up, then talk to her. Either way, it's probably best if we take her home now," he told the other seriously. They held each other's gaze for a minute before Sasuke pushed himself away from the wall.
"Whatever," he said apathetically.
"Sasuke-san! Sasuke-san!" a voice called urgently. Suddenly the boy from earlier burst through the small crowd beside the pair with a frantic look on his face and let out a sigh of relief as his eyes found the one he was looking for.
"You know him?" Sai asked his friend. Sasuke didn't have time to reply as the boy began speaking.
"Sasuke-san! I know you don't like me and I know we only met once—"
"You only met once and you already hate him?" Sai asked.
"—but I think Naruto-san is in trouble. I-I'm not really sure, but I know how they can be, and I just thought since you seemed like a friend of hers that—" Kanto said hurriedly before he was cut off by a confused Sasuke.
"Naruto?" he asked. Sai was a shade paler beside the Uchiha.
"Naruko-chan," he told the other. Sasuke turned to the other, mildly surprised. Why was this boy calling the blonde by another name? And how did Sai know he was referring to Naruko?
"Huh?" Kanto said, confused now as well.
"The girl. Naruto-chan. Where is she? What happened?" Sai asked, ignoring their confusion. If she were in trouble, it was more important to help her than to explain to them why he knew the blonde by both names. Kanto shook his head, seeming to follow the same thought process as Sai.
"I was with two other guys from my school. We aren't really friends but we hang out sometimes. I knew they were into weird shit, but I didn't think they did this kind of thing," he told the other.
"What happened?" Sasuke asked, his expression serious and hiding his contained anger. He stared intently at the bumbling boy before him with something akin to anxiety rising in his chest.
"I-I think they slipped something into her drink. We were all talking and-and then she just fell over! I went to go get her something that might help because I thought she just got really drunk, but then Takeru-san and Masako-san started saying weird shit and I got freaked out and went to find you because I know I can't do jackshit to them, and they know it too," Kanto rambled.
"Where is she?" Sasuke demanded. Kanto flinched at the fire in his eyes.
"Th-this way," he said quickly before turning and disappearing into the crowd. Sasuke and Sai followed closely behind, each worrying about the blonde and whatever danger she could be in.
Naruto felt like he was floating. Everything was still dark, but he could feel himself coming down. Like he was just a spirit and was now being sucked back into his body. And it felt very constricting. Or at least, it felt like his whole body was made of lead. He couldn't move an inch, and his vision was still shot. Sounds, far away and muffled, started to reach his ears, and then became clearer and clearer. His muddled mind wondered what was happening and how he ended up like this. He remembered talking to Takeru, Masako, and Kanto, and then darkness. What happened?
Suddenly his sense of touch came back. He hadn't realized he was missing it, but there it was, back again. He felt hands on him. On his stomach, on his face, his cheek was slimy and wet with something. He didn't really want to know what it was. He could already feel himself seizing up. Those hands were touching him more intimately than they would if they were just checking him over. Who was it? Who was touching him like this? He didn't want to be touched like this!
As he struggled to open his eyes, he felt hands on his chest now, rubbing, causing friction against his skin with the rough fabric of his shirt, and he felt a little better knowing he was still clothed. But it didn't cover the shock that came too. Finally his eyes opened and he wanted to scream at what he saw, but no sound came forth. Takeru was occupying himself with Naruto's stomach now, licking and biting harshly. Masako was a little farther away holding a camera in place with a smirk in place. The red light was on. It was recording.
Dread trickled down Naruto's spine. He wanted to kick and scream and yell and fight, anything to get Takeru off of him and to destroy the camera Masako had, but he still could budge. His fingers twitched in pain each time a new mark was made on his stomach, but his arms lay useless beside him.
"Hey Takeru. She woke up," Masako said, his smirk widening even more. Takeru looked up at Naruto's face, smirk matching his friend's, and moved closer.
"That was quick. But I guess we should have expected that when the first of it didn't work on her," Takeru said. There was hunger in his eyes and Naruto began to shake, knowing what it was.
"Well now she'll be awake to enjoy it too," Masako replied. The blonde's eyes darted between the two, absolutely terrified of where this was going.
"True," Takeru said with a shrug. He licked his lips in anticipation and Naruto managed a quiet whimper. Tears began to leak from his eyes. "Oh, shush. It won't be that bad. How about we skip the foreplay and just get on with it? Then you'll see how good it'll be."
Hands grasped the top of the blonde's jeans, ripped them open, and pulled them down. Naruto cried out weakly.
"No!" his voice whispered when he meant to shout. More tears gushed out as Takeru ignored his plea and began to rub his thigh before moving up to the waistband of his boxers.
"Chick wears boxers. Guess she's more of a tomboy than we thought," Takeru joked, turning to the other. Naruto's breath caught and he had a sudden glimmer of hope. They thought she was a girl. Sick as it sounded, when they saw he was a boy, maybe they'd leave him alone.
"Those are always the better ones anyway," Masako replied. Takeru turned back to the blonde and yanked the boxers down. The two started at the sight and Naruto waited, hoping they would give up now that they'd thoroughly humiliated him.
"Fuck man," Masako said in a voice of disbelief. "The chick's a dude."
Takeru glared down at him and said with venom, "Fucking faggot."
"Leave me alone, please," Naruto begged for good measure.
"Tch," Takeru said with a sneer.
"What'd you wanna do now Takeru?" Masako asked. He'd turned the camera off. Takeru stared at him like he was an idiot for asking.
"He wants to dress like a girl, he'll get fucked like a girl," he replied with a smirk. He turned back to Naruto who had frozen once again and stared back at him with wide eyes. "Besides, faggot here needs a punishment."
Takeru was on him again, tearing the shirt and bra from the blonde. Soon enough they were off and Takeru was fumbling with his own pants with one hand and feeling Naruto up with the other. Naruto struggled with his heavy body to resist Takeru's advances and managed to throw his arm at the boy's head. It knocked him over. Adrenaline rushed through the blonde as he created an opportunity. The heaviness in his limbs faded slightly, but it was enough for him to be able to throw himself away from Takeru. He made to pull his boxers on at the very least before bolting for the door, but was tackled from behind by Masako who had abandoned the camera on the floor.
"Bitch," Takeru scowled as he approached the struggling blonde who was being held down. Tears streamed down Naruto's face even faster. He doubted he'd have another chance to make a break for the door. Not while he was being held face down against the floor.
Suddenly the doorknob rattled. Naruto hoped whoever it was would open the door and save him, but as it stopped rattling, his hope was crushed. Of course the door was locked. Besides, it was probably just some couple wanting a room to themselves. Tears of despair washed over his cheeks as he came to this conclusion. Screw if they were a couple or not. If they were still out there, hell if anyone were out there, he needed their help.
"Help! Please! Come back!" Naruto shouted. He was surprised with the volume of his voice, as he'd barely been able to whisper before. It was like a clamp had been released from his throat and allowed him to speak. Grateful for that fact, he didn't waste it. He yelled again and again until his mouth was covered with a large hand, muffling his voice. But his effort hadn't been in vain. Loud thumping started against the door, as if someone were ramming it or trying to kick it in. Naruto wanted to smile and shout for joy, but he could feel Takeru right behind him and his terror was kicking back in. He struggled against Masako even more, feeling that it was growing even more useless as he felt himself tire from trying to flail his still heavy limbs.
And then he was free, kicking into thin air. No one was behind him either. He sat up quickly and saw Sai and Sasuke attacking his almost rapists. He turned his wide eyes to another presence that had ended up beside him. It was Kanto. Kanto. He had been there. He knew what the other two were going to do. And he had gotten help and saved Naruto.
Kanto gave the blonde his torn clothes and asked if he were all right. Naruto could barely say a word. He couldn't tell if he were fine or not. He was just glad it was over.
Sasuke and Sai were in front of him suddenly, asking him if he were okay. Naruto saw Sasuke's concern behind his stoic mask and was reminded of the Uchiha's words to him earlier. And his guilt from before came rushing to the forefront of his mind. He focused on it, not wanting to focus on anything else, because he felt like he wouldn't get a chance to say how sorry he was.
"I'm sorry Sasuke. I'm sorry. I don't hate you. I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry," he rambled, his tears coming back. He wasn't sure when they had stopped before, he guessed maybe when Kanto had started talking to him, but they were there again, full force. He felt so guilty toward Sasuke, and he just focused on it until suddenly he wasn't even sure if he was apologizing for punching the Uchiha earlier. He was just apologizing. It didn't matter if Sasuke said he forgave him a million times over. Naruto just kept saying he was sorry, that he didn't hate the Uchiha. He was barely coherent now, but he kept at it.
Why was he apologizing anymore? He'd punched Sasuke. He apologized again for it. He didn't hear Sasuke's response. There was something else. Something he'd wanted to apologize for from the beginning. For lying. For saying he was someone he wasn't. For tricking the Uchiha. And most of all for loving him through all of it. He apologized for it all but never told the other why. He didn't want Sasuke to find out yet. He just wanted Sasuke to know he was sorry for it all.
And then a voice cut through his blubbering. That's all it was now. Not even coherent words, just his sobbing.
"Naruto," Sai said with all the tact of a two year old, "pull up your pants."
A/N: And it's done! Intense right? Hopefully? Did I get it out soon enough? It's double the chapter, so it should be. I wanted to give you an amazing long chapter last time, but it like this one better. Sorry for the cliffy, but this needed to end before I lost control of my plot bunny. But I gave you the climax! Haha! I think this thing has like two climaxes… This was the first tiny bump climax, and then the next one will be at the end! And then we'll be done! Oh, that's so sad to think about, but don't worry. That's still a while off. Not too long though. Things will probably start moving faster in the story now, ad hopefully my typing skills will be able to keep up with it. If not for my sake, then for all of yours.
So this is now rated M for that little almost raping of Naru-chan (sorry about that kiddies, by the way, but at least it didn't actually happen), and for potential goriness in the future. We still have Snake to worry about people, so take that into account. I'm quite excited for his part by the way, so hopefully it will be amazingness when I write it.
Thank you everyone who has stayed with me this far. Reviewers you are loved for all the happy happy feelings I get when I read what you think, and all you other peeps who just like to chill and enjoy the story quietly are loved as well just for boosting my hits counter. You are all awesome and deserve cookies! Hooray! So please, continue to feed my plot bunny so it can grow big and strong and provide me with inspiration to finish this story! Please and thank you!
Disclaimer: does anyone actually read these things? Well, in case they do, I don't own Naruto.