Chapter 12

Disclaimer: The title Naruto and anything that has to with it belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. (But Uzumaki Naruto belongs to Uchiha Sasuke XP) But I do own the plot of this story.

A/N: Removed chapter 13 and included Naruto's nightmare in this chapter. It was pretty much the same as the original chapter twelve, aside from:

•Sasuke didn't go to Naruto's apartment and they will see each other in the next school day, which would be Monday.

Sasuke looked at the unconscious lying on the infirmary bed from his seat. Naruto's healthy tan color was replaced with a sickly pale color, matching the pristine color of the sheets on where he was lying. A bruise dark as the violet of an eggplant decorated his left haw neatly and the raven-haired actor was fairly sure that others were present in different places of the boy's body with the violent rumble that they had had earlier.

Seeing the one you love in a helpless condition hurt and Sasuke would gladly be in the blonde's condition if he had the chance because it hurt more, the knowledge that he was the one who put him in that condition .

Only the two of them were inside the clinic, Kakashi and Iruka having escorted Sakura home because it was already late. His manager gave him a warning look before leaving.

Sasuke stood up from his seat and walked towards the blonde. He tenderly stroked Naruto's forehead, his fingers slipping and carding to the soft strands of blonde spikes. He continued caressing down to the boy's face, tracing the outlines of his eyelids, the bridge of his nose and the whisker scars on the cheeks, wondering where those marks came from. Sasuke looked at Naruto's peaceful expression, his consciousness still trapped in limbo. He savored their close proximity because he knew that this would probably be his only chance of being with Naruto without the barrage of insults and name-calling.

The ministrations stopped when he reached Naruto's dry and chapped lips. He carefully ghosted over them, feeling the warm exhalation oh his skin. His urges were kicking him to lean his face closer and cover those lips with his own but his conscience was kicking those urges as well. He already had done enough damage that made him want to shoot himself with a bullet and die.

But there are exceptions right? Especially if this was going to be the last breaking of the rule.

So he threw his conscience outside the window and kissed Naruto. It was a light smack, leaving his lips laid against the blonde for a while. He closed his eyes and felt the touch, embedding this moment in his long-term memory storage. For a full minute, he kissed him and then he parted, leaning his forehead against Naruto's.

He had given up because he didn't deserve Naruto. He smirked, but it didn't carry the same smugness it did, when he realized that all of the kisses they've shared where empty; it didn't weigh much for Naruto as much as it weighed for him.

It was the last kiss.

"I'm sorry," he said to the sleeping blonde. He carded his finger in his hair before pulling back and with a final glance at the other boy, he turned around. This was not a fairy tale where the prince needed to kiss the sleeping princess to wake her up, break the curse, fall in love and get married and then they lived happily ever after.

Real life didn't end up in that phrase since humans continue to live in beyond happily ever after. Sasuke was no prince and Naruto was definitely not a princess; the actor was not even the blonde's true love. He was the evil wizard who caught the boy in his spell but he didn't succeed in imprisoning him.

He exited the room, leaving with a heavy and broken heart. He was sure that this was love, not the fleeting infatuation or passing lust. Too bad he wouldn't have the chance of fulfilling this love of his. Would he even be given another chance like this? But he only wanted it to be with Naruto.

He left with the shards of his broken love inside his chest.

oOoOo

Naruto was stuck in a loop.

He was five years old once again; staring at his mother's bloodied face. They were both trapped, her body underneath piles and piles of debris. He could feel the burning stings on his cheek and the salinity of his tears made it hurt more. He ignores the pain and focused on the task he needed to do. He needed to help his mother.

"Mom…!" He stretched out his bruised right arm and tried to crawl his way towards Kushina but the rest of his body refused to follow his commands. He pulled his lower body harshly, yelping at the pain radiating from the part, especially from his legs.

"Mom! Mommy!" Naruto cried with his cracked, hoarse voice echoing in the small space that they were in. He couldn't hear anything else aside from his own voice and the continuous flow of the red liquid on his mother's face was scaring the small boy. It flowed down to the pieces of metals and cement.

"Na-ruto…"

The boy stopped sobbing and looked at his mother; the pair of vibrant violet eyes was much dimmer than he remembered. She was breathing harshly but she forced herself to speak and comfort her little boy.

"I'm s-sorry, d-dear, its mommy's fault—" she coughed blood before she continued. She could feel her organs failing their functions. It was just a matter of time before she dies and leaves Naruto alone.

"I'm s-cared! I wanna g-go home with daddy and—and," Naruto sniffed and cried, trying to reach his mom for comfort but he couldn't.

"I'm s-sorry but I-I c-can't go h-ome w-with y-you, so t-take c-care of your d-dad for me, o-okay?" She squeezed the words between her breaths. "I-I'm t-tired, s-so I'll b-be r-resting n-now…"

"I l-love y…" and she closed her eyes.

"NO! Don't s-sleep you might not w-wake up again! Mommy!" he cried out. "I promise to be a good b-boy and do w-what you t-tell me, j-just…"

He didn't know why he didn't want her to sleep. He understood that she was tired so she needed to get some rest; but a small voice from his chest told him that his mother would never open her eyes if she closed them.

And he kept on crying because he would never see her again.

And this dream continued to repeat again and again. The sixteen year-old just stood helplessly in a corner as he watched this real nightmare show again. He felt so sick and wanted to throw up.

Then he felt something, someone, touch his face. It was a warm and gentle touch, similar to his mother's but different at the same time. There was something in that hand, a strong emotion that the person wanted to convey to him. Then, he felt pressure on his lips.

Warning bells on his mind rang as loud as twelve elephants trumpeting together. His physical body was unconscious –meaning helpless and defenseless, unfortunately—and some pervert is taking advantage of that. He had no girlfriend to do that to him.

The blonde tried to wake his body up, aiming to maim the misguided person when the pressure disappeared. Weird but he suddenly felt alone and sad. It felt like someone was leaving him. Before his subconscious self went out, the last name that he thought of was Sasuke.

oOoOo

Sasuke sat on the love seat of the mansion, chugging down on his preferred beverage to drown his heart ache. He knew that drinking would not solve his problem nor would it also solve the mess that he was in right now. This glass of liquid would not give him what he wanted the most.

He wanted Naruto. He wanted to be with him, to be beside him and to love him the most. That was his one wish. His one true need, want and wish.

"You know, it would've been more effective if the glass you're holding actually contains something alcoholic, little brother." A smirk accentuated the teasing quality of the other man's voice. The newcomer had the same color of black hair and black eyes as Sasuke, with two slanted vertical lines were prominent on his face, making him appear darker and mysterious.

Ah, just what Sasuke needed on his time of depression –a very unhelpful advice from a brother who wants to see his dear little brother in a mess. It was quite a wonder on how genetics works.

"I'm sixteen years old, Itachi. I have to settle with raspberry juice." The younger brother was not in a mood to play with his brother's mind games. He wanted to sleep and maybe in his dreams, Naruto would be there.

"An Uchiha never tries to show his lowest moments to others, especially in front of another Uchiha," Itachi said in a blank tone of voice. Sasuke scowled at the reiteration of their clan's untold guide lines. The teenager didn't need to be a perfect Uchiha because there would be no room for two. The older one already held that place in the family tree.

Itachi was the clan's prodigy, doing everything with utmost perfection that surpasses the clan's elder generation expectations.

The raven-haired actor idolized his brother when he was younger. He looked up to him with a big smile and pride for every accomplishment that his older brother would make. Sasuke enjoyed the times whenever he would be able to play with Itachi. Heck, he was even happy if his brother would simply pat him on the head and smile at him.

Along with the adoration, his jealousy existed. He could not help but also desire the praises and smiles his usually stoic, quiet and expressionless father would give to Itachi each time the boy garnered another success to add to his and the clan's great name. So Sasuke strived hard for that bit of attention by working hard and diligent at everything that he did so he would also be recognized. But in the following years, it didn't happen.

"I don't need to be an Uchiha, brother. You won't understand on how a failed mind of an Uchiha works. You're too fucking perfect," he said with bitterness. Itachi's smirk faltered at the tone his brother used but Sasuke didn't care if his comment disturbed Itachi; that would ruin his brother's perfect image that he had in his mind.

And Fugaku started to notice Sasuke when Itachi chose the path of a band vocalist instead of being a doctor. He ignored his oldest son and concentrated on honing the youngest' potentials. For a moment, he was happy –his father finally gave him importance over his brother. But it was a short-lived flicker of joy, like a candle's flame swaying and dying at the blow of the wind; Fugaku's pride for his second son didn't reach the heights of Itachi.

Their father only had eyes for the older boy; Sasuke was simply a shadow of a younger brother, a substitute if the older one ever failed at being the perfect Uchiha.

With his perfect brother's presence in the room, he felt more depressed. The younger Uchiha wanted to blame his brother for this rotten, disgusting personality that made Naruto hate him. He could not help but compare himself with Itachi, a habit he thought he had broken years ago.

Sasuke's cheerful and childish side died when he turned eight. He became the proud, cold and heartless young man that he was today. He turned into a human marble statue and stopped feeling, caring. He stopped believing in everyone but himself –he would never be good enough for anyone but his self. And no one was also good enough for him.

He always had been inferior compared to his brother, no matter how much others praised him for his looks and abilities. He stopped hoping that he would be able to catch up with the other's proud list of achievements.

His emotions became confined to the parameters of acting; it was all just for show.

But with Naruto, he started to feel those sentiments that he killed; insecurity, jealousy, doubts. And he experienced a new thing –love.

No one was to blame but himself for what he did.

Itachi went into the bar. He took a wine glass and poured himself a drink but he didn't drink it. Instead he swirled the liquid on his hand and stared at it intently. "There was one job, a very, very important task I've failed to do all these years."

The seated actor glanced sideways at his brother before resting his back on the seat's back. He didn't want to be pitied, especially when it came from Itachi. "What? Being the perfect earthly incarnation of Satan?"

The other man didn't answer and continued staring at his own drink. He spoke but about a different matter, "You have problems about love, don't you?"

Sasuke did not want to talk about it. "What gave you that idea? For all we know, it could be another thing."

"Hmmm…maybe but we share things other than our blood and looks, younger brother."

"What are you getting at?" The younger man said in frustration. "Get to the fucking point."

"Like on how we spend our times sulking over a broken heart."

Silence reigned. "But," Sasuke's voice was above a whisper, "You never fail."

"I'm not the perfect Uchiha –our perfections are fronts of superficiality. I failed at things that you might consider minuscule or childish but I consider monumental."

"I don't want to be another failure at love." Sasuke said.

"You're pathetic. We are similar, yes, but there was a difference. I was never a coward who lost hope."

The younger man glared at Itachi's insult. It was hard to guess where his brother was going; he loved messing with minds.

"I faced it like a real man so I chose to follow what I wanted and pursued my heart's desire. What the heart decides is all that really matters in the end." Itachi's stare departed from the glass to his little brother.

"I never gave up and I got what I wanted. With a bit of force, maybe but we both ended up satisfied." He took a sip from the beverage.

Maybe, maybe Sasuke overlooked a few details in his self-pity, like how his brother was simply a mortal being subjected to human things. Like how Naruto never knew what he really felt…shit.

"I never told him that I…love…him."

Never once did he tell that he loved Naruto. Actions might speak louder than words but it gets misunderstood so words were needed to reassure what it really meant. He might have turned out to be someone playing with the blonde boy for fun.

"It's better to give both of yourselves time before coming onto him directly now."

He would not give up. His determination came back twice as intense as it was before. Naruto didn't give up on Sakura until he heard her final and clear rejection so why should he lose hope?

He was a better man than Itachi. And he'll prove Naruto that.

"Hn." Sasuke exited the room without uttering any form of appreciation for his brother's successful attempt at cheering (jeering or teasing) him. Nonverbal communication was quite understandable in their household so saying 'thanks' was not necessary.

He was on the prowl once again for Naruto. And this time, he'll do things right.

oOoOo

Playing big brother to Sasuke was hard. He preferred torturing the emo-side of his brother than acting like the responsible, wise adult that he was supposed to be.

"Sasuke-kun already left?" Mikoto, their mother, emerged from the kitchen carrying a tomato salad. She frowned; she rarely saw her youngest son these days and now he disappeared.

"He's on his love hunt for a certain blonde boy." Itachi offered his mother a small smile. Mikoto blinked a few times before letting out a small giggle.

"Oh! My little boy's growing up. That must be the reason why he looked gloomy. He must bring that boy over next time he visits!" She put the plate of salad over the counter and smiled at her eldest son. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the forehead, something she did when she greeted her sons. Her husband was not the most affectionate person in the planet so she had to give her children affection.

"Aren't you even bothered that it's a boy and your son is gay?" he asked.

"Who you two love are your choices. As long as you are both happy and don't go Fugaku-like with your partners."

Thank heavens for small miracles like their mother in their Uchiha life.

At least, he got to play the role of a helpful big brother in Sasuke's life once. Next time, he'll return to the torturing big brother to Sasuke and his blonde love.

He finished the raspberry juice that he poured out earlier in his mistake. He was aiming for red wine but he picked out the juice bottle instead. Don't ask him why a juice was present in a shelf reserved for alcoholic beverages. Fortunately, Sasuke didn't notice and he was able to carry his cool composure throughout the advising session. Don't look at him either with ridiculousness; he stated that he was human, a bit more advanced than an average person but still human nonetheless.

"Could you pick up the mess that your brother made? I told you two not to rely on the maids for every single thing," Mikoto scolded as she fixed the bottles of liquor in the cabinet. Itachi pouted uncharacteristically at his mother.

"But Sasuke was the one who broke it!"

"Since he's not here, the task falls on his big brother. Right, Itachi?" She again smiled but it was different from the kind, motherly smile she had earlier. It was now more of 'I'm your mother so don't ask questions and follow me'. He bent down and carefully picked up the pieces of the glass off the floor. And they say that his father was a scary man. Fugaku was a professional in making people obey his orders but Mikoto was a veteran in making proud Uchihas follow her 'requests'.

It looks like he still had to play the big brother role for a bit more.

I'm sorry for the confusion but I decided to change some events to make writing it easier.