Naruto was released from isolation and he was nervous to see Sasuke again. Sasuke probably didn't even want to look at him now. Naruto arms were covered in white bandages, and his friends were giving him sad looks when he walked by. He was never going to leave Brooklane and he knew it. He was completely unstable and he couldn't handle any amount of stress.
Naruto walked into his room, Sasuke was on his bed with his hands to his face, shaking. "Sasuke…" Naruto began. Sasuke shot up and ran to hug him immediately. Sasuke hugged him tighter, like he would disappear if he let go. "I'm not sure why you do this to me, but God, never do that again." Sasuke said, words catching in his throat. Naruto hugged him back and tried not to cry. He was glad Sasuke wasn't treating him differently. "Naruto, we haven't known each other long, but I connect with you…I, I can't lose another friend." And for the first time in a long time, Sasuke let the tears roll down his face. He placed his arm over top of his tattoo and cried. Naruto just stared at him, not saying anything, but understanding. "This is why I need the drugs, I don't want to feel, I want to forget all the bullshit." He said. Naruto hugged him, tightly. "I'm here for you Sasuke, I'm sorry I scared you." Naruto whispered and they held each other for what seemed like ages.
Sasuke stared at the bandages on Naruto's arms and look into Naruto's eyes. Naruto smiled. Sasuke traced the bandages with his thumb. The dinner bell rang and they both shot up and walked to supper.
Everything seemed normal, but dysfunction was the norm here. Nobody really seemed to comment on what happened to Naruto, or why he did it. Sasuke's withdrawals were acting up at dinner, so he wasn't eating much. The nurse escorted him back to his room.
"So Naruto, new guy doesn't talk much does he?" his friend Gaara said. "No, he's got a lot going on up there." Naruto said. "Which one of us doesn't?" Kiba said and they all laughed. Sad, but true. "Naruto, he seems a bit…I don't know, possessive of you." Shikamaru said. "No way." Naruto said. "Dude, really? He glares at every person that looks at you, he's one scary mother fucker." Kiba said. "I mean, I guess." Naruto giggled. "Let's just say, I wouldn't want to be on his bad side." Shikamaru said. Naruto's head began to run in circles around what his friends were saying. Truthfully, Sasuke was all he thought about anymore and they had only met just a month ago. Naruto knew he would never leave this place, but what will happen when Sasuke can leave? Naruto wouldn't even cross his mind after that. Naruto stopped eating right then, he was getting really depressed. "Come on man, don't get all bent out of shape, it's okay." Gaara said. "No, no, it's nothing you guys said." Naruto laughed.
Naruto asked to be excused from supper and after observing his plate, they allowed it. He had eaten enough before he got upset to get out of it. This place was like a prison, but not as bad as the one in his own mind.
When Naruto got back to his room, he noticed Sasuke was already asleep. Naruto figured it was due to his medication. He made his was slowly to his dresser for his night clothes and slid into bed. Naruto couldn't sleep yet though. It was far too early for his mind to allow sleep. He turned on his desk lamp and brought out his sketch pad, but he wasn't sure what to draw. Then the raven stirred, turning towards him, still asleep. Naruto smiled and his hand began to move the pencil. He drew Sasuke curled up in his bed, exactly as he was witnessing in front of him. He sat there for hours making the perfect picture of Sasuke. He smiled at his finished work. Naruto felt a ping in his chest, one he hadn't felt for a long time. And the first thought to cross his mind was that he wanted to kiss Sasuke.
Naruto's heart started racing and he became frantic. His room was just cleared out of all of his homemade cutting instruments. So he did the smart thing. He took a deep breath and asked the medicine aide for his medication. She took all of his vitals because he was sweating. His pulse, blood pressure, and respirations were elevated from the anxiety. She put all of his pills in a tiny plastic cup. Two different anti-depressants, a mood stabilizer, a muscle relaxer, and an anxiety pill. This was Naruto's daily routine of medication, he felt like a lunatic. Due to his elevated anxiety, the nurse ordered that the aides check on him every fifteen minutes. He wasn't going to kill himself, but he didn't blame them for checking on him. Naruto did his breathing exercises and tried to keep himself calm. About an hour later his medication started to kick in and he was getting drowsy. He turned off his light, shut his notebook, and let his medication drift him to sleep.
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Sasuke woke up around seven o'clock, he had fallen asleep after dinner, around six-thirty. Breakfast wasn't until eight, so he got dressed and bummed a cigarette off of one of the janitors. He saw that a few other people were up watching TV and drinking coffee. Sasuke poured himself a cup of coffee, black, no sugar, and went to sit in the courtyard. He was out there by himself which he enjoyed. Coffee and a cigarette was exactly what he needed today, his parents were coming to visit.
/~***~\\\\\
Naruto and Sasuke sat together at breakfast, Naruto observed Sasuke's nervous behavior, but kept quiet. It was visiting day, and he was excited to see Jiraiya and Tsunade. They always brought him a little something to remember his real parents by. Naruto realized that Sasuke didn't want to see his parents at all.
Sasuke sat in the lounge waiting for his parents, his legs were bouncing up and down and was staring at the floor, and then he heard his mother's soft voice and turned his head around slowly. His mother stood there with a soft smile on her face and his father had his normal stern face on. Sasuke managed a weak smile and hugged his mother. "It's so great to see you, you look so healthy." She began to cry. As much as she annoyed Sasuke at times, he loved his mother, she always cared about him, and she was the only reason he ever felt bad for his drug use.
His father didn't speak much, which was normal, but it irritated Sasuke. "How is everything going? Are you getting along with everyone?" his mother asked. "Yeah, my roommate is pretty cool, his name is Naruto. He's an artist." Sasuke smiled. "I'm glad to hear that." She said. "We brought you some things from home." His father finally spoke and sat a box on the table. Inside was his hackie sack, Sai's obituary, a photo of him and Sai, one of his band shirts, a hoodie, his iPod, and his journal. He thanked his parents and then he read the date of Sai's death, it would be a year next week.
"Sasuke, Itachi is going to pick you up next week on Wednesday, we got it approved by your therapist. He's going to take you to see Sai's grave." His mother spoke softly, she knew he was upset. "Okay..." Sasuke said. "We better go now…" his father said, and pat him on the back. His mother kissed him on the forehead. "We love you son." She whispered and they left. Sasuke just stared at Sai's picture for what seemed like hours.