Me: OKAY! Time to get to work!

Naru: wow

Me: what? I have a two to three day break before I write each chapter now and that will always be my pattern unless I change it or something happens! ^^

Naru: okay okay now….disclaimer time! Kyu owns nothing! But she does own a Gaia account!

Me: yep! Create one and look up yuna Uzumaki! That's me~ okay now on with the story!

________________________________________________________________________________

Truth or ScArE?

________________________________________________________________________________

Still sweaty from gym class, Naruto and Deidara passed the mansion on their way home. Naruto noticed something he had never seen before, a light in the window. Windows-that weren't boarded up anymore!

"Deidara, look!" Naruto screamed with excitement. This was the best birthday present of all! There was a figure standing in the attic window, staring up at the stars.

"Oh, no! It's true, Naruto un. There are ghost un!" he screamed clutching onto Naruto's arm.

"Well, this ghost drives a black Mercedes!" Naruto said, pointing to the black Mercedes Benz.

"Let's go," he pleaded.

Suddenly the attic light went out.

They both gasped at the time. Deidara's nails dug into Naruto's thrift store sweater. They waited, wide-eyed and speechless.

"C'mon, let's go!" Deidara said. Naruto didn't move. "Naruto, I'm already late for dinner! We'll be doubly late for Sasori's party un."

"You've got the hots for Sasori" Naruto teased, his eyes glued to the mansion.

But when he didn't reply, Naruto turned to face him. Deidara's cheeks were flushed.

"You do!" Naruto said with a gasp. "And you think I'M weird!" he declared shaking his head.

"Naruto, I've got to go un!"

Naruto would have waited till morning, but whoever was inside wasn't coming out.

The light in the attic window had lit a fire in his soul.

______________________________________________________________________________

"I saw a Mercedes parked at the mansion!" Naruto informed his family at dinner. He was late as usual, this time for his own birthday dinner.

"I heard they look like the Addams family," Konohamaru said.

"Maybe they have a son you age. Someone who doesn't like to get into trouble," Kushina added.

"Then I'd have no use for him"

"Maybe he has a father I can play tennis with" Minato said hopefully.

"Whoever it is will need to get rid of all those old mirrors and crates," Naruto added, not realizing what he had said. They all looked at him. "What crates?" Kushina asked. "Don't tell me you've snuck into that house!"

"It's just something I heard."

"Naruto!" she said in that disapproving mother tone.

It seemed no one in Konoha had seen the new owners. It was wonderful to have a mystery in this town for a change. Everyone already knew most everything that happened in Konoha and most of it wasn't worth knowing.

______________________________________________________________________________

Sasori Akasuna lived on the good side of town, of course meaning away from the railroad tracks. Naruto and Deidara arrived late and entered the party like they were movie stars entering a premiere. Or rather Naruto did. Poor Deidara hung tightly to his side like he was visiting the dentist.

"It'll be okay," Naruto reassured him. "It's a party!"

But he knew why he was nervous. They were subjecting themselves to ridicule when they could have been safely at home watching TV like Sai said. But why should the snobs have all the funny? Just because Sasori's bedroom was the size of his living room? Just because they didn't wear clothes that were "in"? So that meant he should just sit home on his sixteenth birthday.

Naruto felt like Moses parting the Red Sea, as a crowd of snobs dispersed from the hallway upon their entry. Their classmates eyeballed him, decked out in his usual gothic garb. Too bad Tommy Hilfiger wasn't there. He'd been flattered. Everyone was wearing his clothes like a school uniform. The sound of Aerosmith rocked throughout Sasori's living room. A thick layer of smoke hung above the couches, and the smell of beer permeated the air like cheep incense. Couples who weren't staying disapprovingly at them were staring adoringly at each other. It was going to be useless to try and to talk to anyone.

"I can't believe you showed up," Sasori said, spotting us in the hallway. "I'd take a picture, but I don't know if you'd be visible!" Yet despite his bark, Sasori wasn't as cruel as Sai. "Beers are out back," he then said. "Want me to show you the way?"

Deidara was in awe of Sasori. He shook his head and locked himself in the hallway bathroom. Sasori laughed and headed for the kitchen. Naruto waited in the living room by a concert-sized speaker, perusing the CD's. Michael Bolton, Celine Dion, and a bunch of show tunes. He wasn't surprised.

Naruto went to check on Deidara and found the bathroom door open. He wasn't in the hallways, so he walked through the crowd of hammered classmates to the kitchen. A group of hundred-dollar-hairstyle girls glared at him and left leaving Naruto alone. Or so he thought.

"Hey, sexy monster boy," a voice said behind Naruto. It was Sai. He was leaning against the wall next to Naruto, Budweiser dangling from his hand.

"Does that line work for you at every party?"

He smiled a seductive smile. "I've never kissed a boy with black lips before"

"You never kissed a boy before," Naruto said and walked past him.

Sai grabbed Naruto's arm and pulled Naruto back to him. He looked at Naruto with his black eyes and kissed him on the mouth. Naruto had to admit, he was a great kisser, and it didn't hurt that he was gorgeous.

Sai had never even touched Naruto, much less kiss him, except when he bit Naruto in kindergarten. The most he ever got was a thump on the head when he walked to close to him. He had to be drunk. Maybe it was a joke-maybe he was just trying to mess Naruto up. But the way his lips felt against Naruto's, it seemed like they were both enjoying it. Naruto didn't know what to think as Sai pulled him out the back door, past garbage cans and the fountain, under tall trees and darkness.

"Are you scared of the dark, monster boy?" The woods let so little light in, it was hard to make out the red stripes on his sweater.

"No, I quite like it."

Sai pushed him up against a tree and started kissing him for real. His hands were everywhere-on Naruto, on the tree.

"I've always wanted to kiss a vampire!" he said, coming up for air.

"I've always wanted to kiss a Neanderthal."

Sai laughed and went on kissing Naruto.

"So does this mean we're going together?" Naruto asked.

Now Naruto was the one coming up for air.

"What?"

"Like when we go to school? We'll hold hands in the halls and hang out together at lunch? See movies on weekends?"

"Yeah, whatever"

"Then we're going together?"

"Yeah" he laughed. "You can watch me play soccer and I can watch you turn into a bat." Sai began softy biting Naruto on the neck. "I bet you like this, don't you monster boy?"

Naruto's heart sank. Of course, he didn't really want to be Sai's boyfriend. It wasn't like Sai was Mars and Naruto was Venus-they weren't even in the same universe! And Naruto didn't even like him, really. Naruto knew why Sai brought him out here, he knew what he wanted to do and he knew who he was going to tell. And by the end of it all, he might get 10 dollars from all his friends for "getting the Goth boy." Naruto had hoped Sai was going to prove him wrong. Instead he was proving him right.

It was time to get down to business. "Wanna see why I don't wear whit? Wanna fly with me?"

"Yeah." He smiled, sort of startled, but very eager. "I bet you fly like Supergirl!"

'Did he just call me the uke without saying it…? Whatever..' Naruto thought as he urged Sai over to the picket fence into the woods. Naruto could obviously see better than him. His nocturnal habits had always made him a great observer in the dark. Not as good as a cat, but close. He felt safe and secure, with the beautiful moon now guiding him. Naruto looked up and saw several bats fluttering over the trees. He'd never seen bats in Konoha. But he didn't go to that many parties, either.

"I can't see," Sai said, removing a branch from his hair.

As they walked on, Sai flailed his arms like he was going to hit something. Some people are violent drunks; some are slobbering drunks. But Sai was a terrified drunk. He was really becoming quite unattractive.

"Let's just stop here," he said.

"No, just a little bit further," Naruto said following the bats as they flew into the woods. "It's my sixteenth birthday. I want this to be a night I'll never forget! We need total privacy."

"This is plenty of privacy" he said, groping around and trying to kiss Naruto.

"We're almost there," Naruto insisted, tugging him on. The lights from the house could no longer be seen, and they couldn't walk five steps without hitting a tree.

"This is perfect!" Naruto finally said.

Sai squeezed him hard, not because he loved Naruto, but because he was afraid. It was pathetic.

There was a gentle wind blowing through the trees, and the smell of autumn leaves, Naruto heard bats chirping high over-head. The full moon illuminated their wings. It would have been more romantic, if only he had a real boyfriend with him.

Sai was completely blind in the darkness, feeling everything with his hands and lips. He kissed Naruto all over his face and touched the small of his back. Even blind, it didn't take him long to find the buttons on his shirt.

"No, you first," Naruto told him.

Naruto lifted off his sweater, as unclumsily as he could. He had never done this before. Sai was wearing a V-neck T-shirt underneath and an undershirt underneath that. 'This is going to take forever' he thought.

Naruto felt his naked chest. Why not? It was right in front of him. It was soft smooth and muscular.

Sai pulled Naruto closer, his lacy, black rayon shirt touching his naked torso.

"Now you, baby. I want you so bad," he said, straight out of some skin flick on cable.

"Me too, baby." Naruto sighed, rolling his eyes.

He leaned Sai down slowly on the damp earth. He slid off his loafer and socks. Sai eagerly took off the rest.

Sai lay propped up on his arms, completely naked. Naruto stared down at him in the faint moonlight, savoring the moment. How many girls or boys for that matter had Mr. Gorgeous laid out by a tree, only to cast them aside the next day? Naruto wasn't the first and he wasn't going to be the last. He was going to be different.

"Hurry up-come over here," he said. "I'm cold!"

"I'll just be a minute. I don't want you to see me undress."

"I can't see you! I can't even see my own hands!"

"Well just hang on"

Naruto had Sai's clothes in his arms. His sweater, V-neck undershirt, khakis, socks, loafers, and underwear. He had Sai's power. His mask. He had his whole life. What was a boy to do?

This boy ran. He ran so hard, like he had never run before. Like he had been training every day in phys ed class. If Asuma-sensei could have seen Naruto then, he would have surely put him on the track team.

The bats flew off, too, as if they were in sync with his movements. He quickly reached the house, Sai's ensemble wadded in his arms. The snobs drinking on the back porch were too busy talking about their shallow lives to notice Naruto emptying a trash bag half filled with beer cans and stuffing Sai's clothes.

He carried the bag into the house and grabbed a startled Deidara by the arm. He was delivering beer to a table of poker players.

"Where were you un?" he screamed. "I couldn't find you anywhere un! I was forced to wait on these creeps un! Back and forth-beer, chips, beer, chips un. And now cigars! Naruto, where am I suppose to get cigars un?"

"Forget about cigars! We've gotta run!"

"Hey, toots, where are those pretzels?" a drunken jock demanded.

"The bar is closed!" Naruto said in his face. "Great service demands a great tip!" He grabbed his poker earnings and stuffed them in Deidara's pocket. "Time to go!" He said, pulling him away.

"What's in the bag un?" he asked.

"Trash, what else?"

Naruto pushed Deidara out the front door. The nice thing about not having friends was there was no one to say good-bye to. "What happened un?" he kept asking as Naruto pulled him across the front yard. His ten-year-old pickup truck sat as the end or the street, waiting on us like home base. "Where were you, Naruto un? You have leaves in your hair un."

Naruto waited until they were halfway home before he turned to him with a huge fox-like grin and shouted, "I screwed Sai!"

"You did what un?" he shouted back, almost swerving off the road. "With who un?"

"I screwed Sai."

"You didn't un! You couldn't un! You wouldn't un!"

"No, I mean figuratively. I screwed him so bad, Deidara, and I have the clothes to prove it!" And he pulled them out of the trash bag one by one. They laughed and shrieked as Deidara turned a corner near the Uchiha manor.

Somehow Sai would find his way out the darkness. But he wouldn't have his rich threads to mask himself. He'd be naked, cold, alone. Exposed for who he really was.

Naruto would remember his sweet sixteenth birthday for the rest of life, and now Sai would, too.

________________________________________________________________________________

As they drove along the desolated country road that twisted around Uchiha manor, the headlights shown against the creepy trees. Moths attacked the windshield as if warning them to choose another way.

"The mansion's totally dark," Naruto said as they approached it. "Wanna stop for a look-see?"

"Your birthday's over un," Deidara said in an exhausted voice, keeping his foot on the gas pedal. "We'll go next year un."

Suddenly the headlights illuminated a figure standing in the middle of the road.

"Watch out!" Naruto yelled.

A guy with moonlight-white skin and spikey black hair, clothed in a black coat, black jeans and black Doc Martens, quickly raised his arm to shield his eyes-seemingly from the glare of the headlights rather than the immediate impact of Deidara's pickup.

Deidara slammed his brakes. They heard a thud.

"Are you okay un?" he cried.

"Yes. Are you?"

"Did I hit him un?" he yelled, panicking.

"I don't know."

"I can't look un," he said, hiding his head on the steering wheel. "I can't un!"

Naruto jumped out of the truck and anxiously peered around the front, afraid of what he might find lying in the road.

But he saw nothing.

Naruto checked underneath the truck and looked for dents. On closer inspection, he noticed blood splattered on the fender.

"Are you okay?" He called out.

But there was no response.

Naruto grabbed a flashlight from Deidara's glove compartment.

"What are you doing un?" He asked, worried.

"Searching."

"For what un?"

"There was some blood-"

"Blood? Deidara cried. "I've killed someone un!"

"Calm down. It could have been a deer"

"A deer doesn't wear black jeans un! I'm calling nine-one-one un."

"Go ahead-but where's the body?" Naruto reasoned. "You weren't going fast enough to catapult him into the woods."

"Maybe he's under the truck un!"

"I already looked. You probably just bumped him and he took off. But I want to make sure."

Deidara grabbed Naruto's arm, digging his nails into Naruto's flesh. "Naruto, don't go un! Let's get out of here un! I'm calling nine-one-one un!"

"Lock the door if you have to," Naruto said, tearing himself free. "But keep the engine and the lights on."

"Naruto, tell me this . . ." Deidara exclaimed breathlessly, gazing at Naruto with terrified eyes. "What normal guy would be walking in the middle of a pitch black road un ? Do you think he might be a-?"

Naruto felt the pleasant tingle of goosebumps on his arms.

"Deidara, don't get my hopes up!"

Naruto combed the bushes that went down the creek. Then he headed up for the hillside leading up toward the mansion.

He let out a shriek.

"What is it un?" Deidara cried, rolling down the window.

Blood! Thick puddles in the grass! But there was no body! Naruto followed the bloodstains, afraid bits of his corpse were strewn everywhere. And then he tripped over something hard. He looked down, anticipating a severed head. He apprehensively shone my flashlight on it. It was a dented paint bucket.

"Is he dead un?" Deidara gasped as Naruto returned to the truck.

"No, but I think you might have killed his can," He said, dangling the bucket in front of him. "What was he doing painting in the middle of the night? And where was he going?"

"It was just paint un!" Deidara said with gasp of relief, hanging up his cell phone and revving the engine. "Let's get out of here un!"

"What was that jerk doing walking in the middle of the road at night?" Naruto wondered out loud. "Maybe he was going to paint some graffiti or something."

"Where did he come from un? Where could he have gone so fast un? Deidara mumbled back.

In the rearview mirror Naruto caught the reflection of the darkened mansion just in time to see light go on in the attic window.

________________________________________________________________________________

Me: done! Also this chapter has more than 2000 words yay lol!

Sasu: ……spazz it has more than 3000 now that you've written the author notes

Me: whatever~ lol I have a challenge for anybody who wants to do it lol I was listening to a song on the radio and there was a specific part that I heard it went "Hush girl, shut your lips. Do the Helen Keller and talk with your hips" lol if anyone can tell me what the heck that means you get a Naruto plushie! Clap clap clap ^_^ XD okay now cya next chapter!

Naru&Dei: Bye-neeeee!