Chapter 6

Three ambulances rolled up with two patrol cars in tow. Sasuke hung back in the shadows, until one of the medics paused in tending the victims to ask who'd treated them. Several of the onlookers looked in Sasuke's direction, but the unspoken rule for anyone who'd grown up on the streets was golden: you never ratted someone out. Never, regardless to what it was, or if the actions in question could be perceived as good. A person's business was their business; minding your own kept you alive.

Still, Naruto gave Sasuke a small nudge with his elbow and raised his brows. Sasuke shook his head shortly. Naruto hesitated, but gave a small nod of understanding. He wouldn't saying anything either, his nod said.

But when his mark was loaded onto an ambulance, and Sasuke heard the EMTs incorrectly diagnosing the throat wound, he stepped forward. And then it all came out…each vic's stats, Neji's burr holes, how long they'd all been down. All of it.

The cops asked questions, whereupon the onlookers all developed varying cases of amnesia. His mark wasn't conscious, so he couldn't identify him, but Sasuke doubted the man had gotten a good look at him anyway. Naruto, though, had no experience with cops or trouble; they gave him one stare and he told everything he knew, suspected, or thought. Said he'd touched one of the guns in order to get into the convenience store. To his credit, he tried to leave Sasuke's name out of it as much as possible. Once it appeared nothing particularly incriminating existed for the boys, several of the onlookers came forward and said as how Sasuke and his friends had been attacked, and that Neji had defended them. To Sasuke's sick dread, he and Naruto were still required to accompany the cops to the station. A formal report needed to be filed, one burly cop said.

-oOo-

There were no charges pressed. One of the cops did bring them the info that Neji was stable and doing well, all things considered. Sasuke only nodded. He was acutely aware of his surroundings, and the fact that he was now officially on record as having been at the scene of a crime. Years of stabbing people, and now he was really inside a police station. Itachi would shit.

Naruto, Sasuke noticed with disgust, was all wide-eyed curiosity in the station. He craned his head this way and that, staring at handcuffed people being led elsewhere, and the tired, slump-shouldered cops who drank from stale cups of coffee. Sasuke couldn't wait to leave, but Naruto looked ready to move right in. By the time they left the station, it was after one in the morning.

Naruto stood with Sasuke on the sidewalk once they were free to leave, and looked at him expectantly. "What do we do now?" he asked brightly. As if they hadn't just witnessed two fatal shootings, a ton of blood, and Neji lying pale as a sheet on the ground. As if bullets hadn't flown at them only three hours ago. As if they were out on some kind of fun adventure.

Sasuke had long since rebuilt the walls he normally kept in place around people. The advent of the police had sobered him up quickly. He couldn't see himself doing anything differently regarding the wounded men, but that was all over now. Now he was stuck in Oto with Naruto, who'd witnessed a bunch of shit Sasuke bitterly wished he hadn't. Stabbing aside, he'd fucking cried in front of Naruto. Said a bunch of wussy shit he'd rather have died than uttered. "We head home," he said shortly.

"Bus?" Naruto looked around alertly, as if one was just idling at the corner.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Buses stopped running between townships at midnight. I suppose I could call my brother…"

He didn't. But he did find a questionable looking cab that was parked in the space between two liquor stores, a few blocks from the police station. The interior was opaque with smoke, and the driver looked stoned out of his mind, but he agreed to drive out of Oto city limits and into Konoha, which Sasuke knew cabs weren't strictly allowed to do.

-oOo-

Naruto coughed and rolled the back windows down. Once they were on the highway, and the smoke had cleared, Sasuke rolled them right back up again. Lowering his voice, he pinned Naruto with a direct glare. "What were you doing in Oto?" he hissed. He didn't want the cabbie overhearing through the Plexiglas partition separating the front of the cab from the back seat. "How'd you find me? The hell was Neji doing there?"

So different was this Sasuke from the one who'd cried in the convenience store that Naruto spent a few seconds staring in open-mouthed surprise. "Neji helped me find you. I…came to talk to you. To ask why you left, if it was something I did."

Sasuke turned away from him in revulsion. "God, you make me sick."

That hurt. A lot. Bewildered, Naruto tried to understand how Sasuke could change so much from the guilt-ridden, genius superhero to the sullen and hateful boy he'd been at the home. More importantly, he wanted to know why he'd changed, and when it had happened. "What's wrong with you?" he asked softly. I thought we were friends now. "Why are you being so mean?"

For several miles it looked as though Sasuke wouldn't answer. He chewed one thumbnail while staring moodily out the window. Naruto stared at his angry profile, and felt sick to his stomach. He was losing Sasuke all over again.

The cab swerved when Naruto yelled in surprise; Sasuke had suddenly turned and lunged at him, holding him to the door on his side, with the edge of his switchblade pressed to Naruto's neck. The black eyes were very close, and narrowed with an emotion Naruto was too preoccupied to analyze right then.

"You tell anyone –anyone!- what I did tonight, or what happened, and I will…you won't like what I do. You're leaving the home in four months. I'll find you, and that will be the end of you. Do you hear me? And that other shit, that junk I said in the store…you forget all of that. Mention that, and I won't wait four months. You feel me or not, numbnuts? Answer me!"

The cabbie stared back and forth between the road and his rear view mirror. Sasuke waited. The knife pressed a little harder against Naruto's neck, but Naruto only stared back.

There was fear in those dark eyes, Naruto decided. "I said I won't tell."

The knife relented just a bit as Sasuke relaxed. "Good-"

"And you don't have to be mad you cried in front of me, or embarrassed about what you told me. And since you did tell me you're not a murderer, stop bluffing and get that thing off me."

Sasuke resumed the pressure instead. "Death's not the worst that can happen to someone. I can hurt you in a lot of ways…you want that?"

Naruto met the glittering black eyes without flinching. "Will it make you feel better?"

"Maybe…if you go running your mouth."

"Cut me, then."

Sasuke blinked. "I mean it, I will."

"So do it. Go ahead."

Slowly, looking into Naruto's steely eyes the whole time, Sasuke drew the blade across the soft skin of his throat. Blood welled along the edge of it immediately, but Naruto didn't move. He only swallowed at feeling the coolness of the knife, the way it parted his skin. So still and focused was he that he thought he could feel each tiny serration on that blade as it sliced through the thin layer of skin and fat at his neck. And then all he felt was a gush of heat as his blood coated the area. His heart beat out a slow, measured count. Sasuke re-positioned the blade on the other side of his neck to cut again.

"You're not going to kill me," Naruto said. "And now you know I'm not scared of you and your knife. So you'll believe me when I say I won't tell, and you'll know it's not because of your dumbass threats. It's because you're my friend. And I'll keep your secrets no matter what they are."

"Dumbass, huh? I'm the one with the knife against your neck. One move and you could bleed out right here, before this cab even has time to pull over."

"You are dumb," Naruto insisted. "You've already played your hand; I know the feel of your knife now, so I'm not likely to run every time you threaten me with it. And then too…" Naruto's hand shot out, grabbed Sasuke's wrist, and twisted sharply. The blade fell to the cab's floor. Sasuke took a swing at Naruto, but Naruto jabbed instinctively, and caught Sasuke on the chin. "I'm not likely to let you cut me again," Naruto said.

The stare they shared was long and hard. Sasuke's pride wouldn't let him back down, though, nor would his silent rage at Naruto hitting the nail so squarely on the head. He was embarrassed. Ashamed. And now humiliated on top of it. Rubbing his chin, he finally flounced back to his side of the seat once more. This time he glowered out the window until they reached Konoha.

Naruto, holding a hand to his neck, was surprised to see them pull up in front of Sasuke's apartment building. The cabbie was paid with a bill from the rolls of money in Sasuke's knapsack.

Itachi looked up from his books at hearing the key in the door and just stared. He was up and coming around the table in the next second, reaching for Sasuke, who made as if to walk into his room without an explanation. He caught him by the back of his hair and dragged him to a halt. "Want to tell me why you're covered in blood?" he rasped.

"No." Sasuke tried to shrug free, moving to push his brother's hand off his shoulder.

Itachi caught the hand and turned it palm up. "This cut's deep. Needs stitches. What happened?" As if for the first time, he noticed Naruto standing to one side, and saw that he was bleeding too. His voice lowered dangerously. "Somebody better start talking."

Knowing that Itachi would keep him standing there all night if he had to, Sasuke cursed. "Can we clean up first? God."

Itachi reluctantly allowed them ten minutes. Sasuke snatched clothes from his room, and gave a tight toss of his head for Naruto to follow him. Once they were in the bathroom, he closed and locked the door behind them.

-oOo-

Naruto, Sasuke noticed, spent several moments smiling around the small space, as if he'd never seen one before. "The fuck's wrong with you?" he asked.

"You have a nice bathroom," Naruto said. He was grinning at the furry toilet seat cover, and actually brushed one hand over it a few times.

"Next you'll be kissing it," Sasuke said with a shake of his head. Their bathroom couldn't have been more ordinary.

Embarrassed, Naruto joined Sasuke at the sink.

In the mirror, both boys were treated to the first sight of their faces. No wonder Itachi had looked insane with worry; Naruto had a black eye and a split lip that must have come from his brief fight with Sasuke's attacker. One side of his neck was completely covered and crusted with blood, as was the hand he had on the cut. Sasuke had blood and grime streaked all over his face and dried in his hair. A lot of that was from a wound along the right side of his temple, but the bruise on his chin was from Naruto's fist.

For the second time that night Sasuke surprised Naruto. He turned to him and said, "Let me see," in a remarkably gentle voice.

Naruto gingerly removed his hand from his neck, wincing when dried blood cracked and fresh blood began to flow. Sasuke's fingers were cool as they probed the wound. He had that sharp look in his eyes again, the one Naruto was coming to associate with some kind of alter ego Sasuke liked to keep hidden.

Sasuke took a washrag, wet it, and wiped at the cut. For a moment afterward, he looked at where he dropped the rag in the sink. "You should stay away from me," he said quietly.

Naruto's voice was just as quiet. "I don't want to."

"I'm not good for you. And I'm not friendship material. I don't want a friend." He lifted his head enough to meet Naruto's eyes in the mirror. "I'm going to keep hurting you. Maybe not like that, but I will."

"I can decide when I've had enough, or what's too much for me," Naruto said thickly. The stare, as well as Sasuke speaking so frankly, had a heavy feeling of longing sitting in his guts. "Don't leave…" Me. Don't leave me again.

Sasuke could see the plea in those blue eyes. Several seconds passed as the eye contact held.

It never ceased to amaze him how tough Naruto could be, while managing to be so vulnerable. He only allowed Sasuke to push him so far, and yet… and yet he could stand there with his heart in his eyes, or speak his feelings no matter how private they were. That old interest he'd felt when first laying eyes on Naruto, the kick in his gut that had come at seeing Naruto's irate face, came back tenfold, making him clutch the edge of the sink. And still Naruto stared into him.

Sasuke broke the eye contact with an exhalation, and wearily shook his head. "Said I don't want a friend."

"Then I won't be your friend."

"How's that work?"

Naruto thought. "However you want it to."

Sasuke turned and divided the clothes he'd brought. Threw Naruto a fresh pair of jeans and a T-shirt. "Doesn't matter. Don't plan on seeing you again after tonight anyway."

They were changed a few minutes later, and parked side by side on the couch. Itachi sat on the coffee table, facing them. His eyes were flat, arms crossed. "Bullshit."

"It's true," Sasuke shrugged.

"You two fell down a hill."

"Yup."

"Over a broken beer bottle."

"Yup."

"Where?"

"At…the park."

Itachi studied Sasuke's carefully blank face, and Naruto's lowered eyes. "And what are you doing with him?" He nodded at Naruto. "Thought you'd written the home off?"

Sasuke seemed to come up blank on that one. He could think of no good reason why he'd be with Naruto after doing away with the community service.

Naruto gamely tried to do his part in the cover up. "Neji brought me to the park. He's always taking me there. I met Sasuke, and we…uh…fell down."

Now focused completely on Naruto, having recognized him as the weak link, Itachi raised a brow. "Oh? And where's this Neji now?"

"He…um…" Naruto shot Sasuke a beseeching glance for help.

But Sasuke was remembering that Neji's cousin worked at the home. And that at some point that hag would discover her cousin had been shot, hit by a speeding car, and had undergone brain surgery. Naruto's name would eventually come up, at which time Sasuke's name would as well. Iruka would be at his door soon after that, giving Itachi an earful. He had no doubt that his brother would somehow discover the police report in Oto not long after. Itachi would most likely proceed to open his guts, yank out his organs, and feed them to him. Slowly.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCK!

"I got in some trouble," Sasuke admitted in a low voice. "Naruto bailed me out. Neji bailed us both out, and kind of…got hurt in the process. He's in the hospital."

Itachi listened to this in silence, staring hard into Sasuke's eyes the entire time. Apparently he concluded that he was being handed the truth; he took a deep breath and nodded.

-oOo-

Without another word, he reached behind himself and took out a first aid kit, one he'd put together himself and kept in the house. As such, it had more than a standard first aid kit contained. Deciding that Naruto's cut was more immediate, he went to work on him first, and sutured his cut with fine, precise stitches.

Naruto sat perfectly still, Itachi noticed. He neither flinched, nor winced whenever the needle bit into his skin, and thanked him once the bandage was in place.

Sasuke, on the other hand, whined and cursed when his hand was seen to. Itachi took perverse pleasure in his brother's discomfort (and drew the process out because of it), but snuck peeks at Naruto while he worked. Kid seemed a steady sort. Steady personality. Obviously not used to lying. The complete opposite of Sasuke, and stuck to his beast of a brother besides. Bailed Sasuke out of trouble? Itachi resisted the urge to snort. He could only imagine what had gone on tonight. Sasuke did not run in kosher circles. And someone was in the hospital.

He looked up to ask Sasuke if Naruto would be staying over, and got a good look at the temple wound. A lock of hair had hidden it from view before, but now he reached out to push the hair aside. Sasuke tried to jerk his head away, but Itachi tightened his hand in the hair and held his head still. "That looks like a bullet wound. Those are powder burns…" he met Sasuke's belligerent eyes slowly. A glance at Naruto only confirmed what he was seeing, and a knot of terror cramped his body "You were shot at?"

"No," Sasuke said, trying to get up now.

Itachi shoved him back down, nearly shouting. "I know gunshot wounds when I see them, Sasuke, don't tell me-"

"Nothing happened!"

"Except that bullet would have gone into your head if I hadn't shown up," Naruto mumbled quietly.

They both looked at him. Naruto calmly looked back.

Itachi felt the beginnings of an anxiety attack trying to take over. His throat closed, he felt short of breath; it was his worst fear, that something would happen to Sasuke. He knew his brother walked on the dangerous side of things, but guns? Bullets?

The worst part of it was that he couldn't change Sasuke. The kid might be afraid of bringing his danger home, but Sasuke could and would leave whenever he felt Itachi was encroaching on his space, or even if he just felt like immersing himself completely in whatever he did when he was alone. He looked at his brother now and knew he would end up dead one day soon. Knew as well as he knew his name, and that there was nothing he could do about it. He probably wouldn't even know when it happened. His brother would be off God knew where, doing God knew what. Getting shot at.

Naruto watched the way Sasuke interacted with his brother in fascination. Just like any other person who'd never had a family, he was indecently curious about how blood relatives did relate to each other. For his part, he thought he'd treat a family the way he would treat a friend. He'd cherish them, love them, respect them, and be loyal to the very end. He would never do anything to cause his family worry, anger, or grief.

That was a far cry from what he was seeing, though, much as Sasuke himself was very different form any friend he'd ever imagined. He recalled Sasuke saying his brother was an asshole, but Naruto could see no shred of assholery in the man. The way Itachi closed his mouth now over further protests, and the way he lowered his red face over Sasuke's hands to resume the stitches, it all spoke of the way Naruto himself would be with a brother. Especially when Itachi's shoulders shook in spite of his attempts to keep still. And when his face reddened further, and two fat tears plopped onto Sasuke's palm, Naruto thought maybe, just maybe, Sasuke was wrong about his brother.

He watched as Itachi turned his head aside sharply. It looked as though he would leave the hand half stitched, but he seemed to master himself, albeit with an effort, and turned to his brother once more. A glance at Sasuke's face showed him very aware of the tears, which Naruto thought very interesting. Sasuke sat stiffly, as if ready to bolt as soon as his brother was done. He did actually move to slide off the couch when the sutures were bandaged, but Itachi pushed him back with a hand, then grabbed his hair hard in one hand. Using his other, he roughly scrubbed at the shallow bullet wound with gauze and alcohol, making Sasuke's face screw up in a grimace of pain. Naruto waited to hear Sasuke's yowls again, but it seemed that witnessing Itachi's tears on his behalf had done the job of shaming him sufficiently. He withstood the rest of his treatment in silence, jaws clenched tightly shut as Itachi taped another bandage in place and shoved him away once more.

Sasuke rocked forward, gingerly held his head in his hands, and cursed very quietly. Itachi put his first aid kit to rights. After slamming it shut, he went to a room Naruto hadn't noticed before and slammed that door shut as well. He didn't come out again. When Sasuke finally lifted his head, Naruto saw that his eyes were red and watery. Probably from pain. He'd winced himself when seeing the way Itachi scrubbed at that cut.

By the time they strolled up to the home, every light in the place was blazing. Naruto lifted his hand to knock at the same moment that the curtains at one of the windows to the right of the door jerked aside. There was a muffled shriek, then the door was yanked open. Iruka and Hinata stood there, with several of the older children watching from farther back.

Naruto opened his mouth, but Sasuke stepped forward. Iruka came out and stood toe to toe with him, eyes furious. His face was pale with rage beneath its bronze complexion. "It is nearly five in the morning. Where is Neji?" he said hoarsely. "He was the one who escorted Naruto out of here. Hinata and I have been sick with worry. Neji isn't answering his phone, and clearly Naruto is with you so where is he?"

Glancing briefly at Hinata's tear-streaked face, Sasuke considered his response. The only thing he cared about was Naruto not getting in trouble, or being blamed for anything that happened tonight. If he had to vilify Neji to do this, that was fine by him. As far as he was concerned Neji should never have taken Naruto to Oto.

His account of events might have been different from the truth somewhat, but for all intents and purposes it followed what happened; Neji had taken Naruto to Oto, where Sasuke happened to be. Some trouble had transpired, through no fault of Naruto's, and people had gotten hurt. Iruka's eyes flew to the bandages and blood he and Naruto wore, as if seeing them for the first time, but then he had his hands full catching a collapsing Hinata. At hearing her cousin was so critically wounded, whatever fortitude she had vanished. She sobbed openly in Iruka's arms, unable to even stand. He was forced to drag her into the home, leaving Sasuke and Naruto on the stoop. Sasuke, grateful for the brief respite, reached forward, closed the door, then pulled Naruto down the walk by a handful of his shirt. When they were a few yards away from the door, he turned to him.

They hadn't spoken on the long walk to the home. He was occupied with his thoughts, and Naruto seemed content to leave him alone. Now he looked into the blue eyes, feeling that same weird kick and hating it. "Don't contradict what I said to him," he told Naruto. "Neji's not going to get too much heat. People will be all sympathetic to him and show him pity. He can handle shouldering the blame for taking you to Oto, which he should own up to, but I'm not sure what Iruka would do to you if it came out that you made Neji take you. So just keep your mouth shut, deal?"

"Deal."

"What did you say to make Neji take you there?"

"Oh." Naruto had the grace to look uncomfortable, as he dropped his eyes. "He wants to fuck me. Said I'd think about it. If he got me to see you."

Sasuke stared at Naruto for a long time, as something hot and ugly snarled to life in him. His face was unreadable.

"When will I see you again?"

Thinking how unpleasant being around Naruto was getting, Sasuke turned for the sidewalk with a shrug. He began walking home, hands in his pockets. "Never."

"But-"

"Get a life."