Numb: Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters (just borrowing!) and I'm not making a penny from this (still poor)!

Author's notes: Thank you so much to everyone who read, reviewed, favourited, etc, the first chapter of this story! It's great to know that you are enjoying it so far, and it definitely encourages me to keep writing. Thank you SO much. Here is the second chapter which I really hope you all enjoy. Things are starting to happen now, so it won't be as slow as the first chapter. Kakashi makes a big discovery about Sasuke.

Enjoy!

……………………………………………………………………………

(Kakashi's point of view)

"Ok love, I'm just about to go to work but I'll give you a ring at lunch time and I'll bring something nice home for dinner," Kurenai smiles as she places a soft kiss against my lips as I lie half asleep in bed. "Enjoy your day off, but remember I still want that living room clean before I get back!"

"Yes, of course, I'll see you later," I yawn, so pleased to have a day off work after yesterday's events. My eyes slowly drift shut again as I get ready to thoroughly enjoy my much needed lie-in. The living room can be cleaned later.

Suddenly my eyes shoot open again.

"Sasuke!" I gasp out loud, as I start to remember last night's incident more clearly. What the hell? Why am I still thinking about him? Surely he's forgotten about me and I doubt very much he'll even want to try and remember considering how he acted last night towards me. I think he made it perfectly clear that he wants nothing to do with me at all. I curse myself for being so irritating, the sooner I can forget about that boy and put these poisonous thoughts behind me, the better!

I force shut my eyes, determined to make the most of my much deserved lie-in, promising myself that I'm not getting up until afternoon time. However, just as I'm about to block my mind from drifting into forbidden territory again, the door bell suddenly rings.

"Fuck sake!" I mutter under my breath. "Go away!"

A few seconds later it rings again.

I swear Kurenai better not have forgotten her key again! I don't get lie-ins very often and I was damn well looking forward to this one. Annoyed, I drag myself up and pull on my trousers from last night. It rings for a third time as I throw on a shirt that was lying across the chair beside me.

"For God's sake I'm coming already!" I hiss again as I storm downstairs doing up the buttons as I run. I swear this better be important.

"What…." I shout as I open the door, but suddenly my anger fizzes away and is replaced with absolute shock. In my still half-asleep daze, am I seeing things?

"Sasuke?" I gasp, my eyes opening wide as I stare at him with a puzzled expression.

"No… You're imaging things in your old age," he glares back at me with those emotionless dark eyes, completely unimpressed.

I quickly try to gather myself, my heart is racing at one hundred miles per hour and I can't understand why. It's not like he's anyone important or anything like that. I guess it must just be the shock of the unexpected I'm experiencing right now. Yeah, that has it be it.

"What are you doing here?" I ask him, trying to cover up my flustered exterior as best I can.

"You gave me your address, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I guess I did… um, are you alright?"

"Ok…" he takes a deep breath, almost like he's about to force himself to say his next words. His cocky stance slowly disappears and he stares awkwardly at his feet, the whole time refusing to look me in the eyes.

"I came here because I want to say thank you," he continues to stare at the ground. "What you did last night was amazing, and I'm very grateful for your help. Those guys would have killed me if you hadn't stepped in when you did," he takes another deep breath. "I want to try and pay back the money you lost because of me and I want to know if I could, maybe, work off my dept for you? I could clean your house or car a couple of times a week or something. I don't know…" He shifts awkwardly from one foot to the other, anxiously waiting for my response. "I hope I can be off some use to you."

"Y…you want to work for me?" I look down at him, but he still won't return my gaze.

"Yeah…"

Right now he is a completely different boy to what he was before, and immediately that unexplained protective impulse I have over him kicks in again at full blast. He looks so lost, defeated… upset. I want to take him into my arms and tell him that everything will be alright. It won't be though; I mean I can't let Kurenai find out about him. I don't want her to know about what I got involved in last night and I certainly don't want her to know what I did. She wouldn't understand. She'd just look at Sasuke and immediately dismiss him as a waste of space from the bad part of town, not to mention she'd be furious if she found out how much I gave him and she definitely wouldn't want him in our house.

"Sasuke, don't worry about the money or trying to pay it back or whatever," I smile. "Let's consider it a gift and in return you can promise not to get yourself involved in something like that again. I want you to get yourself a job…"

"Get a job!" he cries, interrupting me abruptly mid-sentence. It looks like I've accidently hit another nerve. "Do you think I haven't been trying? Do you think that I'm just some lazy, worthless bum who wants to live on hand outs for the rest of my life? Employers take one look at me, find out where I live and then immediately dismiss me as worthless trash! How can I handle the responsibility of a job when I can't even look after myself?"

"Ok… calm down, I'm sorry if I offended you!" I gasp as I hold the door open for him. "Look, come inside and we can have a talk about things. I really don't need any help or anything just now, so you don't need to work for me but maybe we can sort something out."

He hesitantly steps inside and I close the door behind him.

"Sorry…" he utters again quietly. "Sometimes I can't control my outbursts."

"It's ok," I smile at him. "Have you had breakfast or anything?"

"Huh? Um… no," he looks at me puzzled.

"Great, I haven't either. What do you want to eat?"

"Huh?"

I'm going to make a greasy, dirty fry. Do you want one too?"

"Um… ok…" he looks at me again with that same confused expression. I guess it isn't that often people invite him into their house and offer to cook for him.

"Alright, come into the kitchen with me and have a seat at the table. It won't be long," I gesture at him to follow me which he does, but not before hesitating again. As he follows me in complete silence I can sense his discomfort. I can almost hear his heart racing too.

"Kakashi…" he states, causing me to stop and look behind at him. "Why are you being so nice to me? What do you want?"

"What? What do you mean?" I swear this boy finds new ways to surprise me every five minutes.

"It's just from past experiences; people aren't usually nice to me unless they want something. Usually… well, you know," he turns his head and looks away from me.

"I don't know," I reply, still as confused. What the hell is this boy implying?

"Favours."

"Favours? Sasuke what are you talking about? I don't want anything from you, I just want to make you breakfast."

"Really?"

"Yes, really!"

"Ok, forget what I said then."

This boy is always on the defensive, and it a way it really upsets me. It's like he won't trust anyone or accept that there are people out there who genuinely want to be nice to him. You ask him something, or do something kind for him and he immediately switches on his defenses, assumes the negative and then lashes out at you. What has he been through that's made him this distrusting, this defensive? He must have had some very bad experiences in his life that's completely shattered him. I wish I could help rebuild him, I really do, but it's not worth Kurenai finding out. I hate that I'm about to discard him, probably like everyone else has done, but he will only end up causing more arguments and grief than he's worth. I suppose I can always help him out financially though until he finds a job or something, Kurenai doesn't need to know about that. Yes, that's what I'll do.

He takes a seat at the table and looks around in awe. He's probably never been in a house this grand before. I take another look at him and smile to myself before I pull the pans down from the cupboard. He really is beautiful. He tucks a few strands of that raven black hair behind his ears, revealing evidence of his encounter with those men last night. Those bruises immediately snap me back into protective mode. Maybe I can help him without Kurenai finding out; maybe I can help him find a job? I'm sure there must be some people I know who would hire him. If he had a job he wouldn't feel so worthless by living on hand-outs from me, he could earn his own money and eventually he could afford to live somewhere better. I've got some friends with small businesses; I'm sure I could pull in a few favours and find him part-time work in a café or something.

"Are you feeling alright? I mean, after last night?" I ask him, breaking the silence.

"Yeah."

"Are you badly hurt?"

"I'm fine," he responds, again without turning to face me.

"Are you sure? You took some rough blows back there. Do you want to see a doctor?"

"I said I'm fine!" he snaps.

"Alright, alright! Here's a cup of tea while you wait for breakfast." I sigh as I put the cup down on the table beside him. It looks like the attitude is back.

"Thanks…" he whispers, just loud enough for me to hear.

I swear this boy confuses me so much. One minute he's yelling at me, and then the next minute he's sweet and nice. His mood changes faster than I can keep up with.

He takes a sip of his tea as I start to cook breakfast. It should be fine to let him stay here for the time being, Kurenai shouldn't be back from work until later this evening. Seeing him on other days won't be so easy though as I only get one day off a week, but I suppose I could always drop by his place after work a few days a week to see if he needs anything.

"Kakashi?"

"Yeah?"

"Who is that?" he points at a picture of me and Kurenai that hangs on the wall.

"That's Kurenai, she's my wife."

"Your wife! You're married?" he gasps in surprise.

"Yes, didn't you see my wedding ring?"

"No, I wasn't really looking."

"Well we've been married for a few years now, she's at work today. You will have to leave before she comes back though or else I'll get bombarded with awkward questions." I smile, hoping that he won't take that the wrong way. You can never really tell with this boy how he's going to react to anything.

"Oh, right. Ok." He replies. "I was just curious."

"It's alright, feel free to ask any questions you like and I'll do my best to answer. She'll not be home until this evening so you don't have to rush breakfast or anything. I need to clean the living room at some point today, but you're welcome to stay for a while. It's cold outside, but I'll give you a lift home whenever you want to leave so you don't have to walk."

"Clean the living room? Can I help?"

"Um… I guess so if you really want too. You don't have to Sasuke, I told you that the money was a gift and you don't need to worry about trying to work it off or anything like that."

"I just want to help, you know, to say thanks for breakfast."

"Ok then, well, enjoy!" I smile, putting the plate of food down in front of him.

……………………………………………………………………………..

It's not long before the living room is clean, and although Sasuke does have his difficult moments, he's actually a very sweet boy… when he wants to be. I don't know though, he tends to get very restless and fidgety at times too. He's a strange one; I don't fully understand him at all.

"I'm going home."

"What?" I ask. "Now?"

"Yes," he breaks eye contact with me and heads for the door.

"Hang on a minute and I'll give you a lift, it's too cold out there for you to walk the entire way back. Plus, you're still limping a bit from yesterday."

"I told you I'm fine! I made it the whole way here, didn't I?" he spits, almost pushing me out of the way.

I don't understand, his mood has changed again so quickly. What's wrong with him? He was fine up until this point. He was even laughing and joking as he helped me tidy up earlier. He felt comfortable with me, but now? I don't know.

"Sasuke, let me give you a lift home."

"NO! I'm fine! Get out of my way!" he cries, adamant to get past me and out the door.

"What's wrong with you?" I shout, my patience slipping away. I've had enough, I don't have to take this from him, especially since I was trying to do him a good turn. "You are the most ungrateful little shit to ever walk this planet! I am trying to be kind to you and you throw it back in my face every time! Why are you suddenly so eager to leave? You were fine when I was fucking feeding you!"

"IT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!" he yells at me and slams the front door shut so hard that it's almost dismantled from its hinges. He leaves me stunned and infuriated. That's it, screw him! I am never going to offer him any help ever again. He doesn't exist any more to me. But still, I wish I knew what triggered that sudden mood swing, he was so sweet and nice until five minutes ago. Fuck I don't know, but all I do know is that's the last time I'm ever going to help anyone like him ever again!

………………………………………………………………………………..

"I'm home sweetheart, and I was thinking we should eat out tonight," Kurenai bursts in through the door and greets me with her usual kiss to my lips. She suddenly backs off when she sees the fowl expression on my face.

"Jesus, who died?" she asks sarcastically, her arms folded.

"Nobody."

"What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing."

"Kakashi, I'm not an idiot. What's wrong love?"

I quickly snap out of my mood, its best Kurenai learns nothing about Sasuke and what happened earlier. She doesn't need to know, besides the boy is history now. I'm going to have nothing more to do with him, the little bastard can rot in hell for all I care now.

"Sorry love, I'm fine. Iruka just called and asked me to do an extra shift for him, like I'm not busy enough! I was just a little annoyed. So, where do you want to go out for dinner tonight, I'll pay." I ask, trying to change the subject.

"Oh, I see, that's alright, I can understand why you're annoyed. You're doing so many extra shifts as it is. I hope you told him no! I barely get to see you these days anyway," she purrs as she starts to softly kiss my neck, sending a pleasurable tingling feeling shooting through my flesh. "You can take me to that lovely fish restaurant in town, and afterwards, who knows… I might just have another surprise in store for you…"

"I like the sound of that," I smile and turn around to catch her lips briefly with mine. "I'll just go and grab my wallet."

"Ok, I'll go and put on my coat."

Walking over to my jacket in the living room, I put my hand into the pocket to find my wallet. That damn fish restaurant is expensive; I better make sure I bring enough cash with me, and my card, just in case Kurenai decides she wants to add an over-priced bottle of champagne to the bill as well. I check the first pocket and then the other. Strange, my wallet was definitely in there! I checked earlier today. What? Why isn't it here? I search through the pockets frantically… nothing. Then it suddenly hits me like a ton of bricks.

"That little bastard!" I scream, causing Kurenai to jump.

"What are you talking about Kakashi, what little bastard?" she looks at me puzzled.

"I'm going to break that damn scrawny neck of his!" I yell again, pushing past my very confused wife. "No wonder he was so damned eager to leave earlier!"

"What? Where are you going? Who was so eager to leave?"

"I'll be back shortly," I state, before shooting through the front door and storming towards my car, Kurenai in tow.

"Hatake Kakashi, tell me right now where you are going!" she shouts, pulling frantically at my arm. "I want to know who was in our house earlier!"

I shake her off and slam shut the door of the car, shoving the key into the ignition. I am going to murder that damned little brat! He will pay me back every penny, even the money I used to pay off his dept. I will make him. I don't care if I have to force him to scrub my toilet for the next three years!

"KAKASHI!" Kurenai shouts as I start to pull out from the driveway. I ignore her, right now I am focused on one thing, that ungrateful little shit has a lot to try and explain but I'll wring his neck until I get answers. I can not believe he had the nerve to steal from me after everything I've done for him. God do I wish I'd left him there to get his shit kicked in. He must have deserved every blow.

…………………………………………………………………………….

I march up to the entrance of the dilapidated building in front of me, ignoring the stench of urine and ammonia that unpleasantly invades my senses. This place is truly disgusting, I'd feel sorry for Sasuke if he hadn't done what he did, but right now any sympathy I once had for him has faded into disgust and hatred. I bump into some random drunk on the way upstairs, his breath stinks of alcohol as he stumbles over to me.

"H…hellooo thar…." He slurs as he bumps into me, his filthy and urine soaked jacket pressing a little to close my designer clothes for my liking. He wraps his arm around me in a friendly gesture even though he's probably too wrecked to even work out that I'm a complete stranger.

"Sasuke. Where does he live?"

"Sarsky? Who's that?"

"Sasuke, he lives in this block of flats. Where can I find him?" I carefully attempt to remove the man's arm from around my shoulder, hoping that if I do it slowly enough he won't actually notice.

"Oh yeah… t…that Uchiha… k…kid…up thar," he slurs again, shakily pointing to a door just upstairs. In the dim light I can just about make out a grey coloured door a flight of stairs above me.

"He…he's a nice k… kid he is, or he w… was, if only h… he did-ernt have t… that habit…"

"What? Stealing?" I ask sarcastically as I try to get past this annoying man blocking the staircase.

"No… no …no," the drunk man laughs. "T…t…the other one… the o…other habit…"

"Ok, whatever," I hiss, my patience spreading out even more thinly. "Thank you for your help, now I need to get upstairs."

"O…ok, you have a…a nice d…day sir…"

I quickly push past him and barge towards Sasuke's door. It's barely hanging on its hinges so a few good kicks would probably knock it down. I reach for the handle and to my surprise it opens, I guess the boy doesn't have a lock on his door, a bit stupid considering where he lives, but anyway that's not my problem.

"SASUKE! YOU THIEVING LITTLE BASTARD! WHERE ARE YOU?" I yell as I burst through the door.

Silence.

Fuck sake, he must be keeping quiet in the hope that I'll think he's not in. He's got going to have any such luck. His rudeness I can put up with, I could even tolerate his ungratefulness to a certain extent, but I draw the line at stealing. The little shit is going to pay.

"Sasuke! Where are you?" I shout again as I make my way deeper inside. The flat is dark, the only dim lighting coming from the now fading sunlight from outside. It's freezing in here too. He shouldn't be hard to find, there aren't many places he could hide as this place is tiny. I walk through what appears to be a kitchen, although the only evidence is a dirty sink and what was probably a table at some point. I wonder if he actually lives here, this looks more like a place for squatters rather than somebody's home, there's even graffiti on the walls. Surely this place has been long abandoned. Fuck that little asshole! He probably lead me nowhere, he doesn't really live here! He must have asked me to drop him off here yesterday because he didn't want me to know where he really lived. He must have planned to rob me! I'm so angry my blood feels like it's literally starting to boil in my veins. I curse myself for being so trusting.

Just as I'm about to leave, I hear a weak whisper.

"Kakashi?"

I spin around. The whisper was so quiet that I only just caught it. Actually, maybe I just imagined it.

"Kakashi?"

I hear it again, only ever so slightly louder this time. I quickly run towards where I think I heard the sound coming from, and it's not long before I stop dead in my tracks and my eyes open wide with shock. To my horror I see a small body curled up on the floor.

"Shit! Sasuke! Is that you?"

Before I even remember moving, I'm over at the boy's side and I have him in my arms. He rests his head against my chest and allows me to hold him. His body shakes uncontrollably in my grasp. It's too dark to see his face. I start to panic, what's wrong with him?

"K… Kakashi… help me…" he whispers. "P…please h…help me… I d… don't want this… any…a…a…anymore."

"Sasuke, what's wrong! Tell me what's wrong!" I cry, my heart starting to race, the panic rapidly replacing any anger I once had.

I back up slightly in order to give him more room, but my foot comes in contact with something solid, but small underneath my shoe. My blood runs cold as I abruptly realise what it is. My heart begins to slam painfully against the inside of my chest as I pick up the needle and look at it in disbelief.

"Oh God no… Sasuke, NO!" I cry, pulling his trembling body closer to mine to try and keep him warm. Tears start to swell up in my eyes, what do I do? Shaking, I reach into my pocket to pull out my mobile phone in the hope of calling an ambulance. No such luck, I forgot that I hadn't charged it from last night.

"Fuck!" I cry out loud. "Hang on Sasuke, I'll help you, I promise."

He clutches onto me as I scoop him up in my arms and make my way out of the building. I have to get him to a hospital. Fast. He might have over-dosed; he could die!

It was at that moment I decided that I would help Sasuke. I will do whatever I can to save him and help him get well again, no matter what the cost and no matter how much he protests, fights or struggles against it. I can't bring myself to abandon him. Kurenai will just have to understand… even though I have no absolutely no idea how I'm going to explain this to her or how she will react.

End of Chapter 2

………………………………………………………………………………..

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I think I'll carry on this story for now, but I'm still not 100 per cent sure I'll definitely continue with it, as if I do, it's probably going to be a long one that's going to take ages to finish! Please review and give me your thoughts. Do you like where it's going so far? Is it worth continuing? I'm still kind of torn on this one!

Laura xx