Hello, dear readers. Yes, this chapter is late, I know... and it's not all that long, either. I was planning to combine this with the next chapter, but I decided to cut it in half instead. I also had essays and exams this week, so I had to put this on the back burner. But, here it is. So, thank you for your patience, and I thank all of you, especially those who reviewed. Now, on with the chapter!

10. Silent Raindrops Fell

Naruto stood outside his apartment, fumbling for his keys as the rain poured down on him and his raven-haired partner. He was actually quite grateful for this sudden storm, since he knew their conversation hadn't been going so well. Why had he decided to ask Sasuke about love? He hadn't meant to be that blunt, but it just sort of came out. Luckily, it looked like Sasuke was willing to overlook that uncomfortable moment, and as he pushed the door open, Naruto felt ready to take another stab at this icebreaking.

"All right, come on in," the blond said, giving an elaborate bow as he ushered the Uchiha inside.

Sasuke made no response, but simply stepped in and kicked off his shoes, sloshing the new-formed puddles. No sooner had Naruto sealed the door shut, though, than he heard a distinct growling from behind, causing his blood to run cold.

"Shoo, you mutt," the Uchiha scowled, waving his hand dismissively at a rather angry Akamaru.

"Wait, Sasuke! Don't – "

Alas, Naruto's plea came too late, as the young dog leaped forward and clamped down on the raven-haired boy's hand until he drew blood. Sasuke shook his hand violently, gritting his teeth in pain while the blond tried pulling on Akamaru's dangling hind legs. It only took a few minutes to get the dog off of Sasuke, but it felt like an eternity to Naruto, who hurriedly put Akamaru back in Kiba's room.

Dammit, Kiba. I thought I told him not to leave Akamaru out all the time…

Upon returning to the entryway with some band-aids, Naruto quickly tried to assist the bleeding Uchiha, but was met with much resistance.

"I can do it myself," Sasuke snapped, snatching a few of the bandages from Naruto's hands. "Damn dog…"

"I'm so sorry," Naruto said, eyeing his partner's bleeding hand. "I'll make sure to yell at Kiba later about that."

"No, it's fine," the Uchiha said after a moment, having adequately covered his wounds. "Let's move on."

Is he serious?

"Umm… okay," Naruto replied, not knowing quite what to say until he saw Sasuke's drenched outfit. "Oh, let me grab you some dry clothes."

The raven-haired boy gave a quick nod, and together they started for Naruto's room just down the hall. The blond hesitated just outside his door, trying to remember if he had left a complete mess that morning, or if was at least somewhat presentable. Reflecting on it, he knew that he had left his bed a mess – he rarely made it, unless Iruka was coming to visit – and he was rather certain he had left his clothes from the previous day strewn about the floor, but it wasn't anything obscene. He could deal with this.

Here we go…

With a deep breath, Naruto pushed open his bedroom door and stepped inside, briefly surveying the area for anything he might want to hide quickly. Much to his delight, aside from a pair of boxers draped over the side of his bed, there was little to be embarrassed about, so he decided to act naturally. It was just his room, after all. What was there to be afraid of? Sure, he was taking the boy he secretly loved inside his room, but that wasn't important. They were just working on a project, nothing more.

"Well, this is it," the blond announced, scratching the back of his head. "Umm, I'll pick out some clothes for myself, and then you can find something that works for you, okay?"

"Fine," Sasuke replied, glancing nonchalantly about the room.

Okay, he doesn't seem to care either. That's a good thing… right?

Deciding not to press the issue any further, Naruto dug into his drawers and grabbed a fresh, black t-shirt and some khaki shorts, which he brought over to his bed. As the blond began to change, Sasuke took his place at the dresser and rummaged for something that might possibly fit. He was, after all, a few inches taller than Naruto, and wanted to find something at least remotely comfortable. Soon, he shut the drawers, a few articles in hand, and Naruto sighed with relief. At the very least things seemed to be turning around after the Akamaru incident.

The blond's calm feeling was quickly replaced by one of sudden tension, however, as Sasuke stripped off his shirt, his damp, bare skin glistening in the lamplight. Naruto could not help but stare as the Uchiha continued, unbuckling his shorts and dropping them to the floor in one swift motion, leaving him in his relatively dry, navy boxers. The blond tried to avert his eyes, knowing full well how obvious he was being, but his eyes remained transfixed on Sasuke's exposed form in spite of himself.

Dammit, Naruto! Just… think of something else! Baseball…

Unfortunately, Naruto was a bit too late in this response, as Sasuke had apparently noticed this unusual behavior as he bent over to pull up his shorts. "Something wrong, Naruto?"

"What? Oh, um… no, it's nothing," the vulpine boy replied with a forced laugh.

"You might want to get dressed then," Sasuke said flatly as he pulled up his borrowed, orange shorts.

Naruto glanced down at the Uchiha's suggestion and realized, much to his embarrassment, that he had been standing in nothing but his green plaid boxers. He turned a deep shade of crimson and, quickly dressed, trying to keep his composure despite the awkward situation.

Come on, Naruto. Get it together! Does he know I was watching him? He didn't seem mad… maybe he'll ignore it.

Slipping his black t-shirt over his head, Naruto was pleased to see that Sasuke was fully dressed and was simply waiting for him to finish. Now that they were both in dry clothes, the blond looked to his partner with a friendly grin.

"Okay, so do you need to give your brother a call so he can pick you up?" he asked, nodding towards the raging storm outside.

"No, I'll just wait it out," Sasuke said a bit too quickly. "Let's just work on that project."

"Hmm… well, let me at least get you something to eat, then," Naruto said, leading the Uchiha to the kitchenette. "We don't have much, but I'm sure I can find something to warm us up."

Naruto began tearing through his cabinets, searching for anything remotely edible, which he laid out on the counter. The choices were slim, of course: ramen (naturally), chicken noodle soup, macaroni and cheese, and some spaghetti. He turned to Sasuke, feeling a little sheepish at his poor selection.

"So, what looks good to you?"

Sasuke glanced at the options, before turning towards the table, saying, "Soup's fine, I guess."

Is he just sparing my feelings? He doesn't really seem all that interested… but if he's lying for my sake, that's something, right? Or maybe he just doesn't want to be thrown out in the rain…

Naruto pondered this for a few moments while the soup cooked in the microwave, resisting his urge to glance over his shoulder at the Uchiha. Upon hearing the distinct chime of the appliance, he threw open the door and pulled out the soup, pouring it into two bowls before laying them out on the table. He took a seat across from Sasuke, eating a few spoonfuls of the steaming liquid and relishing the feel of it warming his throat. Opposite him, Naruto could see the raven-haired boy swirling the soup absentmindedly, eyeing the noodles as they spun in the current.

I knew it. He doesn't want to be here at all… well, I guess I should at least say something…

"So… I take it you and your brother don't get along, then?" the blond managed to squeak out, another spoonful of soup hovering before his mouth.

"No," Sasuke said quickly, though there was no spite in his words.

"Did something happen between you two?" Naruto continued, causing the Uchiha to stare up from his spiraling noodles. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked…"

"It's fine, Naruto," Sasuke said, finally taking a sip of his soup. "Yeah, you could say that something came between us. We used to get along pretty well… at least as well as you could expect from two brothers. Things started to go badly right around the time my parents died, though."

Shit… touchy subject… what's the matter with you, Naruto?

"Look, you don't have to tell me all this if you don't want to," the blond said, setting down his spoon with a slight clank.

"Would you shut up and listen?" the Uchiha snapped before catching himself. "I'm sorry, it's just… well, let me finish, okay?"

Naruto nodded dumbly and watched his partner, not really knowing quite what to say. Did Sasuke want to tell him about this? Or was he just getting it out of the way now, since they'd have to go over it eventually for their project? Either way, Sasuke had the blond's full attention as he continued his tale.

"Like I was saying, things were pretty good between us until they died – that was five years ago. Itachi was usually busy learning about the Uchiha business from my dad, but he would always make time for me when he could. Even if it was just sitting out on the front porch to talk for a few minutes, he tried to keep me involved, and I never felt like I was a burden to him. About a month before that night, though, he started changing. He had just turned eighteen, and I guess he started to take things a bit more seriously, since he could legally take over the Uchiha business at any time. We stopped having are little talks after dinner, and any time I'd bring it up, he'd just shoo me away and poke my forehead, saying, 'Sorry, Sasuke. Maybe next time.'"

"Is that all? It sounds like he just got busy…"

"No, it wasn't as simple as that," Sasuke said, flashing Naruto a quick glare. "He was out late at night – sometimes until two or three in the morning – and then he'd be gone early the next day. I heard my parents talk about it sometimes, and they weren't sure where he went. They were worried about him… I didn't know what to think. I knew that something was wrong, though. You could see it in his eyes. They weren't… gentle, like they used to be. I know that sounds, but I can't really describe it any other way."

Naruto thought about Iruka, how he always had that warm glint in his eye. "No, I know exactly what you mean."

"Good… because things only got worse from there. He would fight with my parents, say how they were slowly destroying the company, but weren't doing anything about it. Suddenly that was all that mattered – the family business, his inheritance, and all the responsibility that came with it. He stopped connecting with us, one by one, starting with my dad. In the week before they died, he would barely even speak to them, and anything he said to me was utterly insincere. That wasn't my brother… somehow he'd died, and I was left with this sadistic bastard who only wanted to toy with me."

"Did he change at all after… you know…" Naruto asked, scratching his head nervously. Was he prying too deep now?

"Not really," Sasuke murmured, downing the rest of his soup. "If anything he got worse. It was like, with them out of his way, he could finally cement his position as the head of the Uchiha, and I simply became his backup, an heir to the company should something happen to him. Then, when the Uchiha Corporation merged with Akatsuki, things only grew worse, since he had twelve other CEOs to rely on. I'm nothing to him now."

"Maybe he just took their deaths hard, too," the blond offered, though he was trying not to incur the Uchiha's wrath. "I mean, we all deal with losses like that differently…"

"Ha! You think Itachi cared?" Sasuke said with a half-hearted smirk. "Not likely. He was counting down the days until they kicked the bucket."

"But, couldn't he feel guilty about that? Maybe he's just afraid to admit it."

"You don't get it, do you, Naruto? He never once shed a tear over them… not even when he found them dead at home. He didn't care!"

"So… he was the one who found them?" Naruto asked after a few moments of uneasy silence. "What happened, exactly?"

Did I really just ask that? Oh God, here it comes…

"You really want to know?" Sasuke said, clearly contemplating whether he should discuss the subject any further. "All right, I'll tell you. I was eleven at the time. It was the middle of August – really hot, that day. I remember because I went out in our canoe to the island in the middle of our lake. I did that sometimes during the summer, just to spend the day swimming or climbing trees. Anyway, when it got dark, I paddled back home, and I knew right away that something was wrong. The house was all black, and there were red and blue police lights flashing in the driveway. I scrambled up the front steps, and past a couple of officers who tried to stop me, but then I bumped into Itachi. Behind him, in the master bedroom, my parents were lying in a pool of blood, gunshot wounds in their chests."

"Sasuke, I…"

"I froze right there, just staring at them. They'd been fine that morning. I'd talked to them over breakfast! And now they were dead! I just screamed and buried my head into Itachi's shirt, tears running down my face. He never said a word, though. He just rubbed my head, and walked me outside while the policemen searched the house. I never saw him cry, Naruto. When I woke up the next morning, he was gone. He'd left to go talk to some lawyers, and didn't even bother to take me with him. That's when I knew I was alone in the world."

Naruto was shocked, not so much by Sasuke's story, as he knew to an extent what had happened, but more so by Sasuke himself, who now had a small trickle of tears running down his face. This was genuine sorrow the Uchiha felt, that he was sharing with Naruto, and for what? Surely not just for some stupid English project? No, this meant something, and it was Naruto's job to show that he understood the significance of those trace tears.

"Sasuke, I'm sorry," the blond said, glancing awkwardly to the side. "I know what it's like to lose someone like that…"

"What?! How could you possibly know what it's like to go through something like that? You think that just because your dad was a fucking maniac that you have some profound knowledge of the world?" Sasuke snapped, knocking his chair over as he rose to his feet. "You probably don't even remember what it was like. What were you, like, three? How dare you even think that you understand what I went through?!"

"Sasuke, I didn't mean –"

"Shut up, Naruto! Just… leave me the fuck alone!"

In the heat of the moment, Naruto followed the Uchiha to the door, trying to calm him down, "Would you just wait and listen for one minute!"

"I said leave me alone!" Sasuke roared as he delivered a powerful blow to the blond's cheek, sending him staggering backward in shock.

They stood for a second staring at one another, Naruto trying to catch the blood dripping from his mouth with a spare hand. Sasuke looked at his hand, the knuckles reddened from the punch, before rushing out of the apartment into the storm. The blond after him for a few moments until he realized that he could not possibly breathe hard enough to keep up with so much blood in his mouth. Deciding it was a lost cause, he made his way over to the kitchen and grabbed an icepack out of the freeze. As he placed the pack on his stinging cheek, Naruto stared at the empty bowls on the table in disbelief.

Was it something I said?

Glancing out the window, though, Naruto realized that he was not really concerned with how badly the evening had gone. Instead, his mind could only wonder if Sasuke Uchiha would be all right, braving that horrible storm alone.

---

Well, there you have it! More angst from Sasuke and confusion from Naruto. Why did Sasuke run off like he did? What will Naruto do now that the tension is growing between him and his secret love? Well, you'll just have to wait and see. So, until next time, and remember - review!