Here it is, folks! Chapter 27! Sorry if it's a bit late - midterms were this past week (got all A's, though, so that worked out). Anyway, I want to thank all of you for reading, as usual, and I especially thank those of you who reviewed. All comments are helpful! Now, on with the chapter!
27. Hiding in My Room
Gaara sat at the dining room table in his house the following day, staring blankly at the spaghetti before him as he twirled it with his fork. Sitting across from him was his brother, Kankuro, who was busy shoveling the pasta into his mouth, occasionally stopping to gulp down some milk. Upstairs, his sister, Temari, could be heard stumbling about in her room, hurrying to get ready for her big date that evening.
I don't know why she fell for Shikamaru, anyway. He's too lazy to actually try and win her over, so why is she getting all worked up over another date with him?
"Is everything okay, Gaara? You haven't touched your dinner, yet."
Glancing to his left, Gaara's eyes met the big, owl-like eyes of Lee, who was giving the redhead a concerned frown. Shooting the mop-topped teen a quick glare, Gaara picked up a forkful of spaghetti and eyed it almost contemptuously. "Is there a problem with that?"
"Yes! You're in the springtime of youth, Gaara! You need all the energy you can get!" Lee replied, enthusiastically grabbing Gaara's fork and shoving it into the redhead's mouth.
His eyes widening in surprise, Gaara quickly grabbed Lee's hand and yanked the fork out of his mouth, swallowing the spaghetti with a cough. Seemingly oblivious to the redhead's suffering, however, Lee simply smiled and patted the teen on the back. "See? Isn't that better?
Gaara made no response, but simply shook his head and took a sip of his own milk, hoping to wash down some of the excess pasta. Of course, Lee was the third member of the dinner table that evening – a fact that had put Gaara on edge. It wasn't that he didn't want Lee there – he'd invited the guy, and he enjoyed his company. The problem was that Gaara knew exactly what this dinner signified. He was serious about Lee – serious enough to introduce him to the rest of his family, at least, and not simply hide the teen up in his room.
Of course, Gaara also knew that he was the only one to fully understand this significance. Lee was more than eager to have dinner with the redhead, but he seemed more excited about the prospect of food than the chance to meet the rest of the Subakuno family. As for Temari and Kankuro, they were both so wrapped up in their own lives that they barely even noticed Lee's presence.
It's… very anticlimactic. Somehow I was expecting a bigger fuss than this…
"Do you need me to feed you again?" Lee asked with a playful smirk, grabbing Gaara's fork once again.
Wrenching the fork from the other teen's grasp, Gaara smirked. "No, I've got it. Thanks, though."
"So… Lee, is it?" Kankuro asked, wiping some excess milk from his lips with his black sleeve. "Are you in Gaara's class or something?"
Gaara glanced at Kankuro in surprise. He hadn't actually expected his brother to greet his guest – at least not after having gone through the entire meal in silence until that point. Taking a peek at his brother's plate, though, Gaara quickly put two and two together – once the food was gone, conversation could start.
"Yes, we're in the same grade. And you're Gaara's older brother, correct?" Lee replied with a polite nod.
"The name's Kankuro – and, yeah, Gaara's my little bro. You wouldn't know it by the way he talks to me, though. I'm surprised you can put up with him, to be honest," Kankuro commented, tilting his chair back casually.
"Shut up, Kankuro," Gaara snapped, suddenly questioning his earlier desire for conversation.
"See what I mean? Bossing me around and everything," the elder Subakuno said before leaning forward, covering the side of his mouth covertly. "You wanna know what the funny thing is? I used to listen to him, too."
"Used to? As I recall, I had you doing my laundry this morning, right?"
Kankuro seemed unfazed, but simply flashed the redhead a grin. "As a matter of fact you did. I don't mind helping my little bro out with his chores from time to time, though – I know how tough they can be."
"I don't understand. Were you afraid of Gaara or something?" Lee interrupted, looking quite puzzled by this exchange.
"You could say that, I guess," Kankuro replied, scratching his cheek awkwardly. He glanced briefly at Gaara, almost as if asking for approval.
"It's all right, Kankuro. I was going to tell him eventually, anyway," Gaara said with a sigh of resignation.
I was hoping to wait a little while… until I at least got to know him better. He'd only be suspicious if I changed the subject now, though…
"To tell you the truth, the whole thing's kind of our fault – me and Temari, that is," the elder Subakuno began, resting his elbow on the table as he spoke in a somewhat hushed tone. "You see, when we were just kids, our mom was rushed to the hospital. Gaara was on the way, and she was already in labor. I guess there were some complications, though… she didn't make it."
Lee looked down at his plate solemnly. "I'm sorry to hear that. I shouldn't have asked…"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa – that's ancient history now. The important stuff is what happened afterwards," Kankuro responded quickly with a dismissive wave of his hand. "You see, Temari and I weren't exactly pleased with the whole situation. We were close to our mom, and it was tough for us to lose her so young. I guess you could say we resented Gaara a bit for her death… whether we were aware of it or not."
"It wasn't your fault. I would've felt the same way," Gaara said, his voice even, yet somehow consoling in its monotone.
Kankuro shrugged his shoulders. "Either way, it was selfish of us. We started to exclude Gaara from everything – I can remember going off to the park and just leaving him in the house. He'd always be waiting at the window for us to return with that teddy bear in his hands – well, at least at first. After a while he didn't even bother to wait – he knew we wouldn't be coming back for him."
"So… you abandoned him?" Lee asked with horrified tentativeness.
"Oh, no! Of course not!" Kankuro continued with a slight chuckle. "We weren't monsters! We still cared about him – like, we'd make sure he got to sleep and had everything he needed. But it was… empty. We didn't show any affection – it was like we were going through the motions."
"I guess you could say I grew… distant as a result," Gaara added, his eyes closed as he thought of those painful memories. "I stopped talking to others, and would only give short answers when spoken to. Like I said, I don't blame them… not anymore. But I was cold then. I hated the world, and I thought for sure the world hated me right back."
"The real trouble started at school in Suna, though," Kankuro said, shaking his head gravely. "Gaara went off to class, and almost instantly he got into a fight. He didn't start it – he was minding his own business, sitting silently in the corner, when a kid tried to steal his teddy bear. That was all it took to set him off. The other kid only got a bloody nose, but it was enough to get Gaara moved into a different class."
"That's not fair! You were only defending yourself, Gaara! Fighting's a natural part of youth!" Lee exclaimed, outrage by the glaring injustice.
"No, it wasn't like that," Gaara replied, in voice still devoid of emotion. "He may have started it, but I decided to make it a fight. If I'd wanted to, I could've told the teacher and had my bear returned to me just like that. Instead, I wanted to make that kid suffer – to see him shed some blood for his sin."
"He knew it then, too. Our dad scolded him when he found out, but Gaara wasn't about to apologize. He knew exactly what he had done, why he had done it, and that he would've done it again given the opportunity. And believe me, he had plenty of opportunities," Kankuro resumed with a weak smile. "It seemed like every other week, Gaara was getting sent home for fighting. Things started out small – pushing, scratching, tripping – but it grew steadily worse. Kids were complaining of bloody noses, scrapes – a few even wound up with broken bones, and this was still in elementary school!"
"I could still claim it was self-defense, though. Every time I injured someone, it was only after they came after me first. Some just wanted to mess with me, to ruffle my feathers a bit, while others were out for revenge after I hurt one of their friends. No matter how many kept coming, though, I never failed to come out on top," Gaara continued, with a strange combination of pride and shame. "Eventually, I acquired a taste for blood. I craved it – I wanted to see other suffer like I had, to know what it meant to be alone when their friends abandoned them in the heat of battle. And that's when I went a step too far…"
"What happened?" Lee asked, tentatively breaking the ensuing silence.
"It was a few years ago… in middle school," Gaara began, his face solemn as if he were giving a confession. "There was this one classmate that really irked me – Abiru. He had it all – popularity, athletic prowess, a loving family, a future career as a football star – it made me sick. Fate had handed him everything he'd ever need in life on a silver platter, and he didn't appreciate it at all. I wanted nothing more than to make him suffer – to show him what it meant when those gifts were snatched away from you."
"He got to planning after that – well, that's what we found out later," Kankuro added grimly. "See, Temari and I would see Gaara sitting up in his room, writing in his journal, completely unaware of what he was planning. We just assumed he was writing emo poetry or something – we didn't particularly care. It was only afterwards that we realized what was really going on."
"And that was…?" Lee pressed, shifting his gaze from Gaara to Kankuro quickly.
"War," Gaara responded flatly, sealing his eyes shut in apparent disgust. "I couldn't just sit around and wait for Abiru to turn on me – that could've taken years. Instead, I decided to provoke him – pester him just a little bit until he was forced to take action. I did everything in my power to humiliate him little by little. One day I tripped him in the hallway – made it look like an accident. He fell flat on his face and wound up with a bloody nose."
"But that was only the start of it, of course," Kankuro commented with a nod.
"The next day I took things a step further – I 'fell' and spilled my lunch all over Abiru in the cafeteria. He wasn't pleased, but he kept his cool. He was harder to break than I thought," Gaara resumed, glancing briefly at Lee. He couldn't bear to maintain the stare, however, and quickly shifted back to his plate. "So, I decided to take things a step further. After gym class the next day, I stole Abiru's clothes while he was in the shower. Then I pulled the fire alarm – he had nowhere to go, and nothing to cover up with. While he was standing out there in front of the entire class in his birthday suit, I made sure he could see me twirling his underwear on my finger. That was all it took – he'd been pushed to his limits."
"So he fought you, then?" Lee said, jumping to the only logical conclusion.
"That very same day," the redheaded teen confirmed with a nod. "I waited for Abiru in the parking lot after school – after I'd personally returned his clothes, of course. He rushed right over to me and took a swing at – didn't even say a word. Clearly he had never expected to fight anyone better than him. In fact, I'd be surprised if he'd ever been in a fight before that day, because he went down like a sack of bricks.
"Without flinching, I blocked his first punch with my palm and countered with a punch of my own between the eyes. He stumbled back, but before he could recover I was already on him, giving him a swift kick to the chest. That's when he went down – doubled right over and fell face-first on the ground. But…"
"What? What happened?" Lee asked confusedly, looking to Kankuro for an answer as Gaara went deathly silent.
"But Gaara wasn't finished yet," Kankuro said, biting his lip awkwardly.
Gaara nodded slowly in agreement. "I was just so sickened with him – that he could somehow have everyone love him, someone as despicable as him, while I didn't even get a chance to be loved. I was hated from the moment I was born – cursed to live my life alone. So I made sure he felt my agony – it was the only way I could feel alive, depriving another of those gifts I'd never received. While he lay on the ground, weeping openly, I kicked him in the side. Then his arm – I'm almost positive I broke it. Then I moved to the head – stomping on it again and again, digging his face into the gravel…
He couldn't continue. There was no obvious emotion on Gaara's face – the eyes were as dry as they'd ever been, and his lips didn't even quiver. He just went silent and closed his eyes. If he said even one more word, he was certain he'd break down.
"When the teachers finally realized what was going on, they hurried over and pulled Gaara away from Abiru," Kankuro resumed with a heavy sigh. "They called an ambulance and rushed the kid to the hospital, but it was too late…"
Lee stared in horror at Gaara as everything sank in. He finally turned his head to the side in discomfort. "So… he died?"
"I didn't want it to happen!" Gaara exclaimed, his calm demeanor finally cracking for the first time. "I don't know how it happened – it was like I became someone else! There was this monster inside of me struggling to get out, and once he was free, there was no stopping him. One minute I was blocking Abiru's punch, the next… I was standing over his mangled body."
Kankuro and Lee sat in shocked silence, staring at Gaara in utter disbelief. Neither one knew what to think – the sight of Gaara shaking ever so slightly was unsettling for them. Gaara, the heartless demon of Suna, was showing signs of anxiety, inner turmoil and, perhaps most shocking of all, remorse.
In the end, it was Lee who spoke up, turning to Kankuro for clarification. "I don't understand – what happened after that? Did they send you to juvenile hall or anything?"
"Our dad stepped in," Kankuro explained, giving Gaara a chance to collect himself as he trembled in his chair. "He had a lot of influence over in Suna – still does, in fact. When he heard about what happened, he lawyered up and contacted the school, as well as Abiru's family. They determined that Gaara was acting in self-defense, but our dad had to pay them some serious hush money, and Gaara was expelled for fighting. That's why we moved to Konoha in the first place – we didn't have much of a choice in the matter. Everyone in Suna knew what had happened – it was the only way we could escape."
Gaara was silent. Lee was silent. The only one who seemed to be making any noise at all, in fact, was Temari, who was still running around upstairs in her rush to get ready. They remained that way for several minutes, not eating anything or saying anything – everyone was too busy reflecting on the tale of Gaara's past, not knowing what exactly to say.
He's going to leave, now. Who can blame him? I'm a murderer… nothing but a filthy murderer…
Before anyone could make a move, however, the front door suddenly burst open, causing Gaara, Lee, and Kankuro to turn their heads in surprise. Standing in the doorway was a man with short, dark brown hair, wearing a neat business suit with a briefcase in his hand. He set the briefcase down on the floor and slammed the door shut before taking a seat at the table, barely acknowledging anyone else's existence.
"H-hi, Dad," Kankuro said, breaking the silence with a feeble smile. "You're back early?"
"Yeah, what of it?" he said, removing the lid on the pot in the middle of the table. "What do we got here? Spaghetti again? Goddammit… when are you kids going to learn to make some actual food for a change?"
"We were in a bit of a rush today. Temari has plans for the evening, and Gaara had a guest, so we just cooked something up real quick," Kankuro explained, indicating Lee with a nod of his head.
Mr. Subakuno briefly glared at Lee and frowned. "Who the hell are you?"
"Rock Lee, sir! I'm in Gaara's class," Lee replied with an enthusiastic salute.
"Whoa, whoa – I didn't ask for your life story, kid. Geez," the man replied before shoving a forkful of spaghetti into his mouth. "Kankuro! Go heat this up for me, will ya? It's colder than a witch's teat."
Kankuro nodded as his father shoved the plate towards him in disgust before hurrying off into the kitchen. Meanwhile, Mr. Subakuno turned towards Lee and Gaara with feigned interest. "So, Gaara, is Lee here a friend of yours?"
"You could say that," Gaara replied distantly as he rose from his seat. A careful eye could see he was still shaken, though he managed to mask it adequately. "We were just going to study upstairs. Come on, Lee."
"Yeah, you do that. Get some good grades, make something of yourself."
As Mr. Subakuno was speaking, a sudden pounding in the distance caught his and Gaara's attention. Glancing towards the entrance, they realized it was someone knocking at the door.
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Temari exclaimed as she rushed down the stairs. Before she could open the door, however, Mr. Subakuno had risen from his chair, his eyes wide with rage.
"Where the hell do you think you're going dressed like that?" he roared, causing Temari to freeze in her tracks.
"Oh… Daddy, you're home early. What a lovely surprise," she replied with a nervous laugh. "I have a date tonight…"
"Not until you put some clothes on, you don't!" he snapped, staring at his daughter in what can only be described as disgust.
It wasn't exactly unjustified. Temari was clearly dressed to impress: black miniskirt, fishnet stockings, black heels, a brief black shirt revealing her bare midriff – it was enough to make even the most liberal-minded father think twice. Temari was not one to go down without a fight, however, and instead threw open the door with a smirk.
"Daddy, meet Shikamaru," she said, as she revealed the lazy genius standing in the doorway. "He's in Gaara's class, isn't that right?"
"Don't get me involved in this…" Gaara muttered while giving Shikamaru a quick nod of acknowledgement.
"Umm… am I interrupting something?" Shikamaru asked, looking about the room in confusion. "I can come back later…"
"No, no – I was just telling Daddy here all about you, Shika," Temari replied, embracing her date tightly, her breasts pressing up against his face. Shikamaru found himself blushing, while Mr. Subakuno turned a different shade of red.
"Temari… how long have you been hiding this boy from me?"
"I haven't been hiding anything, Daddy. You'd know all about him if you were ever home," Temari said, shooting her father a bitter glare. "I promise I'll be home by ten, okay? There's nothing to worry about."
Mr. Subakuno returned his daughter's glare, until they were both engaged in a sort of family staring contest. Finally, he seemed to relent, and instead set his sights on a very nervous Shikamaru. "All right, now you listen to me – if my daughter is so much as one minute late, I will castrate you with a rusty fork. Got it?"
"Y-yes, sir," Shikamaru gulped, before whispering to himself, "So that's where Gaara gets it…"
"Thanks, Daddy! I knew you'd understand," Temari replied in an overly cheerful manner as she escorted the petrified Shikamaru out of the house to safety, leaving Gaara and Lee alone once again with Mr. Subakuno.
The man turned to the two teens, still clearly aggravated, and snapped, "Well? What're you staring at? Didn't you two have studying to do or something?"
"Right, what was I thinking? Let's go, Lee."
With that, Gaara led Lee up to his bedroom, where he promptly sealed the door shut and collapsed. It had been too much – holding in his emotions while his father was present, and now the redhead's tension got some much-needed release. Sitting on his small, green rug amid a sea of beige carpeting, Gaara found himself crying – something that was frightening in itself. Of course, the circumstances behind those tears were of a different horror altogether.
"Gaara? What's the matter with you?" Lee asked, hovering over the redhead as he lay on the floor, sobbing uncontrollably.
"Like you don't know," Gaara responded bitterly, leaning his head against his bookcase. "I'm a murderer! No matter what I do with my life, I'll never be able to escape that fact."
"I'm sorry, Gaara. You shouldn't have told me about it if you weren't ready yet," Lee said consolingly as he took a seat beside his friend. "I thought that happened a long time ago… have you never even talked about it before."
Gaara shook his head. "I never needed to. I didn't regret it at the time… that's why I kept fighting, even here in Konoha. There was no remorse – he was just… a casualty. I thought he had it coming…"
"I don't think so," Lee replied, tentatively grasping the redhead's hand. "You might've convinced yourself that was the case, but I think you regretted it. Otherwise you wouldn't be feeling all torn up right now."
"What do you know?" Gaara snapped, only to be slapped in the face with realization. "Wait… you mean, you don't think I'm… a monster?"
"Of course not! I like you, Gaara – I'll admit I'm disappointed in you, but I don't think you're a monster," Lee replied, grabbing Gaara's head so he could stare the other teen in the face. "You might've been a cold, ruthless kid before, but that's not the Gaara I know. You've changed – everyone can see it! Your brother isn't afraid of you anymore, that's for sure, and you've opened up to our group – especially me and Naruto. Whatever happened with Abiru is in the past. I'm willing to get past it if you are."
He's lying… I can tell he's disturbed by this. Why wouldn't he be?
"You don't have to lie to me, Lee. I know how you must feel. I mean… I killed him! If I hadn't been so determined to make him suffer, Abiru would still be here today. Can't you see that?" Gaara stammered, before averting his gaze in self-loathing.
Lee looked guilty, knowing he'd been caught. "Well… it's true. It's hard to believe that someone actually died because of something you did, but that doesn't mean you're a monster, Gaara! Remember, you said you lost control. It was like someone else took over for the fight, and you could only sit back and watch – that wasn't you who killed Abiru. Not the Gaara I know, at least."
"Right, it was just the bloodthirsty Gaara that was waiting to break free. It was still me, no matter how you say it…"
"No! It's not that simple, Gaara! It wasn't your fault that you hated the world – it was the result of all that suffering you experienced, all that loneliness," Lee explained before crossing his arms in frustration. "Maybe I'm not explaining this right… you couldn't help it that you hated Abiru. Like you said, you never made a conscious decision to kill him – it just happened."
"Like that's an excuse… whether I was aware of it or not, I did kill him, Lee. You can't deny that."
"Yes – but that doesn't mean you have to mope about it! You're not the same person you were back then. You've changed, and now you have the chance to repent!"
Gaara's expression softened somewhat. "While I'm in 'the springtime of my youth?'"
"Exactly!" Lee replied, positively beaming with enthusiasm. "You can't change the past, Gaara – no matter how much you beat yourself up about it, Abiru won't come back."
"So you're saying I should just move on? Forget about all the terrible things I've done?" the redhead snarled, burying his head in his hands.
"No, no! Nothing like that – then you would be a monster. What's important is that you learn from the past, and use that knowledge to move forward. As Gai-sensei says, 'Life is full of ups and downs, but unless you learn how to overcome those obstacles of the past, you'll never win the race.'"
He has a saying for everything, doesn't he?
"I'm nothing but trouble, Lee. No one would miss me one bit if I just disappeared one day," Gaara concluded with a sigh. No sooner had the words left his lips, however, than the redhead's shoulders were seized by a very determined Lee, who stared the other teen in the eyes.
"That's not true, and you know it!"
"Please. Give me one example," Gaara challenged, meeting Lee's gaze head-on.
"What about your family?"
"They'd get over it. Did you forget? They didn't want me in the first place."
"And Naruto?"
"He has Sasuke – he'd survive. Face it, Lee, nobody would miss me…"
"I would."
That was enough to jar Gaara out of his state of self-pity. He stared at Lee in surprise, not knowing what exactly to say. "What do you mean? I've only really known you for few weeks…"
"So what? I know you're important to me – isn't that enough?"
Gaara considered this for a moment. Was it enough? Sure, their little make out session the week before had been nice – it certainly had gotten Gaara's mind off Naruto – but was that enough of a reason to try to move on? He looked to the mop-topped teen for an answer. "Do you really think I can get past this?"
"Of course you can! You just need to trust us to help you through it. Me, Naruto, your family – we all care about you, Gaara. I'm not saying it'll happen right away – it'll take some hard work to come to accept that part of your past – but if you're feeling down, we're always ready to lend a hand."
"That sounds so corny," Gaara said eventually with a weak, though genuine chuckle.
"C-corny? But that's one of Gai-sensei's favorite –"
Lee's protest was abruptly interrupted by Gaara, who silenced the teen with his lips. It was just a brief peck – long enough to distract Lee while Gaara stared at him with a smirk. "Please don't mention Gai again."
"Hey, that's not fair! You can't just leave me like that…"
"Oh, I wasn't finished yet," Gaara replied before leaning back to resume their kiss.
Before long, Gaara had Lee pinned to the bed and was fervently exploring every inch of the mop-topped teen's chest with his mouth. With every new sensation that went rippling through his body, Lee blushed profusely, which caused Gaara to chuckle in turn.
Maybe he's right – maybe all I need is someone to share my emotions with. Either that or someone to distract me with a different kind of sadism. Either way… I think maybe, just maybe, this is going to work out…
***
Sasuke walked home that Tuesday afternoon feeling anxious. Beside him was Naruto, who was clearly trying to contain his enthusiasm, but failing miserably. Though Sasuke pretended not to notice, he could tell that Naruto was looking forward to what they had planned for that afternoon. Unfortunately, the Uchiha could not say the same.
He wasn't sure why he was making such a big deal of it. All Naruto wanted was to see his room – was that so unreasonable? He'd seen Naruto's room more than enough times – heck, they'd had their share of intimate moments on his bed – so what was the difference in switching roles for a change?
Because it's my room of course…
It sounded incredibly selfish, not to mention stupid, but it was the truth. Something about showing that most personal space to Naruto made Sasuke nervous. It wasn't so much that he was afraid of what Naruto would think – he knew by now that Naruto would love his room even if it was a refrigerator box on the street. No, the problem was that it would be revealing that last secret of Sasuke's, that one aspect of his life that he had closed off to the rest of the world long ago.
Does he know what this means to me? Probably – why else would he be so excited about seeing it? He's always so insightful right when I least expect him to be…
"Are you sure you're okay with this?" Naruto asked as they passed by the park, almost as if he had read the Uchiha's thoughts. "I mean, we're right by my apartment. We can just go there if you'd prefer…"
Sasuke smiled inwardly; it was like Naruto was trying to prove his point – always so surprisingly insightful. "No, it's fine. You're right – it's only fair that you see it."
Clearly this was exactly what Naruto wanted to hear, as he positively beamed. "Great! I'll race you to your house, then!"
With that, Naruto broke into a run, leaving a stunned Sasuke in his wake. "Geez… what's the rush?"
Shaking his head, Sasuke chased after the blond, catching up with him just outside Sasuke's neighborhood. There they continued at a walk, somewhat winded by the race, and took a moment to catch their breath outside the Uchiha mansion.
"Well? Are you gonna let me in?" Naruto asked with an exhausted grin.
"So impatient today, I swear…" Sasuke muttered before pushing open the door. He turned to the blond and made a dramatically formal bow. "After you, good sir."
Naruto bowed in kind and stepped inside, where he removed his shoes by the door. Once Sasuke had shut the door behind them, they stood in awkward silence for a moment, each waiting for the other to make a move. Finally, Naruto cleared his throat and looked around the foyer. "So… do I get the grand tour or what?"
Feeling rather foolish, Sasuke murmured, "Oh, right… yeah, follow me."
Walking into the living room to the right, Sasuke paused and extended a hand, as if revealing a vast landscape. "This is the living room. You may remember it from Sunday, when we were trying to figure out a way for you to stay in Konoha. That crack in the wall is where I threw the phone after you left."
"It's nice – well, except for the crack," Naruto replied. He strolled through the room, taking in all the furniture and pictures on the wall, pausing by what appeared to be a family portrait. "Are these your parents?"
"Yeah – they're in the back, Itachi and I are in the front," Sasuke explained before pointing to a fifth figure standing slightly to the side. "That's our cousin Obito."
"Obito? You've never mentioned him before…"
"He died – not long before my parents did."
Naruto gulped. "I see."
"Moving on," Sasuke said after a moment of awkward silence, leading Naruto around the corner into the kitchen. It was a rather large area, with a red-tiled floor and numerous, pristine white appliances. A bit further down, beyond a small partition, was the dining room table, complete with an elaborate candelabrum at its center. "This is the kitchen. Feel free to help yourself to a drink if you want. Our chef usually prepares dinner here around 6:00 if you want to stay – I think he's making a roast tonight."
"Sounds good…" Naruto replied, eyeing the numerous utensils on the wall in awe. "Do you know what half of these are?"
"No – and I don't think the chef does, either. But we have them just in case," Sasuke replied, pulling what appeared to be a Swiss-army butcher knife off the wall. "Like this thing – I'm pretty sure this thing has never been opened."
Setting the bizarre tool back on the wall, Sasuke led Naruto a bit further down to the sunroom. It was an open area with a fine, wood floor, surrounded by windows on the sides, with larger windows providing light from above. The furniture – mostly chairs and loveseats – were pure white, and they were the only decoration in the room save for a few ferns lined up along the far wall. "This is the sun room – I don't think either of us have actually used this room in the past few years. Only the maids like to sit here and chat on their breaks, really."
"What about out there?" Naruto asked, pointing to a sliding door that led outside. "Do you ever use that?"
"Of course – that's the pool deck."
Naruto's eyes widen with envy. "You have a pool?"
"And a hot tub, though we use that more in the winter. I'll show you that some other time, though," Sasuke said, beckoning Naruto with his finger. "I still have to show you around upstairs.
They walked in silence back to the foyer, where they climbed the polished, oak staircase up to the upper corridor. There, Sasuke led Naruto down the hall, past the banister, to an expansive bedroom with a king-sized bed and crimson sheets. They paused only briefly in the doorway while Sasuke introduced the room, "This is Itachi's bedroom – used to be my parents'. I think that's enough of that, though."
With that, Sasuke grabbed Naruto's arm and practically dragged him back to the opposite end of the hallway, where he threw open another door. It led to yet another bedroom – somewhat smaller than the last, but still easily the size of Naruto's living room. It looked as if it hadn't been touched in years: the bed was made, its sheets lying perfectly flat. The walls were covered with different charts and graphs, depicting varying financial figures, while the nearby dressers were covered with notebooks arranged in tidy little rows. "And this used to be Itachi's bedroom. We still clean it, but it's basically a guest bedroom now."
"So this is where I would've slept?"
"Yes – if you were living here, this would be your room. Sorry to say."
"What's with all the graphs?" Naruto asked, eyeing one chart confusedly. "Are these recent?"
"No, Itachi hung them up when he was our age. He was studying to take over the company. Sad, isn't it?"
"A little bit, yeah," Naruto concluded with a nod before backing out of the room. "So… are there any games or anything? I thought you'd have a billiard room or something."
"That's in the other wing – opposite side of the pool, you know. We have the gym over there, and the billiard room. Our home theater, our game room – all in that entertainment wing, basically," Sasuke replied as they left the bedroom.
"And when were you planning on showing me that, huh?" Naruto asked, placing his hands on his hips.
"I thought we'd save that for another day – you wanted to see this anyway," the Uchiha said, placing his hand on a doorknob about halfway down the corridor.
All right – here goes nothing…
Taking a deep breath, Sasuke turned the knob and pushed open the door, stepping to the side so his boyfriend could enter first. Once Naruto was inside, Sasuke followed after, sealing the door shut behind him.
Naruto appeared mesmerized, surveying the room in great detail as he slowly strolled around the perimeter. "It's… amazing!"
Sasuke sighed – that was about the reaction he expected. Still, he decided not to say anything, but instead watched as Naruto explored the new space. The blond seemed particularly interested in the royal blue carpet, which he dug his feet into as he walked, feeling the luxurious, soft material run between his toes. He also seemed fixated with certain posters on the wall – mostly movie posters, like The Silence of the Lambs, with a few bands mixed in. When Naruto came to the shattered clock on the floor, which Sasuke had neglected to clean up in the past few days, he simply tiptoed over it, apparently unfazed by the destruction.
"Oh! Is that your sword?" Naruto asked, rushing to the katana mounted above the Uchiha's dresser.
"That's the one. You want to see it?"
"No, that's fine – I'd rather see your other sword later, anyway," the blond responded with a devilish grin.
Leave it to him to make dirty puns at a time like this…
"Oh! What have we here?" Naruto asked suddenly, rushing to the far corner of the room. There was a large stereo system, wedged between several columns of CDs. "This thing's huge!"
"Surround sound, too," Sasuke commented, indicating the various speakers mounted on the wall, pointing down at his bed.
"Let's see – you like Simon and Garfunkel?" the blond asked, shooting his boyfriend a curious glance. "I never would've pictured you as the type…"
"And I wouldn't have expected you to even know who they are," Sasuke replied with equal surprise.
"Hey, I like to think I have a well-rounded knowledge of music," Naruto said with a defensive humph. "What's your favorite song by them?"
"What kind of question is that? It's like asking me to pick a favorite child," the Uchiha sighed before furrowing his brow in thought. "I mean, there's Mrs. Robinson, Bridge Over Troubled Water…"
"But if you had to pick just one, what would it be?"
Sasuke considered this for a second. It wasn't long, however, before he realized there was only one possible answer. "For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her."
"Really? I don't think I've ever heard that one," Naruto said, scratching his head sheepishly.
"It's not their most famous song, I'll admit…"
"Well, let's listen to it!" the vulpine boy interrupted excitedly before placing the CD into the stereo.
Before Sasuke could offer any form of protest, the music began drifting from the speakers, filling the room with the song's soothing melody. Almost immediately, the Uchiha felt his nerves calming, and he sat down on his bed, losing himself in the song.
What a dream I had
Pressed in organdy
Clothed in crinoline
Of smoky burgundy
Softer than the rain
As these words flowed into the room, Naruto took a seat beside Sasuke, resting his head on the other teen's shoulders. Neither one said a word, but instead laid back on the bed as the song continued.
I wandered empty streets down
Past the shop displays
I heard cathedral bells
Dripping down the alleyways
As I walked on
Lying on the bedspread, Naruto and Sasuke stared at each other, each teen losing himself in the other's eyes as the song escalated.
And when you ran to me, your
Cheeks flushed with the night
We walked on frosted fields
Of juniper and lamplight
I held your hand
Naruto seemed to be following along with the song, clasping Sasuke's hand before pulling his boyfriend into an embrace. Sasuke felt goosebumps rise on his arms, and his eyes grew a bit misty as the song moved into its final verse.
And when I awoke
And felt you warm and near
I kissed your honey hair
With my grateful tears
Oh, I love you, girl
Oh, I love you
Gently tilting Naruto's head forward, Sasuke leaned in and softly kissed the teen's golden locks. As he pulled back, Sasuke found he had, indeed, left a faint trace of his tears in those strands of sunshine, a fact that made him chuckle slightly.
"Something wrong?" Naruto asked, glancing up in concern.
"Nothing at all," Sasuke replied with a quick peck to the blond's lips.
With that, Sasuke pulled Naruto back into a tight embrace, and together they sat lay on the bed in silence while The Sound of Silence played overhead. Though Sasuke didn't say what was passing through his mind the whole time they remained in each other's arms, he was certain the message was clear.
Oh, I love you…
---
Well, there you have it! Hope you enjoyed it! Now, then, what's going to happen next? Will Iruka and Kakashi have their date (hint: yes, they will). So, you have that to look forward to. Anyway, I'll have that up as soon as possible, and I look forward to hearing from you - remember, review!