Song that inspired this chapter: Don't Fight It by 10 Years…I think it only really works for part of the chapter and I don't know that it really fits the chapter very well, but it oddly inspired this chapter
As always I own nothing, enjoy and please review…
Chapter 15: Don't Fight It
Something was bugging Sasuke, Naruto could tell just from the way he was sitting, or more lying. He was staring at what seemed to be nothing, perhaps the ceiling, but by the look on his face Naruto knew that he wasn't really paying attention to where he was staring. He seemed to be too caught up in his thoughts to even care. "What's wrong?" Naruto finally asked, breaking Sasuke out of his thoughts.
"Just thinking about something my brother said," he answered, not sure how much he should actually tell him. His brother seemed to think that he should tell him everything, but he wasn't sure that he could do that.
"What was it about?" he asked, confused as to what his brother could have said that made him think so much. "Maybe if you tell me then I can help you," he suggested, hoping that Sasuke would agree.
Sasuke was silent for a moment, obviously thinking about what Naruto had said. "You," was his answer. He saw the shock written all over the blonde's face, so he quickly added, "He thinks that I should tell you." He took a deep breath before saying, "Everything."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Naruto asked. "What does he think that you should tell me?" he questioned. He wasn't sure what there really was to tell, he knew about his family, or at least he thought that he did. The Uchihas had been all over the news when it happened and so everyone knew the story. He also knew that Sasuke was gay, so it couldn't be that. He knew the little trivial things and it only made him wonder more what he could be hiding.
Sasuke looked down, deciding if he should tell him. He figured it was too late to turn back since he'd already told Naruto that it was about him. "Well," he said, not sure where to start. "I guess I should just start from the beginning," he sighed. He wasn't sure why he was telling him, but something made him feel like he had to explain.
"That would be a good place to start," Naruto agreed, earning a glare from the other man. "Sorry, please continue," he smiled, a little nervously, not wanting Sasuke to change his mind.
Sasuke sat up, turning so that his feet were on the ground as he sat, across from Naruto. He was unsure about telling Naruto everything that happened with his family, but he figured that he might as well considering that the conversation had already gotten that far. "He thinks that I should tell you about what really happened the night of my father's death," he elaborated.
Naruto just nodded as a signal to continue and so he did, "My father was abusive." The words made Naruto frown, but he didn't say anything. He didn't want to ruin what may be his only chance to hear the story. "It was mostly my mom he hurt and then made up and excuse as to why she was in the hospital again," his voice was a little shaky as he remembered every detail of that night. "They were fighting again, I went down to see what was happening but my mother sent me away. She was always protecting me. Itachi didn't need protection, he was the favorite," he continued with his story.
Naruto could see that Sasuke was struggling with telling the story, "It's okay." He moved to Sasuke's bed and tried calming him down by rubbing his back softly. Sasuke quickly pulled away from his hand, making Naruto realize that he didn't want to be touched. "Sorry," he said quietly.
Sasuke just nodded and continued with his story, "That night, I heard a gun shot and I ran back to the living room where they were fighting. I saw my mother in the room, holding the gun and my father dead on the floor." Naruto looked a little surprised by the information, but let Sasuke continue. "Itachi didn't come into the room until about a minute after I did. He grabbed the gun and told my mother to leave. The next thing I know, he's taking the blame for killing my parents," he said softly.
"Why'd he do that?" Naruto asked. He was confused as to why his brother would take the blame for something he didn't do, or more why he'd go to jail for it. "And why didn't you just tell people the truth?" he then asked.
"He wanted to protect my mother," Sasuke answered. "He thought that she had been through enough in her life," he tried to explain, but even he didn't think it was a good enough reason. "He told me that everything was going to be okay and to just keep quiet. I was eight and he was my older brother, I trusted him and went along with what he said," he frowned; obviously wishing he had done things differently.
"What about his lawyer?" Naruto asked, knowing that with how rich the Uchiha family was he'd be able to afford a very good one.
"The family lawyer tried to come to the rescue," Sasuke said, sadness evident in his voice. "Itachi wouldn't let him though, he refused to have a lawyer," he said. "Itachi had enough time to manipulate the crime scene, getting blood on himself in the process. He even wiped my mother's fingerprints off of the gun, leaving only his own," he explained.
"Oh," Naruto said, not sure what else he could say. "Couldn't investigators prove that it wasn't him?" the blond asked, thinking about all of the shows that he'd seen.
"Life isn't like those stupid shows on TV. In real life they take the confession and try to find evidence to go along with it. They even made it sound premeditated because of the fact that the gun case was already opened. He confessed to killing my mother and father and in the end that was all that the judge really needed," Sasuke said, almost bitterly. "Real investigators don't always get the bad guy and when they think they have the guy, they stop looking for anyone else to blame it on," he said and one could hear the mix of sadness and anger. "He'll have a chance of parole in fifteen years, just in time to miss his entire life," he frowned. "I keep hoping that they let him out early for good behavior but they never do," he added quietly.
"Was it your father that gave you that scar on your back?" he asked, unsure if it was an okay question to ask. The frown on Sasuke's face seemed permanent at that point. The dark haired man only nodded, but didn't explain. He didn't think that Naruto needed to hear all of the details as to how badly he'd been abused. He had scars, both physical and emotional, and they would never fully go away.
There was a knock on the door; ruining what Naruto felt like was a moment. He knew that at that point they were really good friends, or else Sasuke wouldn't have told him anything. "Come in," Naruto called, letting some extra space between him and Sasuke.
Suigetsu opened the door and looked at the two, wondering why Naruto was on Sasuke's bed. Sasuke didn't let many people close, emotionally or physically, so it made him wonder if he were interrupting something. "Hey," he said to both of them. "Can I talk to Sasuke?" he asked, Naruto nodded, but didn't move to leave the room. He moved back to his bed, but not out of the door. "Alone," he added.
"Oh, right," Naruto, said, quickly standing up. "Sorry," he said, making his way out the door, figuring that he could go to talk to Kiba.
"What's going on?" Sasuke asked, wondering why Suigetsu would want to talk alone.
"I'm so confused," Suigetsu told him, which made Sasuke look at him, shocked. "I don't mean sexually," he glared. "Karin," he clarified. "She's confusing the hell out of me," he told him.
"That's not surprising," Sasuke said under his breath, but Suigetsu still heard it.
"Shut up," he huffed as he sat on Naruto's bed. "I'm serious. It's like one minute she acts like a normal girlfriend and the next she's cold towards me," he started explaining. "I just don't understand what the hell went wrong or what I did," he frowned.
"You should have let Naruto stay, he'd probably be better with relationship crap than I am," Sasuke told him, pointing out that he hadn't had many relationships of any sort. "Plus, I don't like girls, how am I supposed to help you with one? And don't say it's because I'm gay, because not all gay men act like women," he threatened.
"Even though your hair would say otherwise," he grinned, pointing out Sasuke's hairstyle. "I wasn't going to say that though," he quickly said, not wanting the other man to punch him. "I was asking because you are one of my closest friends and I can't really ask Juugo about it, he's practically asexual," he told him.
"What am I supposed to tell you?" he asked. "Talk to her, she's the only who can tell you what's wrong," he sighed. "You didn't forget your anniversary right? Cause if you did you're just lucky to be alive right now," he smirked as Suigetsu shook his head. "I still don't know why you had to send Naruto out of the room," he said, not meaning to say it out loud.
"Well if I didn't then all of your attention would be on him," he smirked. "And how hot you think he is," he then added just to make Sasuke angry. "Even with him out of the room your attention was still on him. Are you starting to have a crush on him?" he chuckled.
"Shut up," the other responded. "If you don't want something thrown at your head, then I suggest that you just shut up," he told him, slightly annoyed. "And get out," he instructed.
"Sorry princess," he said as he got up. "I didn't realize the subject of Naruto and your crush was so off limits," he chuckled. By the glare he was receiving from Sasuke, he knew it'd be best if he left. "See you later," he said as he walked out of the door.
NS
Naruto was walking down the hall toward Kiba's room. He needed Kiba to get what Sasuke told him off his mind. However, a timid Hinata intercepted the blond. "Hi," she stuttered.
"Hey Hinata, what's up?" he said in response with a smile. He wasn't sure why she was stuttering. He thought that she had gotten over her stutter in high school.
"I," she started a little shaky. "I wanted to tell you," she continued to stutter; it was actually getting worse as she talked. She hesitated a moment before stuttering out, "I love you." Her face was as red as a tomato and she wasn't the least bit confident when talking to him.
He wasn't quite sure what to say. Naruto didn't want to hurt her feelings, but he also didn't have any feelings towards her. He knew he had to phrase his words carefully, "I'm sorry Hinata." The blond was calm and gentle when speaking to her, "I only see you as a friend." He didn't know any way to say it with out hurting her feelings, which disappointed him. "I'm gay, remember?" he said, feeling very uncomfortable.
"I see," she said timidly, stuttering slightly. "I have to go," she quickly hurried off to what he could only guess was her room. She already wasn't a confident girl and he had a feeling that he had probably just made it worse. Furthermore he hated the idea that his best friend's crush liked him instead.
Naruto knew he couldn't talk to Kiba about what had just happened, it'd crush him. And he didn't really want to talk to anyone in his group since the only ones that may give good advice, couldn't keep a secret. He decided the only person he could talk to about it was Sasuke and so he made his way back to his room. Instead of going to Kiba's he decided it was probably best that he went back to his room until he could sort things out. He didn't care if Suigetsu had sent him away, it was his room and he needed to talk to Sasuke.
NS
Naruto was happy that it was only Sasuke in the room when he walked back in. He wasn't sure if Suigetsu would tell anyone and he didn't want to take the chance. He figured that it was probably fine either way since Suigetsu knew Sasuke's secret, but he didn't want to take any chances of it possibly getting back to Kiba.
"That was fast," Sasuke said, looking at Naruto as he walked in the door. He figured that the blond wouldn't be back for a good hour or so. "Usually you and Kiba talk like two teenage girls at a sleepover," he smirked, hoping the conversation wouldn't go back to where it had left off.
"I didn't actually get to Kiba's room," he replied. After a moment of realization what Sasuke had said, he quickly added, "And we are not like two teenage girls." He decided to lie on his own bed and let out a frustrated sigh.
"Why not? Did you two get into a lover's quarrel?" he teased. Naruto shot a glare at him, causing Sasuke to chuckle. "Just tell me what happened so I can go take my shower," he said as he started to pick out a pair of pajamas.
"Hinata told me that she loves me," Naruto told him.
"So what? If you don't feel the same, just tell her," he shrugged not seeing the big deal. "She'll get over it," he said setting his pajamas on the top of the dresser. He didn't see why it was such a big deal that a girl liked him. Sasuke had turned down plenty of women but most of them seemed to get over it eventually.
"That's not the problem," he said, while sitting up. "If that were the problem then there would be no problem," he frowned. "The problem is, that the girl Kiba likes is in love with me," he said. He was trying to get Sasuke to understand his dilemma, hoping that he could be of some help.
"Oh," Sasuke said. He remembered when Karin thought she was in love with him before she started dating Suigetsu. "Do you guys really talk much?" he asked.
"Not really, why?" Naruto answered, wondering where Sasuke was going with the question.
"Well," he started. "If you don't really talk, then she can't know that much about you," he pointed out. "Maybe she doesn't love you, but instead the idea of you," Sasuke said, leaning against the dresser as he looked at Naruto. He knew from experience that people might like the person from what they picture in their head.
"I hope you're right," Naruto frowned. "Otherwise it's going to break Kiba's heart," he said sadly. "And to think that he was thinking about telling her how he feels," he said, not expecting an answer.
"You should tell him," Sasuke suggested. "It may not be what he wants to hear, but it's better than him being rejected in public," he said. "Just give him a heads up so that he doesn't make an ass out of himself," he added as he grabbed his clothes and headed for the bathroom. "Now that, that is over, I'm going to take a shower," he said, ending the conversation.
Naruto watched as he went, disappointed that he'd remembered to take his clothes with him. He lay back once again and thought, 'I can't tell Kiba; it'd crush him.' He didn't want to be the one to hurt his best friend and he thought the best way to avoid doing so would be to not tell him.
TBC…
Let me know what you think :) I changed what I was going to write for Karin and Suigetsu's problem, you'll find out in the next chapter…can anyone guess why she's being distant?
Please review