'Empty. That's what I feel most of the time. Like there's no emotion inside of me. Some people call it depressed. I call it normal.' SasuNaru. Naruto becomes depressed with Kyuubi whispering false things in his mind. He thinks he's fooled everyone, but there's a certain someone who won't stop until he's found out what has happened to the blonde.
A/N: Sorry this is out so late! But I think you guys will be proud to know that I wrote this entire chapter in one hour during school while we were doing nothing! I added a few things to make it longer, but all in all, this is the result of some great inspiration and a full hour of boredom! Thanks for all your reviews, follows, and favorites. I appreciate it guys! Any who! Here's chapter nine of Empty, in Naruto's view. I also don't own Naruto (I've been forgetting to put my disclaimer in the chapters XP)
Sasuke banged on the door once more after hearing my voice. "It's fine. I just ran into the sink with my leg. I'm going to have a bruise in the morning." I lied. His pounding halted as he thought of buying my lame excuse. Acting like I thought he left, I turned on the faucet and cleaned my hands of any blood, relying heavily on the counter for support. The door suddenly flew open to reveal an outraged Sasuke. He looked down at the sink which had water that had dyed red from my hands. His eyes snapped back to mine and he pointed to my pants.
"Drop them. Now." He ordered. My face flushed a bright red as the blood ran to my head.
"You can't just tell me that! Pervert!"
"Drop. Them. Now." He repeated, slower this time. I growled before grabbing my pants. He raised one of his eyebrows at me.
"At least be a gentleman and turn around for a moment. This is embarrassing enough as it is." I said, face as red as a tomato. He rolled his onyx-colored eyes before turning around as asked. I swiftly dropped my article of clothing and looked down at the bandages to see how bad it was. The entire thing was red already. I needed to change it soon. I cleared my throat to signal that he could turn around. He took one look at it then stopped.
"Naruto..." He started. I immediately straightened up at the sound of his voice. Then he looked at me with such emotion that I knew, deep down, that he meant what he said at the hospital. "Why do you do this to yourself?" He asked, honestly curious. I just simply shrugged. I did it because it was a way of punishing myself for all that I had done wrong. I did it because it made all thoughts of my childhood disappear, if only for a few moments. I did it to satisfy my anger towards all those who have done me wrong.
But I didn't know how to explain all of this to Sasuke. So I settled with a shrug of my shoulders.
With an irritated growl, he leaned towards me. Then he placed his lips on top of mine and my legs felt like they wouldn't be able to hold me up anymore. My knees wobbled unsteadily until I backed up into the bathtub. It hit the back of my knees and I collapsed onto the edge. He looked at me confused, hurt, and another emotion I've only seen once before but couldn't quite place. "I'm sorry." He whispered before he left.
-NaruSasu-
It took five minutes for my heart to slow down to its regular beat once he left. I still couldn't stand. I was blaming it on the cut, not the weak knees he had caused with his amazing kiss. Another knock sounded on the door. I mentally groaned. What did he want now? "Look. You can't stay in there all day. I have to shower, so get out." He said through the door. I looked down at my numb leg, noticing that I had to change the dressing once again.
"Fine. Give me a second. And if you wait by the door, Kami help me, I will take even longer." I threatened. I could faintly hear a chuckle then footsteps going back into his room. I removed the gauze before analyzing my wound. It was deep, a few inches deeper than I usually did. Blood continued to flow from it. A bad sign I suppose. I re-wrapped my leg before attempting to stand once more. I almost fell, but I caught onto the sink before I could do so. I hissed in pain as I tried to apply pressure onto the wounded leg, feeling more blood seep through. I gathered my self-control then walked out of the bathroom with my face composed and no limp in my walk. I was a little proud of myself. I hit Sasuke's door when I passed it, telling him I was done in there.
Once back in the room I was staying in, I summoned one of the many smaller frogs. I swiftly wrote a not then handed it to the female. "Go take this to Sakura please." I told her. She left with a small 'yes, sir'. I collapsed onto the bed which held orange blankets just for me. The Uchiha had gotten them for me after about the sixth time I ended up falling asleep here. He had a few of my clothes tucked neatly away in the dresser, articles I had left over. In the corner was a small bookshelf filled with Jiraya's book and some manga that I read frequently. Except for the porn books my godfather wrote. I only read those every once in a while. On the bed was a fairly new orange book with a red swirl on it. On the side was a few symbols, disabling anyone else access to the journal unless they were able to mimic my chakra. I knew it was safe here. Even if Sasuke could copy my chakra, he wouldn't even think of breaking into my personal book. He just wasn't that kind of guy. I kept it here for multiple reasons. The first one was that my apartment still got broken into and the thieves stole a lot of my shit, even if it was something as silly as a journal. The second was that no one would suspect something personal of mine to be at the Uchiha complex. The third was that I knew Sasuke would protect it with his life if need be. He wouldn't let anyone touch it if he could help it.
I laid my hand on the side with the symbols and pushed my chakra into it. It opened with a 'pop' and I scanned the contents of it. On the very first page it read 'Hope you like it. I noticed you've been a little down lately and figured you'd like writing it out instead of talking to someone. I use my own diary and it really helps me. I hope it helps. Love, Sakura.' There was currently only one entry in it with three words. 'I am alone.' I wrote that when I had first gotten it, hoping it would encourage me to write more then ultimately feel better. That had been months ago, almost a year. Still, I had nothing more to add. But I still wished it to be protected, for sentiment purposes.
Sasuke knocked on the door. I jumped. I didn't even hear him approaching. "What do you want for dinner?" He asked. I stayed silent. After a moment, he knocked again before opening the door. "Naruto Uzumaki! I asked what you wanted for dinner!" He hissed out at me. I stared at him, dumbfounded. I had no idea. I didn't usually eat dinner. Or breakfast. Or lunch. He understood. I could see the moment that he finally pieced it together. "Dear God. Do you starve yourself too?" He asked, barely over a whisper.
"No." I answered honestly. I didn't starve myself because the thought of food made my stomach clench. My body rejected food. I was never hungry, just acted like I was to appear hungry.
"Then how much do you eat?" He narrowed his eyes at me.
"I don't know." I lied.
"Don't lie to me. I know you too well."
"If you know me so well, shouldn't you know how much I eat?" I countered.
"I wanna know if my conclusion is the correct one."
"Why do you want to know?" I asked.
"Dammit! Because I love you! How many times do I have to tell you before you finally believe me?!" He started to yell. I leaned back onto my bed, daring him to come closer. He accepted my challenge and stalked forward slowly. It was like he was afraid of scaring me away. He crawled onto the bed until his face hovered over mine. I tilted my head up slightly. He smirked before leaning closer and placing his wonderfully soft lips onto my own. I could feel his arms shaking for a reason that was beyond my comprehension. He pulled back enough to look into my eyes.
"Great. Now get off me and go make your food." I said with no emotion on my face, purposely ruining the moment. He froze. He opened his mouth to say something but then closed it once more. He pushed himself off of me then walked away, slamming the door shut behind him. I sat up, accessing what just happened.
"Kit. You're just gonna get hurt again. Haven't you learned your lesson yet?" Kyuubi asked.
'But it was good. I think.. I think he'd take care of me. He wouldn't hurt me on purpose.' I thought. Just then Sakura burst into the room and looked at me worriedly. She held the note in her hand. "Good. I need your medical skills. A kunai dug too deep into my leg and it's currently numb." I explained, smiling at her. She motioned for me to expose the wound. "I'm uh.. I'm gonna need your help to stand up." I said, mock sheepishly. She strode forward and grabbed my arm to assist me. I stood up then dropped my pants once more. Her face lit up bright red as she glanced at my bare legs. Her eyes lingered on my junk for longer than I would've liked. She carefully unwrapped my leg. Blood covered up the rest of my scars, so she wouldn't be able to see them. Her hands started to glow a light green as she placed them over the cut. I hissed in pain once I could feel the wound start to close.
"Sorry." She whispered. I waved it off. "The numbness should go away once your cells have had time to settle and return blood flow back into your leg." She told me. I grunted in understanding. The pain subsided after a bit and she pulled her hands away. "There you go. Do you mind me asking how this happened?" She asked cautiously. I smiled at her.
"Thanks. It was really bothering me. Sasuke and I were training and he dug his kunai in a little too deep. Simple mistake."
"All the way around your thigh?"
"I was trying to do this really cool move I saw this other guy do. I was in the middle of a spin when he cut me." I lied smoothly.
"Why didn't you go to the hospital?"
"We didn't think anything of it until it went numb. Then he figured it would just be easier to bring you here."
"Why didn't Kyuubi heal it?" God damn! She was asking a lot of questions!
"He's been moody and didn't think it was life-threatening to heal it."
"Oh... What's that around your neck?" My hand reached up to see what she was talking about. Oh. The collar. I ran my fingers along the foreign symbols.
"Something Baa-chan got me."
"Didn't think you'd be one to wear something like that." She said, obviously relaxed now.
"Ya. Well. You know Baa-chan. If I don't wear it, she'd probably kill me." I chuckled. She laughed along with me. Sasuke came back in then. He glanced from me to her, then back. He was going to ask her to eat with us, I knew it. I frantically shook my head in disapproval, all but screaming no. He narrowed his eyes at me then turned to the pinkette.
"Sakura. Would you care to join us for dinner?" he asked her. Her eyes lit up with excitement.
"Really?"
"If you'd like, I could set up another place for you at the table." Sakura's face glowed with happiness.
"I'd love to join you! But are you sure I won't be intruding?" She asked hesitantly. I flipped my mental switch and grinned.
"Of course not, Sakura-chan! There's nothing to intrude on! It was going to be an awkward dinner anyways." I said honestly. The only conversation would be if the Uchiha started that and odds of that were slim. With Sakura there, the conversation wouldn't be one-sided. She grinned.
"Okay. Then I'll join you guys." She announced.
"Great!" I yelled with false excitement. Did her eyes just...? No, couldn't be. I was imagining things. I had to be. 'Kyuubi?' I asked, hoping to contact the bijuu.
"Yes kit?" He answered after a moment.
'Am I losing my mind?' I wondered.
"Who's to say? You might already have lost it." He paused. "Why do you ask?"
'Because I think I'm seeing things.'
"Oh? Like what?" He asked.
'Well, just now.. Sakura. She-she.. I'm not sure. But it looked like...' I trailed off. He plunged into my most recent memories.
"Oh? You mean you just now noticed?"
'Huh? Noticed what?'
"She love you, you idiot." He chuckled.
"WHAT?!" I shrieked out loud. My teammates turned to look at me, questions in their eyes.
"What's wrong?" Sakura asked.
"N-nothing. Come on, let's eat! I'm starving!" I shouted, grabbing their wrists and pulling them into the dining room which was set up for only two. Sasuke had made pork chops, mashed potatoes, rolls, and corn. The set closest to the kitchen had a glass filled with lemonade while the other had plain water in it. The Uchiha broke free of my grip then disappeared into the kitchen. He returned with another plate, glass, and set of silverware. He placed them in the middle then poured some lemonade into the glass. He then sat down in the spot nearest the kitchen, Sakura in the middle, and me at the other end. We filled out plates and they began eating. I simply moved my food around on my plate until it looked like I had ate some. I had became a master at fooling other into thinking I had eaten by adjusting my plate until it looked just right. When they looked, I would force myself to swallow a forkful of the food and continue to play with it.
A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed this! I tried to make it as long as possible which I believe I succeeded in doing. Five pages! But now my hands are cramping to so I'm going to end this now. Sorry for it being so late and I know you are probably tired of my excuses, but I had lot going on this month and it has been kinda hard on my family. So that might be why this chapter was kinda... Eh, but whatever. It's out, I'm done. And there's probably a lot of mistakes. Just overlook those please. I'd love it if you did. I don't feel like dealing with them at this point. I have decided what the item would be that Naruto was staring at last chapter and you will see it in the next one! But school is out for me and hopefully I'll get them up quicker now. Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed it! I love reviews *hint hint, wink wink*.