Chapter 32

Sasuke

It didn't dawn on me until after Neji left with his uncle that Naruto was acting out of character all day, like something was on his mind and whatever he did he couldn't get rid of it.

To be quite honest, I'm getting this horrible feeling that it's Gaara that's on his mind. I've noticed that Naruto's not talked to him, talk or text, and I truly haven't seen him at school these last few days either and his siblings have avoided me the entire time so I know they're still in town.

Which leads me to now; I'm throwing my shoes on and heading out the door with my wallet and car keys in hand.

"Where are you going Sasuke?" Itachi asked, Naruto was in his room looking for clothes to change into so he could go to bed.

"I'm going for a drive to the library real quick before they close." I told Itachi, which wasn't a complete lie, I was going to the library … it's practically right down the street from the red heads' house so I could easily stop by and pick some random mystery book I want to try and read. So I had no trouble there.

"Okay, be back before long okay? You have school tomorrow." Itachi reminded me as I reached to open the door now that my shoes were on.

"Sure thing nii-san!" I said as I left and went outside, closing the door behind me and rushed over to the car and was in, in a blink of an eye and down the street before I had my seat belt completely buckled.

I didn't really realized how pissed off I was with the red head until I was there within ten minutes when it's usually a twenty or less minute drive depending on how the lights were treating you. So when I had the car parked, I was greeted with Temari who was just getting out of her own car and blinked over at me, with a look of surprise that I'm even here as I got out of my car.

"Oh, Sasuke, what brings you here?" She asked.

"You know full well why I'm fucking here. First, why have you and Kankuro been avoiding me this week at school? And second … where in the hell is your red head brother?" I said, getting straight to the point because I hate small talk.

"Oh, uhm … Well …" She said, I'm guessing trying to find the correct words as she avoided eye contact with me before she sighed heavily. "Well, father has taken Gaara to see Tsunade all week about getting him help for his fever that came back on Monday."

"What!?" I shrieked.

"Yea, he's not been home since, and neither has father. We go visit Gaara and father in the hospital after school, and we're both sorry for not sitting or spending time with you and Naruto. We're just really worried about Gaara that everything else is being blocked out." She admitted, her arms hugging her form as she kept her gaze down towards the ground. I didn't have to question, she was telling the truth.

"And why hasn't Naruto or I been told?" I asked.

"Gaara wants Naruto to get better and not worry about him. None of us can get into Gaara's phone to get a hold of you guys either. And of course while Kankuro and I are at school, we're only thinking of Gaara." She said, and I nodded.

"So you don't want me to tell Naruto about Gaara?" I asked with a heavy sigh, though I kind of knew what her answer would be …

"I don't think so, we're hoping that you'll wait to hear from us about Gaara's condition before you tell him, okay?" Temari said, finally making eye contact with me.

"I'll try, but make sure Naruto finds out before he finds out himself and goes fucking berserk on all of our asses." I sighed.

"Frankly, Naruto's just as fucking scary as Gaara is when he's truly pissed off, so yea, we're going to let Naruto know as soon as we know something." Temari said, and I saw her shudder.

Yea, Naruto's known to go completely berserk when he's truly upset. Last time he lost complete control of his temper was when we were in middle school and some kids really got on his nerves for the last time … all of them were sent to the hospital unconscious but were sent home later that night with minor injuries and a broken bone somewhere. Naruto wasn't charged either, there was evidence that he was defending himself because he was in plain view of the school's security camera. He was very fortunate for that too.

"Yea, I remember when I last saw his temper in person … he looked like a rabid animal." I said, shuddering as I remembered the look in his eyes; completely void of all emotion. And that's something that didn't suit him at all.

"You said it. Now, I have dinner to get on for Kankuro and myself. Him and I just got back from visiting Gaara and father." She told me and I nodded, half glad that I didn't have to go inside for some reason.

"Yea, tell Kankuro I said hello, and I really hope Gaara gets better soon … very soon." I said as I waved and she started towards the house, half turned to me as she waved back.

"Will do Sasuke, take care of Naruto also!" She smiled before she went inside and closed the door behind her.

I should be pissed, but they were right; Naruto would worry over this so much he would completely ignore his own health and wouldn't get any better. So them not telling Naruto was somewhat a good thing.

Sighing, I climbed back into my car and turned the engine on, sitting there for a moment before I buckled up before backing out of the driveway and drove off towards the library to get a book like Itachi thinks I am. I just hoped I had enough time to actually look for something good.

"Hey, where the fuck did you go?" Naruto squealed as I walked into the house with five books in my arm as I closed the door behind me and threw my shoes off. I scoffed at him because he's such a dobe, but I told him anyway.

"I went to the library, you moron." I said before I walked off to my bedroom. Apparently Itachi helped Naruto get his bath and change … and Naruto looked livid.

"Why didn't you fucking tell me you were leaving!?" He yelled at me as I walked by out of his reach so he couldn't touch me as I went to my room to put the books on my computer desk. I picked up this one book called Plea of Insanity, technically, it was one of the books the library was selling for a dollar, so I bought it along with three other mystery novels and decided to give them a read. If I didn't like them, I'll go to half price book store and sell them there … or trade.

"Because I had to hurry if I wanted to get there and look for something interesting before they closed." I told him as I came back from my room with the said book and threw myself into the recliner and started reading.

"That's the lamest excuse I've ever heard." Naruto huffed as he crossed his arms, though I could tell he wasn't totally pissed off with me, he looked too exhausted to be completely pissed.

"Why aren't you in bed yet?"

"I'm waiting another half hour so I can take some pain medication before going to bed." He answered, and I nodded. To be honest, I didn't think I was gone over an hour. But I always lose myself in the library, so it's possible.

"Hey, little brother, may I talk to you in my office for a quick moment?" Itachi asked me as I saw him walk out of the kitchen with a bottle of soda in hand and gave it to Naruto, who looked slightly happier and opened it before sipping at it while watching whatever he was watching on television.

"Sure, be there in a second." I nodded, marking the first chapter so I wouldn't have to look for it later and heaved my tired, heavy body off the recliner, stretching and yawning a bit before I walked past Naruto once again and followed Itachi into his study.

"Close the door and try to keep everything in a whisper." Itachi said, and I closed the door quietly so Naruto wouldn't notice and sat down on the chair beside his desk. "Now, I just got a call from Tsunade, she said Gaara's back in the hospital."

"Yea, I went and stopped by his house on the way to the library and Temari said the same thing, his fever came back Monday." I nodded, my voice almost lower than a whisper.

"I'm hoping that they call Naruto here soon, Tsunade says that it's due to the fact that he's stressing himself more than he should and him having insomnia isn't helping at all. She's having him sleep until the end of the week." Itachi told me.

"Good, he really needs the sleep." I nodded. "And to let you know, Naruto's been weird all day … I think he's already noticed that Gaara hasn't talked to him all week and it might be getting to him."

"Yea, I noticed that too." Itachi sighed. "I saw him trying to get a knife from the kitchen … I think his depression is hitting him in the gut again too."

"You tell Tsunade about that?"

"Yea, she says to keep an eye on him, but I think it's passed for today. She also mentioned about seeing to get him a counselor or a therapist to talk to, but I told her that Naruto might not like that. So she's coming over tomorrow after seeing how Gaara's doing and talk to him about his options." He said, and I was wide eyed and holding my breath. Honestly I thought that he stopped cutting a long while ago.

"I think we should make our talk short …" Itachi whispered just before I heard a knock on the door. I immediately started praying that Naruto didn't hear anything we just said. But knowing the dobe, he probably heard something.

"Itachi, I'm ready for bed." Naruto said through the door.

Now it was my turn to look at Itachi, confused.

"He must be really pissed off at you." Itachi chuckled under his breath as he stood to his feet, our conversation obviously over and I sighed heavily.

"Sasuke, after school you're taking me to Gaara's place … I have a couple words to tell that jerk before I don't feel like it." Naruto said a moment later, and I inwardly sighed, he heard nothing that we said.

"I'd take your time bringing him over." Itachi whispered so low I don't think I heard him right, but I couldn't ask him to repeat because he came out around his desk and opened the door, grabbing Naruto's chair and wheeled him backwards towards the guest room and I sighed heavily before going back to my own room.

"I'm going to bed guys." I called out before I closed my door and jumped into my bed, not bothering to change because I was too tired to anyway.

"Naruto says good night." Itachi said through my door.

"Good night Naruto! Itachi!" I called out loud enough for the whole house to hear before I took my glasses off and put them on my bedside table and turned my lamp off. I had planned on reading more, but upon landing on my bed, I didn't realize how exhausted I was.