A/N: Wow. Another update. I fear, though, that I'm running out of steam. Updates may start coming a bit slower after this. I still have to update Bystander again, and there's this little thing called "life" that keeps taunting me, so... Anyway, enjoy, leave reviews, questions, whatevers!
Disclaimer: According to my bank account, I own nothing.
Warnings: Mentions/implications of homosexuality, some language
Sasuke was in no hurry to leave the relative safety of his car and enter the townhouse that loomed above him. He did not relish time spent with Sakura; he was even less enthused about time spent with Sai. Not for the first time, he felt first annoyance, then pride, at his boyfriend's ability to befriend almost anyone, under most circumstances. He knew this conversation had to happen sooner or later, but that did not mean he had to rush headlong into it.
He would have thrown his Jag into reverse and pulled away from the curb, but he saw the front door open and Sai step out onto the porch. A very pale, almost gray-colored hand beckoned him inside.
"Does he ever spend time in the sun?" Sasuke wondered as he removed his keys from the ignition and slipped out of the vehicle. Pocketing the jingling collection of plastic and metal, he carefully closed the door, waited for the automatic engagement of the alarm system to beep, then began a slow walk up the pathway.
The two dark eyed males stared sullenly at each other. Sai blinked first, and allowed the corners of his mouth to curl up in a creepy grin.
"I assume you came to see the ugly one and not me?" The sentence ended with a hopeful note, as if Sai was asking a question and hoped to receive a favorable answer.
"Hn," Sasuke responded. Sai dropped the false, warm expression from his face.
"I see. She is very bothered by this turn of events."
"Did she say why?"
Sai shook his head in the negative.
"We can't afford for Lee to get hurt anymore. And we can't afford to let Neji hurt himself again."
"I figured as much."
"You mind?" Sasuke asked, tilting his head toward the open door. Sai pushed the door open wider, allowed Sasuke to gain entrance first, then stepped in after him and closed the door, sealing the two of them in the same building as the woman the Uchiha had come to see.
"She's in the kitchen," Sai volunteered. Sasuke nodded his thanks, kicked off his pristine white sneakers, and headed toward his doom. His heart pounded in his chest, but he refused to allow any unnecessary emotion to leak through the cold mask he wore daily.
Sakura was in the kitchen, as Sai had said, elbow deep in suds. She was washing the dishes and singing along to whatever was pumping through her headphones. She danced as she worked, slim, sweatpants clad hips shaking from side to side. Feeling ill, Sasuke sneaked up behind her, lifted a foot, and kicked her in the butt. She screamed and spun around, a murderous glare in her eyes.
"SAI!" she roared, yanking the headphone from her ears, and blinked. She brightened, and her hands twitched, clearly wanting to run her fingers through her hair. "Sasuke! You hardly ever come over unless Naruto drags you." Her face fell as she realized the implication of Sasuke being there alone. "Crap. He told you, didn't he?"
"He did."
"Ugh. Why does he always tell you everything?"
"He ismy best friend," Sasuke reminded her, letting a small smile grace his lips.
"There should be limits to that," Sakura snapped. She stalked to the stove, snatched the cherry blossom patterned towel from the oven bar, and dried her hands. Huffing, she tossed the damp towel to the table and sat. She waved a hand toward an empty chair, inviting Sasuke to sit as well.
Once he was seated, she began her tirade. "So I'm sure this means you're here to warn me off the trail, so to speak, right?" Without waiting for a response, she plunged ahead. "I don't get you guys! None of you. I thought we were all friends. I've been with all of you for six years! That should count for something, shouldn't it?"
"It's not that simple," Sasuke said coolly. "There are some bonds that can not be stretched or undone. There's no room for any material to insert itself."
"So I'm, like, lint? Fuzz? Six years, Sasuke!"
"And you still understand nothing."
"What does that mean? I understand," she stressed the word, "that idiot Naruto ran to you running his mouth instead of just telling me what I wanted to know!"
Sasuke bristled. "Don't you dareinsult him."
"You call him an idiot all the time! Why are you getting mad at me?"
Hotly, Sasuke spat, "Naruto is the one of the smartest, sweetest, friendliest people I know, and I don't use those terms lightly. He's worth many, many of you, and I will not sit here and listen to you malign him!"
Sakura's eyes widened. Sasuke immediately regretted his outburst and fought to get his emotions under control.
"Okay," she whispered. "I get it. You guys are close."
"You have no idea. Six years, as you said, and you still have no idea." Sasuke leaned back in his chair, and studied the ceiling. "When I met Naruto, I was an angry, orphaned twelve year old. My parents were dead, my brother was missing, and ignorant, greedy adults were put in charge of my business and fortune. He was my first everything: first bloody nose, first friend, first kiss.."
Sakura's eyebrows shot to her hairline. "Kiss?" She giggled nervously. "But - but that was just kid stuff, right? Right, Sasuke?"
The Uchiha male leveled hard, black eyes on her. "When I was fifteen, I told Naruto that I loved him. He said he loved me too, that I was the best friend he'd always wanted. That moron that I was joking. I spent the next year baiting him, chasing him, hitting him, doing anything I could to him to make him see me. Junior year, there was a talent show. I entered. I wrote and sang a song, and dedicated it to him. He cried," Sasuke smiled, "and said that no one had ever felt that way about him before."
"You - you don't - you can't be serious!" Sakura shouted as she trembled. "You and Naruto?"
"Is there something wrong with that?"
"Hell yes! You can have any woman in the world, and you chose him?"
"There's a bond between us that you can't possibly understand," Sasuke told her. "It's the same between Lee and Neji. They've been so close for so long that it's almost impossible for them to be apart."
"But Neji had been gone for years!"
"That doesn't change the fact that the bond is there," Sasuke replied. "Look, they're my friends; they've been my friends longer than I've known - or cared - you were alive. You will respect their privacy and decisions or you willbe forced to deal with me."
"Are you threatening me?" Sakura growled.
"Believe whatever you like," Sasuke told the woman, "just leave them alone."
"But-"
"You didn't meet Lee until after his accident. Do you know what happened to him?"
Sakura scoffed. "Uh, yeah! Everybody knows that. He trained too hard for his marathon, became fatigued while running, tried to rest against a tree, and tripped and fell down Hokage Mountain."
Sasuke gaped at her. "Believe whatever you like," he repeated.
She frowned. "Is there something different? I know that Sabaku guy, Gaara, found him, and they became friends. I know that Lee became depressed after he graduated and he and Gaara stopped being friends. What else is there to know?"
Sasuke pressed his lips together, shoved back from the table, and stood. "We're finished here."
"What? Why? Sasuke!" She sprang up and reached for his arm. He yanked it from her offensive grasp with more force than necessary and flinched when she stumbled into the table.
"You're dumber than you look. Or maybe this is how you really are, selfish and shallow."
Her eyes filled with tears. "Sasuke!" she whined.
He shook his head. "I'm outta here." He stormed through the house and disappeared from sight. Sakura heard him mumble a few parting words to Sai. The sound of the door slamming was the trigger for her release; she crumpled to the floor and wept, wondering if she really knew any of her so-called friends at all.
Lee pressed both hands to the tiled wall and forced his head under the steaming water. It was hot and punishing and soothing, all at the same time. His mind raced, sending jumbled images and memories beneath his eyelids
-pale gray eyes closing, the soft fan of chocolate locks over his shoulders -
no matter how hard he tried to make them stop. He was wasting water, driving the bill higher, but the scalding liquid felt so good against his scalp.
-fingers digging, gripping, massaging-
He straightened, removing his hand from the wall. He turned, and allowed the water to flow over his back. Reaching around, he traced the raised, zigzag path of flesh that spread from the middle of his spine to his tail bone.
He remembered reading the newspaper that morning. He remembered the headline that caught his attention and made his heart shudder in his chest.
He remembered running, veering off the path and walking to the twisted tree.
He remembered closing his eyes.
He did not remember falling.
He did not remember landing.
He remembered the warm, sticky wetness that spread underneath him as he laid on the rocky ground. He remembered the green eyes and red hair of the man that saved his life. He remembered the grim prognosis, the surgeries, the apologetic faces of the university's financial department. But most of all, he remembered the pain.
The pain of living, of being forced to go on, of being forced to breathe.
And the source of that pain was in his kitchen, making sandwiches and lemonade to complement the cookies he had already baked.
"Neji, why?" Lee cried into the pounding water. "Why did you come to me? Why didn't you come to me?"
"Hey, Lee!" Neji called, cracking open the bathroom door. "I left your lunch on the table. I need to head home and get a few things. Hinata says my uncle is out, so it's safe. Um.. can I come back here?" His voice wavered as he asked the question, and Lee could not help but want to steady it, to soothe the underlying tightness.
"Of course, my friend!" he shouted over the water. "My home is yours for the duration. Use what you need!" He berated himself for his poor choice of words, but it was too late to change them.
He heard Neji shifting, as if nervous. "Thanks, Lee," the Hyuuga male finally spoke. "I should be back in a little while, then. Hinata's on her way here."
"Wondrous news! I shall look forward to your return."
"We'll talk when I get back." Neji retreated from the steamy room, closing the door behind him.
Lee shut off the water, and sank to a sitting position in the bathtub. The water from his dripping hair ran down his face, and could almost be mistaken for tears.