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Moving Memories
10: Battle Royale II

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Previously, in Chapter 9:
"Just shut up!" Sasuke snapped. He turned to leave again but stopped, only because of how unprepared he was to hear Kiba's voice take on such an ugly tone.

"No!" Kiba hollered. "I will not shut up!" Sasuke shot Kiba a filthy glare over his shoulder. "Everything you paint is her! It's everywhere!" Kiba added, causing Sasuke to look even further insulted, if that was at all possible. "At first, I thought you were still hurting and maybe you actually were. Then, everything changed when Naruto came around and you were finally moving on and getting over her!"

Naruto scrunched his brows up in confusion. Was Kiba saying that Naruto had been good for Sasuke? What the fuck? Sasuke seemed to have gotten worse since the very first day that they had met. Naruto wanted to be good for Sasuke. He wanted to help him heal, even if he didn't know that he was doing it... but from what? What had happened in this family? Who the fuck was Ren?

~ (^.^) (^.^) ~

"I was so fucking happy to see the old Sasuke shining through," Kiba went on. "You know, the guy who laughed at her jokes because they really were funny, the guy who never retorted because she really was too witty. I thought that I was seeing the Sasuke who used to complain about dragging her along but could never stop smiling in her presence," Kiba went on fondly and, yet, still so disgruntled. "Now you're just some pathetic shell of yourself. I didn't even think it was possible to sink lower! And what for, Sasuke? Why did you sink lower? How did you get to be this way? Because you met someone stimulating? Because you met someone who made you feel something other than guilt or anger or loneliness?" Kiba prodded, motioning roughly to Naruto. "You met someone just as vulnerable as her, someone you didn't wanna hurt, and you're afraid that—"

"I'm not afraid of anything!" Sasuke spat.

"Why won't you just admit weakness?!" Kiba shouted, his voice filling with pain. "You don't have to be so empty all the time! We all know what it was like, Sasuke! We were all there! We all still are!"

Gaara dropped his I-hate-life face in favor of a much more concerned expression. He could see that this was heading into very dangerous waters. Hell, it'd been heading there from the second that Naruto had asked to talk about Ren. Gaara wasn't sure that he could handle the conversation himself. Ren had been a major part of his and his siblings' lives too. This was the most emotion that Gaara had shown for Kiba since the whole biting incident though, so Naruto rejected his inclination to interject and calm Kiba down solely for that fact. Not that any of his attempts at friendly comfort would have gone over so well at that moment anyway, considering he had started this whole thing to begin with.

"If anyone should be afraid, it's you!" Sasuke snarled threateningly. "Hold your tongue, Kiba! You're going too far and my tolerance is waning!"

Kiba scoffed so Sasuke-like that Naruto was taken aback. "What'll you do if I don't?" he said daringly. "Kill me? You're gonna take your own brother's life?"

"Stepbrother," Sasuke amended crudely.

"Oh, fuck off!" Kiba exploded. "Since when did you become so bothered with that?! Stepbrother, half—" A terrifying hiss left Sasuke's lips, and his fangs were bared. Kiba abandoned the rest of that sentence, but was not perturbed. "When did that shit start to fucking matter? Last time I checked, I was just your brother!"

"Then you're late on the times," Sasuke retorted hurtfully.

Kiba didn't seem hurt though. He was only further enraged. "I am not!" he shouted. "That's you, Sasuke! You're stuck in some fucked up past that we've all moved on from!" Naruto could see the despair rising in his friend, and he was tempted again to comfort him. He let Kiba bellow on though, mostly out of curiosity at what would unfold. "I seem to remember very clearly some sixteen years ago when our parents were just married and you were so fucking happy to have a little brother!" Sasuke's eyes were dark slits, but he did not try to cut in or refute because it wasn't a lie. It was true. "Please, let me know when that changed because I'm confused! Was it yesterday? Last month? A year ago?! Eight years ago?!"

Sasuke went so rigid that it seemed impossible. "Drop it!" he snapped brusquely, taking a very threatening step toward Kiba.

"We've spent years not speaking of it!" Kiba shouted, taking a very fearless step toward Sasuke. "We've spent years not speaking of anything! Someone finally comes along who doesn't wanna take no for an answer—" Kiba gestured again to Naruto. "—and we all go fucking crazy! You get scared!" Sasuke sneered at the accusation, but said nothing. "You get violent!" Kiba added, nodding at Gaara, who looked away in shame. "And I just get crazy!" Kiba looked at Naruto slightly apologetically. "I tried to unfriend him for finally ripping some fucking emotion outta you, and I've been praying for someone to do that for years." It was a good enough apology for Naruto, so he nodded in return. Kiba turned back to Sasuke. "No, Sasuke. For once, let's fucking talk."

Sasuke simply glared, so Kiba went on much more subdued. "Tell me when I lost your friendship." Sasuke still didn't answer. "When did you side with dad? When did I become disposable to you too?"

Even Gaara's face came completely out of repose. Sasuke's face, however, seemed angrily set in stone, but Naruto would swear that he saw Sasuke stagger back a tiny step. Kiba pounced on that telling action.

"If that's the fate you've condemned me to, Sasuke, then fine, but at least have the fucking balls to tell me so," Kiba challenged. "If I'm gonna be thrown away by you too, then let me know. Have I been shouldering your pain for nothing?" Kiba's voice stayed even, but the emotions filling it were gathering in intensity. It had to be all that he could do to keep from shouting again. Sasuke's face was finally relaxing, but not in a good way. It was in an agonizing sort of way. "Have you any clue what I'm even talking about?" Kiba asked.

Naruto had expected Sasuke to stay silent or else simply walk away again. To his surprise though, Sasuke answered quickly. "Yes!" he said quietly but fiercely.

That answer only seemed to upset Kiba even further. He closed his eyes and balled his fists tightly. "And yet I suffered alone?" he bit out. He didn't wait for an answer, as if he would have gotten one. "I shouldered your pain out of pure, brotherly love, and you let me suffer on my own?" Sasuke's face flashed a flicker of emotion before he shifted his eyes to stare pointedly at the floor. "You left me alone?!" Kiba asked, his voice getting louder as he neared tears.

"You weren't alone," Itachi cut in softly.

Kiba stared at Sasuke for a moment longer, begging whatever gods were out there to crack his shell. He eventually looked to his other sibling though, and he smiled when he did. Itachi's eyes were so expressive, such the opposite of Sasuke's. He had the emotional tools to be just as empty as Sasuke, but he did no such thing. He was not afraid of his emotions. He was not afraid to show Kiba himself entirely. His eyes were full of concern and of solidarity. Yes, Kiba was not alone. He was never alone. Itachi protected him as best that he could. Even when Itachi had left them as children, Kiba never felt abandoned. Itachi had always protected Kiba.

Kiba smiled weakly and nodded. "You're right. I wasn't alone," he acknowledged. "You were there." The pair only disengaged their gaze when Sasuke snorted with disgust.

"What?!" Kiba snapped, but Sasuke didn't answer. He simply averted his eyes again. "Jealous of our relationship?" Kiba poked.

Sasuke sneered. "As if."

"You know, Ren—" Kiba began what would have been a very compelling statement before he was cut off.

"Don't speak of her," Sasuke demanded. His tone, however, was softer this time, and much more pleading.

Kiba didn't back down, however. "Why? Just because Naruto is here? He's probably figured it all out anyway!"

Naruto didn't want to let on otherwise, but he couldn't help the ignorance in his expression. He didn't really care though. He would bet that they could all sense his lack of understanding anyway. His hunch was confirmed by Sasuke's reply.

"No, he hasn't!" Sasuke snapped.

"Well, he'll find out anyway!" Kiba replied.

"Yeah, when you betray me again and tell him!" Sasuke retorted, looking at Kiba with renewed ferocity. "I thought that it was my story to tell, as you phrased it not so long ago," Sasuke added, his voice finding its typical, even rhythm again. Kiba huffed. He had said that, and it was true. This was Sasuke's story to tell, and no one else's. "What? Now that you're angry with me, it's suddenly okay to scream my story out to the public, despite what I wish?"

Kiba couldn't argue. Instead, he looked guiltily away. Kiba took a few deep breaths to collect himself. Sasuke had just snuffed him out completely. He'd gotten too carried away. In a fit of anger, he'd almost reverted to doing exactly what he'd been adamant on not doing the entire time he'd even known Naruto. Had he not been endlessly reminding himself that Sasuke should be the one to tell? Helping Naruto get it out of Sasuke when Sasuke was drunk was one thing. Saying it himself out of spite was another thing entirely. That wasn't like Kiba at all. He was never the type of person to stoop to spilling Sasuke's secrets. It was all of their secret really, but it was mostly Sasuke's. He should have been the one to share it, if ever he wanted to. Sasuke had every right to withhold that information, and Kiba had no right to divulge it. Well, he had a right. It just wasn't big enough, not nearly as big as Sasuke's.

Kiba tensed when he saw Sasuke turn and begin to walk away again. He wasn't ready to let Sasuke go. He wasn't ready to watch Sasuke disappear through that door. He knew that everything they'd touched on tonight would be lost if he did. Sasuke would push it all away and pretend that it didn't exist, just as he always did. Kiba couldn't handle that. There was still so much left to talk about, so much to mend. Could Sasuke not see how much Kiba needed him? Could Sasuke not feel how desperate Kiba was for their bond to reignite? Or else, did he simply not care? Itachi, without a doubt, cared. He picked up on Kiba's rising despair and stepped in. He stopped Sasuke dead in his tracks. He didn't stop him with words or a gentle touch, but with brute force.

In the blink of an eye, Itachi was pinning Sasuke down on the ground by his neck, growling fiercely. "You would leave your brother in such a state?!" he shouted. "Don't pretend that you cannot feel his pain!" Itachi released Sasuke's neck with such force that Sasuke was flung back across the floor a few feet. "Go back to him!" Itachi demanded as he stood again.

Sasuke let out an impressive growl that had Naruto's stomach turning. "Please," he spat. In a flash, the positions were switched. Itachi found himself pinned below a snarling Sasuke. "You think you have any power over me?" Sasuke challenged.

"Do not test me!" Itachi warned, changing positions again and slamming Sasuke up against the bar.

"Don't order me around like your puppet!" Sasuke snarled, and he tensed to retaliate. Itachi slammed him back into the bar, though, before he could get even an inch away from it.

"Do not test me!" Itachi repeated in a deafening bellow. For the first time since their reunion, Sasuke recognized Itachi's strength. When backed into a corner, however, Sasuke could do worse.

Too quickly for any human to see, deep gashes were slashed into Itachi face and Sasuke had thrown him across the floor. Itachi didn't seem fazed by the number of tables he'd taken out along the way or by the slight dent that was left in the wall supporting his stage. In fact, the moment that he'd stopped moving, he was tensed to spring an immediate counterattack. Deidara, however, was at his side in a fraction of a second, whispering frantically into his ear and holding him to the spot with a tight grip around his waist. Sasuke's lips quirked into an arrogant smirk. Before he could make any snide remarks though, Itachi was speaking again. He abandoned his anger rather easily and, instead, honed in on something else entirely.

"Do you really know what our brother has been through?" Itachi asked quietly, though his voice was sharp. Sasuke snorted dismissively. Itachi's hands began trembling, perhaps with a desire to maim, but he didn't emanate any outward aggression. "He's suffered more than any of us. He's suffered more than even you, Sasuke, much more than you." Sasuke snorted again, except it was less dismissive and more derisive this time.

"Did you never once stop to think about me?" Kiba asked, pulling the attention back to himself. Sasuke built up a terrible scowl, but it faltered after a moment. That was all the indication that Kiba needed. "You, apparently, disowned me at some point, but don't you think that I was suffering as much as you, if not tenfold?"

"Oh, I'm sure," Sasuke said sarcastically.

"The only father I have ever known threw me away," Kiba said calmly.

"And you were the only child that he threw away, were you?" Sasuke added coldly.

"Look at your life, Sasuke!" Kiba exclaimed in exasperation. "Itachi has this bar and dad turns a blind eye, letting him have his way. You take up art and dad simply hassles you every now and then, giving you your way. The family business isn't in the line of bar-tending or art, but you still have your way! You're lucky! Dad spares you, the both of you!"

"Please," Sasuke spat. "He does not spare me, Kiba."

"Ita turns his nose up at money that I'll never have, and you suck it up like a fucking vacuum," Kiba argued. "Dad just gives you what you want to please you, and all you have to endure is a little haggling!"

"You can't see the way that he looks at me," Sasuke said coolly.

"And what of me?" Kiba retorted. "He looks at you coldly and, yet, treats you so warmly... and what of me? I have to take business or law or something else I abso-fucking-lutely hate, just so dad has someone to assert his demands on. Fuck what Kiba wants to do. Kiba does what he's told," Kiba went on frantically, trying to escape the building tears. "Itachi can have his bar, Sasuke can have his art, and Kiba can have nothing but the fear of complete abandonment if he's not grateful that he even gets to go to college!"

Sasuke's mask began to slowly melt. "Boo hoo, little orphan Kiba," he quipped.

Kiba's eyes clouded with tears. "You thought that you lost his love. You thought that you were cast aside. No, Sasuke. I suffered for you. Were you really too engulfed in your own pity party to realize that no one was punishing you? Dad may never look at you the same, but he'll never treat you any differently and that's because you're his son, but not me. I shouldered that pain."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, though there was a slight part of him that did feel pity deeply for Kiba because Kiba was right. Their father had begun treating Kiba like a burden after Ren had died. In his grief, he neglected all his children, but Kiba faced the worst of it. Fugaku had already ruined Sasuke's life by changing him and he'd ruined Itachi's too by killing their mother. In his mind, his children had suffered enough pain on Fugaku's account. He made it a point to try making up for what wrongs he'd done by devoutly redirecting any negativity felt toward them to something else, and Kiba was the unlucky target. He wasn't even Fugaku's biological child. It was too easy to aim his anger at pain at the vulnerable child, and that Fugaku did.

He'd never lain but a hand or two on Kiba, and only in his worst, most feral state of being. Even then, though, Itachi had come to the rescue. Human as he was at the time, he'd never been too afraid to step in between Kiba and his father. Despite the deeply ingrained fear Itachi had toward his father, having watched the man literally kill his mother, the elder had never hesitated to protect Kiba. It only hurt Kiba more to see how unwilling Fugaku was to touch Itachi wrongly when he was so ready to knock Kiba down, but Kiba had still been thankful that Itachi cared for him. It was tough to watch Fugaku express such blatant concern with his aversion to treating Itachi roughly, but that was all made okay by the look of total love in Itachi's eyes every time he'd finally turn to a trembling Kiba and hug him once Fugaku had gone. Kiba's memories with Itachi were all fond, and they'd been what got him through his childhood with as much ease as possible.

As for the abuse, it'd only even been a forceful smack or a rough handling. Never anything overly abusive, but the psychological brutalization was nothing to be downplayed. Most of the time, Itachi had been Kiba's only saving grace. If he didn't come every time he heard Fugaku begin his yelling, things might have escalated beyond only mental abuse. Sasuke knew all this. He'd been there to witness and see, always peeking through the crack in his door and refusing to intervene, but witnessing nonetheless. He'd battled with his own feelings on the situation, but he'd never been as brave as Itachi. He feared the punishment that, as Kiba had pointed out, he'd never received. He walked around every day thinking his father was blaming him for Ren's death and just waiting to pounce on him like he always did so cruelly with Kiba. Sasuke lived in his own world of fear and uncertainty, unable to extend his hand to even his own self, let alone his brothers.

"You didn't know?" Itachi asked quietly, though skeptically.

Slowly, Sasuke shook his head no, unable to lie. "I knew," he said flatly. He couldn't shoulder that guilt back then though. He was a child. Hell, he couldn't even shoulder it in the present. "I blocked it out in a selfish attempt to find salvation," Sasuke said, and he shrugged lightly. Although, the dispassionate attitude that he tried to portray didn't quite reach his eyes.

"And what about my salvation?" Kiba asked, his eyes filled to the brim with tears. He would have been happier if Sasuke had truly been ignorant.

"You have two brothers," Sasuke said simply.

"Itachi protected me," Kiba defended quickly.

"And that's not enough for you?" Sasuke asked evenly.

Kiba only huffed in exasperation, averting his eyes and seeking stability before murmuring, "Not a single thing that dad ever did to me could compare to this, and not a single memory of Itachi rescuing me from that hell will ease it either. Nothing will make me forget that you simply tuned me out, as if I wasn't crying out for you at night. For years, Sasuke, I waited for you to remember I existed too. So, no, it's not enough. It never will be."

Sasuke's iron defense was crumbling. His chest was contracting from the onslaught of emotions. He almost couldn't stop himself from crying. Almost. He had condemned his brother to a miserable existence. It was all his fault. Everything. Everything was his fault, and Kiba had a right to hate him for that. He couldn't face Kiba. He couldn't look into those eyes for a moment longer. He was a true monster, more than he'd ever thought before. He had to avert his eyes. Was he even worthy of looking at Kiba ever again?

"You played deaf and left me to suffer alone," Kiba said quietly.

"He left us," Sasuke retorted, keeping his eyes glued to the floor but nodding toward Itachi.

Kiba huffed. "Even after he left, he left me something," he argued. "Dad was less cruel to me. Even now, he gets dad to cut me some slack."

"Well, there you go. You have my brother to do anything for you," Sasuke replied gruffly. "That's more than I can say, but he never abandoned you. You should be content with that," he finished in what should have been a cold tone. His eyes, however, were uncharacteristically thick with emotion.

"That doesn't even compare to the things that he's done for you, Sasuke," Kiba argued. "You have no idea what he's done to keep dad off your back. You have no idea how much of your life is what it is just because of him, because of what he's done for you. You have so much to thank him for."

Sasuke snorted. "Yeah," he began sarcastically, lifting cold eyes to Itachi, "because I'm really thankful that he left me. I'm even more thankful that he was loving you too much when he was actually there to remember that he had a real brother to care for."

"Leaving is not the only thing that Ita has ever done," Kiba retorted.

"But it's the biggest," Sasuke shot back, "and you should be angry too. He left us both."

"You pretended it wasn't happening the whole time!" Kiba snapped back. "I should be angry at you!"

Gaara instinctively reached over and touched Kiba's back comfortingly.

"I was brave though," Kiba went on. "I'm so brave that I can overlook that selfishness of yours, even now, and forgive you. I'm so brave that I could suffer for you, my brother, knowing that you may never thank me for it."

"You want me to thank you?" Sasuke asked quietly. It was a pitiful attempt, for he was unfamiliar with it, but his tone was an obvious stab at apologetic.

"No," Kiba groaned. Hie eyes were still down-cast, but the tears were unmistakable. "I want you to move the fuck on," he said, almost muffled by a sob. He spoke as evenly as he could though, determined to go on. "Dad disowned me for a crime I didn't commit and why shouldn't he? I was just the stepson. After everything, I felt like, at least, I wasn't only the stepbrother. I thought that you guys loved me." Kiba took a deep, steadying breath. He looked back up at Sasuke, but Sasuke had to look away again to contain his emotions.

"When Gaara and I first got together, I was eager to let him feed on me. I didn't mind it because I knew it was helping him, and I wanted to help. Just like that, I shouldered your pain because I wanted to help. It was because I had brothers that I carried on. It was mostly Ita, but after he left, it was you that kept me going. It was knowing that you were suffering too. I knew that by taking the abuse, I was sparing you, and that made it easy. It was faith in you healing and us just being happy together again that made it all bearable. I didn't know that I was actually alone at that time.

"I was so desperate to save you, because I loved you. That hunger to save you, Sasuke, that need to love you has never left and it never will. Even now, even eight tortuous and miserable years later, I just wanna see you smile again." A rogue tear that Sasuke fought desperately to restrain fell loose, and Kiba's voice trembled even more vigorously. "I lost Ren too. She was the most precious person to me, and I know it was the same for you. We both lost ourselves that day and I've only ever been fighting to help you come back to me. I never expected anything in return, but I always had faith that you would rescue me too. I always had faith that you would be okay, and then you would save me from dad... but maybe I'm just naive." Kiba choked down a sob. "Am I just naive, Sasuke?"

"I'm sorry," Sasuke said after a moment's paused. His voice, even and empty, directly contradicted his words. "It hasn't felt anything like a family to me for years, but—" Sasuke looked up at Kiba, and the emotion was there on his face. "—maybe things can change. If it's for... for..."

Ren's name began to form on his lips and Kiba looked as if he were about to explode with the emotion surging between them, but the name seemed to click something off in Sasuke's eyes. He stopped speaking and looked back down at the ground. Suddenly, all emotion had drained from his face and his defenses were back up. Every emotion that all the other vampires had been feeding off of was sharply severed. Sasuke had completely retracted. He was empty, and he, once again, began to leave without preamble.

"Let us help you!" Itachi commanded desperately. "Let us help you grieve and finally let go of that pain. Please."

"You don't get to help!" Sasuke snarled, turning around quickly. "You were gone, Itachi! You should have been there to protect her! I was only twelve!" he shouted. "And you should never have left home!" Sasuke's eyes took on a wild quality and his aura filled with contempt so quickly that it physically moved every vampire in the room with its intensity. For someone who worked so hard at locking them away, Sasuke's emotions were wild and vivid beyond belief. "You should never have left me!" he added in what was nearing a scream.

"And I'm sorry!" Itachi shouted back. "But I'm here now!"

"I don't want you now!" Sasuke shouted back angrily. After a few moments of sharing an intense gaze with Itachi, Sasuke spoke again in a much more controlled manner. "It's too late now. She's already dead," he said venomously.

He spun around quickly to leave before anyone could stop him again, but he bumped right into a familiar blond. How Naruto had snuck around to get directly behind him, he couldn't tell you, but he jumped back to put some distance between them instantly. He didn't like how being in physical contact with Naruto made him feel. He didn't like how those captivating, brilliant, blue eyes made him feel either. They held some odd piece of Ren that Naruto couldn't possibly have, and that put Sasuke on a sickening edge.

"Let me help you," Naruto suggested quietly.

He attached one hand gently to Sasuke's elbow, holding the other out in an offer for a hug. The contact was soft. It wasn't even a clasp or a grab. It was really just a gentle touch. Sasuke stared at Naruto incredulously, his eyes darting between the point of contact and those blue orbs. He faintly willed himself to hiss in defense and scare the man off, but he found that his throat was paralyzed. He wasn't even sure if he was breathing anymore. His chest was rising and falling rapidly, but he couldn't really feel his body at all. He could only recognize the precise spot where Naruto's fingers seared his skin.

His panic eventually ebbed enough for him to gaze into Naruto's eyes steadily, as if he'd had any choice to do otherwise. One good look into those eyes would've had anyone sucked into their abyss. Sasuke found not even the faintest trace of fear or reluctance in their depths. There was only acceptance. If Naruto had ever been sure of anything in his life, it was that he should be standing there before Sasuke as he was, and that feeling was strongly portrayed in his gaze. Sasuke became slightly aware of his chest again and of how heavily he was panting. He vacantly thought about how embarrassed he should be at how he must have sounded. A simple touch had nailed him to the ground and sent him panting like an overheated dog.

Sasuke's thoughts wandered to his sister and to her death, a death that had been torturing him for eight years straight. As though he could read Sasuke's unnerving thoughts, Naruto's eyes grew softer, silently assuring Sasuke that it was okay to feel whatever he was feeling—and, oddly enough, Sasuke felt that it was. His thoughts wandered away, until they fell back upon her name. Ren. He felt the overwhelming urge to close up at the word, just as he had always done. The stupid, blond idiot's fingers were making that impossible though. Ren. Naruto was holding him open. Ren. So very open, and Sasuke couldn't fight it. Ren. Sasuke felt everything that he'd ever felt about Ren overwhelm him at once. Once again, every vampire in the room was moved by the rush of emotions that filled his aura, all circulating around one name. Ren. Most of all, Sasuke recognized the loneliness that he'd felt at the loss of his most precious person.

Sasuke whispered, "Ren," so quietly that only Naruto could hear.

Naruto could hear the guilt, the anger, the pain, the loneliness, the misery, and heaviest of all, the love engulfing that name. He smiled softly at Sasuke. Everyone was watching the back of Sasuke's head. It 'd been a few very long moments that he and Naruto stood like that, and nobody dared to breathe. The only noise was the sound of Sasuke's heavy breath. Naruto's smile never faltered though. It was enticing. It was captivating. It was tempting.

Naruto would hold him. Sasuke knew that. And for the first time in years, Sasuke wanted to be held. He couldn't quite will his muscles to move though. He wanted so badly to be gone from Naruto's line of sight but he couldn't leave, not with those fingers anchoring him to the earth. Sasuke's mind was blanking, one incessant name bellowing along the corridors like a mantra of misery. Ren. Ren. Ren. Did he even want to flee? No. He didn't want to move. Yet, he wanted to be anywhere but there, anywhere but within reach of Naruto and the feelings that he'd made Sasuke feel for his sister again.

There was a gaping hole in Sasuke's chest, a hole the he couldn't ignore in Naruto's presence. It had swallowed him entirely. He'd disappeared into its depths. He'd been lost completely, but Naruto... Naruto was his rope. Naruto was hauling him from one abyss into another. He was pulling Sasuke from Ren's despair to shower him in his own light. Naruto was bringing life back to Sasuke. Naruto was bringing Sasuke back to Sasuke. Then, suddenly, his mantra was replaced. Naruto. There was something to alleviate a bit of his pain. Naruto. There was a reason to feel again. Naruto. There was nothing to fear, because Naruto had the power to heal him. Yes, Naruto.

"Naruto."

The name must have come out as less than a whisper, but Naruto heard it loud and clear. His hand shifted from a touch to a grip. It applied a reassuring pressure that said, 'Yes, I'm here'. Sasuke decided at that very moment that he wanted to be closer. He wanted to truly fall into Naruto's abyss. He wanted to move forward, onward, inward, and into Naruto's arms. he could see a safe haven in the foot that still lay between them, and that was where he wanted to be. Luckily—or, perhaps, unfortunately—Sasuke's body moved on its own. Before Sasuke could decide whether he was moving properly or not, his fingers were wrapped tightly around two tan wrists and he was moving forward, and maybe onward, but not inward or into anything at all like Naruto's arms.

A familiar noise rang through the room. Sasuke recognized it as his own, often utilized, predatory hiss. He noticed that his face was scrunched up in fury. Apparently, it was having the right effect because, vacant as Sasuke felt, Naruto responded with a jolt of fear. It was obvious how hard he'd had to try to recover and look unconcerned again. Sasuke's hiss was punctuated by the sound of Naruto's back cracking as it hit the edge of the stage. Sasuke loomed over him and slammed Naruto's wrists against the stage floor, efficiently bending Naruto over in the most uncomfortable position and causing the blond to wince in pain.

Sasuke couldn't be sure if he actually wanted any of that to happen, but it happened nonetheless. His body had been trained to react after years and years of repetitive action. People speak kindly to me, I snarl. People touch me, I retract. People affect me, I hiss. People annoy me enough, I bite. All the while, I think nothing of Ren. The name had been far too taboo to even think aloud in his mind. Sasuke couldn't be sure if he wanted to hurt Naruto or if he wanted to love him, but he felt his mouth descending to bite anyway. His throat came alive with a familiar throbbing, an anticipation for blood. His eyes burned as their color intensified. He was beginning to lose track of his confusing thoughts and instinct was taking over. When a vampire got that close to a neck, the only thing left to do was to simply bite.

It was Itachi's threatening growl and the hand that gripped Sasuke's shirt that stopped Sasuke's descent. Instantly, Sasuke's instinct was to fight, to protect his meal. Then, Sasuke completed the one action he was sure that he had commanded himself to complete. Just as quickly as he'd snapped and pounced upon Naruto, he was gone. Itachi was left with just a patch of black fabric clutched in his fingers. Naruto didn't even have the time to right himself before Sasuke disappeared out the door like a flash of lightning.

This was not how Naruto had hoped for that evening to go... not at all.

To be continued...

Author Note: I don't normally do this stuff, but I'm pair relationships with songs for this chapter :)

1. From Gaara to Kiba—I Should Be Lost Without You by David Condos
2. From Sasuke to Ren—Echo by Jason Walker
3. From Kiba to Ren (you may only find this on youtube)—So This Is War by Medic
4. From Naruto to Sasuke—Broken Open by Adam Lambert
6. From Kiba to Sasuke—We All Need Saving by Jon Mclaughlin
5. From Kiba to Gaara—Human by Jon Mclaughlin