It took me longer than I thought to get this chapter out. : ( I recently got a job and have been freakin' tired when I get home. Blah.

I apologize if the chapters seem to move very quickly, at least from scene to scene. I hope that this will get better as it goes, but this is my first fic, so this style of writing is new to me.

REVIEW, PLEASE! I am itching for an opinion, whether it be negative or positive.

Disclaimer: I, regrettably and yet, thankfully, do not own Naruto.

Memory lane had been quite the annoying place for Naruto. It had plagued him with its nostalgic images and voices, causing emotions to take root in his heart that he had long since pushed away. The job as a mechanic distracted him from life as he buried himself in the vehicles. Though, Kiba breathed down his neck to work faster when he spent too much time on a certain car because he had found something interesting about it. Besides the memories, his life had been simple and quiet. Sasuke had not come to visit him and he had not gone to see his friend since Sakura had shown up on his doorstep a week ago.

He just couldn't think of anything to say to Sasuke if they ever bumped into each other or went to the other's house. Their last conversation had not exactly ended in a good way. 'Yeah, Sasuke, I quit chasing after my dream and chose to operate on cars instead. Hope you don't mind that I gave up the field that you were always encouraging me into.' That conversation would not have been awkward at all! No, not even! Naruto sighed. He would let the whole thing wash over and in the meantime, just avoid Sasuke like the plague. It would not be easy, as he had seen him a lot during the week, walking around the town. It was odd, for Naruto had never taken him to be the type to walk through the crowded streets for all to see. Still, he had not seen the other boy in three years, so his tendencies could have changed a bit in that time.

Naruto decided to push away thoughts of his best friend and think about other things, like furniture. His couch, in particular, had become a very comfortable place to sprawl out when he returned from work and that was where he was now, unceremoniously sprawled across the cushions, his face buried in a pillow. He groaned and wondered why his stomach felt like it was twisting. He shivered as he remembered the only times he felt like this. His father was normally the cause of these strange stomach twisting. The father that had only been there for the first ten years of his life before he had disappeared, leaving him in the care of his godfather, Jiraiya, but during those ten years, Naruto experienced a lot more than any child should. Even after his father left him, his life was a mess. Only a handful of people liked him and the rest hated him, often resorting to drastic measures to show their hatred.

The scars that littered the nineteen year old's body were evidence enough of how his life had been. Another sigh left his mouth and he burrowed deeper into the pillow and couch cushions, wishing that troublesome memories of his past would stop coming back to him. Naruto paused in his burrowing and then snorted, realizing that he had sounded like Shikamaru. That thought lightened his mood momentarily and a faint smile was present on his lips until his stomach starting twisting again. He groaned and wondered if he should take some medicine as an attempt to stop the churning. He decided that he probably should do just that, but he was too lazy to get off the couch at the moment. He was too warm and comfortable, not to mention tired from a long day of work.

Rolling onto his back, Naruto stared at the ceiling and tried to convince himself to get up, to no avail. He soon found that his eyelids were drooping. "So tired..." He mumbled before giving into the urges of sleep. At first, he slept peacefully, but soon his dreams turned ugly.

There was so much red, it covered his small hands and he could feel it on his face, quickly drying. "Papa!" A sob ripped through his throat as a blond-headed figure walked towards him, laughing. "Why are you crying, Ru-ru?" He was pulled into a warm, sticky hug which only made him cry more. He looked up at the pale face stained with red and started to scream. "You not Papa!"

"PAPA!" Naruto screamed as he bolted awake, eyes wide with fear. His clothes were twisted and soaked with sweat. They stuck to his skin uncomfortably as he panted. It took him several minutes to calm down from the nightmare and when he finally could breath normally, he got up and walked to the bathroom to take a shower. He felt terrible and the twisting stomach symptoms had gotten worse. Speaking of which, he felt the sudden urge to put his face in the toilet. Up chucking what little he had for dinner, he groaned at the feeling. A shiver went down his spine and he shut his eyes tightly. Kyuubi, are you there? I need your help.

Where else would I be? Of course I am here, you idiot. Now, what is it?

Can you suppress my memories of...him? I can't deal with more nightmares than I already have. I wouldn't ask for this normally, but the number of these dreams has increased. Instead of one occasionally, I have multiple daily.

No, kit. I am sorry, but I can't do anything about it.

Kyuubi, I can't take much more of this. Once in a while was bad enough, but every time I close my eyes! I thought I buried them deep enough...

You can't bury them, kit. The only thing I can do for you is tell you to go to the old hag.

No! She will get worried and start checking on me. Not to mention, Sakura will find out something is wrong and start asking questions.

Rightly so. You need help and why can't you tell Sakura about this? She is your friend, after all.

Naruto refused to reply to the fox. He did not want his friends knowing about his past. A few, including Sakura, had seen his scars, but they had never asked about them. After wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and opening his eyes, Naruto forced himself to stand up and turn the water on for his shower. Stripping, Naruto turned to stare at himself in the mirror. He could only see from his waist up in the glass above the sink, but it was enough. Each scar had a story and each story Naruto remembered vividly. He wished he could truthfully say that he had been a clumsy child and got the scars from a bad biking accident or from falling down a flight of stairs, but he could not. Sure, he told others such stories, but he knew they were not true, for he knew the truth behind the scars. The terrible truth that he hid from those he cared about.

Stepping into the shower, Naruto reminded himself that he had to keep his past a secret from his friends. They would hate and fear him if they knew who and what he was. Naruto sighed and concentrated on getting the sweat off his body. When he stepped out of the shower twenty minutes later, he felt refreshed. Walking out of the bathroom, dry and with a towel around his waist, Naruto headed towards his bedroom.

A knock at the door halted his progress and he groaned before turning on his heel and heading to his front door. "Coming!" Thinking it was his neighbor, who was a nuisance half the time, he yanked the door open and leaned on the frame with a grumble, "What is it this time? Did my imaginary pet get into your trash? Scratch at your door? Meow all night long?" His eyes met, however, emotionless black instead of the normal brown of his neighbor's eyes. Surprised, Naruto gasped slightly as he took in the fact that a certain raven was standing in front of his door. He straightened and cleared his throat. "Oh...Sorry about that, but what are you doing here?" He asked, slightly worried that Sasuke had come to continue the conversation from a week ago. He was greeted with silence and then he realized that the other man was staring at his naked chest with a rather pointed expression. Naruto felt heat rise to his cheeks. "Just got out of the shower, sorry, I'll go get some clothes on. Come in, make yourself comfortable." He moved aside and motioned for Sasuke to enter.

After shutting the door behind the man, Naruto started to walk towards his room once again, only to be stopped by a hand on his arm. An unexplained shiver went up his spine at the sudden touch and he felt heat on his cheeks again. "Those scars, where did you get them?"

Naruto tensed and shrugged off the arm, "I was clumsy as a kid. Got into a lot of accidents." He hurried into his bedroom and changed swiftly. When he reentered the main room, he found Sasuke sitting on the couch. Walking towards him, Naruto swallowed hard before settling down on the couch as well. "You never answered my question. What are you doing here?"

Sasuke turned to look at him and then replied, "Why did you give up being a doctor?" Naruto tensed up and inwardly groaned. This was just what he had been afraid of. Sasuke wanted to continue the conversation from last week.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto answered in a quiet voice, "I gave it up because I found something I liked better." He paled as soon as the words were out of his mouth. That was one of the worst things he could say to Sasuke. In an attempt to dig himself out of the hole he had begun digging, he continued, "I found that I wasn't cut out for being a doctor and work in the medical field. I changed my major and went to work for Kiba as a mechanic."

The glare that Sasuke had only intensified while Naruto spoke. It made him a bit nervous to see his friend with such a fierce expression on his face about something like this. "Idiot...That is not the only reason. You are hiding something."

"So what? It has nothing to do with you. My reasons are my own and I don't have to share them with you, teme."

"Nothing to do with me? I disagree. The blond idiot I know doesn't give up on his dreams; it goes against his code." Sasuke replied, his voice soft but deadly.

"Knew, Sasuke, knew. Have you forgotten that we haven't seen each other for three years? People change and they grow up." Naruto was trying his best to stay calm and not explode in the other man's face.

"Hn. You haven't, you are still an idiot." Sasuke replied, crossing his arms.

Naruto felt his blood start to boil. A snarl slipped past his lips before he could stop it.

Naruto, calm down. He wants you to blow your top. He is trying to get you to talk. Take deep breaths, kit, and show him how much you have grown.

He shut his eyes and took deep breaths as instructed which helped him calm down. "I will not play this game, Sasuke. I have some things that are mine alone and my reasons on that matter are one of them." He offered a slight smile and then got up from his couch. "Now would my guest like something to drink?"

Glancing at Sasuke, he saw that the man was still trying to recover from the shock of him calmly turning down the chance to have it out with Sasuke. "Take that as a no." He walked to his kitchen and got a glass of water. Leaning against the island, Naruto stared at the back of Sasuke's head as he took a sip of water. The raven's hair style had changed, but in a good way. It looked much less like a duck butt. Naruto had noticed it when he had gone to pick him up from the airport, but he hadn't gotten the chance to study it closely at the time.

Suddenly, his stomach twisted again. This time it was strong and felt like his gut was ripping. He let out a groan and put down the glass of water so that he could clutch the island with both hands. He vaguely heard movement before a weight was on his shoulder. "What is wrong?" Sasuke. It was his hand that was creating the weight.

"N-un-nothing." He managed before glancing up at Sasuke. He was surprised by the genuine worry on the man's face, but his thoughts did not linger on that as the stomach pain grew worse. He could barely keep himself upright and he felt his knees give in underneath him. A strong arm caught him and supported his weight. "S-Sasuke."

"Dobe, there is something wrong."

"No..."

"I am taking you to the hospital."

"No!" Naruto attempted to shout, but his protest came out as a weak groan. He did notwant Tsunade to see him like this. He did not want anyone to see him like this. A fit of shivers racked his body before his world went dark and he went limp in the raven's arms.

How was it? Terrible?

I have found my muse for this story, so I shall continue to write it, but I am gone for two weeks and will be unable to update. :(