Disclaimers: Naruto is someone else's, this is purely a fanfic using someone else's characters.
Warnings: This story includes strong language, violence, angst, and (of course) beautiful yaoi love.
A Death to Escape
Chapter 22: Keeping- My Promise
"I won't make promises that I don't mean, I'll even mean the things I whisper in my sleep.. I won't say a single thing, darling, that you can't believe.."
-Def Leppard
--
Sasuke waited for a while.
A long while.
He wanted to give the two new-lovers time for their passionate goodbyes, and for Lee to have time to collect himself afterwards, but he couldn't stop himself from worrying.
Nor could he stop that worry from festering.
Lee hadn't come back yet, and all he could think was that their patched together plan had already fallen apart, and now all three of them were fucked.
So then how long do you plan on just sitting here?!
"Fuck this." Sasuke threw open the door and rushed down the street, eyes peeled for a somber little uke or a red-haired pain in the ass.
He had yet to find either.
God.. if I actually lose Lee the second Gaara goes in there..
He could feel his heart slam violently against his chest, panic sitting heavy in his gut.
Come on, Lee. Where the fuck did you-
There.
He found the brunette sitting against the wall of a decrepit building, dusty bricks dirtying his clothes. Not that he seemed to mind. In fact- he didn't seem to mind much of anything. His eyes were far, far away- so dark and empty it was like peering into two black holes.
Nothing was peering back.
"Lee..? Hey, are you ok?"
Nothing.
"Lee?" Sasuke dropped down beside him and touched his shoulder. "Hey, are you-"
Sasuke blinked and he was flat on his back, his wrist twisted painfully to the side. "What the hell?!"
A flicker of light reappeared in those large dark pits, but the hold on his wrist didn't loosen. "Nnn-fuck! Dammit, Lee. Let go!"
"Sasuke..?"
"Yes, Sasuke! Are you losing your mind? What is this?!"
"Oh, shit. I'm sorry." He released his hold on the raven and stepped back. "I'm sorry, I just.. when Gaara left, I just couldn't think.."
Sasuke got back to his feet and brushed himself off. "I get it- honestly, I do. Just don't kill me in the process, ok?"
Lee nodded, looking sheepish.
"Come on, we should get going too."
Lee looked up. "Where are we going?"
"Police station."
Lee raised his eyebrows.
Sasuke sighed as he ran his fingers through his now disheveled raven hair. "Time to make another report."
--
Gaara didn't know whether or not he should take it personally that it was so easy to convince people that he's crazy. On one hand it was a relief that he was able to get into asylum with minimal effort.
On the other hand..
Seriously, what the hell? Do I really seem that fucking nuts? I haven't even started faking it yet!
After the woman at the front desk organized his paperwork and officially had him admitted, Gaara was escorted by two ridiculously large orderlies, honestly- is it like a requirement to take steroids for this job or what?- to a bathroom, where they had him strip and change into a set of clothes they provided- dark sweatpants and a loose grey shirt.
Gaara didn't love being eyed up while he got undressed, but he supposed that dignity was just one more thing that the mentally unstable didn't deserve to have anymore.
As he pulled on the last of his clothes, Gaara suddenly froze.
That means they made Naruto do this too.. They forced him to strip, he glanced around at the rest of the bathroom, and probably shower. In front of some fucking meathead.
His jaw clenched tight, eyes blazing.
I swear to fucking god- if they did anything to him I'll kill them. I'll burn this place to the fucking ground.
Gaara grabbed his clothes, stormed up to Biceps and Triceps, and threw the pile at their feet. "Hope you assholes enjoyed the show" he spat out.
Biceps took a step towards him, eyes narrowed. "It's in your best interest to play nice in here, Red" he said smoothly.
"Is that a threat, Gun Show?"
The man sneered. "It's a warning. Your only warning. But if you need to learn things the hard way, we can do that too."
Gaara forced down his anger and took a step back. "Whatever. Isn't it time for my pudding and pills or something?"
Triceps grabbed his arm and quietly pulled him forward, clearly the "good cop" between the two. Or at least the better "cop".
Gaara let himself be led out of the bathroom and down the hall- keeping his eyes peeled for a mess of blonde hair. The worked their way past the cells that they called rooms, and into a large gathering area. Triceps tossed Gaara down onto a chair, and walked off without a word.
Biceps braced himself on the chair and leaned in, bringing his face level. "I'll be keeping a close eye on you, Red. Try not to do anything you're going to regret."
Gaara met his hard stare with one of his own. "Thanks mom, I'll keep that in mind."
He knew he was pushing his luck, that this guy was one bad day away from slaughtering a patient, but he couldn't help himself.
After one more threatening look, the orderly straightened from his undaunted patient and walked away. Gaara flipped him off, and slouched down in his chair.
"God, this place sucks.."
"Gaara..?"
"But it just got a whole lot better." He leaned his head back and looked up, grinning.
"Hello, Blondie."
--
Sasuke dealt with yet another round of bullshit questions and incompetent officers. His blood was boiling the entire time, and there were many moments where Lee had to step in and talk for him to keep him from making a scene.
After talking in circles, and swallowing back a handful of colorful insults, they were finally able to convince them to write up a report, but their doubtful looks spoke volumes.
They don't believe a fucking word we've said..
It took some time for Sasuke to cool his temper when they finally left, leaving Lee feeling incredibly uncomfortable.
The brunette had been fidgeting in the passenger seat for a while when he finally found the nerve to speak up. "Umm.. Sasuke. I really don't mind if you want to drop me off at a hotel or something.."
Sasuke tightened his hold on the steering wheel. "Gaara is watching out for my person. The least I could do is watch out for his."
The brunette blushed.
Sasuke forced his anger down and took a calming breath. "You're not a bother, Lee" he said, his voice gentler than before.
When he continued to look unconvinced, Sasuke added- "In fact.. I'm glad you're here".
Lee glanced over at that. "Really..?"
"Really."
Sasuke saw Lee smile out of the corner of his eye, and gave his own in return. "You know, I'd probably be in a cell right now if you hadn't come with me. I wanted to strangle those fucking cops."
"Yeah- I noticed. You and Gaara have that in common, you know."
"Nearly going to prison?"
Lee laughed. "No, I mean standing up for what's right. No matter how many people you piss off along the way."
Sasuke considered this for a moment. "I'm impressed, Lee."
The brunette raised an eyebrow. "Because..?"
"You actually found one good thing about that asshole."
Lee smiled, but at the thought of Gaara the grin slipped. His eyes fell to his lap. "You'd be surprised, Sasuke", he said quietly.
".. There's actually a lot to like."
--
"Gaara...?" Naruto stared, cerulean eyes wide and unblinking. "How- what..? What are you doing here??"
"Keeping my promise." He winked. "But I'm gonna need you to pretend like you don't know me, ok? Don't blow my cover."
Naruto looked at him blankly, feeling confused, his mind still trying to process what he was seeing.
How the fuck is Gaara even here right now?
"Am I hallucinating..?"
"You're not as crazy as these assholes try to make you seem."
Gaara scooted to the side and pulled the blonde down to join him. The large chair left plenty of room for both of them, and Gaara immediately turned Naruto to face him so he could get a good look at him.
"Are you ok?" he asked, his voice heavy with concern. "They didn't do anything to you, did they?"
Naruto shook his head. "I'm ok.. There's an orderly here who has been helping me. His name's Jiraiya."
Gaara narrowed his eyes. "And what exactly does Jiraiya get out of this deal?"
Naruto rolled his eyes. "Stop, Gaara. It's not like that. Jiraiya's just looking out for me. I told him everything, and he believes me."
"Does he now?" Gaara said smoothly, tilting his head. "And why would he do that?"
Naruto twisted his hands together, avoiding the redhead's gaze. "Itachi tried to break into my room last night.." he said quietly.
Gaara looked furious, so he quickly added, "Jiraiya heard everything. He stopped him."
"And where's the bastard now?"
"Itachi?" Naruto shrugged. "I don't know. They dragged him off last night. Maybe he's in some kind of isolation or something?"
"I wouldn't count on that."
All the color drained from Naruto's face. "What are you talking about..?" he breathed.
"I assume he's talking about me."
Naruto stiffened, eyes wide with fear. Gaara noticed and immediately jumped into action. He leapt to his feet and threw his body in front of the terrified blonde, blocking any access to him.
"Fuck off" he growled as the raven drew closer.
It wasn't difficult to tell who he was. The man looked so much like Sasuke- it was uncanny. The only difference he could find were the long scars trailing from the corners of his eyes, and the cruelty that spread across his face- reflecting in obsidian orbs and seeping from his tight smile.
Itachi looked amused. "A friend of the imposter, I presume? Or maybe more than that?" His eyes gleamed. "Hmmm.. I wonder how my little brother feels about you being here.."
Gaara clenched his jaw. "I'm pretty sure I told you to Fuck. Off."
Itachi's smile stretched taut across his face, and he took a step closer. Gaara held his ground, refusing to be intimidated by the man. Though, it didn't change the fact that he made him feel on edge.
Naruto pulled back into the chair, unable to face the Uchiha- no matter how much of a coward it made him. He knew it was wrong to let Gaara step in for him like this, but he just couldn't find the courage to do it himself. He looked around the room in a panic, but he couldn't find Jiraiya anywhere.
What the hell is going on? Where is he? How is Itachi already allowed back here?
Itachi peered over Gaara's shoulder and noticed the alarmed look on the blonde's face. His eyes gleamed with excitement at the sight of it.
"You look nervous, Naruto.. Wondering where your little hero ran off to?"
Gaara stepped to the side to block him again, but Itachi leaned the other way so he could get another good look at the blonde.
"I have many allies in here, imposter. People willing to look the other way when I go into someone else's room.."
Naruto's blood ran cold. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. They LET him go to my room.. they GAVE him those keys.
How could they do something so.. so..
Cruel.
"- and I can be rather.. convincing when I need to get a certain orderly out of my way."
"What are you trying to do here?" Gaara snarled. "What the hell do you want with Naruto?"
Itachi's eyes flickered back to the redhead. "What I want is to rid the world of imposters." His eyes hardened. "One pretend Uchiha at a time."
He looked curiously at Gaara. "Now that you know what he is, will you still protect him?"
Gaara stepped close to the raven. "Anyone who has a problem with Naruto, has a problem with me."
Itachi leaned in, bringing his lips close to Gaara's ear. He could feel the man's breath against him and fought the urge to recoil from it.
"Then you'll go down with him.."
Gaara started to lean away from him when a pale hand shot out and grabbed his wrist, holding him firmly in place.
"The hell..? Nnnnn!" A pained gasp fell from Gaara's lips. He stumbled back, and Naruto leapt up to steady him.
"Gaara? Are you ok?" He peered over the redhead's shoulder, trying to figure out what happened. No..
A crimson stain was spreading across the middle of Gaara's shirt, and sliding further down his waist.
"No.." he breathed. "NO! Gaara!" Naruto jerked him back, away from Itachi and screamed, "Help!! He has a knife! HE HAS A KNIFE!!"
Several orderlies finally moved from their posts and started to rush towards them, but Itachi wasn't done. He shoved Gaara out of the way, sending the redhead flying, then lurched forward and slashed out with his knife.
A scream lodged in the back of Naruto's throat as he stumbled back. Itachi advanced on him fast, and before he could get his bearings his feet slid out from under him. Naruto crashed to the floor with a heavy thud,
"Finally." Itachi's grin hovered over him and Naruto kicked out frantically, desperate to get away. Itachi groaned as Naruto's foot slammed into his shin, and he dropped forward, stabbing down his knife.
Naruto twisted to the side to avoid it, but he could feel the blade slice across his shoulder. He cried out and quickly scrambled backwards, eyes wide with horror as Itachi moved towards him again.
"Wa-wait!"
"That's right imposter" Itachi sneered, crawling closer as Naruto pulled himself across the floor. "I want to hear you beg for me to stop-"
Several orderlies grabbed Itachi and yanked him back, pulling the knife from his hand as they did, but he never took his eyes off Naruto.. and his smile never faltered.
"I can't wait to hear you scream over and over and over while I tear you apart. Mmmm- I just don't know how much longer I can wait.."
A needle was shoved into the Uchiha's arm, a sedative injected into his veins, but he wasn't done. He wanted to capture this moment so he could relive it again and again-
The fear consuming the blonde's eyes, the way his body trembled as he stared up at him, the tears threatening to fall, the whimpers he could barely contain..
Itachi loved every second of it.
"Say your goodbyes, Naruto.." he said, his consciousness slowly slipping away. "You won't live.. through.. the night.."
A pained sound escaped the terrified blonde and Itachi closed his eyes from the sheer pleasure of it. Images of the imposter flickered from behind his eyelids as he drifted away, and a soothing warmth spread through him.
Because for the first time, in a very very long time, Itachi felt like himself again.
Author Note:
Ahhhhhhhh!! Evil Itachi is my FAVORITE!! XD
Thank you wonderful SasuNaru FanFic readers!! I hope you're enjoying the story so far. I would love to hear your thoughts and feedback as I keep this one going. Hopefully it continues to at least entertain, and maybe occasionally catch you by surprise :)