Disclaimers: Naruto is not mine, sadly. This is purely a fanfic using someone else's characters.
Warnings: This story includes strong language, violence, sexual assault, & angst. This later becomes a BL SasuNaru story, so don't read if you're not a fan of that pairing.
It's All In Your Head
Chapter 13
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"Well, if it isn't my favorite student.."
Sasuke looked up.
"Oh, nope. It's just Sasuke. My mistake."
The Uchiha rolled his eyes as his sensei's one-revealed eye curved with his covert grin.
"Very funny."
The Uchiha proceeded to walk away, and the silver-haired jonin proceeded to join him. He was tempted to tell his teacher to get lost, that he wanted to be alone, but the truth was he didn't want to be alone. He wasn't exactly craving Kakashi's company, but he didn't want to be stuck with his own either.
Kakashi glanced down at the raven and raised an eyebrow. "Trouble in paradise?"
"That obvious?" he murmured.
Kakashi tilted his head, studying the dejected raven at his side. "With you, it is only ever obvious when it comes to Naruto."
Sasuke froze. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" He looked up and caught his sensei's eye. "What're you trying to say?"
"I'm simply saying that if people were less hung-up on you being the "Uchiha prodigy" and actually took a good hard look at you, they would have noticed a long time ago."
Sasuke started walking again, and Kakashi kept his pace. "Noticed what?" he asked casually. Unconvincingly so.
"If you don't want people to know how you feel about him, you're going to have to work on being a little less obvious."
Sasuke was silent for a moment, his mind spinning. What do I even say to that? he thought frantically.
Do I deny it?
Is he just joking, or does he actually know?
Kakashi was difficult to read- it truly could be either. But Sasuke was tempted to believe the latter. It did seem like the jonin wanted to help him.. and Naruto too for that matter.
Besides, I told Naruto that I didn't care who knew. That he shouldn't be ashamed of people knowing.
Am I really going to go back on that now that I'm facing it head-on?
Sasuke took a deep breath, then glanced up. "...How long have you known?"
"I haven't been your teacher for that long" Kakashi replied, "but I would bet I knew before you did. The real question is- does Naruto know?"
Sasuke looked away. "He does now" he murmured.
"Hmm?"
"I was tired of hiding it, so I-" Sasuke sighed.
Kakashi glanced down. "I'm listening."
"I let him inside my head."
"Sounds unpleasant."
Sasuke glared. "Are you here to help me or mock me?"
"I can manage both." Kakashi grinned. Sasuke seemed less than amused. "So, you let him inside your head, huh? And did anything else happen that might have been.. eye-opening for him?"
Sasuke eyed him suspiciously. "Why do I get the feeling that you already know?"
"I can be incredibly perceptive."
"Right.."
"Since I already know, you might as well tell me."
Sasuke dragged his fingers through his hair, shoving back his embarrassment as he forced back long raven strands. "I.. I kissed him."
"And?"
"And he freaked out, ok! He was nervous, and I made it worse."
"So he wasn't feeling it at all, huh?"
Sasuke averted his gaze. He could feel his cheeks growing warm, and was far too embarrassed to show that much emotion on his usually stoic face. "He.. he liked it, but he didn't want to admit it out loud. He said we're just friends."
"Hmm."
"What?"
"And do these recent attacks on Naruto perhaps have something to do with his fear of this newfound intimacy with you?"
An image of Naruto being forced down onto his bed flashed in his mind. He could still see the bit of memory Naruto let slip- of a hand sliding down his stomach before forcing its way into his pants. He grimaced at the thought. He didn't know how far that hand went, but his imagination could connect the dots.
No wonder he's so afraid of you..
Sasuke didn't respond, and he didn't need to. Just like all of his other thoughts towards the blonde, Kakashi could read him clearly.
"Sasuke, if you push too hard, you're going to push him away."
"I know.."
"You need to be patient with him. Gentle with him. I'm sure by now you realize no one else ever has been."
Sasuke swallowed back his shame, knowing he was one of those people.
"Just because he's not in your arms now, doesn't mean he's completely out of reach. Maybe try coaxing him out of his shell instead of just breaking it open, hmm?"
"I get it" Sasuke snapped. "Enough with the damn metaphors."
"Reading all of that Icha Icha has made me quite the academic, it seems."
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I'm sure."
Kakashi abruptly turned just as a black blur came to a skidding halt in front of him. Sasuke stood just behind the jonin, eyes widening as the black ops shinobi straightened before them. "Kakashi, we need you to report in with the Hokage."
All humor in Kakashi's eyes fled. "What's going on?"
"The Akatsuki have been spotted just outside the village. They may already be here. We need as many capable men as possible to scout the perimeter, and intervene if necessary."
Sasuke flinched. The Akatsuki. Does that mean..?
"Do they know which Akatsuki members?" Kakashi asked hurriedly. "How many were there?"
"Only two were spotted, but we believe one of them is-"
The black ops ninja suddenly became aware of the raven just behind Kakashi. He hadn't paid him any mind before, taking him as just a student the man must be in the middle of mentoring.
He quickly realized his error.
Sasuke's eyes hardened as he stepped out from Kakashi's shadow. "It's Itachi, isn't it."
Not a question. He knew. He knew the second the words dried up in the man's mouth when he spotted him. When he realized the only other Uchiha was there.
Itachi.
He's here.
Crimson bled into Sasuke's narrowed gaze. "Where is he?" he growled, chakra and adrenaline already coursing through his veins, vibrating just beneath his surface. He could feel his heart hammering against his chest, pulsing behind his eyes. He was ready to face.
He needed to face him.
To end this. Once and for all.
For his clan.
For his parents.
For his sanity.
Kakashi suddenly spun towards him and roughly grabbed his arm, yanking him forward. "Sasuke- where is Naruto!?" His voice was breathy, his eye filled with concern.
"Naruto?" Sasuke repeated, his mind struggling to switch away from Itachi. "He's back at the Uchiha.."
Fuck.
"He's at the Uchiha manor" he breathed. "Where Itachi.."
No..
Sasuke threw himself back, trying to pull free of Kakashi's grasp, but the jonin's grip tightened, locking him in place.
"What are you doing?!!" he screamed. "I have to stop him! Naruto is-"
"I'll take care of it" Kakashi said, his voice sharp. He threw the Uchiha at the black ops, who quickly grabbed him and pinned his arms down. "Do NOT let him out of your sight" Kakashi instructed, his eyes intense. "Signal for the others. Tell them to meet me at the Uchiha manor. Now."
"No!!" Sasuke screamed. "Wait- I'm going with you!"
"Sasuke, you're staying here."
Kakashi reached over to his headband and yanked it up, revealing a deep red sharingan eye. Sasuke was stunned speechless for a moment. He had heard rumors that the famous Copy-Cat Ninja had a sharingan, but he found it difficult to believe. It was a Uchiha trait, after all, and Kakashi was not from his fallen clan. And yet- there it was. Another sharingan.
How is that even possible? he wondered as their sharingans met.
Who is Hatake Kakashi, really?
"I'll get him back, Sasuke." An immense amount of chakra channeled to his feet, and he tore several kunai free from his satchel. "I promise."
Sasuke's frozen demeanor thawed. "No- NO! You can't keep me here! I'll save him myself! Itachi.." he swallowed, forcing back the images of his past as they slowly crawled to the forefront of his mind. "Itachi won't do this to me. Not again." His sharingan spun as it met Kakashi's. "Itachi is mine."
Kakashi eyed the enraged raven, then shifted his gaze back to the black op. "Keep him here. Use any means necessary."
"Kakashi!"
"He is not to go anywhere near the Uchiha manor- is that understood?"
The man nodded.
"Right." Then the jonin shifted out of view, and he was gone.
Rage slammed into him as Kakashi disappeared. He left. He fucking left me here. When he knows how I feel, when he knows what Itachi did.
And now Naruto could be..
"Let go" Sasuke growled, his head lowered. Heavy raven strands covered his face, but as he turned to glare over his shoulder, the shinobi could see one blood-red eye gleaming between the cracks.
Those eyes always made him uncomfortable. But, this Uchiha was just a kid.
He had nothing to worry about.
.. Right?
Author Note:
Oh nooooo!! Not the short chapter! The cliffhanger!
The horror!
The angst... horse.
clomping echoes from down a darkened corridor*
"Ahhhh- there you are, Cinnamon. I was wondering when you'd show up again."
Gleaming, mischievous horse eyes peer through the gloom. A slow grin stretches across Cinnamon's face.*
A matching, villainous smile pulls across mine. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
Neigh.
"My dear angst horse. Your mind is a decrepit, nightmare-infested chamber of horrors.."
My grin widens*
"And I can't wait to explore it."
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