Author's note: Not as long as I had wanted it to be, but after such a long time I wanted to give you guys an update finally. I can only promise to do my best to have the next one out a lot sooner finally than this one. Sorry again for the delay. If I have any readers left, it'll be a miracle *winces*

Thanks to the following reviewers: SehunsBae37; lazyfox21; Richon; 666snoopy; LunaKitt3n

Warnings: Drama; short description of blood; minor violence

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.

I hope you'll like it!

Chapter 18: Growing Part 3

Blood, so much blood. Blood on the doorframe, on the carpet. Splatters on the wall, faded stains where blood covered hands had braced themselves against the walls, gripped the railing of the staircase. Blood dripping down brother's chest; the life fading away from his black eyes. Father and mother lying together in a steadily growing pool of blood …

Sasuke blinked rapidly; the memories of his family replaced with his current surroundings; bushes, trees and the hill replacing the sight of his old family home.

Naruto.

Sasuke ran down the hill, practically flying; the rapid beating of his heart having less to do with the sudden burst of speed he was pushing his body through and everything with the sight of Naruto lying helplessly, bloodied, on the bottom of the hill. He dropped down on his knees, ignoring the pain shooting through them, when he reached Naruto. Carefully, his hands trembling to his annoyance, he patted Naruto's cheek but didn't get a reaction. Even more cautious, he tilted Naruto's head back and forth, trying to discover how badly injured he was.

When he spotted Naruto's eyelids trembling, he grew hopeful. "Naruto, can you wake up for me?" he demanded urgently, cupping his head between his hands.

A sliver of blue greeted him when Naruto's eyes slid open a bit.

"Naruto? You with me?" Sasuke asked again, holding his breath.

Naruto blinked, his mouth parted slightly as if to speak –

But then his eyes slipped close again and he didn't react, no matter how many times he patted his cheeks.

"Fuck!" he cursed loudly, looking around them.

Naruto needed medical help urgently, that was clear. Sasuke didn't dare to leave him behind in order to get help, though. Just the thought of leaving him here even for less than ten minutes … Every fibre in his body rebelled against that idea, had him grinding his teeth together. He would just have to carry Naruto all the way back to the hostel so that he could get the proper help; he couldn't lie here for another minute.

It took a bit of manoeuvring but he managed to make Naruto sit up halfway, even with the blond being unconscious. He grabbed his arms and linked them around his neck before wrapping his own arms underneath Naruto's arse, pushing him up at the same time he stood up again. Naruto ended up draped across his back; it probably wasn't the best way to move him but he needed to get him medical care as soon as possible.

Going up the hill again with Naruto on his back wasn't going to work, he realised that soon enough. Fortunately there was a less steep way back; this particular hill was easier to climb when carrying somebody and led almost straight to the hostel's door. He lost his footing almost a couple of times but managed to reach the top without falling once.

Before he could think of a way to open the door without losing his grip on Naruto, Umino suddenly flung the door open, looking red faced with anger and ready to shout, no doubt, until he got a good look at Naruto.

"What on earth happened to Uzumaki-kun?" he asked, turning concerned immediately.

While Sasuke's opinion about his teachers tended to be fairly neutral, he had to give it to Umino: the older man really did care about all his students. He could bust your eardrums when he yelled angrily but he was also the one to show the most concern out of all the teachers.

"Someone caused him to fall down a hill," Sasuke replied grimly, walking into the hostel quickly when Umino beckoned him inside. "I think he hit his head badly because he was bleeding."

"Turn left here and place him down in the first room you find," Umino ordered, taking charge immediately. "I'm going to call a doctor. Stay with him until the doctor is here."

As if Sasuke had been planning on leaving Naruto on his own.

Nara and Inuzuka almost bumped into him when they hurried out of the room everybody was still gathered in. In unison their eyes widened when they caught sight of Naruto lying unconscious across Sasuke's back.

"What the hell happened to him?" Inuzuka questioned horrified.

"That's what I'm going to find out," Sasuke replied darkly, using his foot to open the door of the first room he came across. "I found him at the bottom of a hill, bleeding from a head wound."

The room itself was very basic with just one bed and a nightstand and smaller than the rooms they had been put in.

"Someone pushed him?" Inuzuka asked shocked while Nara frowned deeply.

"Don't know but I will find out," Sasuke said clipped as he carefully placed Naruto on the bed with Nara's help.

God help the one who was responsible for this …

Sasuke was quite torn between staying with Naruto when the doctor arrived – especially when it looked like his boyfriend was going to wake up – and wanting to get to the bottom of what the fuck was going on here. Somehow, in some way, he had missed what had been going on between Naruto and the girls and that thought stung. He should have noticed sooner that something was off, should have picked up quicker that something was going on.

When the doctor strode into the room, Sasuke's fury won from his protectiveness and he marched to the other room where everyone was still gathered, talking amongst themselves. Nara noticed him first and opened his mouth but Sasuke ignored him and made a beeline for Yamanaka and Haruno instead, wanting answers finally.

A dark part in him took a lot of sadistic pleasure in seeing both girls stiffen, freezing up like a rabbit in front of a wolf.

"I want answers so you better start talking," he said darkly. "Who the fuck hurt Naruto? How long has this bullshit been going on?"

"I – I don't know," Haruno started to stammer; her eyes shooting back and forth in the room as if in a plea for help.

"Umino isn't here," Sasuke informed her coldly. As a matter of fact he was with the doctor attending to Naruto; another reason why Sasuke had felt at ease enough to leave Naruto for now. "So you can't hide behind him. Who the fuck hurt Naruto? How long have you all been pulling this bullshit? I'm not asking again."

"It's been happening since the girls found out that you are dating Naruto," Nara answered unexpectedly. He had his arms crossed and his jaw clenched. "Pulling all sorts of bullshit with him, like spreading his phone number around. Naruto didn't want you to know because he didn't want to make you worry."

"He didn't want to make me - " Sasuke cut himself off, his fury squeezing his throat tightly for a moment. "Who the fuck hurt him this time?"

Yamanaka and Haruno exchanged a nervous glance with each other while the other girls shuffled away from them, avoiding eye contact as if they were innocent. He supposed most of them had been like sheep following the orders of a couple of other girls, but that didn't mean they weren't guilty as well.

His patience completely running out now, he grabbed both Yamanaka and Haruno by their throats, slamming their heads into the wall because they had been stupid enough to remain near it instead of trying to run away. Their pained squeal came out choked and they stared at him shocked. He leant closer to them, staring at them menacingly. It didn't escape his notice that one of Haruno's hands seemed to have some minor dirt streaks across it before she clenched her hand together, hiding the stains.

"I'm only going to say this once so you better fucking listen to me well," he hissed, squeezing their throats a bit tighter. They grasped his arms but seemed incapable of actually trying to push him away. "If you or any of the other girls ever come after Naruto again, if you ever try to hurt or harass him in any way, I will fucking make you regret it, you hear me? Don't even think you can pull any of this shit behind my back again, because I will know. I will know and you will wish you never decided to be a stupid bitch!"

He slammed both their heads against the wall again, making several other girls yell in shock. Someone grabbed him by his shoulders, tugging him away, and he whirled around with a snarl, ready to punch out the lights of the idiot who tried to pull him away.

"What on earth is going on here?" Umino barked; his fingers nearly digging into Sasuke's shoulders. "Uchiha-kun, what is the meaning of this? Release them at once!"

After giving their throats one more vicious squeeze, he pulled his hands back, sneering when they started coughing pathetically.

"They've been harassing Naruto for weeks!" Sasuke snapped. "One of them caused Naruto to fall from that hill just now! He could have died if he had fallen the wrong way!"

Umino took a deep breath, releasing Sasuke in order to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Everyone, you're all going to stay here; I'll deal with you later," he said, narrowing his eyes. "Uchiha-kun, please come with me for a moment."

Sasuke gritted his teeth, but followed the older man, catching Inuzuka's sympathetic look on his way out.

Umino took him to what appeared to be an office; perhaps belonging to the owners of the hostel. He pointed at the desk where a couple of chairs had been put.

"Please wait here while I go make sure some of the other teachers will attend to the other students."

Sasuke covered his snort just in time, leaning against the desk but refusing to sit down. Viciously he hoped that Yamanaka and Haruno would have raging headaches for a long time. They should be glad Umino had interfered because Sasuke wasn't even sure whether he could have held back completely. Who the fuck had they thought they were? Who the fuck were they that they had believed they could get away with this kind of bullshit? Just because they had been crushing on him for years didn't give them any right to hurt Naruto all because of their goddamn jealousy! He had known some of them could be quite obsessive over him, but this obsessive? How fucked up were they? What the hell was wrong with them?

He had no idea how long he had been waiting in the office, but eventually footsteps started echoing through the corridor. He looked up when those footsteps approached the office again, seeing Umino making his way back to him with his face cloudy. He entered the room again, leaving the door ajar. The older Beta halted next to the desk and studied Sasuke.

"Violence like you showed is never tolerated, Uchiha-kun," he started; his face already starting to turn red.

Idly Sasuke wondered if this would be the first time a teacher would ever yell at him.

"We cannot tolerate such a thing and you will receive a punishment for that. At the same time, I know you're not inherently violent, so I would like to know in more proper detail what happened between you and the girls. The other teachers are currently talking with the other students but I like to hear your story first."

Sasuke took a deep breath, reminding himself that Umino wasn't the bad guy in this case. "I found out today that the girls, most of them at least, have been harassing Naruto all because he and I are dating now," he started to explain, forcing himself to remain calm. "One of them caused Naruto to fall from a hill nearby; I don't know how yet, but I'm pretty sure Haruno is behind it."

"Why do you think she did something to him?" Umino inquired, frowning.

"Because one of her hands is stained with dirt, like she threw something at him," Sasuke replied. "They didn't want to admit it but I just know that Yamanaka and Haruno are the ringleaders. They are pissed that I'm dating Naruto and they took it out on him. I lost my cool and I confronted them about it. I'm sorry, sensei, but I'm not going to apologise to them, no matter the punishment I receive. After what they have done to Naruto, they don't deserve any apologies."

Umino's sigh was almost explosive and he scrubbed his face hard. "Okay, I'm going to need to discuss this with the other teachers," he muttered, looking quite tired for a moment. "Uchiha-kun, when I left the room, the doctor had just finished checking Uzumaki-kun. He has a light concussion, some bruises on his arms and legs and his hands are a bit scraped. He needs a couple of days of rest but he will be fine."

"That's great to hear," Sasuke said relieved. At least he hadn't been badly injured; that was the only good thing about this whole bullshit.

"Now about - "

A knock on the door had the both of them turning their heads. Nara lingered in the doorway, giving them an apologetic look.

"Sorry, but Naruto is asking for Sasuke, Umino-sensei," Nara explained.

Umino held his hand in the air. "Please tell Uzumaki-kun that Uchiha-kun will be with him soon, but I need to finish this conversation with him first."

"Yes, sensei, I'll tell him." Nara inclined his head before leaving.

"Now as I was saying, as much as I can understand why you're angry, you cannot act that violently towards others," Umino started again. "I simply cannot let you get away with that. We will not send you away now, but once we're back home you will be suspended for three days and that's not negotiable."

"I understand, sensei," Sasuke said neutrally.

Umino seemed like he wanted to say something about the way Sasuke had answered but instead he simply sighed and waved him off. "Go on, go see Uzumaki-kun."

Sasuke didn't need to be told twice. Instantly he whirled around and strode out of the office, going back to the room where he had left Naruto behind.

Naruto was sitting up in the bed; his blue eyes swivelling towards Sasuke the second the Alpha opened the door. His eyes lit up and he started to smile.

"Hey there, stranger," he teased but he realised his joke wasn't appreciated now. He sighed, forgoing his smile. "I'm okay."

He's okay, my arse, Sasuke thought angrily.

"You fell down a hill, hit your head and lost consciousness," Sasuke retorted flatly, walking into the room. He closed the door behind him, wanting privacy. "You're not okay."

Pouting slightly, Naruto muttered petulantly, "I've just got some bruises and a headache - "

"A concussion," Sasuke corrected him clipped.

"A light one," Naruto said dismissively and continued, "And that's it. Honestly it sounds worse than it is, I promise. The only reason why I'm still in bed is because Umino-sensei started almost yelling when I got out of it."

"You need to rest," Sasuke insisted and stopped right next to the bed. He didn't want to confront Naruto when he was still injured, but – "Why didn't you tell me what they were doing to you?" He couldn't stop the frustration from slipping out nor his hurt.

He and Naruto were mates. He should have known something was wrong.

Naruto looked away. "I thought if I ignored them, they would give up," he mumbled, worrying the blanket between his fingers.

"You should have told me about - "

"Just because I'm an Omega doesn't mean I can't take care of myself!" Naruto snapped tersely, interrupting Sasuke.

Taken off guard by his tone, Sasuke reared back for a moment before he scowled at the other boy. "That's not what I meant and you know it," he shot back, crossing his arms. "I had to hear they've been harassing you for weeks just because I'm together with you; how do you think that makes me feel? I didn't even realise something was wrong."

What kind of boyfriend did that make of him? He should have noticed something.

"I didn't …" Naruto rubbed his hands over his face. "I told them to keep quiet about it, okay? I didn't want to worry you and I thought they'd give up soon if I didn't react."

"Clearly you thought wrong," Sasuke said sharply. He didn't want to make a big argument out of this, not after having worried so much about Naruto, but he hated being left in the dark. He should have been told about this bullshit sooner, should have known about it before it got to this point.

Naruto took a deep breath; his face softening slightly. "Look, I don't want to fight with you about this, okay? They're not worth it. Can't we just – can you lie down next to me?"

Sasuke stared down at him, at the way blue eyes looked up guilelessly at him. As if Sasuke had any right to just lounge next to him after weeks of having been ignorant to what had truly been happening to the blond.

He glanced away, feeling ashamed. "I should have realised something was wrong," he mumbled, wanting to beat himself up for it.

He had always been so observant – how could he have missed something this major?

"Hey," Naruto said quietly, reaching out with his hand. "I'm sorry. I should have told you."

"You should have," Sasuke agreed but he felt too weary to keep arguing about it. He accepted Naruto's hand and climbed into the bed next to him.

They shuffled around for a bit until Naruto ended up with his head on Sasuke's shoulder and his leg thrown across the Alpha's thighs while Sasuke rested his cheek on top of Naruto's head.

"They went too far," Sasuke murmured, putting one hand on Naruto's side while he clasped the other one around his shoulder, rubbing slow circles into it with his thumb.

"Yeah," Naruto agreed softly, relaxing against Sasuke. "What did you and the teacher talk about? All Shikamaru said was that you were talking with one of them before coming here."

Oh right, he should tell Naruto about that if only because it would be difficult to hide his suspension from the other one.

He breathed out slowly; his exhale stirring some of the blond strands. "Oh that. I'm suspended for three days starting from the moment we're home again," he answered casually.

Naruto began nodding, appearing okay with it until his head shot up, his eyes widening to the size of saucers. "YOU'RE WHAT?!"

Apparently this news shocked Naruto more than finding out that Sasuke had discovered the truth.

"Suspended for three days?" Kakashi appeared in the hallway the second Sasuke walked inside. "For attacking other students. Care to give me some more information?"

"What, they didn't tell you everything?" Sasuke asked in return, lifting an eyebrow. That would be a first considering the entire teacher corpse seemed fond of gossiping.

They certainly had known what to talk about during their last few days at the hostel.

"They told me you have a suspension of three days going in the moment you arrive home because you attacked two girls from your class," Kakashi answered, tilting his head to the left. "Please tell me you didn't develop a taste for kicking the crap out of other students after you got away with that the first time."

"I confronted two bitches after I discovered that one of them caused Naruto to fall down a hill and injure his head," Sasuke answered flatly.

Kakashi stilled, growing solemn.

"During that confrontation I found out that they have been bullying Naruto for weeks all because I'm dating him," Sasuke continued, only remembering to unclench his hands when his nails dug painfully into his palms. "So yes, I was rough when confronting them. I could have done a lot worse to them and I will do a lot worse to them if they ever try to pull that bullshit again. That's why I got suspended. Enough information?"

"Is Naruto-kun okay?" Kakashi asked; his eyebrows furrowed.

"He will be; he's recovering from a concussion and a lot of bruises from his fall," Sasuke answered, kicking off his shoes.

Kakashi was silent until Sasuke was midway the staircase. "You did well. Tell Naruto-kun to get better soon, okay? You want me to talk with the principal, see if your suspension can be shortened?"

"No, it's fine; it doesn't matter," Sasuke muttered, shaking his head. He hesitated for a moment, staring down at his hand gripping the railing of the staircase. "Thanks for wanting to do that, though."

"You're a good kid, Sasuke, never forget that," Kakashi murmured, patting his hand before he walked into the kitchen.

A good kid, huh? Sasuke released his breath slowly and continued his way to his bedroom.

AN2: I'm going to do my best to have the next one out sooner and have it be longer! Again so sorry for the long delay; I don't know why it's so difficult to write this story.

Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.

I hope to see you all back in the next chapter! Please stay safe and take care of yourselves!

Cuddles

Melissa

P.S. For more information about my upcoming and posted stories, please visit my profile.