Sasuke wondered around the ground floor in a fog of confusion and panic, he could feel tension rising up in his body as he tried to think clearly and focus on the breathing exercises he had been taught some years ago by his school councillor. His thoughts were becoming disjointed and erratic as the seconds slipped past; skittering about his head like insects scurrying from a light bulb.
He had always run blindly from the sound of Madara's voice and the visions it conjured up. Forcibly reminding him of dark rooms with no windows and locked doors, the sound of a piano playing and then… In his mind he could still see his mother with her long hair and smiling eyes. The image was clawing horribly at his insides, as if the memory was trying to punish him for still being alive. It was her birthday, her birthday, and damnit, Itachi wasn't even here to…
It was no good, he could not remain here alone. Without Itachi the walls of the house felt oppressive, he had no way of keeping Madara out. It was as if the foundations had been stripped of sanctuary.
He could not call Gaara tonight; not without alerting his siblings as well. He did not want to be fussed over by a larger group as Temari would surely insist on driving Gaara over. Sasuke had only let out snippets of his previous experiences about Madara in Gaara's presence and every time he did Gaara's lime green eyes grew dark and dangerous.
The cat rubbed herself against his legs as he stood wondering what to do, he nearly jumped out of his skin at the contact. Looking down startled as she rubbed her head sympathetically against his foot. Absently he leant down to pet her as she tilted up her chin demanding affection; his heart still 'thump thumping' in his ears, the cold sweat making his skin feel uncomfortably clammy.
Sakura was in Italy presenting at a conference for her PhD, he could call her but knowing her she would likely be out with work friends and be a little tipsy. She had texted him a detailed itinerary of all the bars in Milan she was going to check out on trip before she had left. No, probably not a great idea to contact her right now.
He heard his phone buzz from the adjacent room and found himself half running and half skidding on the smooth floor to pick it up.
Please be Itachi, he thought. His palms were sweaty as he struggled to pick it up without dropping it.
It was not Itachi. The text came from an unknown number.
Hi Sasuke. Here's the address, c ya later. K
Sasuke blinked down at the phone, the letters swimming in front of his eyes. Who the fuck was K?
It took a moment for him to recollect the earlier conversation he had had in the day, his head so full of half broken irrationally thoughts swimming hither and thither about his brain like an angry ants' it took him a moment to find clarity.
He made an impulsive decision, grabbing his coat and shoes and without so much as a backwards glance hurried out of the house.
"Someone's at the door!" Naruto yelled at Kiba Inuzuka who was sitting on the living room sofa, he and Shikamaru were playing a game. The two young men were having some involved fight over the latest FIFA, they were entirely too engrossed in which way a digitally rendered football was going from one end of a pretend football pitch to unglue their eyes from the screen.
"Naruto, mate. Could you get it?" Kiba groaned, his tongue sticking out in concentration. "I bet dinner on this."
Naruto descended the stairs looking at the two of his friends critically; the both of them cussing and swearing over the Playstation controllers.
"Alright," Naruto called back, strolling casually towards the door. "But if it's Hinata, I'm not holding back."
"What?" Came Kiba's sharp retort, followed by a groan and then a whoop from Shikamaru.
"You shit face, you did that on purpose!"
Naruto rewarded Kiba with a lupine like grin; bending down to pick up an empty pizza box and stuffed it into an adjacent bin.
It was a crisp September evening, and as Naruto opened the door he expected Temari to be standing there, hand on hips, wild explosion of blonde hair and in a towering temper. He expected Lee, with tickets to some theatre production that no one had heard about. He expected TenTen with a handbag full of makeup, drinks in one hand and stories about Neji on her tongue.
To his surprise person standing on the door step was tall, with dark hair and liquid silvery grey eyes. He was wearing a leather bomber jacket and a fashionable black scarf around his neck; he looked like had just jumped off an All Saints shoot.
There was a pause as they both stared at each other.
After a moment he dark young man broke the silence: "Hi, does Kiba live here?"
His tone was both polite but unsure, almost withdrawing from Naruto into the depths of his scarf and jacket. Naruto blinked, a warm smile crossing his face as he recognised the young man from earlier.
"It's Sasuke right?" He said grinning and extending a hand to him, "We met earlier today outside Waterloo? I'm Naruto Uzumaki."
Sasuke's hand was cool despite having been buried in the deep pockets of his jacket, he withdrew rather quickly from the handshake as he stood looking hesitant on the steps beneath him, biting his lower lip.
"Do you want to come in?"
There was a pause; as if Sasuke was weighing something up in his mind, "Yeah…yeah sure."
He crossed the threshold to the flat, politely taking off his shoes and piling them neatly on the cluttered shoe-rack, he then turned slipping out of his jacket and looking around for somewhere to put it that wasn't the floor or piece of furniture. Naruto's eyes skimmed up and down his slender physique appreciatively, he was wearing a long dark cotton shirt and from which he could see a plain white t-shirt peaking out from underneath with pair of dark cigarette jeans.
He turned around noticing Naruto looking at him and almost jumped, "Hi!" Sasuke began sounding uncharacteristically nervous, realized his mistake and seemed to recoil a little. "Oh, er no, we've already covered that part of the conversation."
Naruto gave one of his easy smiles, deciding not to comment on it. This was Sasuke Uchiha? He had expected someone a little different.
"What are you studying?"
"Oh…Law."
"Is that interesting?"
Sasuke frowned at this question for some reason, his silvery grey eyes looking Naruto up and down cautiously. "No, not really." He responded in a serious manner.
Naruto felt himself supress half a smile, "Well that's …great?"
"And you?" There was a challenge in his voice now, his attention fixed on Naruto's face.
"Medicine."
"Oh."
There was a distinct noise of displeasure in Sasuke's voice Naruto thought which amused him further. "You don't approve?"
Sasuke opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again as if thinking better of it.
"Hn." Was his only response as if that in itself was a complete sentence.
Behind them was a shuffling noise, as Kiba made his way to the arch of the doorway that led to the living room, his face was distinctly disgruntled as he scanned quickly over Naruto. No doubt he had just had to pay out to Shikamaru. His expression changed when he took in Sasuke's presence; looking at him with keen interest.
"Hey! Thanks for coming over." He turned behind him to look disapprovingly at Shikamaru who was vaping on the sofa and reading his phone.
"That's Shikamaru." The brown eyed man gave Sasuke an efficient wave and returned to whoever he was texting.
"Do you want a drink?" Kiba asked, already making his way over to the fridge and bringing out a case of beers, he uncapped one for himself and took a long sip before chucking one over to Naruto who deftly caught it. He sat down in a chair back to front, his arms and head resting on the top so he could have a better view of the two of them.
"Yeah, sure." There was a slight indecision to Sasuke's voice, Naruto had the impression that Sasuke Uchiha didn't drink much but was perhaps buckling under social pressure. There was a tight aura of control around the man which intrigued Naruto. What was he hiding underneath it?
"Careful," he said grinning. "I think you're about to be hit up by Kiba's student union representative speech."
Sasuke looked at Naruto from beneath his thick dark lashes but said nothing, instead taking a small sip of the beer his hand clutching the glass tightly.
"You're going to run for it?"
"I think we should run together." Kiba announced emphatically as if he had just told them he was receiving a knighthood.
Sasuke made a face that indicated he was not best pleased by this new information and choked on his drink.
"Are you serious?"
"Yes?" Kiba said trying not to look deflated at Sasuke's response, "I think it would be a good idea, you know. Humanities and science representation."
Sasuke's face looked dismayed, "Why me? There are loads of other law students."
"What do you mean why you? People take note of your actions."
Sasuke scrutinised him as if trying to work out if all of this was an elaborate joke.
"You got that lecherous professor sacked last year." Kiba continued, looking to Naruto for support.
Realisation seemed to dawn on Sasuke's face, "You mean Prof. Yakushi? Yeah but… my brother's a detective, that helped a lot."
"That's not the point," Kiba put down his drink, waving his hands around ardently in a way which emphasised his wolf tattoo on his left bicep, his septum piercing glinting under the kitchen lights. "There had been complaints about him for years and no one had done anything about it."
"Well," Sasuke said eyeing Kiba apprehensively as he took another sip of beer, "Sometimes there are ways to get things done."
Kiba clicked his fingers looking elated, "See? That's exactly what I'm talking about. Didn't I tell you this was a good idea Naruto?"
Naruto gave his best friend an indulgent smile. He noticed Sasuke was still eyeing Kiba warily and said: "Don't think you have to give him an answer now. He'll try and strong arm you into it."
"I will not." Kiba said in mock offense downing the rest of his bottle. "It is a winning combination though." He articulated almost to himself as he opened another one.
"Kiba's on the way to world domination." Naruto told Sasuke with a small shake of his head; "He's very serious about all of this. Personally, I think it's just because he likes hearing the sound of his own voice."
The side of Sasuke's mouth twitched in what could have been interpreted as the beginnings of a smile but Naruto missed the rest of it as Kiba threw a bottle cap directly between his eyes, it bounced off his forehead with a small 'plonk'.
"Think about it anyway," Kiba said in an officious manner, directing a death glare Naruto's way as he turned back towards the fridge to help himself to something in a takeaway box. "If you come to the house party with us I'm sure there will be a few people there that know you."
"That would be cool," Naruto chimed in, resting his chin on the back of the chair and placing his empty drink by his foot. "Be careful though; Kiba will be introducing you to everyone as his co-president."
"I would not!" Kiba snapped obstinately, "I haven't come up with a name yet."
Naruto grinned; Sasuke looked a little unsure, his eyes flicking from between Kiba and Naruto as if trying to work out if the two of them were serious.
"I'm only joking." He said looking at Sasuke's impassive expression and beaming. No one believed him.
"Yeah, right." Shikamaru interjected from the sofa. "Sasuke ignore Kiba, he talks shit ninety percent of the time. He's probably worried that the girl he's madly in love with at this house party will like you more than him."
Kiba looked pointedly at Naruto as Shikamaru said this, "You said you'd help me with that," he reminded his friend. "Don't forget!"
"Keep your underwear on," Naruto replied rolling his eyes. "Not that you'll be removing it anytime soon, I think it's a lost cause Kiba. She lives with Neji. There's no competition."
"That's a nice way to talk to your friend!" Kiba said indignantly, "What does he have that I don't?"
"Do you want that alphabetically? Numerically? Grammatically?"
Sasuke laughed at that, it was the first time he had express amusement and relaxed a little since crossing the threshold to the flat. Naruto found himself staring at him as he did so, transfixed.
Meanwhile Kiba cast his hands in the air dramatically, muttering the words: 'Et tu, brute?' and flounced theatrically back to the fridge.
"Neji is in my tutorials," Sasuke said, his voice was a little thawed as if he had started to relax. "Knows his shit."
"That doesn't help me." Kiba said despondently, draping himself on the kitchen counter theatrically as if approaching a guillotine. "I want him to sound incompetent not competent."
"Look I'll stand there and do my best impression of being gormless, it won't be hard." Naruto said helpfully, getting up to pat Kiba on the back and pick up another beer bottle.
"No," Kiba said standing up, hand on his chest looking rattled. "What if she likes that better?"
"You're fucked, mate." Shikamaru said from a cloud of swirling vape shaking his head, his brown slanting eyes assessing his melodramatic friend lazily. "Well, except you aren't."
"Sasuke," Kiba rounded on the pale man almost desperately, "you must know something about Neji I can use to my advantage."
"I umm, er…" Sasuke said, putting down his empty glass. "I know he plays tennis."
"Tennis…tennis…." Kiba said, clutching onto this piece of information as if it was vitally crucial to his very existence.
"Flash her your thighs Kiba," Naruto said popping off another bottle cap, "that ought to do it."
"Oh, shut up you two." The auburn man's amber eyes glittered dangerously in both the direction of Shikamaru and Naruto. "I don't want to remind her I'm on the Rugby team after we were brutally slaughtered by UCL this week."
"Yeah, it wasn't a great look for us." Naruto conceded, rubbing the back of his ear as the memory of that embarrassing defeat came flooding back to him. "I don't think I've ever seen you at Sport's night Sasuke."
"It's not really my scene." The pale man admitted, vacillating before accepting another beer from Kiba.
"Really? You look like you'd be good at sports."
"Hmm…I won the Commonwealth championship prize for fencing when I was in 6th form." Sasuke admitted with a slightly surprised look on his face as if he was taken back he had actually confessed to this. Naruto felt his eyebrows raise beneath his choppy blond hair.
"Sabre?" Shikamaru asked with interest from his spot on the sofa. Sasuke nodded in affirmation, glancing down at his feet.
"But you're not on the University team?" Naruto asked, curious.
"No." The reply was extremely blunt and that put an end to that conversation.
"Oh well…" Naruto began searching for another topic but was interrupted by the ringtone of Sasuke's phone. He seemed a little started by it, picking the mobile out of his pocket looking at the screen and scowling before hanging up the call.
"Everything alright?" He asked looking at Sasuke's face which seemed slightly paler than normal, there was a pause as if the Uchiha was thinking of what to say, his silver eyes looking determinedly into Naruto's as if challenging him.
"Yes, it's fine." He manner was arctic again, a slightly officious tone to his voice. He turned to Kiba, "Are we doing pre-drinks before we head to this house party?"
Kiba looked delighted at this suggestion, eagerly turning around to find the bottle of Tequila he had stashed on top of the cupboard and began to pour out shots.
Naruto moved to the fridge knowing there was at least one lime somewhere at the back of the vegetable draw, normally he wouldn't have bothered but for some reason it made a difference with Sasuke standing there looking slightly out of place with a shot glass in hand.
He flipped a saucer out of one of the cupboards and poured table salt into the middle and placed it down with the cut lime onto the kitchen counter.
"This is very civilised." Kiba said looking up from the salt saucer and giving Naruto a strange look. Naruto gave Kiba a warning glance, he had seen his friend chug down a jug of beer in under a minute on a dare, it not something he felt Sasuke would be particularly au fait with should his competitive side escalate as it often did at parties.
"Come on Maru." Naruto shouted, rousing the brunet from the sofa. "Take one for the team."
As they licked the salt from the back of their hands Naruto noticed Sasuke staring at him intently, his expression curious. He held his gaze, knocking back the shot and chasing it with the lime wedge.
A good thing he had grabbed the lime as well, whatever tequila Kiba had used tasted like battery acid.
"Excellent," Kiba Inuzuka said, rubbing his hands together apparently unaware of the grimaces around him. "Let's do another round."
Sasuke was a little more drunk than he had meant to become as he leaned against the wall, the music was playing loudly from another room and the cool night air from the open balcony window was letting in a mixture of cigarette smoke and pollution from the London traffic below.
He had purposefully ignored Itachi's call, and his other call…and his other other call. There were now several messages on his phone which Sasuke had resolutely left on read.
Hey, Madara wants to talk tomorrow
Sasuke?
Pick up
A blonde girl with platinum hair and sea green eyes was chatting to him animatedly, Sasuke could half hear her over the music but had to admit to himself he was not paying proper attention. His mind kept flicking between what was going to happen tomorrow morning, Itachi apparently forgetting their mother's birthday and what Naruto was currently doing across the room from him.
He kept trying to resist looking at Naruto but finding his eyes naturally wondering towards him more often than not. There was something about the blond, perhaps his easy manner or effortless self confidence that Sasuke found (despite himself) magnetic.
He was standing next to Kiba, apparently keeping his promise by looking as gormless as possible as the auburn man animatedly chatted to an attractive girl with long dark hair and pale, almost lilac coloured eyes.
A few steps away from them he could see Neji disapprovingly eyeing Kiba over, he was completely ignoring the dark haired man in green khakis next to him who was trying to engage him in what looked like a very animated (albeit one sided) conversation.
Eventually apparently tiring of the conversation or deciding Kiba was a lost cause Naruto broke away from the two, looking around the room and catching Sasuke's eye. He winked at Sasuke, and the Uchiha found himself quickly jerking his gaze away as if he had been stung a slight flush rising into his cheeks. He concentrated hard again on the discussion in front of him, feeling the tips of his ears becoming hot.
Ino had been asking him something about Sakura's research group, he hadn't been paying proper attention and stumbled trying to fill in the answer when Naruto stepped in and saved him from answering.
"Ino, I've not seen you in ages." Naruto said wasting no time, bending over and giving her a warm hug.
"Yes you have." Ino said bossily, "You've just forgotten. We went out for that Korean BBQ remember? But you spent all your time trying to chat up my friend."
"Sakura?" Naruto said brightly, Sasuke found himself frowning without really knowing why. "Yeah she's super-hot." He nudged Ino with his arm, "Not that you're not of course."
Ino laughed her pale complexion colouring, "Careful or you'll give Sai the wrong idea."
She looked back at Sasuke and then at Naruto again as if comparing the two against each other; "I didn't know you guys knew each other." She said contentedly, taking a sip of her drink.
"Kiba's been trying to rope this one into his Studen Union take over," Naruto said looking at Sasuke as if to gauge his reaction. "Sasuke's been a good sport about it."
"Oh another scheme?" Ino said grinning, "Mind you he did well as Rugby captain last year."
"Please don't tell him that," Naruto said looking concerned, "it'll go straight to his head."
"Didn't half the team get taken off in stretchers?" Sasuke asked, draining the last of his bottle. The room was starting to swim.
"Stretchers and C-spine immobilization." Naruto said with a grimace, "I'm still not sure how we won."
He looked at Sasuke with his bright blue eyes, "Do you want to grab some water with me?"
Sasuke nodded and followed him out to the kitchen; it was quieter here with less people, the bending of the hallway muffling the noise of the music. He felt himself give a small sigh of relief, leant against the kitchen counter feeling his heart pump in his chest as Naruto filled a large glass from the tap. He took one for himself and drank the entirety of it in almost one gulp.
"That's where I know you from!" He said finishing it, as if finally putting something together which had been eluding him for some time. "You're Sakura's friend."
"She's my cousin." Sasuke said taciturnly, sipping on the lukewarm water and wrinkling his nose. Naruto must have noticed his distaste because he held out his hand to take the glass away from him and ran the tap for a few more seconds before refilling it for him.
"She's really cool." Naruto said appreciatively, "She's working on that Psychedelic project, isn't she?"
"Yes…" Sasuke said reticently, unsure of why he was finding talking about Sakura to Naruto awkward. Naruto had a way of looking at him that made him feel as if he was being X-rayed and Sasuke had taken umbrage to it. It was making it difficult for him to hide his feelings efficiently. He had not encountered anything quite like it before.
"Why? Is that what you're interested in?"
"Psych?" Naruto said, grimacing. "Absolutely not, too much talking. I don't have the attention span for it. Anyway, I thought you disapproved of medicine?"
Sasuke didn't say anything, when he was eighteen he had briefly dated a much older man who had been a qualified doctor. It had been a short-lived but abusive relationship that he had told no one about. Not even Itachi. Looking back on it now why a thirty-year-old should had been interested in someone who was barely out of secondary school should have been warning enough in itself. But Sasuke had been young and naïve and had felt greatly flattered by his attentions.
"Let me guess," he said appreciating the now cold water, "you want to be a surgeon?"
"No," Naruto said smiling, there were faint whisker like scars on his cheek Sasuke noticed, but they didn't detract from his overall countenance, if anything they suited him.
"Anaesthetics?"
"Eh," Naruto inclined his head as if considering, "getting closer."
"A&E?"
Naruto grinned refilling his glass of water, "It's the one I'm leaning towards the most."
"You know what they say about A&E staff don't you?" Shikamaru had entered the kitchen, apparently looking for Naruto. "They are all ADHD-riddled borderline autistic queers."
Sasuke choked on his water and Naruto shrugged his shoulders as if he couldn't argue with that point.
"I think they need you in the other room, mate." Shikamaru said tilting his head back towards the living room. They could hear a chorus of chants drifting down the corridor.
"What's he got up to now?" Naruto asked, rolling his eyes and moving quickly past Shikamaru and disappearing from site; his friend shook his head and motioned for Sasuke to follow them back through.
Clapping himself on the chest to dislodge water droplets from his trachea, a little red in the face he joined them.
Somehow Neji and Kiba had got themselves into a wrestling match and were trying to best each other in the middle of the room. Someone had moved the sofas out the way to give them more space as the two were actively cheered on by the excitable crowd.
"And you just let this happen?" Sasuke could hear Naruto chiding Shikamaru from between the yells of the excited throng.
"He did it in the five minutes I went outside for a smoke." Shikamaru said with a shrug of his shoulders.
They watched as Kiba slowly became redder and redder, droplets of sweat beading on his forehead as Neji slowly overpowered him. For a moment Sasuke wondered if the tennis balls Neji had claimed to be hitting were weighted and then there was a loud thumb as Kiba fell to the floor under his dark-haired rival.
The crowd cheered and booed and Kiba remained on the floor with his hands over his face, as if this would somehow protect the last tattered remains of his dignity.
"Hey Neji," Naruto shouted, he had jumped onto one of the backs of the sofas. "I'll be his second, trial by combat right? Game of thrones rules!"
"What are you talking about?" Shikamaru shouted at him looking exasperated but he was grinning at the same time.
Neji raised an eyebrow looking cooly at Naruto but inclined his head a little, looking round for his friend Lee. He was at present nowhere to be seen, he looked around again his eyes falling on Sasuke who was standing in the doorway watching the entire spectacle.
"Sasuke Uchiha!" Neji called, "You'll be my second, right?"
There was a round of applause from the crowd and some whoops of appreciation, Sasuke felt himself slapped on the back several times and pushed forwards into the room. Naruto was looking at him with keen interest, a cocky expression on his face.
"Oh I don't know if Sasuke would stoop so low," Naruto said in a slight drawl with a malicious grin on his face, it revealed the slightly pointed canines in his wide and generous mouth. Sasuke felt a small spark of something inside of his chest as he eyed the blond up and down, taking note of his physique and confident stance.
"I don't think Sasuke Uchiha likes to get his hands dirty."
There was something in Naruto's voice, in his presence, in his goading tone that kindled something which had long been dormant inside of him.
"Yeah, I'll be your second Neji." Sasuke said, surprising even himself as Naruto's eyes sparkled and his grin became more infectious.
"Quick! Someone go fetch his fencing Sabres."
Sasuke against his better judgement let out a bark of laughter, taking off his shirt and throwing it over the back of a nearby chair. Several of the girls let out wolf whistles.
"Alright Uzumaki." He said moving towards the middle of the room, "you're on."
A/N:
UCL - University College London (branded as UCL) is a public research university in London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University of London, and is the second-largest university in the United Kingdom by total enrolment and the largest by postgraduate enrolment.
Classically King's College London (known as KCL) has had a long and 'intense' rivalry between students, often culminating in stealing mascots and other such antics. Because a lot of the London Universities share campuses near each other they can be pretty competitive with each other.
The ADHD line come from my partner's observation about A&E staff, of which he is one.