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, explicit sexual content (yaoi), & angst.

Crazy About You

Chapter 11: Impossible to Ignore

"I'm inside your grapefruit."

- Supernatural

--

Naruto couldn't ignore it.

He wanted to, he really did, but it was quite literally driving him insane at this point. What had started as a slight craving had quickly manifested into a full-blown obsession- one that burned in his brain, branding him. His skin crawl with need, the feeling festering until it made him feel physically ill. He trembled violently, like an addict without a fix- a persistent itch he couldn't scratch lodged deep in his head.

After a while he could even see it. Thoughts merged with delusions and now there were bumps raising up, moving in his skin, just under the surface. They shifted up his arms, his neck, scurrying across his chest and slowly burrowed deeper. He scratched at them, but every time he did they just multiplied. The itching grew to desperate clawing as he fought to get them out, and soon panicky shrieks were tearing from his throat. Several orderlies rushed into his room and grabbed his hands, forcing him to stop, but it only made it worse. There was nothing to keep those things from invading the rest of his body, moving deeper inside, and it terrified him.

Naruto threw his head back and screamed, his voice cracking under the weight of his terror. He pleaded for them to cut them out- the nameless things writhing under his skin- but no one else could see what he saw.

More drugs were forced into his veins, feeding what was already inside. They were getting bigger, but the orderlies still couldn't see what they had done to him. Naruto's screams grew more frantic, and still they cruelly refused to help him. He cursed them for their callousness and called out to the one person who actually did care about him, hating that Sasuke was too far to hear it.

Then the meds took over- clouding his vision and clearing his mind. And suddenly he could see all of this for what it really was. The things under his skin were nothing more than a manifestation, an explanation he had conjured up in his head- a way to make sense of that sharp desire he felt.

When he had drawn the man who controls crows, he had unknowingly pulled the illusion back into his life. And Naruto was suddenly desperate to have it back. He missed his unbalanced mind- the hallucinations, the comfort of a chaos he knew. He wanted it back. Needed it back.

Naruto was embarrassed to show that side of himself to Sasuke, but he couldn't deny it to himself. It didn't have to be everyday- the people here would never allow that- but it couldn't be none. It just couldn't.

Before Naruto's consciousness completely faded away, he made a decision. Tomorrow he would skip the meds. By then whatever the orderlies had shot into his veins should dwindle to nothing, and then he'd be free. Free to be himself again.

I'm sorry Sasuke, I just can't stand another second without them.

Then his eyes and awareness rolled back, lost somewhere in his head, and he was pulled into the endless comfort of a familiar darkness- the same color as Sasuke's eyes.

The color of crows.

--

Sasuke chewed at his thumb nail, worrying it down to next to nothing as he anxiously paced his room. Something's wrong. Something's wrong and he isn't telling me. Why wouldn't he tell me?

Why would he lie to me?

Of all of the things he's admitted to me, how many times he's been so ridiculously open and honest, why would this be what he lies about?

It didn't make any sense, which only bothered him more.

Sasuke stormed over to his door, and knocked on it hard, his fist slamming against the stubborn slab with bruising force. "Hey!! Nurse! Come here- I need to talk to you!"

He waited impatiently, his frustration growing with every silent second, until finally someone showed up. The small panel in his door slid back, revealing a face he recognized. Just not one he was hoping for.

Goddamnit.

"Not you" he snarled. "Send a different nurse."

Mizuki gave him an annoyed look, unmistakable disgust flickering in his judgmental gaze. "I'm not a nurse, Uchiha, I'm an orderly. And I don't work for you."

"Did I fucking stutter?" Sasuke snapped. "Bring me someone else!"

The man glared at him, his own anger rising. "You going to behave yourself? Or am I going to need to restrain you to your cot?"

"If you touch me, I'll break your fucking hand" he growled back.

Sasuke despised this bastard, far more than the rest. He's seen the hate in his eyes, the disapproving looks. You could practically smell the stench of homophobia wafting off of him. And what's more, he hated that he directed it at Naruto too. Sasuke could handle it- in fact he always welcomed a reason to beat the shit out of some dirtbag. But that didn't mean he was ok with someone subjecting his blonde to it. He didn't want anyone or anything to give Naruto a reason to question their relationship.

Mizuki sneered at him, weighing the pros and cons of stepping into that room. While he would love nothing more than to tie the Uchiha down and teach him a valuable lesson, he was definitely not interested in getting himself in a position where he would have to fend him off. In the end, he decided it just wasn't worth the risk.

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that" he muttered. "Do yourself a favor and go to sleep, will ya?"

When Sasuke continued to look unconvinced, he added, "Wouldn't want to be locked away tomorrow instead of seeing your little boy toy, now would you?"

A feral cry tore from Sasuke's throat and he launched himself at the door. Mizuki quickly slammed the panel closed before Sasuke could get his fingers through it, which only pissed him off more.

"You fucking bastard!! Get back here, asshole! Get the fuck back here!!"

Mizuki shook his head at what he decided was the Uchiha's unreasonable outrage and made his way back down the hall, choosing to ignore it. A few orderlies rushed over to him, having heard the shouting from their own posts, but Mizuki quickly talked down their concerns.

"He'll tire himself out" he assured them.

The others didn't look all that convinced, but they didn't challenge him on it which he supposed was the best he could ask for.

Sasuke's screaming went on for far longer than expected, but eventually he exhausted himself and it faded down to nothing. Just as he knew it would.

Mizuki's ears were still ringing, phantom echoes of the Uchiha's irate cries still floating around in his head in the resounding silence. But after a while Mizuki was relieved to find that they too were gone.

He uttered a few hateful slurs under his breath as he made his way back to his desk, plenty irritated himself. Then he settled back in his chair, turned on some music, and let his mind wander back to the events that took place earlier this week. He could still see the look on Iruka's face when he realized he had left him to fend for himself. The moment when Sasuke's elbow slammed into that face, and the satisfaction Mizuki felt seeing him fall back.

A smile pulled at his own as the image replayed for him. And, just as all the other times before, Mizuki chose to disregard the sudden heat in his groin as he pictured Iruka lying there- dazed and helpless on the floor.

A heat that was slowly becoming more difficult to ignore.

--

"Hey, Sasuke?"

"Hmm?"

"Would you grab me a water?"

The raven gave the blonde a curious look. It wasn't a ridiculous request, but it felt out of place. In fact, he couldn't shake the suspicion that Naruto was just trying to get him to leave. He just didn't understand why.

You're being paranoid, he told himself. Which, truth be told, was pretty likely- it was one of Sasuke's wonderful character flaws after all.

In the end he couldn't justify not getting him one and rose to his feet to do just that. "Yeah.. sure, Naruto."

He reluctantly stepped away as Naruto fitzed around with the supplies on the art cart- his immediate destination when he came into the community room. He had yet to make a decision, rather he was just obsessively touching every thing that the cart had to offer.

Like he hasn't seen the exact one every day for a fucking year.

One of the orderlies even had to bring his meds over to it since Naruto ignored his calls to meet him by the-

Sasuke stopped.

Son of a bitch.

He knew exactly what he was doing.

The raven spun around fast and went to rush over to his deceitful blonde, but he wasn't where he left him. In fact, he was no where in sight.

"Fuck."

Sasuke whipped his head around, seeking him out. When he didn't spot that mess of blonde hair he ran across the room and over towards the corridor. He must have snuck off to the bathroom.

Sasuke skidded around the corner, ignoring the orderly commanding him to come back, and nearly collided with the blonde in question. Naruto's huge blue eyes widened even more as Sasuke came to an abrupt stop directly in front of him, his breath catching in his throat in his surprise.

Sasuke grabbed him roughly by the arms and jerked him forward, bringing him even closer. "You spat them out, didn't you."

Naruto looked nervous as he met his accusatory gaze, and he had his answer. But Sasuke wasn't satisfied with that- he wanted him to say it. He wanted an explanation.

"I-"

"What?" Sasuke snarled, "Do you plan on lying to me again?"

Naruto bit his lip. "I'm sorry."

"For spitting them out or for lying to me?"

"For lying to you."

The grip on his arms tightened and Naruto flinched. "Sasuke-"

"I thought you said I make you happy."

Naruto blinked, thrown off by the comment. "You do."

"Then why did you do this? Why can't you just be satisfied with me? Why do you need them?"

Naruto knew he meant the hallucinations. Sasuke wasn't stupid- he knew what Naruto was doing. The only reason he would choose to skip out on his meds was to get his illusions to return. And it was clear that Sasuke wasn't happy about it.

"You don't understand" Naruto said quietly.

"Then fucking make me understand!"

But before he could get anything more out of him an orderly stepped in behind him. His timing sucked, but Sasuke wasn't surprised to see him. It was the same guy who told him to come back when he headed this way in the first place. He never expected him to just sit back and ignore that.

"Come on, break it up you two. You shouldn't be back here."

Sasuke ignored the orderly until a hand dropped down on his wrist and gave it a firm squeeze. He glared at it, tempted to snap it in half like a fucking twig, but he forced back the urge. He didn't want to leave Naruto alone- not when he was about to lose his mind.

"Fine."

He released the blonde, much to the orderly's surprise, and took a step back.

"Ok.. ok, now let's get you two back to the community room."

Once again, Sasuke left the orderly completely stunned when he allowed himself to be led back into the main room without any resistance. Naruto did the same, but he seemed a lot more reluctant to. The man took that more as a sign that he was uncomfortable with the Uchiha instead of that he had some aversion about going back, and paused to ask him about it before leaving the two be.

"Uzumaki, would you like some time to yourself for a while?" He gave the blonde a pointed look, but Naruto just shook his head.

"No, it's alright."

The orderly, clearly not familiar with Naruto's candid ways, gave him a disbelieving look but chose to leave it alone for now. "Well, let me know if you find you need some space. Ok?"

Naruto nodded and with one last look at the two the man walked off to take his post elsewhere. Sasuke watched him walk away for a moment, still tempted to bust his face in, then turned back to his newest concern.

"You haven't answered my question."

Naruto tilted his head slightly. "What was the question?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and took a step towards him. "Why am I not enough for you?"

Those huge blue eyes just stared at him, sincere and unblinking. "Sasuke, that's not what this is."

The raven grated his teeth together, fresh rage clenched between them. "Then what the fuck is it" he snapped.

"I just.. miss them."

The truth. But it did little to make Sasuke's anger dissipate. "Why the hell would you even want them back? You said you were afraid of them."

"Some of them."

"And you'd still let this happen."

Naruto gave him a pained look. "Are you mad at me?"

"I would think that'd be pretty fucking obvious at this point."

"I.. don't want you to be mad at me."

"And I don't want you to torture yourself. Guess neither of us get what we want" Sasuke snarled back.

He roughly dragged his fingers through his hair and shifted his gaze to the side as dark strands slowly fell back into place.

Naruto noticed the look and his stomach twisted into a tight knot. He felt sick.

He felt desperate.

"Are you going to tell them?"

Those midnight eyes shot back to him, the fire inside now a raging inferno. "Shouldn't I?"

Naruto swallowed. "Please, Sasuke. Just one day."

"Yeah? And why should I, hm? Give me one reason why I should just ignore this."

"Because.. you care about me. Don't you?"

Sasuke's eyes darkened. "That's not fair."

"But it's true..?"

"Of course it's fucking true" he snapped. "That doesn't mean you should use it against me!"

"What do you want in return?"

Sasuke faltered at that. The thought of Naruto owing him one- he couldn't deny that it was a tempting offer. "You want to exchange favors for this."

"Favor" Naruto emphasized. "Just one."

Sasuke had one in particular that sprang to mind first- along with a beautiful image of his blonde on all fours, his back arched and his ass primed. The request was on the tip of his tongue, but he knew he wouldn't ask for it. He didn't want that to be the reason why Naruto let him go all the way. He craved the chance, obviously, but he wanted Naruto to want it just as badly as he did. Coercion was not how he planned on doing that.

So, with that out of the question, another idea slipped in to take its place.

"Fine. You want me to let you do this, then I expect you to let me do it with you."

Naruto's brows furrowed. "What does that mean?"

"It means that you are going to tell me everything. Every illusion you see, every feeling you're having- all of it."

Naruto stared at him, shock and confusion flickering beneath the surface of those cool ocean blues. "Why would you want that?"

"Because I fucking do!" Sasuke snapped. "So do we have a deal or not?"

Naruto wasn't thrilled by the prospect, but he wasn't sure he had much of a choice. Sasuke had him in a bind, and they both knew it. If at any point he told the orderlies what he had done, they would immediately force the meds into him and ruin any chance he might have of seeing his long-lost companions. And if that happened, the orderlies would definitely step up their game and keep a much closer eye on him. It would take quite some time to find another opportunity to do this if that were the case.

"I guess I don't really have a choice.." he muttered.

"No, you don't."

Naruto nodded. "Ok. I'll do it."

"Fine. But if things get out of hand you're taking those fucking meds. And you're not going to give me shit about it."

He nodded again.

"Good."

Sasuke grabbed his hand and tangled their fingers together, tightening his grasp, ensuring he couldn't break away. "Now, let's go get that water you claimed you wanted. Then we'll go to our spot and see what happens."

Naruto considered his words as he was dragged off to grab a bottle of water before turning to answer him. "Actually, can we sit by the window today?"

"Any particular reason?" Sasuke asked, though he had a feeling he already knew.

The corner of Naruto's mouth lifted ever so slightly before falling back to its neutral position.

"Just hoping to see an old friend."

As the two headed to Naruto's requested spot, Sasuke was surprised to find that he was actually pretty fucking jealous of the man who supposedly controlled birds.

A man who didn't exist.

"Christ" he muttered under his breath. "Maybe I really am crazy.."

Luckily, Naruto didn't hear him.

Though Sasuke had a feeling that if he had, he wouldn't disagree with him.

Author Note:

Alright, who's ready to see more of that lovable crazy brain?

And you know what? I think it's about time you get a look at why our darling Kiba is also institutionalized.

Curious yet? ;)

- - -

Another Note:

Guest reader: I'm so happy to hear that you liked that last line from the last chapter. Can't lie- the comment made me smile.