Naruto Uzumaki, currently fifteen, is entering high school for the first time. His life up to this point hasn't been an easy one. Growing up, the blonde didn't have too many friends, for a reason unknown to Naruto, he was always the outcast.
He didn't really know his parents. Abandoning him with his maternal grandparents at a young age, the blonde felt unwanted. His grandparents, though caring for him financially, they treated him as a burden. He was constantly berated and put down. As he grew, the lively and animated blonde became timid and quiet.
As high school approached, Naruto made a mental note to try and break out of his shell, becoming his former self, the one who spoke his mind and knew how to be happy.
The first day came and Naruto hopped onto the bus, looking around at all the familiar but unfriendly faces. Though no one outright bullied the blonde, no one was welcoming either. With a sigh, Naruto found an empty seat in the middle of the bus. He scooted close to the window and kept his gaze out the window, watching the scenery pass as they made their way to the high school.
The bus pulled up in front of the high school and Naruto stepped off, staring at the building in awe. His elementary and middle school were never this big. He suddenly felt nervous. Would he be able to make it to his classes on time? He shook his head, brushing off the nerves and taking his first step towards the building.
Finding his home room was surprisingly easy. Once he figured out that hallways were based off of the subject. His home room was located in the English wing. He took a seat in the front corner and waited for class to begin.
Once the first bell rang, the home room teacher began to explain the in's and out's of the school and what they would expect the next four years. Naruto chose to use this time to doodle on his notebook, hoping to pass the time quickly.
The bell rang for class to end, and Naruto made his way to his next class. The day seemed to drag on with first day information that Naruto couldn't care less about. Finally, it was lunchtime and the blonde made his way to the cafeteria.
As he walked down the hallway, he happened to glance up and his eyes widened. Walking towards him was a tall, pale, dark-haired teen. His eyes were a dark onyx, and he held an aura of poise and grace. Naruto kept his eyes on him, watching him pass, his ponytail swaying elegantly behind him.
He was suddenly thrown out of his gaping when a body collided into his.
"Watch where you're going, dipshit." Naruto threw a glare towards whoever ran into him, but no one was turned to him. He let out an angry huff before turning to look back down the hallway where the older Adonis walked down. Disappointed, he made his way to the cafeteria and grabbed a seat.
The day passed by uneventfully and Naruto was soon on the bus waiting for it to leave. He looked out the window and watched the students walk pass, some stopping to talk to each other.
Suddenly, he spotted the student from earlier, and he sat up in his seat watching him. The older teen stood with a group of other teens who seemed to be laughing and talking amongst themselves, though he looked bored.
Without a second thought, Naruto stepped off the bus and made his way towards the group of teens.
"What am I doing?" Naruto said out loud to himself, stopping before he reached the group. His eyes briefly met with onyx, and he felt a blush creep on his cheeks. He quickly turned and headed back to the bus, watching as the group dispersed. He watched the raven haired teen until he disappeared from his sight. He let out a sigh and kept his gaze on the window as the bus began to drive away.
The next day before homeroom, Naruto found himself at his locker, organizing the books into what he needed for the first couple periods before lunch. As he closed his locker, he spotted the raven from yesterday. He took in a deep breath before waving at him. "Hey."
The raven glanced at him briefly before continuing on down the hall.
Naruto dropped his hand in defeat, watching him continue his way down the hall. He wasn't surprised that he got ignored, but it still hurt. He started to make his way to his homeroom as the bell rang.
He reached his homeroom and raised an eyebrow as three upper classmen stood in front, talking amongst themselves. He sat in his seat and waited for the bell to ring, curious as to what was going on.
The teacher explained how the first week, representatives of the after school clubs will be visiting the freshman homerooms, hoping to get you to join.
Naruto tuned out the teacher, he was uninterested in any after school activities. He already hated being in school, why would he voluntarily stay behind? He began to zone out, thinking of the raven and hopefully figure out a way to talk to him.
The rest of the week passed pretty quickly for Naruto, any and all attempts at trying to talk to the raven ended in failure. Friday morning, he took his time making his way to his homeroom, he was already ready for the weekend.
He entered the classroom and stood frozen. There, sitting on the edge of the teacher's desk was the raven, he was giving his attention to a red-headed teen who was standing next to him. The raven's eyes briefly glanced at Naruto's as the blonde quickly shook off his shock and made his way to his seat.
Naruto felt his heart beating faster as he awaited the bell to ring. He kept taking glances at the raven, trying to not be too obvious that he was staring.
Just as the bell rang, an older blonde teen quickly made his way into the classroom, giving the other two teens a sheepish smile.
"Hello everyone," the red-headed boy turned and faced the classroom. "My name's Sasori. This is Deidara," he then pointed at the blonde, who gave a wave. "And this here is Itachi." The raven nodded towards the class.
"Itachi." Naruto mouthed to himself. He smiled, he can finally put a name to his face.
"We're here on the behalf of Akatsuki, un." Deidara spoke up next.
The class broke out into murmurs at the mention of the name. It was no secret that Akatsuki had a reputation. Filled with outcasts, rebels and troublemakers, it is rumored that they even dabbled in drugs.
Sasori held up his hands to silence the room. Once it was quiet, Sasori gave them all a soft smile. "I know you may have already heard some rumors about us, but let me explain what we're about. We're a social club, just trying to find a place to fit in. We get together, talk and hangout. Nothing too crazy." He let out a small laugh.
Naruto tuned out the rest of what Sasori had to say. He kept his gaze on Itachi, a plan forming in his head.
The bell for first period rang and Naruto quickly pulled on his backpack and followed after the three older teens. "Hey!" He shouted as he managed to catch up to them in the hallway.
The three of them stopped to turn and look at the blonde. Sasori gave him a bright smile. "Hey, what's up?"
Naruto stood in front of them, suddenly feeling nervous. "I-I was thinking about joining your club. I wanted to know when you guys meet up?"
Itachi kept quiet, only raising an eyebrow. Both Deidara and Sasori seemed to visibly perk up at Naruto's words.
"Yeah, we meet every Monday and Wednesday, un. We meet in the large art class in the front of the school." Deidara answered. "Sometimes we meet more often but outside of school mostly."
Naruto nodded before giving them a big smile. "Okay, I'll see you on Monday then! It was nice to meet you." He glanced at Itachi who was still silent. He frowned as he still didn't get any reaction from the raven as the other two waved goodbye.
The rest of the day passed by quickly. He spotted Itachi in the hall on his way to lunch, he tried to call out to him, but the raven seemed to have not noticed. At the end of the day, Deidara and Sasori waved as he made his way past the group and onto his bus.
The weekend could not pass fast enough for the blonde, who was more than eager to go to the Akatsuki club meeting. Spending the weekends at home was nothing Naruto looked forward to. The constant judgment from his grandparents and their strictness kept him in his room by himself.
Monday morning, Naruto nearly sprinted to homeroom, ready to start his day. He did his best to pay attention to his first classes, but his mind kept drifting back to thoughts of Itachi. Daydreams of the two of them playing in his mind.
Finally, the end of the day came and Naruto made his way to the art room Deidara mentioned. With a shaky breath and nervous hands, he opened the door. There were a few older teens in the room who immediately looked as soon as the door opened. Naruto swallowed as the group's eyes studied him.
"Naruto!" Sasori waved to him. He walked toward him, and Naruto gave him a relieved smile. "I'm glad you were able to make it."
"Me too." He casually looked around the room, hoping to catch a glimpse of Itachi. He let out a sigh when the raven was nowhere in sight.
"Let's go ahead and introduce ourselves." Sasori smiled down at Naruto.
"Shouldn't we wait for Deidara and Itachi to get here?" Naruto suggested, hoping to get some idea of where the raven could be.
A scoff came from a girl with blue hair. "Please. Itachi does what he wants. He may or may not show up. And Deidara is notorious for getting in trouble. We'll see if either of them show up today." She gave him a smirk. "I'm Konan by the way."
An older teen with a dark tan and longer brown hair looked towards Naruto. The blonde noted that he had some scars over his body. "Kakuzu. I'm the treasurer for Akatsuki too."
The kid next to Kakuzu had his white hair slicked back, and he was leaning haphazardly on a chair, smirking. "I'm Hidan, nice to meet ya."
Naruto gave a nod and turned to face the last teen, who was sitting in his chair with his arms crossed and eyes closed. His orange hair was styled similar to his own. "Pein." He spoke as if it was troublesome.
"Nice to meet everyone." Naruto smiled nervously at them. "So, what do you guys do here?"
Konan and Hidan shared a look before the girl giggled.
Sasori gave his full attention to the blonde. "Well, we're a social club. Most of us here don't really have a clique to fit in, so we just decided to make our own."
Naruto nodded. "Cool, that makes some sense."
"You got any friends looking to join?" Hidan asked with a smirk.
Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "I don't really have any friends. I'm kind of a loner."
"That's what we're here for." Sasori threw his arm around the blonde's shoulder. "Take a seat, we're gonna be talking about what we're gonna be doing for homecoming."
The rest of the time, Sasori and the group made a plan on how they were going to decorate their section of hallway for homecoming the next month. Much to Naruto's disappointment, Itachi did not show up for the club meeting.
Deidara eventually did show up, sitting next to Naruto and making comments throughout the discussion. Naruto felt he made a good connection with the older blonde. At the end of the day, Deidara explained how they liked to go hang out in the woods.
"Doing what?" Naruto asked as the group made their way outside.
"Drugs." Hidan responded quickly.
Naruto's eyes widened as he looked at the rest of the group. "R-really?"
Sasori rolled his eyes and glared at Hidan. "This is exactly why we get a bad reputation." He turned to Naruto, giving him a smile. "For the most part, we smoke weed. But that's not our reason for hanging out. We just enjoy each other's company and don't really feel like going home."
Naruto gave a weary nod. "I think I'll skip out for the day, but I'll see you guys on Wednesday." He watched as Hidan, Kakuzu, Konan and Pein made their way to the back of the school. Sasori and Deidara stayed behind.
"Those four are a little, extreme, un." Deidara commented. "But they aren't too bad. They grow on you."
Sasori nodded in agreement. "Yes, but it was awesome hanging out with you. Next time, you gotta hang out with us after school too."
Naruto smiled brightly at them. "Sure thing, see you!" He waved and watched them follow after the other four before turning around and making his way home.
Over the next month, Naruto became close friends with Sasori and Deidara. The other members of Akatsuki, besides Itachi, were wary of the blonde. Itachi still seemed to not take any interest in Naruto, despite the blonde's efforts.
Naruto would get a nod from the raven in passing in the halls. During the Akatsuki meetings, if the raven showed up, he would sit close to the blonde, occasionally indulging in Naruto's random conversations.
Naruto made his way to Deidara and Sasori's table. At the Akatsuki meeting the day before, Deidara asked if the blonde wanted to sit with them at lunch. The blonde got visibly excited, agreeing wholeheartedly.
As he approached the table, he felt his heartbeat faster as he noticed Itachi sitting with Deidara and Sasori. He took in a deep breath before flashing them a large smile. "Hey guys!"
"Hey Naruto!" Sasori scooted over on the bench, allowing the blonde to sit next to him and sitting directly in front of Itachi.
"Hey Itachi," Naruto gave a small smile, he didn't expect much from the raven, but he still tried anyway.
"Hey." Itachi nodded. "You hanging out with us after school today?"
Naruto's eyes widened at the question. This was probably the most Itachi has ever said to him at once. He choked on whatever piece of food the cafeteria was trying to pass off as edible. He coughed abruptly, reaching for his milk and taking a sip. "Uh, yeah. I can hang out."
Itachi smirked. "Cool. I'm looking forward to seeing you outside a school setting."
Naruto's cheeks darkened, and he sheepishly began to play with his food. "Oh-oh yeah? Why's that?"
"Deidara and Sasori say you're pretty entertaining in the club meetings when I'm not there. I just imagine you'd be more fun outside of school restrictions."
Naruto looked towards Deidara and Sasori.
The older blonde let out a loud laugh. "Hell yeah, un! He's got some jokes, and the way he makes fun of Kakuzu is pretty fucking funny."
Naruto smirked. "Yeah, well, he makes it so easy being such a stickler about things."
"Do you smoke at all?" Itachi asked, a curious look in his eyes.
"Well," the blonde started. He paused. "I never actually tried it."
"He's never hung out with us after school," Sasori stepped in. "Despite me and Deidara bothering him too."
"Guess we'll have to change that, huh, Naruto?" Itachi once again smirked at him.
Naruto stared at Itachi, his stomach doing flips. His name never sounded so good. "Y-yeah, I guess so!"
Itachi nodded before turning to Deidara. "Let's head out." He gestured towards the cafeteria exit with his head. The two stood up and made their way out.
Naruto watched with curious eyes as the two disappeared from sight. He looked to Sasori. "Where are they going?"
Sasori stared at where the two exited, chewing slowly as he thought of how to answer the question. "I don't really know exactly what goes on between those two. I know they have a lot of classes together, I imagine it's related to that."
"Hm." Naruto hummed, turning back to stare at the exit.
"So you'll really hang out with us today? You're not gonna bail?" Sasori snickered as Naruto shot him a glare.
"Of course! I don't go back on my word." Naruto nearly shouted.
The last class of the day ended and Naruto slowly made his way to the front of the school where Akatsuki gathered. He felt his nerves jumping. He was finally going to be able to hang out with Itachi. He frowned as he remembered Itachi mentioning smoking. He wasn't necessarily opposed to smoking, but it wasn't something he was looking forward to doing either.
He let out a shaky breath as he walked out the front doors and saw the group gathered. He made his way over and stood in between Sasori and Itachi. "Hey."
"You finally decided to come hang with us?" Kakuzu asked in a condescending tone. "I figured you were just too good for us to want to hang out after school."
Konan and Hidan snickered at Kakuzu's comment. Pein stood with his arms crossed, a bored look on his face.
Naruto gave him a large smile. "Of course not. I'm just afraid if I hang around you too much and make you laugh, that stick up your ass might get further stuck."
Sasori and Deidara held back their laughter as Kakuzu shot a glare at Naruto, who began to smirk. Itachi let out a snort, and Naruto felt himself swell with pride.
"See, what did I say, un." Deidara snickered as he glanced at Itachi. "It's like this all the time."
"Whatever." Kakuzu rolled his eyes. "He's still new, he'll learn his place."
"Don't talk like I'm not here, dickhead." Naruto bit back.
Kakuzu let out a growl, but otherwise ignored the blonde, beginning to walk towards the back of the school.
Kakuzu led the way, Hidan and Konan following close behind. Pein and Itachi trailed slowly behind them, neither talking. Naruto followed, in between Sasori and Deidara.
"How far away are we going?" Naruto asked as they reached the football field behind the school. He looked to see there was a decent sized hill in front of them.
"Don't tell me you're tired already, blondie?" Hidan looked over his shoulder with a smirk.
"Of course not." Naruto responded, sticking out his tongue. "I just wanna know if I'm gonna have to hike halfway across town just to get back home."
"It's just over this hill." Pein stated in a bored tone.
"And then across the next field." Konan stated.
"And then we just walk a few feet into the woods, un." Deidara stated, holding back a snicker.
Naruto let out a small groan. "This sounds like a whole ass adventure."
"It's not too bad." Itachi looked over his shoulder and Naruto perked up. "It sounds a lot worse than it actually is."
Naruto was happy to note that Itachi's words rung true. Once they reached the top of the hill, the wooded area was a short walk across a small field. The blonde followed the group into the trees until they reached a clearing.
The clearing was a good size and the ground was flat, a long, fallen tree sitting close to the middle. The blonde noted there were a couple of stumps next to the fallen tree to make a circle. The group headed that way, and Naruto trailed after them.
Konan, Pein and Itachi sat on the fallen tree. Naruto tried to sit in the stump closest to Itachi, but Deidara beat him to it. With a small sigh, he sat on the one next to the older blonde.
"So, besides smoking," Naruto started as everyone settled in. "What else do you guys do out here?"
"Depends on how we feel after we smoke." Hidan stated as he dropped his bookbag in front of him. He dug in before pulling out a few joints. He passed one down to his left and one to his right before taking out a lighter and lighting the one he had. Once it was lit, he passed the lighter and took a hit.
Naruto watched as Konan lit the one in her hand, and Sasori lit the other. Sasori passed it to him, and Naruto carefully grabbed it.
"Just take a deep breath in, hold it and then slowly release it, un." Deidara instructed. "It's puff, puff, pass. So two hits and pass it my way."
Naruto did a slow nod and put the joint to his lips. He suddenly got nervous as he realized everyone in the group was staring at him. He inhaled deeply, held the smoke and in two seconds was coughing abruptly as he felt he was choking.
Hidan began to laugh hysterically, as Konan and Kakuzu looked on with a smirk. Sasori lightly tapped the blonde on the back as Naruto quickly handed off the joint to Deidara. "Don't worry, it gets easier." Sasori flashed him a sheepish smile.
Naruto continued his coughing, unable to say anything. He felt his head begin to hurt, and the edges of his eyes dotting black from lack of oxygen. He even felt himself drooling.
"You're a mess." Pein stated as the joint reached him and he took a hit.
"Come on guys, it's his first time," Konan stated. "Ease up a bit."
Finally, Naruto felt himself able to catch his breath. He inhaled the air deeply, letting it out slowly.
"When it comes back to you," Itachi began to talk, and Naruto gave him his full attention. "Try to take a smaller hit. More like a sip."
Naruto nodded as Sasori passed him a joint. He took in a quick breath before bringing the joint to his lips. He took in a small breath, holding it for much longer and letting the smoke exhale through his nose. A dizzying feeling overcame him, but it quickly passed. He smiled as he took another hit and then passed it.
"There you go, un!" Deidara praised. "You're a natural."
Naruto giggled, smiling brightly.
"Damn." Kakuzu shook his head, the smirk still on his face. "He already looks high as fuck."
"What do you expect?" Konan laughed. "It's his first time and that first hit nearly knocked him off his ass."
The rest of the group began to start a conversation that Naruto couldn't follow. He felt his head feel heavy, but he felt great. He looked up at the sky, noting it looked bluer than normal. He didn't realize everyone got up until he felt a nudge in his side.
His eyes widened as he turned to see Itachi sitting next to him. He looked around to see that everyone was gathered in the clearing a bit away. He looked back at Itachi who held a joint in his hands.
"This one is ours to share." Itachi stated. "The others are gonna start some role-playing."
Naruto took the joint, slowly taking a hit and looking back at the group. "Role-play?"
"Yeah, it's a fun way to release some stress. And keep that imagination running." Itachi watched as the group started to disperse. "Pretty sure today is ninja day."
Naruto snickered as he began to watch the group making hand signals and doing poses before they began to run around the clearing. "If anyone ever told me this is what the members of the Akatsuki do in their free time, I would never believe them."
Itachi took the joint from Naruto, observing with the blonde. "It's actually pretty fun and freeing, you'd be surprised."
Naruto quickly turned to face Itachi. "You do it too?"
Itachi gave a nod. "I have to be more high."
Naruto hummed in response. "Is this what being high feels like all the time?"
Itachi smirked as he passed the joint. "I mean, for the most part. Different strains do different things."
"Sounds complicated."
"It isn't."
Naruto laughed. "I think I could get used to this."
For the next two weeks, Naruto hung out with the Akatsuki after school as much as he could. He even joined in on the role-playing, and once again had to admit that Itachi was right. He felt free, like a kid again.
On the third week, Naruto went to the Akatsuki meeting, excited to hang out with them once again. He entered the room to see everyone but Itachi was there.
"Hey." Naruto greeted Deidara as he sat down next to him. "What's going on? Everyone looks like someone died."
He looked around the room to see somber expressions around the room. His eyes widened as he looked back at Deidara. "Someone didn't die, right?"
"No." Deidara lightly chuckled. He then let out a deep sigh. "Itachi's not coming back though."
Naruto's eyes widened in shock. He felt his heart stop and drop to his stomach. It felt painful and he rubbed at his stomach. "What? Why? What happened?"
"I don't know about the details, un." Deidara looked down at his lap. "But he moved back to the other side of the country."
Naruto felt his heart break even further at the news. "O-oh."
"Don't worry, un" Deidara smiled at him. "We're still all here."
Naruto gave a sad smile and nodded his head. "Yeah, that's true, isn't it?"
Naruto felt himself not looking forward to going to the Akatsuki over the next few weeks once Itachi was gone. After the first two weeks of Itachi leaving, he stopped hanging out with them after school. A month after that, Naruto found himself skipping the Akatsuki meetings all together.
The only contact he kept was Sasori and Deidara which he only saw at lunch.
When the two questioned his disappearance from the club, Naruto gave them the excuse of doing bad in his classes, his grandparents being strict on him.
Though it was true his grades had been slipping, his grandparents were none the wiser. As long as the blonde had good behavior, they didn't necessarily care what he did outside their house.
Eventually, the two stopped trying to convince Naruto to hang out with them, content to at least be able to spend some time with the blonde at lunchtime.
The year passed by quickly for the blonde. Itachi never leaving his mind. The blonde kept to himself besides those times at lunch. During the summer, he hardly left his house, falling into a slump.
As the new school year began to approach, Naruto wasn't looking forward to it. He didn't keep in contact with Sasori and Deidara despite him promising them. He wasn't looking forward to hearing what they had to say about that.
The first day of school was finally here. After stepping off the bus, he made his way to his locker to get things settled.
As he approached his locker, he noticed a head of red hair at the locker next to his. He stopped in front of his locker and began to spin the lock to unlock it. He looked over to see the red head glance at him. His eyes widened as he got a glimpse of his face.
"Hey," he gently tapped him on the shoulder. "Do you know a Sasori? You look a lot like him."
The red head smirked. "I just happen to be his younger brother."
"What? No way!" Naruto smiled brightly. "He never mentioned he had a younger brother."
He shrugged. "It's not something we like to tell other people. I'm Gaara by the way."
"Naruto!" He held out his hand for the redhead to take, which he did hesitantly. "So you're a freshman?"
Gaara nodded. He closed his locker door, pulling the strap on over his shoulder. "Yeah, I was supposed to be a sophomore, but I got held back two years ago for behavioral issues."
"You don't still have 'em, right?" He chuckled.
Gaara smirked at him before turning and beginning to walk down the hall.
Naruto felt himself get nervous and quickly ran after him. "You don't, right?"
"Guess you'll just have to wait and find out."
Naruto stopped in his tracks and watched as Gaara continued walking. He then smiled brightly and caught up to him. "Is that your way of saying you want to be friends?"
Gaara gave him a thoughtful look. "If that's what you want it to mean."
"I think so. I think we'll make good friends." Naruto continued walking with him. He knew homeroom was the opposite direction, but he wasn't ready to head that way just yet. "Does that mean you'll join Akatsuki?"
Gaara shook his head. "I don't need to join. We all meet online on Skype later in the evening. I don't like leaving home longer than I need to."
"Skype?" Naruto questioned.
"It's this online chat app. You can talk to your friends with a mic and camera. I think it's the best thing to happen to socializing."
"And all the Akatsuki members go on?"
"Well, not really Pein. I think Itachi is the one who is on the most, though, but I think that's just because he doesn't live by us anymore."
At the name, Naruto felt his heart begin to beat faster. A smile slowly crept on his face. "Itachi's on there?"
Gaara nodded. He stopped in front of a door. "This is my homeroom. I guess I'll see you at lunch?"
"Yeah, sounds good to me! I'll see you then." Naruto waved as Gaara walked into the room. The warning bell rang and Naruto quickly made his way to his own homeroom, a large smile adorning his face.
At lunch, Naruto made his way to the cafeteria and found the table where Gaara, Sasori and Deidara were sitting.
"Hey Naruto." Sasori greeted. "We didn't hear from you all summer, what happened?"
Naruto looked at the two older teens, who were giving him expectant looks. He felt bad now that he was face to face with them. He bit his lip before deciding to lie, the chances of them finding out being slim to none. "My grandparents decided to take a trip at the last minute. We were out of state the whole summer. I met Gaara earlier." He gave a quick nod to the red head. "He said you guys all talk on Skype. You should've let me know, I would've joined."
"You use Skype, un?" Deidara asked excitedly. "We didn't know, otherwise we would've told Itachi to add you to our group on there. He's the one who does all the techy stuff, un."
"Yeah! Tell him to add me!" Naruto smiled brightly, the thought of being able to talk and see Itachi again lifting his spirits.
"Will do." Sasori responded with a laugh.
Throughout the rest of lunch, Naruto's thoughts were focused on Itachi, and his classes after that.
As soon as school was over, Naruto excitedly got onto the family computer, loading up Skype and waiting for a sign that he's been added to the Akatsuki group.
Hours passed and Naruto felt himself becoming discouraged as his messages and friends list remained empty. He was soon called down for dinner and with a defeated sigh, he logged out and headed downstairs to eat.
Shortly after, dinner was finished and Naruto finished the dishes. He made his way to his room and completed his homework for the night.
He made his way back to the computer and, with little hope, logged into Skype. His eyes lit up as a notification to join a group meeting greeted him. He eagerly pulled on his headphones and adjusted his webcam before accepting the request.
Soon sounds of voices entered his ear and a bunch of tiny screens showing the Akatsuki members appeared. He scanned them, Gaara, Sasori, Kakuzu, Deidara and finally, Itachi. He grinned brightly and waved at the camera.
"Naruto!" Deidara shouted excitedly. "You're finally here, un!"
"Well, well, look what the cat dragged in." Kakuzu smirked.
"Nice to see you too, Kakuzu." Naruto smiled even brighter. "Hope you made some progress in getting that stick out of your ass?"
The group laughed as Kakuzu glared.
"God, I miss that." Sasori remarked after finishing laughing.
"Yeah, me too." Naruto replied, a sad smile on his face.
"It's been a minute." Naruto's heart raced at the sound of Itachi's voice. He glanced up to fix his gaze on the raven's screen. He nodded his head, too nervous to speak.
The group continued to chat and joke with each other until, one by one, they logged off. It was close to 8pm when it was just Itachi and Naruto left online, everyone being called for dinner.
"You don't have to go for dinner?" Itachi asked curiously, leaning back in his chair, one leg propped up.
Naruto shook his head. "Nah, my grandparents don't really care what I do. As long as I don't give them a bad image."
Itachi leaned forward, a look in his eye that Naruto couldn't place. "So if you wanted to, you can stay up all night, huh?"
Naruto thought about it before shrugging, an embarrassed smile gracing his face. "I'm not sure. I've never tried to stay up past eleven. Never really had a reason to."
A smirk slowly graced Itachi's face. "You wanna give it a try?"
Naruto's cheeks reddened further. "S-sure!"
"Cool." Itachi leaned back in his chair. "No one else stays up late, so since I'm on the other side of the country, it gets lonely here at night."
Naruto furrowed his eyebrows. "Oh, that sucks." He then gave Itachi a bright smile. "But I'll stay up with you, if I can."
"Let's watch a movie." Itachi suggested.
"How will that work?" Naruto asked, confused.
"I'll send you a link, and we'll play it at the same time and just enjoy it together."
Naruto blushed, and his heart began to beat faster. It was starting to sound like a long distance date. Which he did not have a problem with. He could feel his feelings for Itachi grow deeper. "Okay, that sounds like fun!"
"Alright, I'll send you the link, and we'll sync it up, but then I'm gonna grab some snacks." Itachi leaned further in his seat, beginning to type away at his computer.
Naruto waited patiently for Itachi to send him the link to the movie. He smiled to himself when he saw that the movie was Jack and Jill. "Never really pegged you as a comedy guy." He commented as he began to load the website.
Itachi just smirked. "There's more to me than meets the eye, Naruto. Now, meet back here no longer than ten minutes, you don't need to make a whole meal, okay?"
Naruto laughed before nodding. "Alright, see you soon."
Naruto made his way downstairs to see dinner was already made, a plate sitting at his usual spot on the table. He sighed to himself as he grabbed it and placed it in the microwave. He was used to not always being called down for dinner, but sometimes he just wished they could be a closer family. He shook his head, clearing the thoughts from his mind.
He smiled to himself as he thought about, instead, how he was spending the night alone with Itachi, and they were watching a movie together. He placed a hand on his chest as he felt his heartbeat faster. "Itachi," he whispered the raven's name out loud before giggling to himself. The microwave soon beeped, and he grabbed his plate and headed back to the computer room.
The two watched the movie together, making comments and laughing together. Once the movie ended, the two began to chat with each other until it was about 2AM.
"Oh shit," Naruto muttered with a yawn, looking at the time. "It's late."
Itachi had a leg thrown over the side of his chair, his elbow resting on his knee and fist holding up his head. He smirked at the blonde through the camera. "Getting tired?"
Naruto blushed and nodded his head. "Yeah, plus school, ya know?"
Itachi's smirk grew larger. "I guess I'll be nice and let you go."
Naruto's blush deepened. He laughed. "Thanks, I guess?"
Itachi sat up straight in his chair, looking directly into the web camera. Naruto felt his heart skip a beat at the intense look he was given. "I appreciate you staying up with me, Naruto. I hope you'll stay up with me tomorrow?"
Naruto nodded again before giving him a large smile. "Yeah, of course!"
The two said their goodbyes and Naruto turned off the computer before making his way to his bedroom.
"Naruto."
The blonde froze in his tracks as he walked past his grandparent's bedroom. He turned to see Tsunade walking out of her bedroom, a tired glare on her face. "H-hey?"
"Why are you up so late?"
Naruto turned to fully face her. "I was talking with a friend, and we were watching a movie too. Time got away from me."
Tsunade crossed her arms over her chest, her glare deepening. "You better make sure you're still doing well in school. I don't want to hear anything about you skipping class or sleeping in class, you got me?"
Naruto let out a sigh. "Yes, granny. I understand."
Tsunade uncrossed her arms and gave a firm nod. "Good." She said nothing else as she walked back into her bedroom and closed the door.
Naruto let out a deep breath before heading back to his room.
Every day after that first night with Itachi, Naruto came home every day to hang out with him via Skype. Some days the rest of the Akatsuki would join, but none of them would stay as long as the blonde. It wasn't long before Naruto was head over heels for the raven.
He spent his time in school hanging out with Gaara and occasionally Deidara and Sasori. The days when he didn't want to be home with his grandparents, he made sure to be at Gaara and Sasori's house to seek peace. The three of them would then chat with Itachi on Skype.
As the months went on, Naruto's grades were beginning to slip. He managed to hide most of his grades from his grandparents. But at the beginning of the winter break, they confronted him, and limited him to being on the computer. The punishment didn't last long, when the blonde managed to pass his midterms with flying colors.
It was now the start of spring break and Naruto woke up late in the afternoon, the night before, staying up till 6AM to hang out with Itachi.
He made his way down the stairs to see his grandfather, Jiraiya, sitting at the table, the paper in one hand and a sandwich in another. He looked up and smiled at the blonde. "Up late, I see."
Naruto hummed in response as we walked to the fridge, grabbing the milk carton and taking a sip straight from the carton.
"You know your grandma doesn't like it when you do that." Jiraiya replied with a sigh.
"Yeah, well, she's not here." Naruto muttered. He placed the milk back before reaching for the leftovers of dinner the night before.
"Have any plans for today?" Jiraiya asked, attempting to make conversation.
Naruto leaned against the counter, his arms crossed, as he waited for the microwave to heat his food. "No, not really. Maybe talk to Itachi."
Jiraiya looked up from his paper with a deep frown. "You sure spend a lot of your time on that computer. You should go out and doing something with your friend."
"I'd rather not." Naruto retorted. He sighed as a twinge of guilt ran through him. Despite the fact that on a normal day, Jiraiya wouldn't bother talking to him this much, at least the old man still didn't treat him like shit. It made him feel bad for giving him short, curt replies. "I like talking with Itachi."
"I just don't think it's healthy for you to be inside all the time. You should be out and active. Meet a girl."
Naruto flinched and turned to the microwave, opening the door before the beep went off. Though he wasn't in the closet about himself being gay, it wasn't much of a conversation starter either. Though he didn't think he'd ever tell his grandparents he was. He would just show up one day with his boyfriend. "I'll pass."
Jiraiya's frown seemed to grow deeper as he watched his grandson begin to eat with no disregard. He stayed silent as he shook his head and went back to reading his paper.
Naruto finished his food and placed his plate in the sink before heading back up the stairs and getting on the computer. He smiled to himself as he saw Itachi was already online. He was about to hit the video button when a call came in from Itachi.
"Naruto, finally awake." Itachi smirked at the blonde.
Naruto playfully glared. "Hey, it's not my fault I'm not a vampire like some people I know." He gave Itachi a knowing look. "I actually need sleep to function."
"Sucks to be normal, doesn't it?" Itachi smirked.
Naruto chuckled before pausing, a loud voice in the background could be heard through his headphones. He gave a curious look to Itachi.
Itachi rolled his eyes before turning towards his bedroom door. "Shut the fuck up!" He shouted. The voice seemed to grow louder, and Itachi turned back to face the camera, looking slightly annoyed.
Naruto let out a snort. "Who's that?"
"My brother." Itachi responded in a bored tone.
Naruto stared at the raven in shock. This came as news to him. He didn't realize Itachi had a brother. "I didn't know you had a brother." He voiced his thoughts.
"Yeah, last year, I moved away from my family because we saw things differently once I came out as gay."
At the confession, Naruto perked up in his chair. Itachi was gay? He felt a sense of hope overwhelm him, and he had to fight the grin that was threatening to break out on his face.
"Sasuke, my brother, never really cared, but my parents didn't want me to influence my brother." He let out a chuckle. "Little did they know, Sasuke and I already fooled around, experimenting in some fun…activities." He sat back in his chair with a smirk. "My parents asked me to move back in to make amends."
Naruto is once again shocked by the raven's confession, but then admitted to himself, it was kind of hot. His cheeks heated in a blush as he pictured Itachi in a comprising position with what he pictured would be his brother, someone equally as hot.
As the blonde was silent, enjoying his brotherly fantasy, he was snapped out of it when he heard Sasuke's voice once again. He stared at the screen to see Itachi roll his eyes and let out a tired sigh. Naruto smirked. "Sasuke sounds annoying."
Itachi smirked back at the blonde. "He is." He chuckled. "But I gotta go. We'll later, okay?"
Naruto nodded before waving. "Later!"
It wasn't until the next day that Naruto received a video call from Itachi. He perked up as the message appeared on the computer screen while he was playing a mindless game on the computer. He eagerly accepted the call, straightening up. He frowned when all he could see was Itachi's empty bedroom. "Itachi?" He called out.
Suddenly, an unfamiliar face pops up on the screen. Startled, Naruto jumped back in his seat. The person smirked at the reaction. "Hello, dobe."
Naruto's glare was instantaneous, baring his teeth in a sneer. His blood boiled at how quickly anger spread through him. "Teme!" He shouted. "Who the fuck do you think you are?!"
The person smirks once again, and then making a face at the blonde, mocking him. Naruto's glare darkened as he seethed in anger, watching this person.
It wasn't long before the person was pushed out of frame and Itachi was suddenly there. Itachi gave a bored look and turned to where he pushed the person. "Sasuke, get out."
Sasuke's face came back into the frame, smirking at the blonde. "Bye, dobe." He then disappeared, and shortly a door slam could be heard.
Naruto scowled at Itachi who was lightly shaking his head. "Yeah, he's definitely annoying."
oOooOooo
Hello! A new story is out and story is one close to home as I've based it off my real life. I'm hoping the chapters will be a little longer as they will be chapters of certain points of life. I'm just excited to write it and I hope you guys are excited to read it!
As always, if you liked it, please favorite and review!
~tachiequillsluv