Hello everyone,
Welcome, this is the beginning of Part 2. of Crying out Loud.
I hesitated a lot if I should publish this as another fic. My reasoning is that a lot of people might not care about the events of Part 1 to get into this.
Overall though, I decided that for now this would go here, and maybe later I will change this. Who knows.
This is Mambo no 2.
It was a beautiful day this morning.
Sasuke Uchiha had opened his eyes slowly, blinking a couple of times for them to slowly adapt to the bright summer sun.
Today was the last day of summer.
The young heir, had slowly rolled his shoulder to slowly get out of bed. His dark hair falling right in front of his eyes messily.
The 16th years old was feeling sore from his time at the dojo yesterday. Taking his time, he stood lazily while stretching his muscles one by one. He was feeling great.
Although a little knot in his stomach was still here while he was thinking of joining school again tomorrow. He was dreading it a little.
After stretching a little, Sasuke went straight for a much needed shower. He definetly needed it. He had a long day ahead.
Once all clean, the young boy made his way to the breakfast room. Entering in the large space, he was immediately welcomed by his homogeneous family.
"Good morning, love, how are you doing today?" The smile on Mikoto's face was bright and warm.
"Good morning Mother."
"Good morning Otouto"
"Good morning Aniki"
"You are late Sasuke."
"My apology father"
He sat waiting for his traditional Hinokunian* breakfast to be served. Itachi was focused on a newspaper.
"Please remember that this year, breakfast will start at 7AM exactly in the following months, your brother and I have much to work on at the company. Lateness will not be tolerated. Is that clear?"
"Crystal, father"
Fugaku did not seem pleased by his son's answer but did not force more.
"How was your night Sasuke-kun? I hope you had good dreams? Are you excited for school tomorrow my love"
"Yes, mother, I am feeling well rested. I must say this semester looks quite interesting, I hope I will learn a lot"
His father snorted in the distance, but neither Sasuke nor Mikoto paid attention.
"That is great Sasuke, Oh I miss the time I was driving you to school in the morning, and your little hand was gripping mine in front of the school gate, you were so cute…"
"Mikoto, my dear, Sasuke is a man now, do not let theses frivolous nostalgia distract him of his important task this year."
"Oh, yes, my apology. I just hope you will enjoy your year and make a lot of new friends Sasuke… High school is a vital time in many aspect"
"Yes mother, I will do my best." He breathed in. "Actually, there are still some books that our new teacher has added to the list to buy for the upcoming year. I may have to leave this morning to Hinokuni central to buy them. Would that be acceptable?"
Please, please say yes.
"That is fine, love, would you like Kisame-san to drive you?"
"That is alright mother, I believe the train goes directly to the store. Plus Kismet might have other responsibilities today"
"Well, very well."
Thank God yes.
He saw his father from the corner of his eye raising an eyebrow, ready to speak. But thankfully his phone rang at this opportune moment.
"I must take this, if you excuse me"
"No problem my dear" answer his mother. "I actually may go, I have promised your sister I would join her in her pottery activities this morning"
Fugaku nodded, before leaving the room. Sasuke's mother took a second to both kiss her sons, before heading out as well.
Immediately after they had left, sSasuke let go of the pressure in his shoulder, falling back immediately on his chair.
He saw Itachi as well give him a little corner smile at his reaction.
"Don't judge" grumble Sasuke. " I am way too sore from the Dojo yesterday"
"I would not dare to judge you Otouoto. You are working hard"
Immediatly Sasuke felt a warn blush come to his face at the compliment. He cared so much what his brother thought of him.
Itachi in front of him, looked so mature and…. Perfect. He had the same hair as Sasuke, only a little more coerced. His eyes were as black and focused on his reading. He was tall and well built with an aura of mystery that was coming to their family.
Although Sasuke could also see the traces of fatigue and tiredness on his brother's face.
"Aniki, are you… okay?"
The worry must have been obvious in Sasuke's voice, because his brother raised his head away from his read.
A smile appeared on his face, while he affirmed.
"Of course Otouto, I am well"
Liar.
He could tell that smile was fake. Since his fiancee had broken up with him due to their father's pressure, Itachi had not been fine. The older Uchiha had definelty not tooken the time to morn is relationship.
Sasuke did not add more anyway. It was not his place to judge nor give advice.
He was not that much better at romance anyway.
"Are you free next week-end"
Jolted out his reflection Sasuke raised his head.
"Yes I am… what is happening next week-end?"
"There is an exposition at the Sono-Academy of fine Art. I thought you might be interested to come with me…?"
A hang out with his brother? Hell ya. When was the last time this had happened.
"Yes, I would be delighted to."
"Perfect, I'll buy us tickets"
Sasuke smile. This was something to look forward to.
"I'll get going Aniki"
Itachi nodded, and Sasuke was out for his 'errands'.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0oo0o
When Sasuke got out of the train, it felt like a beautiful day. The centre of HonoKuni was beautiful and with the heat, most people were outside, walking the large streets with intent.
"SAsUKEEEEE"
He barely raise his head that a red bullet had already pushed him to the floor.
"Fuck Karin, be fucking careful, I almost drop my phone"
Karin grin mischievously.
"Rho, is baby Sasuke hurt… maybe if I kiss him, he will feel better"
With no hesitation Sasuke's grabbed Karin's face to maintain it as far as possible from him.
Juugo arrived a couple of second later, ignoring his two best friend's fight.
"Are you ready for school?"
They were hanging around downtown HinoKuni for a little while now. Karin had insisted she needed this new boogie slime thing -whatever that was-.
She also intrurupted with a laugh
"Of course not! Don't you tricking remember Juugo, School got brutal for Sas-kun after his break-up. Who would want to come back to that!" Joked the girl.
Sasuke grimaced.
"We were not getting. She got the wrong idea. That's all"
Karin rolled her eye.
"Yeah yeah"
Juugo raised his head, but he looked more empathetic.
"It was really that bad hey"
"That bad?! It was a blood bath you mean"
Karin was exaggerating, but it was true that his reputation had quite changed after the events of last spring.
The end of the previous school-year had been tought, and he was not ready to leave his amazing summer behind.
It took a week, but the rumour that Sasuke had taken Sakura's virginity then to leave her stranded and throw her away the next day had made his round across the school. The rest of his spring had been a playa of uncomfortable looks and judgment. Only some girls were happy Sakura hadn't grabbed him; but most of his classmate had thought he was a jerk.
The worst part had been Naruto and Sakura themselves—Naruto who had decided to punch him to protect Sakura's feeling.
It didn't take long for Sasuke to decide to keep his distance.
He couldn't take it anymore.
When they crossed paths, all he saw in Naruto's cerulean eyes was hatred, and while Sakura's green gaze held nothing but pain.
Something that Karin did not know though was that the rumours were not the only thing that had made Sasuke keep his distanced.
Sasuke was gay.
He had made this realization pretty much at the same time. Realizing his sexuality had changed something in Sasuke and school was not an easy place to be.
Out of nowhere, PE turned into absolute torture—boys undressing without a care, messing around in the showers, showing off thighs, backs, muscles flexing, laughter echoing, backs, and that impossible-to-name something that made his stomach flip. Sasuke was doing his best not to oogle at the bodies of his classmates. Similarly he had caught himself more often than not by checking out the boys in the clubs and bars instead of the chicks.
At first, he was ashamed, but he had slowly accepted it.
He blushed a little bit while recalling the first time he had watched gay porn.
he couldn't stand the uncertainty anymore and secretly went online to look for some gay porn to release some of that pressure.
He was not disappointed.
The amazing blond guy he found on a site, spreading his legs and touching himself—oh god, that was definitely his thing. He hadn't even had to try to get his blood rushing down.
It was easy.
Very quickly, Sasuke understood that, while he didn't really have a type (yet), the blonds one definitely were affecting him. Blond with muscular features… tan skin.
Yeah, he definitely knew that it fit Naruto's description perfectly. It was not his fault that his best enemy was a walking Norse god. Sasuke just accepted he was a horny teenager and that it did not have to look into this further than that.
Being gay meant re-evaluating most relationships he had so far, and how he had perceived them until now. The one with Naruto was one of them. He would not tell a soul about it.
Around him nobody new… Well… he was certain Konan had doubts, or suspicions, but the girl was too nice, and too reasonable to pry.
He liked that about her.
Definetly he could not tell Karin and Juugo yet. He felt too awkward.
"Oy Sasuke, What are you thinking! Come back to us! We are here!"
He jolted.
"Yeah yeah"
Crossing eyes with Juugo, he saw the look of worry on his face.
He smiled to his friend.
"I am fine"
Juugo did not react, still looking worried, but Sasuke just taped his shoulder and advance in the shop.
He was fine really…
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
The day had gone amazingly. Sasuke honestly could not believe his luck to have found them.
To think Karin had been in his school for a while now. To be fair, he did not think the girl would ever been someone he would get along with… yet their bickering was kind off… natural, and felt…safe?
Tommorrow might not be so bad afterall.
"Oy Sas', have you heard back from Konan?"
Sasuke raised his head.
"Not yet, I texted a while back"
"She must still be with Nagato and Yahiko" added Juugo.
Sasuke nodded. Karin, Juugo and himself had met Konan's bandmate during the summer.
Nagato and Yahiko had not really welcomed him with open arms. They were both deeply infatuated with the purple-haired girl and it was obvious that her and Sasuke's friendship. was bothering them. They had an aura of defiance and protection around their friend.
"I want to see Konan-chan, she is so prettyyy,
"Yeah she is"
Sasuke could only agree. He still could not believe how his relationship with Konan had evolved so fast in just one summer.
He loved that woman. Maybe she was just similar to his mother in a way, but much more free… god Sasuke should not think like that.
They were getting closer still. He was spending many of his Fridays and Saturdays sleeping at her apartment when it was too late to come back home after hanging out.
In the middle of summer, he had spent his birthday at Konan's, with Juugo, Yahiko, and Nagato, with whom his relationship had deeply improved when they noticed he wasn't so bad at the guitar. Plus, he had never made a move on Konan, so he had that going for him.
A bump came from his phone.
"It"s her"
He grab the little machine. The sun was coming down but it was still nicely warm in the summer heat.
"You guys good for drinks?" Offered Sasuke. Konan, Yahiko and Nagato are playing at an open air bar tonight?
"Hell Yah!"
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
They were in a nice little courtyard. Music was ringing at Sasuke's ears. Konan, Yahiko and Nagato only had a couple of songs in their set.
"It's an open-mic" mumble Karin. "Not a concert, how lame"
"Be respectful" added Juugo.
"Well, I am, but we have been lied to!"
"They play well" added Sasuke.
"Konan has been teaching you guitar no?"
"Yes"
"How do you like it?"
"It's good"
"That's it"
Sasuke turn is head toward his friend.
"What do you want me to say more"
"I don't know… that you found a new found love for music"
"I have. I just don't have time anymore"
"Ah yeah, I remember… you're doing Archery or something."
Sasuke breath out.
"Not even anymore… My father wanted me to join speech and debate instead. So it was either the Dojo or archery which had to go"
"Lame. Your dad sounds lame."
Sasuke did not answer. Looking back at his friends playing.
"Hey, next week-end, let's go to dance"
Juugo nodded, and Karin threw her hand in the hair.
"Weeee! Let's GOO"
Life was not so bad after all.
Hinokunian* = The city they live in is HinoKuni, so Hinokunian is the name of the people of that city.