Year of the Fox

Author's note:
Firstly, I want to thank Ari aka Sasquatchsnake; her ideas really helped me work out the details for this chapter. *loves*

Secondly, I don't really know much about Japanese family graves or Obon Festival, but I followed Wikipedia, and did as best I could. Sorry if I've screwed up something.

And third, this chapter is unbeta'd and will remain so for a while, as Nic's computer was fried in a storm O_O
Expect that a few things may be edited in this chapter after a while. I'm not that happy with it. But I'll notify you guys if I make any major changes.

Finally,
Important: I'm doing NaNoWriMo this year, which in case you didn't know, means that I'll be writing a 50 000 word novel in one month. This is going to make it hard for me to update YotF throughout November, but I'll do my best!

Long chapter is looong, so I hope that helps a little!
Plus, there is boylove. So much of it in fact, that I'm starting to wonder if it's too much...But that's just silly, right? x3


Warnings for this chapter:
Angst, Yaoi, and lots of possessive-jealous-pervy!Sasuke.
Also, warnings for unbeta'd suckiness.

Hachigatsu

Naruto was thinking about Sasuke.
Not that there was anything new about that; he'd been thinking about the other boy pretty much constantly for months.
And still, it was different now.
It was new.
Because Naruto was in love.
He was so in love with Sasuke, he was in love with the feeling itself.
It was absolutely insane.
After almost 18 years of living, this feeling had struck him, so suddenly and so powerful that he had a hard time believing it was possible.

Of course, it wasn't as if he'd noticed just now; he and Sasuke had been a couple for almost a month, and he'd certainly had feelings for him before too..
It was just so much stronger now.

He didn't see the world in pastel colors, nor did he hear birdsong and notice how beautiful everything was. There wasn't much of an extra spring in his step when he dragged himself to school for summer classes, and he certainly didn't walk around smiling all the time.

But it made him think.
Constantly.
About Sasuke.
About the two of them.
The bond they shared.
The blonde firmly believed that it was this bond that had them moving from a dysfunctional friendship and into a relationship. They didn't need to get to know each other, simply because of the security they both felt when they were together.
But the bond was still buried in the past.


Constantly thoughts were occupying his mind.
Lately, all of them had been about little, almost unnoticeable details he'd found in Sasuke's behavior. Things that bothered him.
Things that Sasuke never spoke of.
Just like he still hadn't told Naruto what kind of medication it was that had caused him to get so sick that time, or why he tended to wait for Naruto, sleeping in his car in the mornings.
Or how some tiny little thing could trigger Sasuke's moodswings and make him impossible without reason. Or where it was he went whenever he claimed to have an appointment and took off.

Naruto was in love with Sasuke, but he didn't know him.
He thought about him constantly, but he didn't understand him.
In fact, the fox found himself getting more confused.

Naruto sat up in bed, looking around.
These thoughts always came at night, after everything had gone quiet. After Sasuke'd seen him off. Now that summer was over them, they were together from the afternoon and until evening.
It left him with no time to think, until he was tucked in and ready to sleep.
Only he couldn't.
The hot weather and the humidity hanging in the air had a fair share of the blame, but mostly it was the blonde himself who unwillingly caused his waking hours.

Across the room from him, even Gaara was sleeping.
The read-head had been unusually quiet lately, even for him. But at least he'd been sleeping at least two nights in a row now, which Naruto took as a good sign.

Yet, he almost wished for his friend to fall back into his habits; just so there would be someone here with him. Just the noise of someone scurrying about in the room; the pages of a book turning or something.
He needed Gaara to be awake so he himself didn't have to think until the headache forced him to fall asleep.
Not that his thoughts were terrible or anything. They were just confusing. And they kept him awake.

It wasn't even dark in the room; just a slight blueish shadow creeping in from the corners.
Outside their window the sky was just slightly darker than in the daytime; far too light for anyone to believe it was two in the morning.

Naruto stepped over to the window, opening it, hoping that the fresh air would help him sleep.
Looking down at the street, he spotted a car.
It was parked in the shadows, so he couldn't identify it. But he was pretty sure....
His fingertips pressed against the glass as he leaned forward, trying to see better.
"Sasuke?" he mouthed.
Minutes later the car drove off.

The Uzumaki shook his head.
Of course it wasn't Sasuke.
Why would Sasuke stalk around his house at two in the morning?
Then again, why did Sasuke do a lot of things?
This though, if his eyes weren't indeed deceiving him, this was just plain weird.
"I must be mistaken..." he mumbled, getting back under the thin covers.

Gaara shifted on his bed, the sheets making a soft ruffling sound.
His breath was light, even though he was sleeping. It was barely audible but still...
It was somewhat comforting.
The blonde's lip curved slightly upwards before he drifted off into dreamless sleep.
***

When Naruto asked the Uchiha about the incident a few days later, using the oh-so subtle term 'freaky stalker', Sasuke merely brushed him off, saying that yes, there was a possibility he'd driven past that night, and no, he had not been there.
It made no sense.
Just like the raven didn't.
Naruto felt frustrated, but didn't want to nag at the other.
Sasuke didn't seem to be at the top of the world lately. Not that he had ever, but there was something that Naruto couldn't quite pin point, something that was gnawing in the back of his mind constantly, even when Sasuke possessed him with those kisses of his.

The situation was similar to the one with Gaara; who had gone so quiet.
Yet it was so different. Because Naruto, as perhaps the only person in the world, dared to nag at Gaara, and force him to spill what was on his mind.
With Sasuke that just wasn't an option.
Whether it was the fact that Naruto felt it was way too early to invade the raven's privacy so utterly without permission, or the recollection of abandonment, and fear of that very thing that still clung to him, he couldn't tell.
He just waited.
If something was really bothering Sasuke, he'd tell right?

Maybe he was just confused.
Most likely, since the step they'd taken was so big.
Naruto himself for example hadn't really thought about his sexuality at all until Sasuke kissed him in the gym that time, and maybe he didn't think about it then either.
In truth, he wasn't fretting over it.
He wasn't walking around wondering if he was gay or bi or whatever.
He was just in love with Sasuke.
And it felt right.
And that was all that mattered to him right now.

But...

He really wanted to know what was going on inside of Sasuke's head.

"Uzumaki, do you realize that there is no point in having you here for summer classes if you're set on failing these as well," Mizuki's sour voice broke through Naruto's thoughts.
"Sorry," Naruto mumbled absentmindedly.
"I should give you an extra pop quiz, just to punish you..." the teacher muttered, making his way back to the black board.
"Well then," he said, "Since you find modern history so interesting, how about reciting the factors that contributed to the fall of the Berlin Wall?"
The blonde groaned.
After giving his half-assed reply, he reverted back to wondering where Sasuke'd been going after dropping him off thirty minutes ago.
Not surprisingly, he hadn't given as much as a hint.

****
Sasuke glared at his therapist.
Everything in this room seemed to agitate him right now, from the purple chairs, to the plants in the windowsill. And especially Anko.
Of course she knew best. Why wouldn't she?
She was a psychiatrist, he thought with sarcasm.
As long as you have a degree, you know better than those without.

"Sasuke, would you please say something?" the woman probed.
"What do you want me to say?" Sasuke snarled, crossing his arms over his chest in a demonstrative manner. "You've already decided everything yourself. I don't have a say, do I?"
"You can still tell me how you feel about it?"
"About you sending me away?" Sasuke glared at her, "How do you think I feel about it? There's nothing wrong with me-"
"You're hallucinating,"
"You don't know that,"
Anko sighed, "Then how do you explain what you just told me? About seeing your brother everywhere?"
Sasuke couldn't answer that question.
"I'm not crazy," the words fell out of him after a long silence.
"Nobody's saying you're crazy Sasuke," Anko leaned forward, placing her hand gently on his knee. Sasuke shook it angrily off. "It's probably just a side-effect to the medicines..."
"Then how come you're having me locked up?"
"Firstly, you're not being locked up, you'll be placed under supervision. And second, I was just mentioning it. Nothing has been decided, and nothing will be until I've talked this over with your doctor and the chief of staff at the-"
"Mental hospital." Sasuke finished her sentence for her.
She frowned, "Clinic,"
"It's the same thing." Sasuke hissed.
"In any case," the woman said, giving up on the argument, "I want you to keep taking the Xanax for now. Same dosage."
Sasuke's eyebrow twitched, his hands clenching the armrests of the purple chair.
"Why would you keep me on them if you're so certain it's the meds that cause me to see..." he trailed off, but bounced back angrily; "What the hell is that good for!?"
"We can't be sure that it's the Xanax that causes you to hallucinate," Anko said calmly, "if we take you off them now there's no guarantee you'll feel better. Chances are you'll get worse. If that happens it's better to have you under supervision in a controlled environment. You understand this, don't you?"
He understood.
He didn't want to, but he understood perfectly; because of some lame flaw in the system, he would have to go back to that place again.
He would have to be surrounded by doctors, nurses and crazies for God knew how long.
And...He'd have to leave Naruto.
Panic seized him.
He remained calm on the outside, whilst the emotions raged within him.

He'd finally found the blonde.
Finally gotten close to him.
There was no way in Hell he'd leave him now!

"Sasuke?" Anko shook him gently.
He looked up at her. At that moment it was like all will to fight was sucked out of him.
Sasuke felt empty.

His gaze seemed to ask 'help me', and it made Anko's chest sting and ache for him.
The only way Sasuke could be helped though was impossible for the teen to accept it seemed.

"Look, I want you to think about it when you get home. Get used to the thought. It's not a big deal, really."
Sasuke didn't grace her with a response.
"I think you should be as little alone as possible," the woman went on, scribbling on her clipboard, "So maybe you should stay with Kakashi for a few days. Hm?"
He nodded, absentmindedly.
It ached in him.

"I will contact you in a few days, when the meeting is over, and inform you on our decision. In the meantime you should try to keep yourself busy; activity keeps the hallucinations at bay, you say so?"
He nodded again.
"If anything happens, or if you feel worse, call me at once."
Sasuke looked at her, confirming that he understood.
Though, the raven knew that even if his condition worsened and his 'family' appeared and took him on a summer trip to the Bahamas, he wouldn't let her know.
They were not locking him up again, that much was for sure.

The young Uchiha was shaky when he made his way down the hall towards the exit, minutes later.
Anko watched him, her heart still stinging for the boy.
Her well-trained eyes could see that he was slouching slightly, his back not as straight and proud as it would usually be.
She sighed, "It's for the best Sasuke."
****

Whoever had decided the schedule for these stupid classes deserved to suffer a painful death, Naruto decided on the first day of Summer Classes.
Even though he was so used to it now, it still bugged him; he'd been pleased to hear that he'd only have classes two days a week, but that wasn't much help when he had to attend six hours of the same subject on one day.

Kiba also had to spend his summer this way, but the brunette didn't have modern history, so Naruto was on his own for this one.
Thus, he was forced to eat alone at lunch.
He saw Sai, sitting with a few others at a table at the far end of the cafeteria.
As far as Naruto knew, the raven hadn't failed any classes; he'd passed, barely. So most likely he was attending Deidara's art classes.

It always struck him as amazing how someone in the art club could be such a jerk-off.
He'd always thought artists were fair, gentle people.
Then again, he didn't believe in stereotypes.

Naruto ate his lunch quickly and headed back up the stairs towards the classroom.
Only two more hours...

He sighed, heading up the third flight of stairs.
Why was it that they had to switch around everything for these classes? Why couldn't modern history be in it's usual classroom? It wasn't as if anyone used it anyway. Naruto had checked.
Pondering about this as well as other completely useless things, the blonde made his way down the hall, not looking to the left nor to the right.
Thus, a shriek of surprise cut through the air as Naruto suddenly found himself being dragged into the bathroom on his left.
"Uwah-!"
"Shut up, dobe," Sasuke's low voice hissed, and then before Naruto barely had time to process what was happening, he'd been pressed up against the cold, tiled walls, with Sasuke's lips crushing hard down on his own.
He protested, but it came out as nothing but a weak whimper, which seemed to only egg the other on.
"S-Sasuke..?" he breathed, breaking the forceful kiss.
What the hell had gotten into the Uchiha? He seemed almost...possessed.
He'd seemed perfectly normal this morning; quiet and brooding, if not slightly weird.
"Don't talk..." Sasuke hissed, silencing the blonde with his lips, whilst forcing Naruto's legs apart with his knee, pressing it lightly up against Naruto's groin.
"Nn..."
Should he protest?
Naruto wanted to...But the lips that had moved on to his neck, felt way too good for him to utter a single word.
He shivered, clutching Sasuke's shirt, involuntarily tilting his head to the side, giving him better access.
The raven's hand went up under his shirt, as his kisses moved lower, aiming for his collarbone, and then back up, pale lips ghosting over his jugular, small pecks dancing along Naruto's jaw line.
"Mmh..Sa-su-ke..." Naruto gasped out the Uchiha's name, writhing between Sasuke's body and the wall.
The Uchiha's searching fingers brushes over a nipple underneath Naruto's shirt.
To his surprise, the blonde teen found himself gasping out at the sensation.
Their eyes met.
Sasuke's fingers repeated the gesture, pinching Naruto's nipple carefully in between his thumb and index finger.
Naruto failed to hold back a second gasp.
"S-Sas...Wai-t!" He squirmed, but Sasuke pushed him hard back against the tiles.
This possessiveness was the same Sasuke had shown in the car that morning when he'd shown up so early. It was just as intoxicating now as that time, but it sort of scared him... He felt himself losing control, giving himself more over to Sasuke with each new kiss. He wanted to, but...
"W-wait..." he said again, pushing the raven away.
Deep, dark eyes stared at him. Sasuke licked his lips.
The silence that hung in the air was awkward.
"Sorry..." Sasuke finally spoke quietly.

"What was that all about?!" Naruto demanded.
"I...." Sasuke gave up on trying to explain to the blonde how this was the only way for him to relax.
"What are you doing here?!" the blonde went on to ask.
"I just..." Sasuke ran his hand flustered through dark tresses, "I wanted to see you..."

There it was again, that subtle hint of Sasuke being lost.
It was the same thing he'd said on the morning Naruto had just been thinking about.

Cerulean eyes met with obsidian ones.
"You wanted to see me? Right now? To do this?"
Sasuke nodded.
There was something in the way the Uchiha stared at him, something in the way he carried himself right now.
Naruto didn't like it.
But there was no time for him to engage in lengthy conversation with Sasuke. He needed to get to class.
So he smiled cheekily, trying to cheer the other up; "Why, are you trying to seduce me, Uchiha?"
He felt his heart pounding as soon as he'd allowed those words to leave his lips.
Sasuke seemed to relax a bit.
He smirked, pulling Naruto close enough to lean forward and nip lightly at the fox's bottom lip. "Maybe I am..." he mumbled huskily.
Shocks of heat shot up Naruto's spine. His cheeks grew hot and flustered.
He turned his head, looking away, unable to resume his act.
This unknown territory they were closing in on... It excited him, almost as much as it scared him.


Naruto was at a loss of words, Sasuke noted.
He smiled, tousling his fingers in locks of sunny blonde.
"I'm sorry," he said again, "Do you find it embarrassing?"
"No!" Naruto almost shrilled, shaking his head energetically, "It's just... I dunno....and...someone could come in and..... But..."
The blonde stared at the floor, "I guess..." he mumbled, biting his lip, "I....liked it...."
"But?" Sasuke's breath caressed the shell of the rambling fox's ear.
"But...." Naruto almost gasped at the sensation, finding himself unable to finish the sentence.

He wanted to stay here with Sasuke.
Well...Maybe not here, but he wanted more of what they were doing. And just admitting that to himself had him flushing again.
He wanted to stay, but...

"I've gotta go to class..." he said apologetically.
Sasuke nodded.
He didn't want the blonde to leave his side; the tremor washing over him right now was way too much for him to handle alone. He was afraid, he realized.
That freaked him out even more.
Being the proud Uchiha he was, there was nothing he wanted less than to talk about it, but he just..... He wanted to be close to Naruto right now.
Like this.
Just the two of them.
This way he forgot.
But....
Naruto must've been reading his mind, because he said a bit hesitantly;
"If you want me to, I'll skip this class..."

Even if his own life was spiraling downwards and into oblivion for about the tenth time in eighteen years, Sasuke didn't want to drag Naruto down with him.
So he forced a semi-smile.
"You stay dobe," he kissed him softly, enjoying the release of endorphins, chasing away the grim thoughts for a split seconds before he parted their lips. "I'll wait for you. The last thing you need is more trouble with Mizuki."
"True..." Naruto had to agree. "Are you sure you're alright though?"
"Isn't that what I should be asking you?" Sasuke inquired, touching his lips to Naruto's sensitive neck as he spoke, "You're shivering...."
"That's....your fault..." Naruto swallowed, noticing how his entire being seemed to grow hot, "B-bastard!"

A small part of Naruto wanted to cling onto Sasuke when the boy pulled away, but he collected himself, straightening his shirt, and left the bathroom with him.
He peeked carefully around, to see if anyone had spotted them, but the hall was empty.
Naruto was already late. He frowned.
"You should go," Sasuke said, like that wasn't obvious.
Stupid Sasuke!
When Mizuki ripped Naruto's head of in five minutes, it would all be his fault.
"Call me when you're out. I'll pick you up," was Sasuke's parting words.

The blonde had been hoping that their moment could've been prolonged, but Sasuke was already halfway down the hall.
Muttering under his breath, Naruto made for the classroom.


Sasuke heard the string of reprimands directed at Naruto streaming down the hall behind him as the blonde slid open the classroom door.
He didn't get how the blonde dobe could stand to be talked to this way.
He'd never stand for it.
Not now anyway.
How would Naruto manage without him? He caught himself thinking, and frowned at his own stupidity; Naruto was capable of looking after himself. It was just that, now that they were together, Sasuke didn't want Naruto to. He wanted to protect him from all harm.
Something which seemed like such an impossible task right now, when he couldn't even deal with his own problems.

He clenched his fists in anger, relaxing slightly at the sharp sensation of his nails digging into his palms, almost hard enough to draw blood.
Self-loathing was a feeling the Uchiha was getting very familiar with.

Making his way down the stairs, he ran into Sai.
The other raven opened his mouth to deliver one of his comments, but Sasuke bit him off by just glaring at him, causing the other to step back.
It seemed he still remember the feeling of Sasuke's fist to his face.
Sasuke 'hn'ed, continuing past him.
Sai glared after him, but didn't dare to say anything.


When Naruto finally appeared two hours later, Sasuke was beyond relieved.
He was supposed to wait for Naruto's call, and then come pick him up outside school, but with no destination or purpose he'd been left waiting in his car on the parking lot, without as much as starting it.
Being left for such a long time with his own thoughts was becoming unbearable, as he had realized that Anko's announcement came at the worst time possible; the thing that had been gnawing in the back of his mind over these last few days was now surfacing: It was less than two weeks until the Obon Festival.
He shuddered.
'Festival', what was so festive about cleaning your family grave? He growled under his breath, sighing as Naruto got in the car.
"Damn!" was the first thing to fall from the blonde's lips, "It's so hot in here! Why don't you turn on the AC or something?!"
Sasuke pushed everything to the back of his head, smirking at Naruto; "Isn't it obvious? So you'll take some clothes off of course."

Naruto stared at the Uchiha, dumbfounded.
Sasuke said those words so casually. Like it was no big deal at all.

Showing off his insecurities, especially in front of others, and especially in front of Sasuke, was not something Naruto liked to do, so he grinned cheekily back at the raven, saying innocently; "What, like this?"
He slipped his thin cotton sweater over his head, making sure that the shirt he wore underneath caught, and slid up with it, showing off his stomach.
On the inside he was so uncertain about this, as if this little gesture would send their relationship shooting forward, as he was certain Sasuke wanted it to.
They were together.
They were attracted to each other; it was only natural to want to do more, go further...
Though... Naruto wasn't sure he wanted that just yet.
There were so many other things he wanted to focus on first.

Nevertheless, the look on Sasuke's face when that patch of tanned skin became visible was fairly amusing.
The Uchiha stared and swallowed.
Naruto's grin widened. Mischievously he cocked his eyebrow, as if challenging the Uchiha.
Hesitantly, Sasuke reached out his hand, allowing it to brush against Naruto's stomach.

The same burning sensation from earlier flared up inside of Naruto, who found himself reddening at the thought of those slender, skilled fingers that only hours earlier had caressed him, just like this; how they had pinched around his nipple, and how he had enjoyed it.

He'd wanted to tease Sasuke a little; maybe see if the dark haired teen would feel even slightly uncomfortable. It didn't seem likely at all.
Sasuke was hesitating, sure, and he looked a little confused, true.. But there was something gleaming in his eyes, that both excited and terrified the blonde.
Subconsciously he wished Sasuke would touch him like that again, yet he forced it to the back of his mind, without doing anything besides observing the raven.

Sasuke's hand moved upwards, painfully slowly.
Not a word was spoken between them as the teen lead his hand upwards, stroking gently over tanned, tense abs.
Naruto was nervous, even if the blonde didn't say it, Sasuke felt it. Just by looking at him he knew, touching him made it even clearer.
Something else he noticed was that Naruto tensed up even more the higher his hand ventured, but in a different way, more inviting.
The blonde drew in a sharp breath as Sasuke's thumb flicked over a hardening nipple.
The raven smirked; in this heat there was no way Naruto could be freezing.
He pondered if he should continue his assault, but decided against it, running his hand back down.
All the time his gaze remained locked with Naruto's blue eyes.
The fox's gaze quivered slightly, not able to hold his for more than a few seconds at a time.
Sasuke's hand ventured lower, he bit his lip.
Nervously blue eyes shifted, following the pale hand caressing his body as it crept down to the waistband of Naruto's slacks.
His breathing sped up and caught.
But rather than continuing, Sasuke's hand quickly retracted; a couple of slim fingers swirling around the blonde's belly button, before the hand finally came to linger on Naruto's hip.

That was where Sasuke stopped himself.
He doubted Naruto wanted to take things further, moreover, he wasn't sure he wanted it himself, less of all here.
It had completely blown his mind that he was mildly assaulting Naruto in the middle of the school parking lot.
Before removing his hand however, he leaned over to place a quick, chaste kiss on Naruto's lips; "Maybe you're right..." he whispered, "I should turn on the AC."
Naruto laughed softly, thankful that the Uchiha had come to his senses and realized where they were.
Again a rather awkward silence hung in the air when they sped down the road, moments later.
Trying to subdue it, Naruto spoke what was on his mind;
"I'm hungry. Aren't you?"
Sasuke cast a dark glance over at him.
"What?" Naruto asked him accusingly, "I'm starving."
"Why is it...." Sasuke started, pale lips curving into one of his signature smirks, "That unless I keep those lips of yours busy, they keep whining about food?"
Naruto's face flushed for the gazillionth time that day. He tried to think of a quick line, but failed.
Somehow he had a really hard time striking back at Sasuke sometimes.
Maybe because whatever line he delivered, Sasuke would retort promptly and that would be the end of the conversation?
Or maybe Sasuke just was really good at reading his mind.
He muttered something like a 'hmpf' in lack of a better response, the noise was partially drowned out by the growl of his stomach.
Sasuke looked over at him.
Naruto shrugged.
"I guess they really don't feed you enough where you come fr-" Sasuke stopped himself.
Naruto stared at him.
"Sorry," Sasuke sighed, "That was uncalled for."
Chewing on his lip, the other teen shook his head, before suddenly smiling. "Not at all," he said, "You've lived at that kind of place too... So you're allowed to make jokes like that. Gaara and I tell them all the time."
"Gaara tells jokes?" Sasuke asked, as if that was of any importance.
"Ok, so it's mostly me. But he does laugh at them." Naruto nodded energetically.
"How do you do it?"
"Huh?" Naruto looked over at the raven again; his expression was serious now.
"I mean," Sasuke touched his foot lightly down on the break, letting the car slow down as the light changed into red, "How do you stay so careless?"
"I..." Naruto started, but failed to find an answer, "I just do....I guess."

Silence reigned between them again.
Naruto was uncertain whether to pick up the fragile subject again, and Sasuke made no effort to offer his opinion anyway, so he just brought up the topic of food once more;
"I can see that you're hungry."
"What?"
Naruto rolled his eyes, "You are. There's a McDonalds right down the street."
"Need I remind you that I hate junk food?"
"You don't hate nori fries," Naruto established. It was a shot in the dark, but he reckoned Sasuke preferred those to actual fries. Nori didn't count as junk food. "And they happen to have the best nori fries ever. I'll even pay! And we don't need to sit inside the restaurant... There's this thing called the drive-thru and-"
"Naruto," Sasuke interrupted him, rolling his eyes, "I know what a drive-thru is. Fine, we'll eat. Just stop nagging."
Naruto smiled triumphantly at him, and went on to think out loud; arguing with himself over what he wanted.
Sasuke shook his head at him.
The blonde carried on, unaffectedly. Sasuke smiled slightly, feeling how he relaxed.
Naruto was noisy, but he was the best distraction one could ask for, especially when it came to chasing off the incarnations of your dead family.
And the fact that he was absolutely gorgeous didn't hurt either.
****

Gaara put down the hamper full of laundry as his phone buzzed in his pocket.
He reached for it, flipping it open and growled audibly in his throat.
The text from Naruto read; 'Eating with Sasuke-bastard, back later. ^.^'
"Sure," he muttered, "Leave me to do all the chores again."
He knew of course that the blonde would have to make up for it later, but still.
And besides, Naruto was the kind of person who could easily talk his way out of any punishment. Gaara was convinced that if his friend ever ended up on death row, he'd be able reason with the executioner.
Rolling his eyes, he dropped the load of dirty clothes into the washing machine, only to find that there was no detergent.
Looking around he realized that it wasn't anywhere in the room. So they were out.
Great.
"Baa-san!" he called up the stairs.
"Did you say something dear?" the old woman's voice answered him.
"We're out of laundry detergent!"
"I know! I bought more this morning! I'll send someone down with it!"

The red headed teen leaned back onto one of the washing machines, waiting for one of the kids to come running with the detergent.
Only, neither of them did.
The person standing in the doorway shortly after was the same person he'd more or less been avoiding the past few days.
There, reaching him the bottle of flower-scented detergent, was Neji.

Instantly Gaara lost his cool.
He fumbled slightly as he reached for the bottle, mumbling something like a 'thank you'.
Quietly he hoped that the Hyuuga would just go away.
But of course he didn't.
Why would he?
It wasn't as if they had talked since that night in the kitchen.
Or rather, they hadn't been able to. Gaara hardly ever went outside, and as long as there were others in the house, it was no way they'd find a quiet place to talk.
And it wasn't as if they could just start talking about what had happened in the middle of the living room or whatever.
Not unless if they were intending to give grandma Chiyo a heart attack, something Gaara absolutely not wished upon her.

They stood there, staring at each other.
Gaara moistened his lips, but found himself unable to say a single word.
Quietly he turned around, pouring detergent into the little chamber in the machine, before turning it on.
The whistling of water gushing through the pipes filled the otherwise quiet room.

He turned back around, dreading the uncomfortable silence, only to discover that Neji had stepped closer to him.
So close in fact, that he nearly crashed into him when he turned.
He parted his lips to speak, but not a single syllable came out.
What did you say to someone you hadn't talked to since you started making out for no apparent reason without even really knowing each other?

Nothing that's what.

At least that's how the conclusion appeared in Gaara's mind as the Hyuuga grabbed his wrist, pulling him close enough for the brunette to smother Gaara's lips with his own.

And it was just as simple as that, Gaara realized when his hands slid around Neji's neck and his lips parted so their tongues could meet; He didn't need a reason to do this with the elder teen.
It didn't matter if Neji was a notorious virgin-killer as Naruto put it, or that they hardly knew each other.
It didn't matter to him if Neji was three years older and merely saw him as another conquest.
These things were trivial because the feeling it gave him overshadowed everything else.
As someone who wasn't used to, or comfortable with being this close to another person, he was mostly wondering why it was that he accepted Neji so easily.
Then there was the personal challenge; to see how much of this he could allow himself to experience before that barrier within him would rise itself again and make him shun all contact.

Yet, he doubted that it would happen.
Neji's grip on his wrist was firm, and his lips which now had moved to his neck and were assaulting the pale skin there had him squirming and moaning softly.
He was attracted to the other male, he realized.
Attraction was new to him.
Desire even more so.
And he craved for it.
It didn't matter how inexperienced he was; because he wasn't uncertain, not as long as Neji led the way.

Neji did; with his lips, tongue and teeth.
With his intense kisses and fierce little bites. With his hand that was now roaming underneath the young red's shirt, and with his entire being pressed so tightly to Gaara's own.

In between throaty gasps and moans, that were all but drowned out by the washing machine he was pressed up against, Gaara heard his own thoughts...
They told him that he too wanted to touch. To feel the Hyuuga under his touch.
Like he could establish who Neji was just by touching him.
He wished he could.

The red carefully, but not uncertainly, led his free hand towards the brunette's body.
A hard bite to his jugular had him wincing, and shuddering.
His hand met with the soft fabric of Neji's shirt. Instantly, Gaara grabbed it, slender fingers tugging gently.

The Hyuuga's nose nudged him gently, making Gaara turn his head slightly to look at him, only to have their lips meet in another of these desperate kisses that Neji had him addicted to.

The red's palm flattened against Neji's stomach, pressing against well-defined abs.
He kissed Neji back, just as fervently as he thought he'd never act, and just the way he believed the Hyuuga wanted him to. Just the way he wanted to.
He caught himself thinking how hard those abs felt; muscles flexing under his touch with every move Neji made.
Gaara's hand moved, stroking up and down, clutching gently at Neji's shirt with each noise that the red emitted.

Neji shifted, pressing Gaara harder back against the rumbling washing machine.
His knee slipped in between the younger's legs.
He looked at Gaara. But the boy's expression was so hard to read; there was pleasure, sure, but his eyes were closed tightly shut.
Neji nudged Gaara's legs farther apart, allowing his knee to brush against his groin.
Much to his satisfaction, the red uttered a half-choked 'Nnh!"
Smirking into the kiss, Neji pressed his knee a little harder against Gaara's crotch.
"Ah!" the boy let go of his lips, and just stared at him, green eyes wide.
"Hmm?" the Hyuuga tilted his head quizzically, kissing the corner of Gaara's lip gently.
Gaara's lip quirked.
He smiled, pressing against Neji.

Their lips crashed once more, tongues meeting, rubbing against one another in a never ending dance.
The intense kisses broke for only seconds at the time, allowing the pair to breathe.
And in the middle of this intensity, curiosity and instinct took a hold of the red haired teen.
His hand ventured downwards.
Gaara's eyes were clenched shut, his pulse racing in his throat, and lips caught in-between Neji's as he allowed for it to brush over Neji's groin.
He did it carefully, more hesitant than he'd been before.
Swallowing, he peered his eyes open, glancing at the elder. Neji's pale eyes were staring straight into his.
It sent jolts through him.

Slightly more uncertain now than before, he lifted his hand to relocate it, but again, Neji's hand was around his wrist.
Still holding his gaze, Neji touched Gaara's hand to his own groin.
The teen flushed slightly as he felt the other's hardness through the fabric of his pants. He swallowed, but refused to back down.
Biting down on Neji's lower lip, accepting the brunette's tongue into his mouth, he gently pressed his hand against him.
He winced, nearly gasping at the notion of Neji's apparent erection twitching against his hand.
But the sound of the Hyuuga's breath growing slightly uneven; a soft groan forming in his throat, egged Gaara on; he allowed his skeletal fingers to follow the contours of the throbbing member through Neji's pants, rubbing it gently, then more determined in response to the approving moan he got out of the other.
He was shaking.
The excitement that had been awakened inside of Gaara had him shaking, his blood rushing through his veins.
"Mmh..." he moaned into the kiss, as Neji once again took control.
He rocked against Gaara's hand, his grip on the other growing so hard Gaara was unsure he even had a circulation in it anymore. Not that it mattered.

Curling his fingers slightly, he moved them upwards, still pressing against the elder's groin.
Fingertips playfully ran along the rough fabric of Neji's khakis, and then against smooth, hot skin as he slipped his hand underneath the teen's shirt.
His fingers moved downwards yet again; Gaara's heart leaping to his throat as he slid them along the waistband of Neji's boxers, and underne-

"Gaara-nii! Neji!"
They whirled around so quickly a hamper of balled up, clean socks went flying and crashed to the floor, socks rolling out everywhere.
The rumbling of kids' feet in the stairs grew louder, until a group of four children stood before them.
"Chiyo-baa wanted to know what's taking you so long!"
"Yeah! And if you knew where Naruto-nii is!"
"Uh-huh!"

Gaara tried to think of a reason as to why it had taken them so long, but was preoccupied with throwing Neji a towel, indicating for him to fold it - in reality trying to help him hide the still visible bulge in his pants.
He was dizzy.
Neji seemed to always have this effect on him.
"We'll be right up..." he finally managed to speak.
"Yeah, just let us clean up this mess we made." Neji joined in.
There was an echo of "Okay!"s, and the flock of kids ran back upstairs.

"Christ..." Neji mumbled, crouching down to pick up a pair of balled-up socks at his feet.
Gaara just shook his head.

A hand on his shoulder made him turn around to face the Hyuuga again.
Pale eyes surveyed him carefully, before Neji leaned in, whispering into his ear; "It's impossible to do this here..."
Gaara swallowed, remembering how Neji had whispered to him the last time; 'I want you', had been his words then.
And now he realized, the feeling was mutual.
He wanted Neji.
Just the slight warm tickle of the Hyuuga's breath on his ear made him feel hot, a strange prickling spreading in his body.
For a moment he wondered if he was having a heart attack.
Still, he managed to press forth a "Yeah..." nodding weakly.

Gaara wasn't sure what the elder teen meant by that, if it was an indication for this madness to stop - which was the last thing he wanted, or if it meant that Neji wanted to find some sort of solution to this problem.
"Next time," Neji's voice was husky in Gaara's ear, "We go somewhere else, 'kay?"
Apparently the latter.
Gaara found himself nodding. He clutched the hamper full of socks, amazed at how excited he felt again all of a sudden.
Lips pressed against his ear, and then Neji was already halfway up the stairs.

The red was left alone, once again trying to comprehend what had happened just now.
He knew one thing though; this feeling inside of him... He'd be able to live off of it for a long time.
***

"Aren't you glad you reconsidered?" Naruto asked, snatching one of Sasuke's nori-fries.
They were sitting in the park, at the very bridge where Sasuke had screamed that they weren't friends. That seemed like such a long time since now.
Sasuke shrugged, swiping Naruto's soda in return.

Naruto smiled. This felt nice.
It would have been nicer if it wasn't for the heat though. It was so humid he could feel his hair curling in his neck.
There wasn't a complaint in his mouth though.
What was there to complain about?
It was sunny.
He had no more classes until next week, and he was with Sasuke.

Stealing glances at the raven, Naruto wondered if the other knew how he made him feel.
Most likely he did, or he wouldn't act the way he did; with his teasing comments, soft kisses and following acts of semi-molestation.
Unnerving? Yes.
Heavenly? Absolutely.
Of course Sasuke knew, Naruto reasoned, he was practically radiating love where he sat next to the Uchiha.

"Naruto," Sasuke started, snapping the blonde out of his daze.
"Yeah?"
"I...." the Uchiha prodigy looked down for a bit, observing the ripples in the water underneath them, "I might be going away for a bit..."
"Huh?" Naruto wasn't following.
"I mean, I might be gone for a while..."
"What? You mean like on vacation?" Naruto's heart instinctively began beating faster in his chest.

Sasuke looked away again.
A breeze, that would've been so appreciated at any other time, ruffled his spiky hair, he hardly noticed it.
"Something like that..." he said, offering the same answer he had when Naruto had asked him about the meds.
He'd chickened out.
Just as he'd suspected he would.
For days, since his last appointment with Anko - who was being a royal pain in the ass, calling every day lately, Sasuke had been wondering how to break the news to Naruto.
Only to end up lying to him, because telling him the truth was indeed a difficult thing to do.

"Where? Is Kakashi-sensei taking you?"
"It's...." Sasuke paused, forcing his mind to cooperate, spinning a story that could pass as believable; "With my old school.... It's this...thing. I can't really avoid it it seems..."
"Oh..." the Uzumaki chewed on his nail, "But you'll be back right?"
Well known fear lurked in the back of his mind.
Sasuke turned to him, smiling, "Of course dobe,"
Naruto's face lit up again; sunshine dancing in his smile.
"I'll be away a couple of weeks at most," he said, although that was no guarantee at all.

'You shouldn't lie, little brother.'

Sasuke nearly choked on a gulp of soda.
He coughed hard several times, wheezing as he did.
Naruto scrambled to his feet, "Sasuke! Are you okay?!"
The blonde didn't wait for Sasuke's answer, which was nothing more than a half-hearted nod anyway, but begun pounding lightly at Sasuke's back with his hand.
Once the Uchiha stopped coughing, and collected himself, Naruto pulled away.
"Jeez," he shook his head, "Didn't anyone ever teach you that food and drinks go in the esophagus, not in the wind pipe? Learn how to swallow!"
Sasuke jerked his head up at this statement, beginning to cough again.
If Naruto only knew the scenarios flashing before his inner eye at this moment....

A moment that passed far too quickly.
The tingling sense in the back of Sasuke's head told him that there was another presence on the bridge, which of course was ridiculous, as they were the only two people in this part of the park. But he recognized Itachi's presence. Just like it was in the house; looming, watchful, and impossible read.
'Sasuke,' the voice of his brother spoke.

Sasuke sprung to his feet.
"Sasuke?"
"Let's go!"
"But you're not done eating..?"
"I'm full, come on."

What had gotten into Sasuke? Naruto wondered as he was being dragged by the wrist through the park. His attempts at fretting it out of the raven as he went along failed miserably; the answers Sasuke gave were impossible to understand.
It would take time, the fox realized, before he'd speak fluent Uchiha.

***

Opening his door, Kakashi stared in awe at the two teens standing on the doormat.
"Sasuke? Naruto?" he said, seemingly confused.
"I just remembered...." Sasuke huffed - they must've ran up the stairs, the teacher reasoned, "That I was going to help you today!"
"You we-" Kakashi stopped himself, staring at the dark-haired teen.
Sasuke looked up at him, with eyes that were so pleading and desperate it was excruciating to watch.
"Right!" he exclaimed, eyeing the Uchiha worriedly.
He knew what it meant when Sasuke acted this way. Anko had called him earlier in the week, much to Sasuke's dismay.
"It's a good thing that you brought Naruto along!" the teacher led the way into the living room, "You see, my office is still really crowded. So you'd be a couple of saints if you'd just clear out some things for me, and go through the books in the shelves."
Naruto's eyes darted between Sasuke and Kakashi.
Something was fishy, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Kakashi was always strange, but this behavior was just bizarre.
Then again, moving was a very stressful process, especially when you were moving in with another man and tried to convince everyone that it was purely platonic and out of convenience.
Naruto decided he'd settle with that answer for now, and then try to drag the truth out of Sasuke later, when he wasn't so high-strung.
The blonde snorted to himself, like that would ever happen! Sasuke was always mildly neurotic.
Or so it seemed.
He had a good reason for it obviously, but it was worrisome.

"Naruto," Kakashi said, "Could you please get started? I need to see Sasuke in the kitchen for a moment."
Naruto nodded.
He watched the man push Sasuke into the other room, and pondered about sneaking after them, to eavesdrop, but decided against it.
***

"Okay," Kakashi handed Sasuke a large glass of water, crossing his arms over his chest, "Let's hear it."
Sasuke drank the water in large gulps, but seemed unwilling to share what was on his heart.
'Don't say a word, Sasuke.'
For the second time in about forty minutes, Sasuke choked.
He coughed so hard it caused him to drop the glass.
When it hit the tiles it broke into a million little pieces, a loud shatter filling the apartment.
"S-Sorry!" he sputtered, trying to regain his breath.
"It's alright," the silver haired man grabbed a towel, beginning to dab up the water from his kitchen floor, "Will you tell me what is bothering you now?"
There was defiance in Sasuke's eyes.
The raven crouched down, beginning to pick up the pieces of broken glass.
"Very well," Kakashi went on, "I've talked to Anko, so there's no need for you to keep secrets from me Sasuke."
"Hn," Sasuke snorted stubbornly.
"Why do you come here if you don't want any help?" the teacher probed, the exact way he'd been instructed by the therapist.
The teen couldn't find an answer to that question.
"It's Itachi isn't it?"
Apprehensively Sasuke looked up.
His gaze shifted nervously.
"Damn it!" he cursed himself, his poker face was pretty much non-existent, he was aware of that.
"You're seeing him aren't you?"
To anyone else it would've sounded like Sasuke was meeting up with his brother frequently.
But that was not the case.
Kakashi was asking him if he hallucinated; seeing his brother in places he shouldn't be. Because surely Itachi was dead, wasn't he?
That's what the police claimed.
Sasuke didn't believe that for a second.
Still, Itachi wasn't here. And he still saw him.
That would make him crazy.
He wasn't crazy!

The thoughts shot through him in less than a nanosecond.
He winced, cutting his finger on a piece of sharp glass.
"Ow!"

He was thankful for the pain.
It brought him back to reality.

Kakashi stood, rummaged through a drawer, and offered him a band-aid.
"I won't tell Naruto," he said, his voice softening.
Sasuke knew that the look he gave the teacher was thankful. It sickened him.
He didn't need anyone's help.
None but Naruto's.
And the blonde helped him more than anyone without even knowing anything.
He was certain of it.

The teen stood, making for the kitchen door.
"I think it's best you stay here for a few days," Kakashi called after him.
"Whatever."
***

"What happened in there?" Naruto asked, as soon as Sasuke joined him in the office.
"I dropped a glass," Sasuke offered, "No big deal."
"You cut yourself." Naruto stated.
Sasuke turned abruptly to him, "How'd you-"
"That," Naruto said, pointing at the band-aid on Sasuke's finger.
"Oh... Right," Sasuke's shoulders sank.
He was losing it.
****


With the Obon Festival approaching, there was a certain gloominess hanging over the orphanage. Many of the kids there had lost their parents, whilst others had just been abandoned.
Naruto liked to think that the ones without dead parents were the lucky ones, at least that's what he'd thought when he was younger.
Now he wasn't so sure; after all, wasn't it better to have a grave to go to, somewhere to pray, rather than not knowing anything?
But those without parents, or graves to go to, they didn't have to suffer that pain.
No.
He was a bit of both, and though it had taken most of his life, he was starting to realize that it was equally painful: Once a year he had to clean and primp the grave of a man who'd caused him so much suffering, and who was to blame for everything that was wrong with his life.
And on the other side, his mother had bailed.
He loved her, he was sure of that. But he hated her all the same.
Why she up and left was easy enough to understand, but why didn't she take him with her?
That question always came up at this time of year.
He wondered harder the older he got.
Yet, this year he was almost grateful, to the both of them; he'd never met Sasuke if it wasn't for their selfish and inhuman acts.

Then he thought about Gaara.
Gaara who was even worse off than himself, but without a grave to go to, or clean.
The most he and his siblings would do around Obon season, was to light candles for their deceased family members.
They'd been sent here from the neighboring town of Suna, since the orphanage there was full.
And the journey to the other town was too long to make for only three days, especially if they had to bring Gaara along.

At this time of year, Gaara was more enclosed than usual.
At least when it came to himself.
If he saw Naruto looking down sometime during August, he'd offer supportive words, and advice. The two of them existed to keep each other floating, at least that's what Naruto usually told him. Then again, Gaara didn't know that the same case had been that of Sasuke and Naruto as well.
The blonde doubted he'd ever let Gaara in on that little detail. He feared what kind of associations that could cause the red to make. Least of all did he want to hurt him.

This year however, Gaara'd been quiet since the end of July.
He seemed to brood alot. Stuck to himself, and slept even less than usual.
To anyone else this would seem like typical Gaara-behavior.
But to the trained eye, to Naruto, it was like sharing a room with a complete stranger.
Though Gaara was barely two years younger than him, Naruto had tried to reason it with his age; he remembered what it had been like to be sixteen years old around Obon season.... But then, he felt pretty much the same way now.
So it was unlikely that Gaara was depressed over what had happened in the past.

That left....How many options?
One.
Naruto became more certain the more he thought of it; it had to be because he was around Sasuke all the time.
Normally he'd spend pretty much all of his time with Gaara.
Maybe the red felt replaced?
He was pretty sensitive after all, even though he hated showing it.

The only piece that didn't fit the puzzle, was that Gaara seemed to be balanced during the day.
Normally an upset Gaara would be a moody Gaara, and that caused a general uneasiness to fall over the orphanage.
That uneasiness was nowhere to be seen now.

The blonde felt himself to be at a loss.
When asking his friends about it, there wasn't much advice to be given.
Though, Kiba offered his thoughts: "You should try to fix him up with someone! Some sweet, nice girl that can get his mind off of things!"
Shikamaru had pointed out that it might be hard to find someone who was willing to keep Gaara company, especially amongst girls.
Naruto ignored them both however.
His thoughts were elsewhere.


He was thinking about the dream he'd had last night, and how absurdly real it had seemed:
[Naruto's dream:]

He'd been a child again; watching from his safe spot in the staircase, as his father sat in front of the TV, gulping down bottle after bottle.
For a long time he just sat, seemingly calm, but with the anxiety rising within him for each bottle his dad downed.
He knew what was coming.

In a way he saw himself from the outside as well, wanting to rush in and help the child - who was him.
It was confusing.
Tremor grabbed a hold of him as he saw his father standing, staggering towards him.
"Oi! Brat! What are you doing? Come here! I want to talk to you!" he slurred.
Naruto's fists clenched harder around the railing of the stairs.
He was shivering.
"Hey! I'm talking to you!" the man thundered.
He tripped as he tried to make his way up the stairs.
Naruto saw it as a chance to escape; turning to run back upstairs, to hide.
Still, the man was fast, grabbing the boy's ankle, pulling him back.

The child staggered, lost his balance and fell; tumbling down the stairs.
His head hit the bottom step.
A sharp pain shot through him, and he found himself unable to get up.
Something wet trickled down his temple.
"Now look what you did!" his father yelled, kicking him in the ribs. "You're getting blood all over the floor!"
Naruto groaned, trying to move away from the leg coming down on him over and over.
"You're cleaning that up! You hear?"
He tried to form the words 'can't move..' but his voice cracked and faded.
"You're worthless!"
The towering man grabbed him by the neck, forcing him to stand, cursing at him when Naruto slumped back to the ground.
"Just like your whore of a mother!"
The fist struck him with so much force that even in his dream, Naruto felt it hit. He felt the surging pain.
Everything went black, and that was when he awoke, drenched in sweat, gasping for breath.
Someone had been shaking him.

When he'd opened his eyes, Gaara was sitting on the side of his bed, looking at him with worried, light eyes.
"Gaara..." Naruto breathed.
"Are you okay?"
Naruto nodded, swallowing.
"Did I wake you?"
"I couldn't sleep anyway," his friend said softly, "And especially not with you screaming..."
"I was...screaming?"
Gaara nodded, "Yeah. Right before you woke up."
"I...dreamt..."
"You don't have to tell me," the red offered.
Naruto smiled slightly at him.
"I always have nightmares at this time of year..."
"I know," the red nodded.
He had them too, once he actually fell asleep. It was not however in his intentions to tell Naruto. He didn't want the blonde to worry about him.
God knew he did that enough already.
A sting of guilt went through the redhead at the thought of Neji, and how he went against Naruto's advice. Still, it was none of the blonde's business.
He turned to his friend again, shutting out the guilt and any thought about Neji.
What the two of them did was something that didn't need to concern anyone else.

"You should go back to bed," Naruto mumbled softly. His eyelids were already getting heavy again, though the part of him that had acted as the child in his dream was afraid of falling asleep.
"Will you be able to sleep?" Gaara asked him, "Do you need anything?"
Naruto shook his head, "No. Thanks for waking me."
Gaara gave him a quick smile, standing, finding his way over to his own bed. He returned with something soft, pressing it into the corner of Naruto's arm.
Peering at the item through the darkness, Naruto realized that it was the teddy bear Gaara'd kept forever. Naruto didn't know who'd given it to him, but Gaara'd always kept it next to his pillow. Without admitting it, he was far too sentimental to get rid of it, even though it no longer kept his nightmares at bay. Or maybe it did?
Why else would he be giving it to him now?
"He'll keep you safe," Gaara said, recalling to have said those same words years ago when they were younger and Naruto'd been having a bad dream.
The blonde chuckled quietly, pressing the stuffed animal against his chest.
"Thanks."
Gaara gave a nod, brushed his hand over Naruto's before crawling back into his own bed.


He snapped back into reality when his phone buzzed in his pocket.
He hoped it was from Sasuke; he hadn't seen the Uchiha in two days, and it made him feel uneasy.
The message turned out to be from Iruka, inviting him for dinner. The blonde teen texted him back rapidly, saying he'd be over later.
Engaging in conversation with his friends again, he forced himself not to think of the dream.
Even though Gaara's gesture and mere presence had calmed him, it was still gnawing at him.
He dreaded the season that was so rapidly approaching.
Laughing with the others at one of Kiba's jokes, he flipped open his phone again, texting Sasuke; 'Hey, you okay? I miss you...'
He felt nervous when he pushed the 'send' button, but as the little envelope fluttered across the display there was nothing more to do with it. The message was sent.
Mere seconds later, the answer came; 'I'm fine. Slaving away for Kakashi. Call you later.'
Naruto smiled to himself, a little disheartened though.
With the way he was feeling lately, he doubted Sasuke felt much better. Neither of them had a family, and Naruto didn't think for a second that Sasuke was looking forward to cleaning the grave of his entire family.

"But you should seriously consider it!" Kiba slapped Naruto's shoulder.
"Consider what?" Naruto stuffed the phone back in his pocket.
Kiba rolled his eyes, "Setting up Red!"
"I don't know..." Naruto was skeptical to the idea. "You know he's not the social kind."
"Oh I know that alright," Kiba said, remembering his first meeting with Gaara with dread, "Though, what kind of girl he'd like, and that would like him is a mystery to me!"
Naruto glared at his friend.
"No offense, but he is a bit....weird..."
Naruto knew that he couldn't argue on that with someone who didn't know Gaara.
And he knew that it probably was a bad idea to try to find someone to set his best friend up with, but it was just something in the way Gaara had been acting lately that made him want to try it. That, and the guilt he felt for spending all of his time with Sasuke, rather than with Gaara.
And then finally, he realized that he not-so-subconsciously wanted to keep the red haired teen away from Neji.
For his own good.
So yeah, he concluded, maybe a relationship, or at least acquaintanceship with someone gentle and nice would be good for him?
"It might be an idea...." he finally said, "But I don't want to push him into anything..."
"Who said you needed to do that?" Shikamaru remarked, "Can't you just invite him along like last time, and then coincidentally place him next to her?"
"I like your thinking!" Kiba grinned.
"It could work," Chouji agreed.
"I'll think about it. I need to see how he's doing first..." the last thing Naruto wanted to do was to upset Gaara.
He stood, leaving some cash on the table. "Here," he said, "That's enough to cover my part of the bill, right?"
Shikamaru nodded lazily.
"Where are you going?" Chouji asked.
"Iruka-sensei's house." Naruto grabbed his book bag, disappearing out the coffee shop door.
"We'll search out some girls!" Kiba called after him.
Naruto shook his head, laughing softly.
***

The rest of the week passed without Naruto and Sasuke getting much time to see each other.
Mizuki made sure to keep Naruto busy with more homework in addition to what he already had to do over summer.
And it seemed Kakashi was keeping Sasuke busy as well. At least he'd been staying there ever since the two of them had dropped by the teacher's house.
Something was definitely not right about the whole thing, but if Naruto tried asking when they talked on the phone, (which was the only contact they'd had lately, and Naruto would always be the one who called, always,) Sasuke would always deny that anything bothered him.
And he seemed perfectly fine now.

They'd finally found the time to meet, Naruto being the one insisting they did something.
Their options were limited considering how the sun had been chased away by threatening black clouds and sudden pouring rain.
"Let's rent a movie!" the blonde yelled, chasing after Sasuke towards the car.
They'd been caught in the rain after meeting in the park, and were already soaked.
"Movie?" Sasuke turned his head, looking at Naruto whilst still running in front of him.
"Yeah! It's a perfectly normal thing to do on a rainy day, so don't look at me like that Sasuke-teme!" his tone of voice was playful.
Truthfully he was really excited about being with the Uchiha again.
"Don't tell me you've never watched a movie!"
"Haha," Sasuke said sarcastically, unlocking the car door. "Very funny."
Naruto got in the car.
"Fine," Sasuke said, "We can rent a movie."
Naruto grinned at him, then he said thoughtfully: "We can't watch it at my house though...."
Sasuke knew what the blonde was hinting at; he wanted to go to his house.
The very house Sasuke wanted to avoid at all cost.

Naruto's gaze shifted nervously.
"Or... We could go to Iruka's house? I have a room there....With a TV..."
When he thought about it, Naruto would be more comfortable being there, rather than at Sasuke's house.
At Sasuke's house, they would be alone.
Just the two of them. It made him feel excited, as well as uneasy.
Mostly the latter.
He tried not to show it though.
Apparently it worked.
"No, it's okay," Sasuke said calmly, "We can go to my house."
Naruto's heart skipped a beat.
"You want food?" Sasuke asked him, totally unaffected by Naruto's nervousness.
That was odd, the blonde thought, he was certain it was radiating from him by now.
"Sure," Naruto nodded.
"I should have known." Sasuke didn't understand why he bothered asking. By now he should have realized that the blonde was always hungry.
"You can decide what to eat!" the blonde announced generously.
Sasuke sighed, shaking his head. "I want Chinese."
"I'm surprised you didn't say-"
"Naruto," Sasuke bit him off, "The tomato joke is getting old. Drop it."
Sticking his tongue in-between his teeth, Naruto grinned at the raven-haired teen.

Seeing Naruto grinning like that, with his tongue poking out between sharp teeth and pink lips made Sasuke want to lean in and nip at it.
He inwardly cursed having to keep his eyes on the road.

Pulling up to the video store, he handed Naruto his wallet, taking out his phone.
"You fix a movie, I'll order. What do you want?"
"Fried noodles."
"Of course," Sasuke mumbled, dialing the number to the restaurant, "Just another kind of ramen, eh?"
Naruto stuck his tongue out again, and looked even cuter.
This time, the raven failed to hold back, leaning forward, closing the distance between them in the car by biting down softly on the tip of Naruto's tongue, pressing their lips lightly together.
The kiss broke as someone answered the phone on the other end, asking for his order.
Sasuke replied, and a flustered Naruto tumbled out of the car.


**
Puzzled, Naruto stood in front of the 'latest releases' shelf, wondering what to rent.
He himself loved silly comedies. It didn't matter if there was no real plot, as long as it made him laugh. But what kind of movies did Sasuke like?
Probably the exact opposite of what he preferred... Naruto frowned, scratching his blonde head. His other hand clutched around Sasuke's leather wallet.
It wasn't that expensive to rent a movie... Maybe Sasuke'd be fine with it if he got one for each of them? That way he wouldn't have to feel bad for making Sasuke watch a movie he'd most likely consider to be crap.
Nodding to himself, he figured that he could always pay the bastard back the next day.

So he ended up getting an old comedy he'd seen at least five times, and then some stupid intellectual drama he was sure he'd sleep his way through. But it was probably the kind of movie an Uchiha would watch.
***

Placing his bowl back on the nightstand, Sasuke stared at Naruto.
"What I think?" he repeated, continuing to stare. "I think it's a lousy idea!"
"Really?"
"Well of course! It came from Kiba, didn't it?" the Uchiha rolled his eyes. "Setting up the insomniac psycho with the shyest girl you know. You really think it'll end well?"
Naruto's sharp glare made Sasuke regret the remark about Gaara being psycho.
"Unstable..." he corrected himself, knowing that he had no right to label other people as neither psycho nor unstable. He himself seemed to be a fine mix of both.
"I wasn't sure either..." Naruto admitted, "But Hinata is so sweet, and caring. She never judges anyone, and I think it would be good for Gaara to be around someone like that."
Sasuke still looked highly doubtful.
Naruto went on, trying to convince himself as well as Sasuke.
"Neither of them has it in their character to move too quickly, so I think it'll go smoothly. It's not like I'm expecting love at first sight or anything."
Sasuke shook his head. How was it that the blonde put so much effort into other people's non-existent relationships?
Here he was, going out of his league to push their own forward, and it seemed like Naruto hardly noticed.
That, or the blonde was afraid of the next step.

Sasuke knew that he couldn't be blamed for wanting to take that step.
Naruto was the only thing stable in his life right now, and he was willing to cling to him, to dive forward, to keep that feeling of security it gave him. Just so it would last as long as possible.

"But you'll be there, won't you?" Naruto pleaded, "Tomorrow night? We don't have to stay for long... Gaara won't want that anyway. But, just to introduce them? And eat?"
Sasuke's shoulders sank.
You had to give to gain right?
And besides, there was no way for him to resist that puppydog look that Naruto was so skilled at presenting whenever he really wanted something.
Like he had always been.
"Yeah," he sighed, standing up, "I'll go with you. But mark my words, it'll end in disaster."
He said that mostly because he had the notion that the girl in question had a completely different male in sight than her blind date.
And she could be as sweet, shy and innocent as she wanted, Sasuke thought, but he was not letting her within five feet of his Naruto.
He'd seen the way she stole glances at him.
Somehow he found it infuriating. Even more so because he was jealous.
Uchiha's weren't jealous. They possessed no such traits.
Yet, he seemed to be the black sheep of the family. And that made him want to keep any potential wannabe-love interest of Naruto's on several kilometers distance.
So if this idiotic plan of Kiba's succeeded, he wouldn't have to worry about her anymore. Not that he did now, she just annoyed him.

"Where are you going?" Naruto asked lazily, rolling over on his side to look at Sasuke.
"Bathroom," Sasuke replied.
"But you have a private bathroom here!" Naruto said, pointing at the door on the opposite wall, as if Sasuke didn't know it existed.
"And downstairs to get more ice. You want anything?"
Naruto shook his head. "I'm good. And stuffed!"
Sasuke rolled his eyes at this far too familiar statement.

Shutting the door behind himself he made his way down the stairs.
He'd been stupid to think that the house would feel different now with Naruto in it. True, his room was a haven where he could relax, but the rest of the house was just as creepy as always.
Every sound had him wincing.
"Fucking paranoia," it didn't calm him one bit, blaming this on the so-called paranoia he suffered from.
Biting his teeth together, Sasuke went into the kitchen, refusing to look to the left or right, staring straight ahead.
He didn't want to know what hallucinations were waiting for him, watching him in the corners.
God damn Anko and her brilliant idea to keep him on these meds!
He jerked open the fridge, reaching for the door to the freezer, taking out a tray of ice cubes.
Stepping back he felt something against his back.
Chills went down his spine.
He knew without turning around; it wasn't real, but Itachi was standing there, right behind him.

Slowly, he turned, looking straight at his brother's shirt-clad chest.
"Why do you lie to him?" 'Itachi' asked.
"You're not here." Sasuke said, as so many times before.
If he ignored him, maybe he'd go away?
He tried to brush past him, but Itachi followed, his voice ringing in Sasuke's ears; "You know that it's a bad idea. What are you going to say if he wants to know where you're going? What'll you say if he wants to come visit you?"
Sasuke swallowed, clenching the ice cube-tray.
"What'll he say when you tell him you're crazy? What'll he think of you then?"
Sasuke's breath caught in his throat.
He knew that this incarnation of Itachi was only his imagination, and thus it could put his own fears into words.
It didn't help knowing that.
He wanted to run away.
"He'll think you're leaving him. And your lies...." Itachi shook his head, clicking his tongue in disapproval. "You're ruining everything."
"Shut up!" Sasuke nearly screamed at the hallucination.
The hallucination that dissolved at that very moment, leaving him trembling in the kitchen.

It took several minutes for him to calm himself down and return to the room, where Naruto had been pulled out of his drowsiness when he heard the raven yell.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, blue eyes wide.
"It's nothing." Sasuke retorted, sitting back down next to him, pulling the blonde close enough for him to wrap his arms around him, resting his head against the comforting nape of Naruto's neck.
Naruto allowed himself to fall back into Sasuke's lap, smiling as tousles of ebony fell down into his face when Sasuke leaned forward to kiss him.

Sasuke's thumb brushed over the whisker-like marks on the blonde's cheeks.
Even back at that day when they first met, they had been there, but Naruto had never told him how he'd gotten them. Not that there had been many opportunities since they met again, but still... It provoked his curiosity.
Again, the fox seemed to be reading his mind:
Naruto sat up, looking at Sasuke, touching his own hand to the whiskered cheek.
"It was my father," he said quietly.
Sasuke looked puzzled.
"It was my dad," Naruto started over, "Who gave them to me..."
Sasuke didn't ask, he didn't dare.
But the blonde seemed to want to share this with him, and for that he was thankful.
Ripping up in old memories was painful, but... It tied them closer together in a way.
"When..." Naruto took a deep breath, "When I was younger...Before he killed himself. Before I came to that place you know? He used to lock me up..."
Sasuke searched Naruto's expression. Pain was written all over his cute face.
The Uchiha wanted to tell him to stop, not to think about it. He couldn't stand seeing Naruto in pain, but at the same time he wanted to know. He wanted to know everything about Naruto. And again he wanted to protect him from everything, including his past. But something told him that nothing would've been able to keep Naruto from sharing his story tonight.
Naruto wanted him to know this, he realized, so he listened.

"He'd lock me up in this room where he'd keep his...victims..." Naruto paused, swallowing several times.
He smiled slightly at the appreciated feel of Sasuke's hand running through his hair, in a soothing, comforting fashion.
"And if I tried to escape, he'd punish me."
Sasuke stared, focused on the sapphire eyes that were digging into his.
Naruto touched his own cheek again.
"After a while he started cutting me whenever I tried. One cut for each attempt..." the smile was gone now.
"Six times," Sasuke said so quietly, he wasn't sure he'd spoken at all.
Naruto nodded, just as quietly.
"That wasn't the worst thing he did to me," the boy mumbled, trying to smile again, "But these are the scars that remains."
"The ones one can see," Sasuke added in his mind.

Naruto brushed the back of his hand over his eyes, before standing abruptly, heading for Sasuke's bathroom.
"I'll be right back," he said, trying to sound normal.
Sasuke just nodded, watching as the other closed the door behind himself.

Naruto stared into the mirror. He'd turned on the water, so Sasuke didn't hear him sniveling.
Blinking back the tears that had suddenly welled up in his eyes, he regarded his own reflection.
The tough boy who never allowed anything to touch his heart. At least not anything that was aimed to hurt Naruto himself.
And now he was almost crying, crying in Sasuke's bathroom, over something that happened so long ago he could barely remember it....
No, that was a lie.
He remembered everything.
The noises.
The scents; stink of alcohol and blood.
And the feelings; fear, hatred, pain from endless strikes, kicks and shallow cuts.
And the stinging of the less shallow ones.
He shuddered, forcing his mind to stop the thoughts.
He wanted to be happy!

Naruto splashed cold water on his face, trying to make it appear normal again.
He didn't want Sasuke to worry too much about him.
It was bad enough that he was constantly worrying about the raven and-
His train of thought stopped abruptly when his eyes fell on a yellow pill container, standing on the bathroom shelf.

'Xanax
Uchiha Sasuke, 18 years old,
2 pills before bedtime, otherwise as prescribed by doctor'
His blood froze.
Sasuke was taking Xanax?
He'd said the side-effects that time were from allergy pills! A rather vague explanation.. But still!

Forgetting all about his own issues, he unlocked the door, stepping back into the bedroom.
Sasuke turned to look at him, his face paling as he saw what Naruto had in his hand.
"What's this?" Naruto heard himself asking.
Sasuke just stared at him. His expression reminded Naruto of a fish on land.
The imagery had been funny if he wasn't so upset.
And the Uchiha still didn't answer him.
"Why are you taking Xanax?" he demanded, "Gaara used to take these!"

Sasuke seemed to snap out of it.
"Posttraumatic stress syndrome." he said, without enunciating further.
Naruto came over to the bed, placing the pill bottle on the table, next to the cartons of Chinese food.
It was Naruto's turn not to answer. The blonde just stared at him, until Sasuke said; "I'm being forced to take them because Anko seems to think I'll throw myself off a bridge or something if I don't."
"A-Anko?" was all the fox managed to croak out.
"My psychiatrist."
Naruto's eyes widened even more.
Suddenly at least a few of the pieces fit together; if Sasuke saw a shrink, that must be where he disappeared to when he didn't want to let anyone know where he was going!
Sasuke's voice was hard when he spoke of the woman.
"She claims she knows what's best for me... And so does everyone else, so I'm stuck taking these pills."
Naruto plopped down on the bed next to Sasuke.
This evening was taking an unexpected turn.

The blonde had no idea what to say. He was used to Gaara taking medicines for his trauma, and to calm down his violent temper, but this wasn't Gaara. This was Sasuke.
And Sasuke was supposed to be perfect.
Of course Naruto knew that there was no such thing. More than anyone else he knew that.

He searched the other boy's eyes, half expecting to see some kind of emotion floating around there. But there was none. Sasuke's expression was blank.
Impossible to read as always.

"H-how...sick are you?" Naruto heard himself ask.
Sasuke turned those expressionless eyes to him.
"I'm not." he replied.
His voice was harsh.
"They never made you take anything? You've been through just as much as I have."
Naruto shook his head. "Not that I can remember..."
"Tch," Sasuke smiled bitterly.

Naruto could vaguely remember a kind woman who'd talk to him and ask him questions when he was a kid, right after Iruka'd gotten him transferred to the Orphanage. That woman had probably been a psychiatrist or something too. But he'd only seen her for a few times, before she'd disappeared out of his life.
"My father...." Naruto started, looking nervously at Sasuke.
The other teen waited for him to continue.
"He thought therapy was a waste of time..." Naruto had no idea why he remembered that still. He'd been so young, and he'd only overheard a conversation between his dad and someone else. But he remembered his dad saying those words. It'd been right after his mother left, at least he thought it had been then... That was when things had really started spiraling downwards.
"So do I," Sasuke mumbled.
"Yeah...But... I think that...." Naruto chewed his lip, "That maybe... if he'd gotten help. If he could talk to someone then maybe he wouldn't..."

Sharp pain shot through Sasuke's chest when he saw the look of torment present on the blonde's face.
Why was he the one taking medicines, being supervised by doctors and teachers and everyone else, when Naruto was in so much pain?

His hand found Naruto's on the bed, gripping it, squeezing gently.
The blonde's lip quirked slightly. He squeezed Sasuke's hand back.
"He was a terrible person," Naruto looked down, his eyes following the wrinkles in Sasuke's bedspread, "But he was still my father, you know?"
Sasuke nodded.
"I mean, I hate him. I really do. For everything he did, but....He's my dad... I kinda...I wish someone could have done something. So things didn't have to turn out like this."
Sasuke nodded again.
Most likely, Naruto knew just as well as he did that some things couldn't change. That went for people too; sometimes it was just too late. But he didn't say anything.

Without letting go of Sasuke's hand, Naruto let himself fall back on the bed, turning on his side.
Sasuke did the same.

They lay there, looking at each other, without saying a word.
Sasuke wanted to know what was going through Naruto's head at this time, but didn't dare to ask. Neither did he want to go any deeper into why he took medicines and saw a therapist. Or that the said therapist was trying to have him committed. Naruto had a right to know, but not now.
Sasuke couldn't bear adding more worries to his already large burden.

"Sasuke?" Naruto was the first to speak.
"Hm?"
Sasuke's thumb ran back and forth along Naruto's, brushing over his hand, still entangled with his own.
"About Obon Festival...."
"Yeah?" Sasuke shuddered just at the word.
"Are you dreading it?"
"What do you think?" Sasuke thought.
Naruto read his expression, saying with a soft sigh. "Yeah....Me too..."
"You clean the grave by yourself?" Sasuke asked, regretting it instantly.
Naruto nodded, "Iruka-sensei used to help me when I was younger, but the past years I've been doing it myself...At night."

He'd expected Sasuke to ask him why he only did it at night, but the question never came.
"Want me to come with you?" he asked instead.
Naruto's expression changed into one of surprise. Without thinking he nodded.
He wanted to have Sasuke there. He didn't want to do it by himself anymore. He was so tired of being by himself.
"I've never cleaned our family grave..." Sasuke sighed, "Not while I was away. Anko made sure it was taken care of. It's my first time doing it this year."
The tone in his voice was one of absolute disgust.
Naruto understood why. This wasn't one grave Sasuke was talking of. It was the gravesite of his entire family.
"I'll come with you too." he said softly.
Sasuke retracted his hand. "You don't have to."
"Sasuke," Naruto gripped his hand again, "I want to."
"Why?"
The blonde moved slightly closer, enough for his lips to brush against Sasuke's when he spoke; "Because."
Sasuke moistened his lips, tasting Naruto as he did.
"It's okay to show your feelings once in a while."

Sasuke's eyes widened.
At that moment he accepted all the feelings he'd been repressing into his heart, if only for a short while. And as he did, he snaked his arms around Naruto's waist, pulling him so close there wasn't an inch between them. He inhaled the scent of the blonde; it filled his nose and his lungs, relaxing his entire being.
His breath tickled Naruto's hair, the blonde closing his eyes, gripping a hold of Sasuke's shirt with his free hand.
He understood that Sasuke needed this, and he didn't mind. Nothing else would happen.
But he still felt nervous, his heart pounding hard in his chest.
Soft lips touched his neck, spurting goosebumps on the blonde's skin. And though he grew more flustered, Naruto himself started relaxing as well.
Sasuke's arms around him made him feel safe.
Sasuke's breath against his skin was rhythmic and soft, he focused on it, and found himself getting sleepy.
Nuzzling closer to Sasuke, the blonde decided that this was a breakthrough. Sasuke hadn't said much, but they were finally on their way to getting to know each other for real.
And, he realized, they weren't alone. This year, neither of them would suffer alone.

In the next second, the fox had dozed off.

Sasuke glanced at him through semi-closed eyes. The blonde looked so peaceful when he slept.
He didn't want to wake him.
Running pale fingers through sunny hair, Sasuke decided that he could watch Naruto sleep forever.
He smiled slightly, touching his lips to Naruto's forehead.
***

Sasuke yawned, trying to stretch.
Surprisingly, he found himself unable to. Something heavy was weighing down his chest.
Peering his eyes open, the raven nearly gasped in shock at finding Naruto sleeping almost on top of him; One arm flung over his chest, head resting right underneath Sasuke's chin, spiky blonde hair sticking up, tickling his nose.
What the..?
He'd fallen asleep?

Apparently.

The TV screen in front of them showed the DVD menu looping over and over, soft music playing in the background.
He rubbed his eyes, and tried reaching for the phone in his pocket.
Something that proved to be impossible, as it was in the pocket located between him and Naruto, and there wasn't an inch for his hand to slip in between to fish it back out.

Annoyed, Sasuke glanced over at his alarm clock, knowing full-well that the damned thing was out of batteries and had been dead for several weeks.

Naruto had a cellphone though... Sasuke mused.
He wondered if he could reach that one?
Though... What if Naruto woke up and found Sasuke stuffing his hand down his pants? Given, it would only be into the boy's pockets, but he doubted a sleepy Naruto would know the difference.

His wits told him it was a bad idea, but Sasuke chose not to listen. He needed to know what time it was, however perverted Naruto might find him if he awoke.
Naruto had a curfew.
Sasuke had no idea what happened if he was late, but he'd hate for Naruto to get in trouble because of him.
He nearly flinched as his hand brushed against Naruto's skin. The fox's shirt had been sliding up while he was sleeping, and left his stomach bare.
"Just stay calm..." Sasuke told himself, moving his hand lower, trying to be as careful as possible, not to wake the blonde.
His fingers inched closer to Naruto's pockets.
Underneath his touch, he could feel the blonde's hip bone, pressing slightly against his hand.
"Oh God..." he swallowed.
He'd go to hell for this.
It didn't matter if they were a couple.
Or that he was only reaching for Naruto's phone.
He was inches away from the boy's groin.
He knew from experience that as much as Naruto enjoyed to be touched, he wasn't ready for anything too drastic. It was written all over his face whenever Sasuke got too possessive.
The boy would go rigid and flush in the most adorable way....
Why was he thinking of that now of all times?!

He was an Uchiha.
He was a screwed up teenager.
He was cold, calculating and collected.
But, as Sasuke was painfully aware of, he still had needs.
He was a teenager, with hormones raging, no matter how much he denied it.

So wasn't it only natural for him to feel the tinge of excitement when his hand finally slipped into Naruto's pocket? Wasn't it natural for him to grow hot as all his blood rushed south?
Yes, it was completely natural. Even for him.
But the timing....The timing was fucking horrible!
That's what went through his mind as he glared down at the growing bulge in his pants, and as his fingers gripped around Naruto's cellphone.

"Don't panic..." he told himself, "Just, get out the phone...And everything will be fine..."
And as he tried to ignore the urge to forget about the phone altogether, and just touch the blonde, whilst trying to slide his hand unnoticed out of the pocket, Naruto's eyelids began to flutter slightly.
Sasuke's heart leapt into his throat so quickly it almost choked him.
He froze. Hand still tucked inside the pockets of Naruto's orange sweat pants.
Naruto chose that moment to wake up.

Sapphire eyes opened, looking curiously straight at Sasuke.
The blonde looked confused. He yawned.
Later, Sasuke would curse himself for not taking that opportunity to just get his hand the fuck out of Naruto's pocket. But as it was, he was frozen solid, starting into those eyes as if he was mesmerized.
"Sasuke...?" Naruto asked sleepily, "What are you doing?"
He glanced down, then back up at Sasuke, then down at Sasuke's hand in his pocket again.
Shit, he noticed.
"Of course he noticed!"

Sasuke's eyes widened, a slight blush rising to his cheeks.
Fantastic. He was blushing.
If his body kept this up, it'd look exactly like he was trying to rape the blonde.
"I..I was-" he started.
"Pervert!" Naruto shrieked. He pulled away so quickly Sasuke nearly tumbled off the bed.
Finally he retracted his hand, still clasped around Naruto's phone.
"Relax moron!" Sasuke yelled back at him, terrified that he had wrecked everything. "I was just trying to get to your phone!"
Naruto scrunched up his face in utter confusion, before exclaiming: "So you could check my messages?! Are you really that jealous?!"
The scenario where Sasuke had expressed his dislike to Gaara and Naruto sharing rooms flashed briefly before the blonde's inner eye.
"No idiot," Sasuke was calming down now. He'd forgotten who he was dealing with. "To check the time!"
"Why couldn't you use your phone?"
"'Cos you were sleeping on it!"
"Oh..." Naruto grinned sheepishly. "So you weren't molesting me?"
He looked so utterly innocent and irresistible as he said that, Sasuke couldn't help himself.
A gleam of mischief came to sight in his eyes.
"No..." he leaned closer, hovering over the blonde, "Did you want me to?"
Cerulean orbs widened and whiskered cheeks reddened. "N-No! Sasuke, I...What are you-"
Sasuke silenced the blonde with his lips, pressing him down into the mattress.
Naruto's hand found his neck, pressing him down, deepening the kiss.
Their tongues met.
Sasuke moaned into Naruto's mouth, his hand running up underneath Naruto's shirt, which was actually Sasuke's; he'd let him wear it after they got caught in the rain.
He was exploring well-known territory now, and knew exactly where to touch to bring Naruto pleasure; his hand roamed over tanned, flushed skin, fingers toying with a hardening nipple.
"Nnh!" Naruto moaned softly, arching up to him.

And with that, Sasuke forgot that he'd promised to take things slow.
He forgot that he was supposed to hold back until Naruto was ready.
That soft moan, and their bodies brushing together in this way... It was too much for him.
Again, he found himself hardening, his erection pressing against Naruto's abdomen.
With the kiss growing fiercer, Sasuke rocked carefully against Naruto's body, emitting a quiet growl as he did. "Naruto..."
"S-Sasuke..." Naruto purred against his lips, arching up to him again.
Once more their bodies touched, drawing a soft hiss from Sasuke's lips.

Naruto's shirt was riding up even further.
Sasuke took in the sight of beautiful sun-kissed skin, before leaning back in, kissing Naruto even deeper.
He rocked towards him, wincing as Naruto met his movement, returning it by bucking his hips upwards. His hardness brushed against Naruto's crotch, and something equally hard, twitching against him.
He swallowed, thinking that this was way too much...
Naruto's hand moved higher, fisting in tousles of ebony, as Sasuke plunged his tongue into his mouth again, running it over Naruto's.

Naruto's breath was ragged against his lips.
The air and everything around them was scented of the blonde, it even tasted like him.
Sasuke was losing control rapidly.
If Naruto didn't stop him... But it didn't seem like the blonde wanted to.
The way he writhed underneath him, bucking his hips upwards, moaning his name... It all showed that Naruto was just as eager as him.


Naruto had no idea what was happening.
All he knew was that he'd been awoken by Sasuke shoving his hand down his pocket, and that he was now pinned underneath the raven, and enjoying it.
At first it had been shocking to find his body reacting to Sasuke's touches this way. He'd been deadly embarrassed at first when he realized that what Sasuke was doing to him was making him hard. Only, he had discovered that Sasuke was just as hard, and that whenever they rocked against each other it created a kind of friction between their bodies and... Oh God, it felt so good!
He didn't know if it was because they'd gotten closer tonight, or if it was him being caught up in the moment, but he didn't want Sasuke to stop.
Another kiss broke, Sasuke's lips making their way down his neck, teeth scraping, biting.
He shivered, gasping out Sasuke's name.
He didn't want it to stop.
He wanted to feel this way forever.
And he wanted Sasuke.
He flinched when he realized it; he wanted Sasuke.
He was far from ready, but he wanted him nonetheless.

Another throaty moan escaped Sasuke's throat, as he engaged Naruto in a new kiss, tongues darting against each other fiercely.
His hand moved from underneath Naruto's shirt, gaining a fair share of protests from the blonde, but then... It started tracing along Naruto's inner thigh instead.
The blonde swallowed hard in anticipation, pressing even closer to Sasuke.
The hand rose higher, fingers moving towards their goal with determination.

And then Naruto's phone rang.

The sharp sound cut through the air so suddenly it had the two teens leap apart in shock.
Perplexed, they stared at each other, not quite able to comprehend what was happening.
Finally, Naruto realized that it was his phone that was making the noise.
As he flipped it open he threw a glance at the clock showing on the display; '02.06'.
"Shit," he cursed, before clearing his throat; "Gaara?"
"Where the hell are you?!"
"Uh..."
"Chiyo-baa is worried sick, you know that? She wants to talk to you by the way," Naruto could hear the phone being passed on, and then a sharp voice coming through from the other end; "Naruto?! Do you have any idea what time it is?!"
"S-Sorry...I fell asleep..."
"Where are you?"
"At Sasuke's house..."
"I was worried sick! I almost had a heart attack when Gaara said you weren't back yet!"
"Sorry..." Naruto looked down at the bedspread, shameful, "I'll come home right away."
"You had better."
"Baa-chan?" Naruto dared to ask, "You're not grounding me are you?"
The woman's voice softened; "There will be a punishment. But it's the first time this has happened, and I trust you. So if you hurry back nothing severe will happen."
"Thanks. I'll be right home."

Naruto hung up the phone and blushed ten shades of scarlet when he looked back at Sasuke.
It finally occurred to him what they had been doing.
But Sasuke didn't say anything about it. Instead he turned off the TV and DVD player.
"I'll drive you home," he said.
Naruto nodded, standing up, without saying anything else, he went into the bathroom, changing back into his own shirt. It wasn't quite dry yet, but it would do.

Sasuke drove him home.
They agreed to meet the next day unless Naruto was punished with a million chores.
Finally, Sasuke kissed him goodbye; a quick chaste kiss that deepened with the meeting of tongues, but still couldn't be compared to the kisses they'd been sharing in Sasuke's room.
"See you tomorrow," Sasuke said softly, pulling away.
Naruto smiled at him. "Yeah," he said warmly.
***

Naruto did escape with only a reprimand and a warning not to stay out that late again.
Although Chiyo couldn't stop expressing that how very disappointed she was in him, and Iruka had called him and been practically hysterical until he heard that Naruto had fallen asleep at Sasuke's house, the blonde was happy to be off the hook.

"What were you doing last night?" Gaara probed.
"Hm?" Naruto looked back at him, continuing to rummage through his dresser, in search of pants that weren't full of holes. He had a nasty habit of tearing holes in his clothes, only to stuff them into the dresser rather than have them fixed.
"What. Were. You. Doing?" Gaara repeated, straining each word.
"We watched a booooring movie, and fell asleep." Naruto replied calmly.
Gaara didn't reply, but he didn't look convinced either. He was about to open his mouth to speak again when Konohamaru's voice came from the staircase;
"Naruto-nii! There's someone here to see you!"

The two teens exchanged glances.
No one ever came to see Naruto. He always went out to meet with his friends.
Pulling on a pair of pants that looked okay, he stormed down the stairs, Gaara following close behind him.

"Hey." Sasuke said, stuffing his hands in his pockets.
Naruto nearly tripped over his own legs, and was left standing at the bottom of the stairs, gaping at the Uchiha.
"H-hi!" he tried to pull himself together, "What are you doing here? I thought that..."
"I didn't have anything better to do, so I thought I'd come and pick you up."
"Oh....H-how nice..." Naruto said nervously.
Gaara brushed past him, going to sit down on the couch.
"Oh, right! Sasuke, you've met Gaara..." he laughed nervously, remembering the disastrous first meeting between his best friend and Sasuke.
"I remember him, yeah." Sasuke ground out.
Gaara scowled at him, saying nothing.

"I take it you'll be going with us too?" Sasuke asked, pretending to care.
"Yeah." Gaara replied, "Apparently."
"Gaara!" Naruto whined, "There you go again! I thought you were looking forward to this!"
Gaara rolled his eyes, "Oh yeah, I'm real excited."
Naruto shook his head.
This was a bad idea, he'd known it from the start.
He'd kill Kiba for this!

"Who's coming anyway?" Gaara asked.
"Oh you know, Ino, Sakura, Shino, Kiba...those guys. You've met them all."
"And a certain Hyuuga, right?" Sasuke added.
Gaara winced at the name. "Hyuuga?"

Naruto glared at Sasuke.
One thing was that Sasuke and Gaara couldn't stand each other, but he wouldn't tolerate that Sasuke let Gaara on to the idea that the whole reason they were going out as a group in the first place was to set him up with Hinata.
Sasuke shrugged, eyeing Naruto apologetically.
"You know, it's not that long until we were supposed to meet...Let's just go now." Naruto said, deciding that it was better to just meet up with the others as soon as possible. Being stuck with Gaara and Sasuke was already turning out to be a nightmare.
The two others agreed, if not a little reluctantly.
***
Gaara got out of the car as soon as they parked outside the Korean restaurant.
Naruto gripped the opportunity to lean over, asking Sasuke; "Are you okay?"
The raven seemed perfectly fine. But after what Naruto had learned yesterday, he felt better if he asked.
Sasuke nodded, offering him a small smile. "I'm fine. Now let's just get this over with."
Naruto sighed. "Yeah... It'll be a disaster, right?"
"Most likely," Sasuke agreed, opening the car door getting out.

The rest of the group was already seated when Naruto, Sasuke and Gaara came into the restaurant.
"Hey guys!" Naruto beamed.
Gaara and Sasuke barely offered the group a nod.
"Sasuke-kun!" Ino smiled, "Come sit over here!"
"He's sitting next to me!" Sakura snarled at her
Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"Ah," Naruto said, "Move a bit closer you guys! Make room for us!"
Kiba and Chouji scooted further up the bench in the booth.
"Gaara, why don't you sit next to Hinata?"

Without saying anything in reply, Gaara sat down next to the girl, Naruto sitting next to him, and Sasuke sitting on the opposite end of the table, across from the blonde.

The redhaired teen glanced over to the dark-haired girl at his side.
"Hi," she said shyly, looking down, but offering him her hand. "I'm Hyuuga Hinata."
"Wrong Hyuuga." a voice in Gaara's head stated.
"Gaara, " He shook her hand briefly, "Are you related to Neji?"
It fell from his lips without warning.
She was about to answer when Naruto exclaimed; "Oh! I forgot to tell you!" he grinned sheepishly, "They're cousins!"
"They're really different though," Kiba said, "I prefer Hinata."
The girl flushed slightly.
"She's nothing like that stuck up idiot Neji!"
"H-He's not that bad..." Hinata started, but gave up. The brunette had already changed the topic, and was rambling away.

The waitress came, took their orders and disappeared again. Showing up minutes later with their orders.

"How do you know Neji?" Hinata asked, turning to Gaara again.
The red sighed, he didn't care for talking to strangers.
He shrugged, "He's doing his work-experience thing at the orphanage. So he's there a lot."
"Right. I forgot." Hinata smiled.

Kiba nudged Naruto in the ribs. "Smooth!" he mouthed.
At the other side of the table, Sasuke rolled his eyes again.
Awkward was the more appropriate term.
Especially when it was made so obvious; Sakura and Ino were fawning all over him as always, while the other boys only talked to each other, leaving Gaara and Hinata to converse amongst themselves.
They seemed to get along, but he doubted there was any spark.
The others seemed not to notice though.
Kiba was thrilled over his match-making skills it seemed, and Naruto was agreeing.
A stupid grin was plastered on the fox's face.
Sasuke had to smile. The blonde was looking adorable again.
Did he have any idea how he made Sasuke feel just by smiling at him?
Probably not.
The Uchiha continued to stare, until he started thinking about last night, which caused him to choke on his soda. His coughing had Sakura and Ino fawning even more over him.
He sighed.
The blonde looked at him from across the table, smiling sweetly, winking at him.
Sasuke coughed harder.
Uzumaki Naruto was torturing him.


About an hour later they asked for the check and got ready to leave.
Gaara was relieved.
Although Hinata was easy to talk to and didn't annoy him like most of the others did, Naruto's friends were a little too much for him.
But he found that he liked the girl.
She wasn't anything like the two others. And then there was the fact that she was related to Neji.
He wasn't attracted to her in the slightest, but he liked her he decided.

The two of them were falling a bit behind the rest of the group. And it seemed that they didn't notice on purpose.
Gaara rolled his eyes.
"You know what?" he said, turning to the Hyuuga, "I think we're being set up."
Hinata turned a little pink. "M-me too..." she mumbled, "B-but I-I..."
"You like someone else," Gaara finished for her, "I know. I noticed."
She blushed even harder.
"I won't tell him." Gaara offered her a friendly smile.
"You like s-someone too, right?" she dared to ask him.
Gaara shrugged, trying to hide his surprise at the question.
"Maybe...I'm not..." he sighed, "Yeah. I do."
Hinata smiled at him.

They walked in silence, catching up to the rest of the gang.
The stupid grins on Kiba, Chouji and Naruto's faces made it all so obvious what they were trying to do. But neither of them bothered with it.

"Ready to go?" Sasuke asked, impatient to get out of here, and away from the girls clinging to his arm.
"Yeah," Naruto said, "You?" he turned to the red.
Gaara nodded.
"It was nice meeting you," Hinata smiled.
"Yeah." Gaara replied, "You too."
He glanced over at Naruto and the others. Again with the stupid grins.
Uchiha seemed to have had enough of it as well as he smacked Naruto over the back of the head, asking him if he was ready.
"You don't wanna be home late again, do you?"
Naruto's expression changed. "No. Gaara! Let's go!"

The three of them got in the car.
The rest of the group waving at them before turning in the other direction and heading down the road.
****

"Ok, Uzumaki," Gaara kicked off his shoes, "Spill it."
"Huh?" the blonde scratched his head, pretending to be stupid.
"Hyuuga Hinata." Gaara pushed him lightly against the wall, before walking in front of him up the stairs.
"She's sweet, isn't she?" Naruto tried.
"Yeah. And shy, and gentle and why are you setting me up with her?"
The Uzumaki rubbed his neck.
"Was it that obvious?"
"Pretty much yeah." Gaara closed the door to their room.
"Well... It was Kiba's idea to begin with....But you liked her, didn't you?"
"I guess." Gaara said truthfully.
He liked her, sure, but not like that. Naruto didn't have to know that yet though.
This was the perfect opportunity for him to escape Naruto's never-ending whining about how Neji was dangerous.
The blonde seemed happy enough with the result of his little cupid-game, and Gaara was not one to spoil his mood.
*******

The remaining days before Obon Season passed quickly, too quickly.
One morning it was there.
Way too fast, and with all the feelings that came with it; dread, anger, sadness and uneasiness.
The notion that it was time to visit and clean the graves of your ancestors. Time to honor them.
Sasuke hated all these stupid old traditions.
There was even a dance festival! Bon Odori.
Why would anyone combine a holiday revolving around death with dancing?

Although he'd been dreading this day, August 13th, the first day of Obon, for weeks, he had hardly been thinking about anything else.
Firstly Anko had been pressuring him about it, wondering what kind of thoughts he had, how he felt about it, if it made his hallucinations worse.
Then there was Kakashi, who had been acting like a worried parent all month.
And mostly there was Naruto.
The two of them hadn't mentioned Obon festival at all since the night in his room. But ever since then it had been on his mind. Only he was seeing Naruto's side of it.
He thought about what Naruto had said about his father.
The man who had hurt him so badly, the man who was guilty for Naruto's dark past.
And here they were celebrating a festival that was all about honoring your ancestors.
As far as he could see, there was nothing to celebrate, no one to honor.

But he said nothing, walking next to Naruto in the darkness.
It was already past midnight, but faint music could still be heard from the park.
'Welcome Bon Odori' was taking place, and pretty much the entire city was participating in the festivities.

"I always go to my fathers grave at night, during Bon Odori," Naruto began explaining without Sasuke even asking him anything.
The raven listened, his eyes following a firefly buzzing around them.
"I never allow myself to care about what they say, but I just hate this time of year..." Naruto looked up at the dark August sky, "If I go during the day, when everyone else is doing it, they're all reminded of what he did. They all remember who I am."
Sasuke's heart ached again. He took Naruto's hand. It didn't matter that they were out in the open.
They were alone after all.
The blonde forced a smile. It was fake, Sasuke could tell.
It didn't have that quality that Naruto's smiles normally had; the ability to light up all the darkness in the world. It was a sad smile, and it pained the Uchiha even more.
"So you know, I don't want to bother them. So I do it out of their sight. As the kind soul I am." Naruto joked.
Sasuke didn't answer.
He grit his teeth in anger over the villagers who were all such ignorant idiots. Didn't they understand that it wasn't Naruto's fault?
He couldn't help who he was. And more than anything, shouldn't they pity this boy?
Though, just like himself, pity was the last thing Naruto wanted.

"Here we are," Naruto said, stopping in front of a rather anonymous grave.
The tombstone was worn from heavy weather, and the name written on it was impossible to read. Sasuke managed to decipher 'Uzumaki', but the first name was illegible.
There was no other inscription on the stone.
"I only come here once a year." Naruto kneeled down in front of the grave. "Iruka-sensei takes care of everything the rest of the year...I really can't stand coming here."
"I understand," Sasuke said. He waited, a few feet away, not wanting to intrude on Naruto's privacy as he said his prayers for his father's spirit. At least that was what he was supposed to be doing according to tradition, but Sasuke doubted that it was the case.

Naruto remained sitting on his knees with Sasuke watching him for a long time.
He burned the incense, bowing his head again.
After a while he reached out his hand, touching the stone. The air around him was hot and humid, but the rock felt cold against his palm.
"It's me..." he said quietly.
So quietly that not even Sasuke could hear it.
"I'm just gonna do some cleaning...And I'll be out of your hair..." he tried to smile, but it faded.
Balling up his fist at his side, he retracted his hand, continuing to stare at the ground.
"Why?" he asked into thin air, "Why did you do these things?"
The grave was silent.
Not even a breeze blew to give him a sign.
Exhaling shakily, the fox rose to his feet again.
"You can come over now," he said to Sasuke.

The raven joined him, standing in silence before the grave.
Wishing so badly that he could refrain from seeing Naruto like this, Sasuke wrapped his arm around the blonde's shoulder.
Naruto let him.
He stood like that for several minutes before breaking loose.
"Let's just get it over with..." he sighed, "I just want to get it over with."
Sasuke nodded. "I know."

It only took a little over an hour to make the grave look presentable.
The festivities were still going on at the park, but neither of them felt like going.
In the end, they just walked around aimlessly without saying much, until Naruto figured it was time to go home.


Sasuke watched from the car as Naruto unlocked his door, slipping inside.
The lights were still on in his room, so Sasuke figured that Gaara was awake, waiting for Naruto.
The red might be a tad strange, but he was a good friend. Sasuke had to admit that.
Even if he didn't care much for him.

He was still shaky from seeing Naruto so quiet and withdrawn.
It wasn't right.

He felt bad for wanting Naruto to come with him when it was time for him to clean his family grave. Things were heavy enough on Naruto's shoulders already.
Normally, Sasuke reckoned, he should have done it already, but he was actively postponing it.
He dreaded going there.
Knowing that he'd have Naruto by his side had made it seem easier for a moment, until he'd seen him tonight. Now it only added guilt to his dread.

Sasuke decided right then and there that he would postpone it as long as he could.
It had to be done before the end of Obon, so he only had tomorrow and the day after but...
Using his appointment with Anko as an excuse, he decided to wait until the fifteenth before going to his family grave. It was only one day, but he wanted to spare Naruto just a little from the reminders.
****

Gaara had always felt like the world was mocking his family in August.
He supposed he was lucky to have siblings that cared for him and worried about him, but he still didn't feel tied to them in any way, as much as it hurt him to say it.
His therapist claimed that it was his fear of losing them that made him so unwilling to care.
Gaara wasn't sure about that. He'd never had much interest in them back when their father was alive either. Or during the time with Yashamaru.

Obon Festival was all about honoring your dead ancestors. But as Naruto claimed; why would you honor someone who brought you nothing but pain?
Still, his friend was contradicting himself in every way, because as much as Naruto hated his father, he loved him. Gaara knew he did. He saw the blonde struggle with his conscience over it. It hurt.
How come that hurt? How come having no feelings in particular for his brother and sister didn't?

The only feeling he had concerning family at the time was this sense that August mocked them.
They had no one. Not family-wise anyway.
The three of them had been on their own for years.
They had to deal with it, learn to live with it and try to get over all the hurt.

Then Obon Festival came along, and with it all the talk about death.
And ironically enough his sister Temari had her birthday on the fifteenth.
It was a joke.
One that had never been funny.

For the past few years, they'd get together at Kankurou and Temari's apartment, have cake and dinner, and light candles for their mother.
For their father and Yashamaru too of course, but Gaara found himself so unable to forgive these people, he never bothered to include them in his thoughts.
His white candles were lit for his mother. It cleaned his conscience a little.
Though he knew it wasn't true, it was burned into him; the claim that it was his fault. That he killed her. Even though he knew that death by childbirth was no one's fault.

He hated these three days of the year.
While he always felt like he was lucky when he looked at Naruto who had to deal with his father's grave, and now Sasuke too, having to take care of the graves of his entire family... It always backfired after these gatherings they would have.
Temari had wanted him to stay the night, and to come with them to the 'Farewell Bon Odori' thing, but he'd declined.
He didn't want to.
The longer he stayed with them, the more it reminded him of everything miserable in his life, and in Naruto's as well, and he couldn't stand it.

Gaara preferred to be in a neutral place when feeling like this.
But not getting out much, his and Naruto's room at the orphanage, or the laundry room was as close as he came.
Or, he could just wander about in the city. The streets were almost empty now anyway, so there was nothing stressing him.

"Hey! Freak!"
Or so he'd thought...
Gaara turned to look at the person who'd called out for him.
He hardly ever ventured outside, especially not alone, but everyone knew him.
They knew him by his history, by his reputation and as Naruto's friend, in other words; the second half of the freak duo.

His dark-rimmed eyes came to rest upon a group of boys, about his age.

"What are you doing out?"
"Shouldn't you be restrained?"
"Don't kill us, please!"
They made their voices sound high-pitched and squeaky, screaming with laughter.

At most other times, Gaara wouldn't have reacted.
He was learning to control his temper.
And usually the only thing that would tip his scale was someone picking on Naruto.
But today...
Today everything was different.
Today, Gaara's skin was like that of a peach; easily bruised.

"Why are you out by yourself? Shouldn't you be with Uzumaki?"
"Maybe someone finally ended him! I haven't seen him for days!"
"Good riddance!"
Laughter.
Their comments were so silly, so utterly lame.
At the level of kindergarteners.
But that was of no matter to Gaara. They pissed him off nonetheless.

He felt his temper building up.
His fists clenched in fury.
Slight tremor rose in him; he was losing control.
Anger camouflaged what little fear he felt though, forced him to forget about it.
Glaring at the group, with a murderous intent in his green eyes, he stepped forward.
All the anger and hate that had been latent in him for so long flared up.

The boys stepped back, obviously intimidated by the way he looked at them.
Gaara was someone it was fun to tease. But it was a deadly game to play if you forgot how dangerous he was.

Glee mixed with the intense rush of hatred Gaara felt when he saw the fear in their eyes.
He wanted them to fear him.
He wanted them to suffer. All of them.
Sometimes he nearly scared himself when he started to feel tingles of excitement emerge along with his fury, but not now. He was too far gone to realize what he was doing.

"Gaara,"
He stopped, confusion adding to the chaos of emotions inside of him.
"That's enough."
A warm hand came to rest on Gaara's shoulder, holding him back.
At first, the red was infuriated by the feeling of someone touching him, the notion that someone interfered, but then he felt the relief wash over him.
He didn't want to hurt anyone. Not really.
He was just so...angry.

"Are you out of your mind?"
"He's dangerous!"

"That's what I should be telling you," Neji said calmly.
Gaara stared at him.
He was calm again now, but trembling.
Trembling from exhaustion, confusion and from fear.
The fear that hadn't gripped him before washed over him now.
It felt like his knees would give in, but somehow he managed to keep himself up.

"You'd do wise not to torment others," Neji continued, taking a step forward, without letting go of Gaara's shoulder, "Especially Gaara. You know better than to aggravate him, don't you? Seeing how you claim to know all about him."

The one who seemed to be the leader of the group, Neji recognized him from school, answered him; "Of course! Everyone knows that he's a psycho!"

"Just because he's different from you it gives you no right to talk about him like that," Neji was still just as calm.
His eyes though, they were pale, and fierce, glaring at the lot of them.
"Now, I suggest you fuck off," his voice fell to a lower, more threatening tone, "Or I'll show you what real fear is."

Gaara just stared at him.
He wasn't sure he understood what was happening, but he was grateful. He could've handled those assholes himself, but dealing with his own anger was more of a problem.
In any case, Neji's threat seemed to work, because the group flew the scene.

The Hyuuga looked over at the younger teen.
"Why are you out here alone?" he inquired.
"It's not like I'm banned from going outside you know," Gaara replied, sounding angrier than he intended to, "I'm on my way back from my siblings' house." he added hurriedly.
"Oh," Neji nodded, "Are you ok though? You seemed pretty out of it...."
Gaara looked away, "I'll be fine."
"So you're on your way home? Want me to drive you?"
The red shook his head, "Not really. I'm just walking around. To be someplace neutral..."

Neji wasn't sure he understood what the other meant by that, but continued to nod in response.

"Neji?" Gaara's voice sounded a bit uncertain.
"Yeah?"
"Thanks..."
"You're welcome." the brunette squeezed his shoulder, touching his lips swiftly to Gaara's temple, "I'm just glad I showed up. It could've turned out ugly...."
"Yeah..." Gaara said, closing his eyes.
The brief touch of Neji's lips on his temple felt so soothing, as did it when the elder kissed him softly on the forehead. And then, when his lips found Gaara's own in a gentle kiss.
"I don't want to go home..." Gaara heard himself whisper, in a voice that was so unlike his own.
Neji ran his fingers through locks of red, closing his eyes.
"Then where do you want to go?"
"Nowhere..." the red replied, sounding a bit lost.
Neji sighed, watching as Gaara got out his phone.
He dialed a number and waited for someone to pick up.
"Baa-chan?" his voice was close to normal now, "Hey, I'm staying over, 'kay? Mhm. Yeah, Temari wanted me to. Just wanted to let you know."
The red smiled slightly. "Not like Naruto at all. No. 'Kay, bye."
He stuffed the phone back into his pocket.

"Going back to your siblings?" Neji asked him.
Gaara shook his head. "No."
"Then where-"
"Can I come to your house?"
Neji stared at him. "You want to go to my house?"
The red nodded.
Neji was neutral. Neji's house was neutral. He liked being around the other boy, it made him relax. It brought forth feelings in him that were new and exciting.
And he made him forget.
"Okay," he smiled at Gaara, touching their lips softly together, "Let's go to my house."

Thankful, Gaara followed Neji to his car.
He wasn't nervous, but... He remembered Neji's words, when they had been whispered with that hoarse voice, 'I want you' , 'It's impossible to do this here...' , 'Next time, we go somewhere else, 'kay?'
****

Naruto glanced over at Sasuke. The raven was quiet, but otherwise fine.
They'd been at it for more than an hour already, and Sasuke showed no signs of freaking out. Not that Naruto had expected him to, but it had to be difficult. This wasn't one grave. It was many.
In fact, Naruto had been overwhelmed at first, when they stepped into the Uchiha family's private grave site, and he saw all the tombstones.
Given, only about ten of these were those of the Uchiha's who had been murdered that night, the rest of them were Sasuke's ancestors from way back in time, as well as family members that had died of natural causes before the Uchiha Massacre.

He caught himself wondering if it was the Xanax that made Sasuke stay so calm.
He wondered if the boy would've been an emotional wreck without them, but that was impossible to imagine. It just didn't fit Sasuke's image.

Still, Sasuke was acting a lot calmer than Naruto thought he would.
There wasn't a hint of sorrow in his eyes, not a trace of that dread that had been present in him earlier. His hands weren't shaking in the slightest, like Naruto's had been when he went to his father's grave.
But he was quiet.
Sasuke had hardly said a word all night.
He'd chosen to do as Naruto; clean the gravesite at night when everyone else were at the festival, so he would be spared the sympathetic glances and whispers.

Sasuke stopped in front of the farthest tombstones.
Naruto stayed behind, continuing what he was doing over by the older graves.

The teen dropped to his knees before one of the stones, bowing his head in respect before lighting the incense.
The crisp scent tickled in his nose and throat.
It brought tears to his eyes.
He blinked, forcing them back.
The stone before him carried the names Uchiha Fugaku and Mikoto. His parents.
It struck him that he hadn't seen this tombstone in years.
Only once since the funeral, and back then he'd been so out of it he didn't even care.

Still, that wasn't the hardest part about being here.
What really tore him apart from inside was the small charm and white candle standing further away.
In remembrance of Itachi.

His brother had no grave, because there was no body.
Nevertheless this candle was placed at the gravesite.
Wasn't that the same thing as pronouncing him to be dead?

Sasuke stared at the charm.
He sighed deeply, lighting the candle.
The flame blossomed, a glow of light illuminating nothing more than a small radius of the site.
And there, in the flickering light, stood his brother.
"No..." Sasuke whispered, taking a step back.
'Itachi' raised his hand, gesturing towards the candle.
"Ridiculous isn't it?" he asked, moving closer.
"Commemorating someone who's not even dead...Right, Sasuke?" the hallucination reached his hand towards Sasuke, running it along his cheek, through his hair.
And Sasuke felt the touch.
He felt it. As if Itachi was really standing there.
But of course he wasn't.
He wasn't!

Naruto winced.
"Sasuke?" he asked, "Did you say something just now?"
When the raven didn't answer, Naruto stood, turning to look at him.
Sasuke was standing in front of a lit candle, staring straight ahead.
When Naruto looked closer he noticed that the Uchiha was pale. Paler than usual, almost white.
He looked positively terrified.
"Sasuke?"
There was no response.
Naruto dropped what was in his hands, hurrying over to the raven.
Now that he came closer, he noticed that Sasuke was shaking too.
"Sasuke?" he tried again.

"Answer him, Sasuke. Introduce us." 'Itachi' urged. He smiled.
Cold sweats emerged on Sasuke's back.
"Go away," he mouthed.
"What did you say?" the blonde next to him said.
"Yes," 'Itachi' said, "What did you say?"
"Go away!" his voice was higher this time. High, and raw. "You're not real!"
"S-Sasuke? What are you talking about?" Naruto asked, shaking Sasuke carefully, "Of course I'm real. I'm right here!"
He sounded scared, Sasuke noted.
"Not you..." he mumbled, voice shaking, "Itachi...."
That last word was so low Naruto couldn't make it out.

"You really want me to go away?" 'Itachi' asked softly.
Sasuke nodded. "Please..."
"Please what? Sasuke?" Naruto's voice was growing more desperate by the minute.
Sasuke's eyes were fixated on something Naruto couldn't see, and it scared him.
He'd seemed fine just minutes ago!

"Alright," said the Itachi replica, "I'll leave you to it. You're a good kid for taking care of our family," he smiled again. It was creepy, but familiar and almost comforting.
Or it would have been, if Sasuke's blood hadn't turned to icicles.

In the next moment, 'Itachi' was gone.
Sasuke fell to his knees, Naruto throwing himself down to the ground after him.
"Sasuke!" he shrilled, "Are you okay?!"
"Naruto..." Sasuke's voice trembled, "There's...something you should..."
He turned his dark gaze to Naruto, building up the courage to say what he'd been holding back ever since Anko announced it yesterday.
"It wasn't a school," he said.
Naruto just stared blankly at him.
"I don't understand...?"
"Where I transferred from," Sasuke glared down at the ground again, "It's not a school. It's an institution."
"I-institution...?"
"And I'm not going on a vacation. They're sending me back."

It was like someone stabbed Naruto through the heart.
What was Sasuke saying?
It was hard to understand what the pale teen was talking about. Frantically Naruto's mind tried to piece the puzzle together.
"You were institutionalized?" he finally asked, fearing the answer.
Sasuke nodded.
"Why?" Naruto's voice was barely audible.
Sasuke shook his head. "I don't want to talk about it here. Let's go."
He stood, dragging Naruto up by the hand.
His legs were shaky, but he'd manage.

Supposedly it was bad to leave the grave like this, but he didn't care.
He had to get away.
Even the house was better than this.
He pulled Naruto along, out into the car.

"Should you be driving?" Naruto asked nervously.
"Don't worry. I'm fine now." Sasuke lied. He was still feeling like he'd been ran over by a train, but if there was something he'd learned over the past weeks, it was how to suppress that feeling and act rationally. If he hadn't, he probably would've been a nervous wreck by now.
***

"What happened back there?" Naruto asked as soon as they were seated in Sasuke's room.
Sasuke sighed, running his hands through jet black tresses.
He exhaled slowly, wondering where to start.
"I don't want you to worry..." he finally began.
Naruto didn't know what to make of that. Clearly he was worrying already.
"What do you mean you don't want me to worry?!" he exploded, "You're taking Xanax, you've been institutionalized once before and now you're being sent back! You're talking to yourself and...I don't understand!" his voice cracked.
Sasuke's hand touched his cheek.
"Naruto," he said softly, "It scares me just as much as it scares you...And I don't understand it either..."
Their eyes met.
"Listen, I'm gonna try to explain..." Sasuke said, trying to sound as calm as possible.
He wanted Naruto to think he was in control.
"I'm on Xanax because I wanted off medication, and Anko refused to let me entirely. I used to be on something called Seroquel. Do you know it?"
Naruto shook his head.
"Ok, it doesn't matter." Sasuke assured him, stroking his thumb along the scars on Naruto's cheek as he spoke, "I switched to Xanax, and it gave me some side effects."
He felt sick just thinking about it.
Naruto nodded.
"The thing is..." Sasuke continued, "I don't think they have quite let up yet...And that's the reason why I'm going away."
He felt like he was explaining it to a child.
But it was only so Naruto wouldn't have to worry. He needed it to sound as harmless as possible, so the blonde wouldn't suffer at the thought of him when he was gone.
"That doesn't explain what happened," Naruto said. Of course. He wasn't a child after all.
Naruto was brighter than he looked. And he was the most important person Sasuke had in his life. He owed him the truth.
With great difficulty, Sasuke told him: "Naruto...I...I'm seeing things."
Naruto's lips parted. "Seeing..?" he croaked.
"Yeah," Sasuke nodded, "When we were at the gravesite, I saw my brother. I've been seeing him alot lately actually....That's what freaked me out."
He waited for a reaction.
Naruto just stared, shocked. "You're hallucinating?"
Sasuke had refused to admit it to Anko, and to Kakashi.
What they knew, they had figured out themselves. But Naruto... He couldn't lie to Naruto.
He nodded again. "Yes."
Sasuke paused, continuing to run his thumb along Naruto's cheek in that same soothing movement.
"It scares the crap out of me...But most likely it's the Xanax causing it."
"Then quit taking it!"
Sasuke smiled.
"Don't think I haven't tried. But they won't let me," he frowned, "That's why I'm going. Because they want to keep me under supervision when they take me off the pills. To see if I get worse. Or if it's just a side-effect."
"That's all?" Naruto gripped, Sasuke's wrist. "That's all right?"
Sasuke nodded, "Don't worry," he said, smiling. "I'm not crazy."

Naruto felt angered all of a sudden, pushing Sasuke hard back on the bed.
"Don't joke about that you bastard!"
His eyes squeezed shut, as tears welled up.
He had no idea why that happened. Maybe he was scared.
Scared of losing Sasuke, now that he finally got him back.

"Naruto..." Sasuke whispered softly. "I'm not joking about it. But it's easier to deal with this way..."
"Jerk," the fox muttered. He fell forward, landing on top of Sasuke, resting his head on his chest.
Sasuke's arms went around his waist, warm, strong and protective.
And yet, Sasuke was the one who needed to be protected, Naruto thought.
He could hear the Uchiha's heart beating against his ear.
"Why were you institutionalized the first time?" he finally asked.

Sasuke sighed.
He didn't want to bring up all of this.
It was like ripping open an old flesh wound, watching it bleed.
But at the same time...He didn't want to keep all these things bottled up inside of himself anymore. He wanted Naruto to know.
He felt ashamed when talking about it, but Naruto somehow made him open up so easily, just by looking at him and smiling.
And he was such a big part of Sasuke's history, he deserved to know what had happened after Iruka had taken him away.

And so, for reasons he had a hard time understanding, Sasuke found himself to be letting Naruto in on everything.
How he'd stayed for three years at the other orphanage after Naruto was taken away.
Things hadn't been different there after Naruto left, only darker, gloomier.
Other than that, the kids were yelled at, beaten up and starved as punishment for any mistake they did. Just like when Naruto was there.
The physical pain that was inflicted on him daily faded in comparison to the torment inside of him though. He was a child who knew nothing but anguish and pain, from losing his entire family and then Naruto.

"When I was ten, I finally got away from that place," Sasuke said, "But I can't really remember by who... Or how it happened. But like you, I was moved."

The place where Sasuke had wound up wasn't exactly an orphanage, nor was it a foster home.
It was sort of a crossover between both.
He didn't really remember much from his years there, apart from being very quiet and enclosed.
Later, Anko and the other doctors had claimed his depression had started back then, which would explain why he remembered so little.
The only thing that was still clear in his mind from the time there was the pain.
"I probably remember it so well because it never stopped hurting," Sasuke said, shrugging.
Naruto nodded. He clung to every word that came out of Sasuke's mouth.

Sasuke continued, telling him of how he had reached a point when he was twelve where it became so unbearable he had no idea how to handle it. Up until then, there hadn't been anyone to talk to, and he didn't want to get close to anyone either, so there was no way for him to relieve the stress. Things just kept adding to the burden.

It had even gone so far that he'd slashed his wrists over the pain, but it hadn't worked very well. It had only caused him to be invaded by teachers and psychologists, as well as causing people to patronize him. He disliked it. And besides, he didn't want to be another angsty, self-mutilating teenage cliché. Cutting wasn't for him, he realized, so he coped with his pain.
By then though, it was already too late.
The cuts were noticed, and so the accusations of attempted suicide came to life. That was his cue to be shipped off to see a shrink, and then getting committed.

That explained why he'd winced when Naruto commented the cut on his finger, the blonde thought, shifting slightly as Sasuke continued his story. The flow of words was unstoppable, and it was so hard to comprehend that this was Sasuke talking. The same Sasuke who replied with single-syllables and grunts.

After several psychologists tried and failed with him, Anko came into the picture.
She was a strong and firm woman, knowing exactly what was best for him, or so she thought.
Although Sasuke loathed their sessions, she made him talk. She dragged out of him all the things he had been bottling up. He would just list them to her, with no emotions on display, except from maybe anger.
She was though, perhaps one of the only persons at that hospital who believed him when he said that he didn't want to kill himself. And for that, he was thankful.

All of these things just streamed from Sasuke's lips, like he had no control over them.
Naruto listened, not interrupting him even once.
It was no wonder, he thought, that Sasuke's emotions were so screwed up. It was no wonder that he acted the way he did.

Finally, Sasuke reached the part of the story where the doctors decided they wanted to try him in the 'real world' as they called it, and thus sent him off to live by himself, under the supervision of Kakashi, who'd come into the picture when they enrolled him at Konoha High.

"They still don't think I'm healthy though," Sasuke finished, "I still see Anko. You know that. And occasionally they call me back to the hospital to talk to me about crap that only wastes my time. And then there's the meds. I keep telling them that I'm fine. But they refuse."
Naruto thought that maybe they were right. Maybe Sasuke needed to keep taking the medicines. Even if he wasn't suffering from post traumatic stress syndrome after the death of his family members, it sounded like the pills helped keep the Uchiha stable.
Maybe the Xanax was a bad idea... No, Xanax was most definitely a horrible idea!
But Naruto had a feeling Sasuke needed the Seroquel-thing still.
Of course, Sasuke being Sasuke he would never admit to that.

The room fell silent as soon as Sasuke stopped talking.
All of a sudden he felt like an idiot.
What was he doing, pouring his heart out like that?!
He remembered what 'Itachi' had told him in the kitchen; "What'll he think when he finds out you're crazy?"
But Naruto seemed calm.
Overwhelmed, but calm.

The blonde chose not to ask any questions.
He wanted to take in the information and process it properly first.
But there was one thing he wanted to know;
"When do you leave?"
"Tomorrow..."
"Tomorrow!?" once again Naruto's voice filled the entire room, echoing in the hallways. "Why didn't you say so?!"
"I was going to tell you," Sasuke mumbled, "But things got...hectic."
"Damn right they did!" Naruto nearly screamed.
It was fear, he realized. Fear that washed over him.
Sasuke was leaving.
It didn't matter if it was only for a few weeks.
He was leaving.
Tomorrow.
Naruto felt empty.

"I don't want to leave, if that's what you're thinking." Sasuke grumbled.
"I'm not!" Naruto denied.
"But I don't have a choice," Sasuke sighed, "I'm allowing them to do this so I can get off those pills. I'm not crazy yet, but if I see Itachi one more time...."
"I told you not to joke about that!" Naruto shrilled.
"Sorry."

They sat in silence, Naruto resting his forehead on Sasuke's chest.
"There's a thing I want to ask you," Sasuke whispered into Naruto's blonde locks.
"Hmm?"
The raven gripped Naruto's chin between his thumb and index finger, tilting his head upwards.
He brought their lips together, carefully.
"Sleep with me tonight..."

Naruto's body stiffened. He pulled back.
"S-Sasuke..."

"Not like that usuratonkatchi," Sasuke rolled his eyes, "I mean, obviously that would be nice too..." he smirked.
Naruto blushed scarlet and stuck his tongue out at him.
"What I mean, dobe," Sasuke said, moving aside the bedspread, lifting up the covers, "Is that I want to sleep next to you again."
"Oh."
"Oh? Is that all you're going to say?"
Naruto shook his head. "No! Uh.... I'd like that...To sleep with you...I mean..." he tripped over the words, "Is that really -?"
"All I want, yes." Sasuke assured him, "I just want to be close to you Naruto, before I leave."

The fox nodded. "Okay. I'll just let them know I won't be coming home..."
He picked up his phone, calling to say that he'd be staying over at Sasuke's, because he was sick. Chiyo was uncertain at first, but concluded that Sasuke needed someone to stay with him since he lived all alone.

"So," Sasuke smirked when Naruto hung up the phone, "I'm sick, am I?"
"Kinda..." Naruto dribbled.
"Hn," Sasuke smiled, "Get under the covers dobe."

Naruto crawled into the bed, nuzzling up to Sasuke.
They were both fully dressed, but it didn't matter.
After last time, it was probably best to just keep their clothes on.
Sasuke's hand went around Naruto's waist, pulling him close. His nose touched against the nape of Naruto's neck, his breath tickling him.
Naruto relaxed.
He was exhausted. They hadn't done much today, but it had still been eventful.
Sasuke's scent on the covers and pillows, and his lips pressing against Naruto's shoulder lulled him into a sense of safety, and soon to sleep.
The last thing he heard was Sasuke's quiet "Thank you."
*****

The next day was beyond surreal.
Naruto awoke at the crack of dawn, finding Sasuke to be up already.
A bag was sitting on the floor, and Naruto realized that Sasuke was packing.

The Uchiha came in from the bathroom, holding his toothbrush in his one hand.
"You're up?"
Naruto nodded, scrambling to his feet. "You're leaving?"
"Soon..." Sasuke replied, stuffing a few more shirts into the bag, "Kakashi called, didn't you hear the phone?"
"No... Why's Kakashi coming?"
"He's driving me." Sasuke explained, "I'm not supposed to drive. I'm on Xanax, remember?"
Naruto stared blankly. Sasuke hadn't exactly been refraining from using his car, Xanax or not.
"Anko's coming too," Sasuke rolled his eyes, "It'll be like one big party."
"Want me to help you with anything?"
"It's ok," Sasuke shook his head, "I'm mostly done..."

Naruto felt useless.
Last night he'd stayed with Sasuke because he needed him to, and now he couldn't even help him pack?
He sighed. It was useless.
This anger was just trying to cover up how horrified he felt.
Sasuke was really leaving.
And why was that bastard so calm about it!?
"I'm not," Sasuke said, reading his mind, "I'm not calm. I hate this. I just....I'm too tired to fight back, you know? I just want to go there so I can go home."
He came over to Naruto, hugging him tightly, lips brushing over Naruto's ear when he spoke; "So I can come back..." he left out the rest of the sentence.
He'd wanted to say 'So I can come back to you', but ended up holding it in after all.
Still, he was sure Naruto knew what he meant.

They got another forty minutes together before the doorbell rang.
Outside Kakashi, Iruka and a woman wearing a trenchcoat; Naruto figured that was Anko were standing.
"Ready?" Kakashi asked, taking Sasuke's bag.
"No."
"Sure you are!" Anko beamed, "I know you're dreading this, but it's for your own good!"
Sasuke sighed.
Right now he just wanted to grab Naruto and run away.
Run forever and never look back.
But the thought of having 'Itachi' haunting them forever wasn't appealing, and it had him following the others into the driveway.

"We should get going," Anko announced, "They're expecting us."
She looked at Sasuke, who was looking at Naruto.

Internally he was screaming at the top of his lungs that he didn't want to.
He wanted to stay.
He wanted to be with Naruto.
He didn't want Naruto to be sad.

Because the blonde's eyes were already moist. He saw it, and it felt like an arrow through the chest.
"Here," he said, handing Naruto a key, "Water my plants."

Sasuke had no plants.
It was just his way of saying 'Here, if you want to feel close to me'.
Naruto smiled, clenching the key in his hand.

"Hurry up Sasuke!" Anko shouted, sounding like they were just about to go off on a happy family holiday.

The Uchiha prodigy remained standing.
He looked at Naruto. Who looked back at him, eyes still welling with tears.
"I'll miss you." Naruto whispered.
"I know. Me too."

Sasuke turned, starting to walk towards the car, but then he stopped.
Abruptly, he turned on his heel, striding over to Naruto again.
"Sasuke?" Kakashi called, "Did you forget something?"
The teen didn't reply.
He stopped in front of Naruto again.
"I'll see you soon," he said, refusing to say good bye.
"Yeah. Soon," Naruto grinned, but felt his bravado crumbling.

Damn Sasuke!
Why couldn't he just go, so this stupid, awkward, painful goodbye would stop?!
He got his answer when Sasuke pulled him close and kissed him.
Oh. So that's why.
His lips were soft, yet hard on Naruto's.
The blonde willingly parted his lips, forgetting all about the three adults standing right next to them. He accepted Sasuke's tongue, purring softy when it brushed over his own, engaging it in a dance. His arms went around Sasuke's neck, just as the teen broke the kiss, only to kiss him again, more carefully this time.
Then he let him go, and made for the car.
"I'll see you dobe," he said, slamming the door shut.

Naruto nodded, ignoring the gaping Iruka standing next to him.
"I'll see you, Sasuke-teme."

As the engine roared, and the car started down the road, Naruto broke.
The tears welled over.
Not so much because he knew he'd miss Sasuke.
Not because he was in love with him.
But because Sasuke had placed his everything in that kiss, and now he'd be miserable.
Naruto knew that he would be. It was written all over Sasuke's expressionless face when he got in the car, even if Naruto was the only one who saw it.

Iruka came over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"So that's how it is, huh?"
Naruto nodded, staring at the ground.
"He'll be fine," the teacher assured, "Come on, let's go have breakfast."
Naruto followed, but knew that he wouldn't have an appetite for a long time.
All that was on his mind was "What is Sasuke thinking now?"

***** TBC****


[Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter and made me cakes/cookies! *3*
I worked my ass of with this one, so please let me know what you think!!]

Replies!

Ari: Uwaah! I'm so glad you think so! *blushes* Glad I could make your morning! *3* How's your cold? *gives tissues and hot tea*

Pansy Lane: Thank you so much hun! *___* And this one is even longer! xD
Yeah, I rediscovered my passionate love for Gaara myself after watching ep 32, and well... Yeah *__* I love you for loving my Gaara.
As for no interruptions... kukuku... Watch out for chapter 12! *winks*
Oh! I think I know what's happening to your reviews! I'll tell you on Eljay!
I don't think the chocolate matters much... it was just an escape plan for myself xD But now that you mention it, I might make a little scene out of it..*shrugs* ^-^
FUNNY YOU SHOULD MENTION THAT! I happen to have an image of Sasuke covering Naruto in tomato sauce and.... *shot*
Thanks dear! *huggles*

Chibi: Yaay! Thank you so much!!
I think this chapter would answer your question ^-^ Hope it didn't sound too lame! Was Sasuke OOC? I feel like he was OOC...*freaks out*
Hope you enjoyed the NejiGaa in this chappie as well! *takes pie and cookies, and gives waffles*
Fav author?! *dies* *___*
Btw, are you by any chance the same Chibi who wrote 'Fucking Sasuke'?

Shinigami24: Too bad he isn't allowed to ;___; I feel so bad for making him go through these things ^^;;
And you, have very bad luck with painkillers! xD Take care of yourself! *gives cookies*
Ahaha, I had fun with the KakaIru and the others x3
And yeah...I'd like to be in Tsunade's shoes myself... *muses* Maybe I'll do a oneshot... xD

SneakyFox: Well, his house is definitely not haunted...I hope... O_o;;
Hahaah you're right! I can't picture that either! There'd be like an invisible force keeping Sasuke from going through with it!
Thank you very much, and I hope you enjoyed this one as well!

Kagomegirl: Thanks! Here's the update! Sorry it's a bit slow!

Nusku: Thank you! *___*
YAY CAKE! *3*
Here's the update! Hope you enjoyed it! *loves*