Purple Cocaine Prison

Warning(s): Mild Language, ANGST, and Bit-o-Fluff.

PLEASE READ, REVIEW AND ENJOY!

~!@!~

Purple Cocaine Prison
‘Poker Pieces-Part Three’

~!@!~

‘Don’t ever suddenly
Become someone else’s
Lay down beside me

Let today be the same
As Yesterday
And Tomorrow the same
As Today
Be There and back
Someday never
Without saying goodbye
To Before

Don’t ever suddenly
Leave me alone
To fight Life
Or Death
Or Time
Or Space
Or myself

Love this world
Or love me
Or Love us both
Don’t ever suddenly
Just leave…’

“Untitled”

~!@!~

{Naruto}

“There is this saying Haku once told me, you know? It goes: ‘Life is not about living, it is about surviving. You are surviving if, and only if, you conquer your fear and the fear of others’. Personally, I never got that, but this must be what’s happening to me now”

Neji is making chicken noodle soup and I’m making the butter sandwiches. After Tsunade-Hag cut us loose and I met Haku and Zabuza, we went back to Neji’s to get him some stuff to sleep over.

Gaara, Haku, Shikamaru and Shino were due over any minute for dinner, which is what we are making now.

Neji doesn’t answer my comment, “In what country is this considered dinner?”

I grin and nudge him with my green-apron covered hip, “This is comfort food, buddy. Don’t you have chicken noodle soup when you feel crappy?”

Neji let me loosely braid his hair and pin it up. Somehow, he still manages to look as much as himself as when it’s down, “If you feel ‘crappy’, then you take medication”

“Yeah”, I say, rolling me eyes, “In Black and White land”

Neji looks at me mock-innocently, “Isn’t that where we live?”

I laugh but it’s weak and we can both tell. I’m not as panicked about not being able to live here anymore, but I am feeling a little subdued.
Who could blame me? This is my whole world, minus Neji, taking a dive into the unknown.

“Anyway”, I say, transferring my last butter sandwich to one of these really nice eggshell blue plates we borrowed from Neji’s kitchen (according to him, they’ll never be missed), “D’you get permission to stay over?”

Neji’s being nice and letting me avoid the topic we are going to end up talking about during dinner anyway, “I checked in with the adults”

I nod, not really worried about that, but talking just for the sake of talking, “Will Hinata be okay on her own? No big, strong, not to mention capable, older cousin around?”

Neji raises an eyebrow at my slight edge of sarcasm, “Stick to setting the table if you don’t feel like talking”

I grin sheepishly at him, feeling a bit ashamed. He’s got a point, I think, as I turn from the counter and put my plate on the table. He’s basically telling me not to force myself, and that’s to be appreciated.

Someone knocks and Neji motions vaguely that he isn’t going. I grin at him and bounce out of the kitchen and down the hall. I cleaned up as much as my space to stash clutter allowed and the front hall, at least, is mess free. My room is a different story though.

I take a deep breath at the door, hell bent on acting myself as much as possible, if not for myself, then for the others. I look down at my oversized black overalls and bright orange shirt. I was thinking comfort when I picked them, but now it occurs to me, somewhat absently, that Neji will have trouble getting me out of them later.

If he EVER intends to keep on with what WOULD have happened of Tsunade-Hag hadn’t interrupted.

I sigh: she can be SUCH a pain sometimes!

The door knocks again, this time more loudly because it sounds like a rhino is tryin to find its way in on the other side.

I paste on my widest grin and fling the door open.

It doesn’t fool anybody.

Shikamaru shakes his head at me while he toes off his sneakers, pausing to pat me on the head on his way past. Shino pats my shoulder and Gaara pauses to give me a long, loaded look and squeeze my hand.

When the hall is empty but for Haku and I, I try to smile one last time, for Haku. He smiles back, sadly, and dumps two of the four bags he was carrying on me and shuts the door behind himself, “Sorry we are late”

I laugh quietly, “Glad you guys are here at all”

Haku smiles genuinely, “Kitchen fist, mopping later”

I allow myself to be led back to my kitchen.

With six people in my kitchen, it’s a tight enough fit. It amuses me to see Neji and Gaara eyeing each other. Shino is already sitting down and Shika is sniffing at the soup. The domesticity of the scene makes me laugh.

Haku ignores the strange look directed our way and unpacks his first two bags: sushi and a salad. The third bag he takes from me is a chocolate cake. The fourth he tells me to keep and open later.

Neji puts the soup on the table and we all sit down, Neji next to me, Haku on my left. Gaara on his other side followed by Shino. Shika sits on Neji’s other side.

Shika eyes the soup, “Did Naruto make that?”

He directs the question to Neji who points subtlety at the butter sandwiches.

Shika nods, “Right. Nobody eat those”

“HEY!” I say loudly, but grin when Shika shrugs at me and reaches for one anyway.

After that, we all take our own butter sandwiches and start eating. I find myself nibbling, though I’m happy enough to see everyone else eating. Even Gaara eats half of his sandwich and has a bit of soup, though he forgoes the chocolate cake at the end.

Haku chats more then enough for all of us, Shika jumping in to comment and make me laugh and Shino nodding ever so often. Gaara is always quiet unless he has something serious to say and Neji is much the same way. I try to participate, but my heart isn’t in it.

Haku and I get up to clear the table and Gaara drops the first bomb of the evening, “Are they going to put you somewhere?”

I swear the conversation dies then and there.

Haku purses his mouth, “There’s a social worker digging around about you at school”

I nearly drop the plates I’m holding, “There is?!”

Shika shrugs, “He pulled us out of gym class to ask questions about you”

At my horrified look Shika scoffs, “We didn’t tell him anything”

Neji rises and takes the plates from me, “Nothing to worry about”

I look at him, bewildered. If he’s aware of everyone starring at him, he ignores them. He’s only looking at me, serious as ever, “You’re nearly eighteen, where can they put you? Besides, there is nothing they can do if you live with a legal adult near your own age. My uncle isn’t decided on my leaving the house yet, but he’s not against allowing me to live here”

“WHAT?!”

Haku smiles, some sort of understanding dawning on him, “He’s right, Naru. Neji IS already eighteen. If he’s leaving with you as a roommate, he doesn’t even have to be your guardian”

Shika nods then shrugs, “Kills two birds with one stone”

Despite my brain not having caught up with the conversation, I catch that, “What’s that supposed to mean”

Shika gives me a long look and motions to Neji.

“What…oh…OH!” I blush and shrug.

Gaara, looking satisfied with the turn of events, seems to change his mind about the cake and carries what is left of it out into the living room with him. Shino follows him, his glass of coke in hand. Haku finished cleaning up and grins at Neji and I on his way out.

I turn back to Neji, still stumped, “You’d move in with me? In this tiny-as-hell, hole in the wall? What about Hinata? What about you?! Is this even LEGAL?! Are you CRAZY?”

Neji calmly turns from me long enough to put the plates he took from me in the sink and turns back, “Crazy about moving in, or crazy about wanting to do this for you?”

He raises an eyebrow in inquiry and THAT shuts me up.

I swallow past the stupid lump in my throat, “What wouldn’t you do for me?”

Neji hugs me loosely, which I appreciate, because any harder and I’ll break and says into my hair: “Leave you alone”

“Idiot”, I tell him, eyes watering.

“Clearly, you’re the idiot”, Shika says from the doorway.

I glare around Neji at him and he grins, “Where are the forks? Gaara’s looking at the cake like he expects it to feed itself to him”

I laugh a watery laugh and find him one. Neji drags me into the living room after Shika.

In the living room, Shika hands Gaara the fork and he takes a small forkful and puts it in his mouth. He chews solicitously, but his next forkful is bigger then the first.

Neji sits down next to Gaara, leaving the end of the sofa open for Shika. I sit on a floor cushion with Shino and Haku, who is beaming.

I look at him and reluctantly voice what is bothering me, “Isn’t this too easy?”

Haku’s smile doesn’t falter, “Actually, it might be, but I spoke to Tsunade about changing the paperwork to make it look like you no longer lived here. They’ll have a hard time bothering you if they don’t know where you are”

Gaara pauses in his investigation of chocolate cake to shrug carelessly, “Better idea: Move out for real”

We all turn to look at him, but Neji is nodding, “Somewhere downtown”

I stare at Neji and Shino stares up at the ceiling thoughtfully, as if reading what he says next of it: “The Hyuga Family owns several of the hotels in Boston city, many of them having won awards for their structural and aesthetically pleasing designs. Three of them are private multi-level condo-type housing, privately bought for permanent purchase”

Neji looks lightly impressed, but like I’ve said before, he’s not all that openly expressive.

Shika asks what I was going to, “And how the hell do you know that?”

Shino pushes his shades further up is nose, “My family lives in one”

I laugh, “I’m surrounded by rich people”

Neji ignores that comment, “It would be easy enough to move there. My family would like to keep tabs on me anyway”

I stare at him incredulously, “Is this just me or is this all going a bit too fast?”

Haku interrupts me, “What about school?”

Gaara half rolls his eyes, “They won’t stick around forever. Another week, tops. No point in worrying about more then that”

I find myself nodding, dragged out of my own worries by my friends’ efforts to help me out. I grin, a bit overwhelmed, “You guys are crazy”

Haku happily agrees, slinging an arm around my shoulder.

~!@!~

“Don’t fall asleep”, Neji warns me before he sets off to see everyone out.

I swear I try to listen to him, but my eyes are already dropping shut. After they’d come up with all that stuff from before, they went about hammering out all the little details. Despite the fact that I’m supposed to be the person the most concerned, I found myself nodding off from all the talking.

I lean haphazardly sideways and lie down, curling my back against the sofa. I hear Haku call out to me, probably saying goodbye, but I only mumble quietly in answer.

I’m still partially aware on some level, but my body doesn’t seem to want to co-operate.

Soft footsteps rouse me a little bit when Neji comes back into the room, but I can’t even drag an eye open long enough to look at him. I hear him sigh and don’t resist when he picks me up and curls me into his chest.

He pauses to switch off all the lights and finds the door to my room in the dark.

He snorts when he sees the clutter and lays me down on the bed, an island in the mess of things.

I don’t find the strength to keep hold of him when he moves to pull away. Luckily, he changes his mind on his own and climbs into bed with me.

I turn and reach out blindly, weaving a hand blindly into hair and curling an arm against his chest. His own arms wind themselves around my middle and tug me close enough to curl the rest of me into him.

Now, ironically, I’m suddenly more awake for reasons beyond me. I guess close proximity to your local Neji will do that to you.

I reach up a bit to press my face into the hollow of his throat.

“What?” Neji isn’t asleep yet.

“Just making sure you’re real”, I say absently.

Neji’s hands move to squeeze my hips in such a way as to make me squirm, and not from discomfort, “I’m real”

“Hmm”, I say, craning my neck to kiss him under the chin.

Neji chuckles when I suddenly roll onto him and consider his face. I can’t see a heck of a whole lot in the dark, but his eyes and hair and skin look amazing in the vague amount of waning moonlight coming in from the open window.

“Is now a good time to remind you that we haven’t had sex?”

Neji gives me an odd look, but it’s ruined by the fact that he’s smiling slightly, “That’s on hold”

I suppose Neji chuckles because of the look of utter surprise on my face. What happened? He was ready to get busy before and now it’s time-out? I can’t say I’m TOTALLY disappointed, after all I wasn’t any more ready before then I am now. All that’s changed, apparently, is that Neji has set a date for it.

“On hold till when?” I trace Neji’s hairline in an unobtrusive attempt at encouraging some of his bangs out of his eyes.

Neji twines his fingers over the dip between my shoulder blades and closes his eyes as if to sleep, “When you aren’t out to do it because you’re feeling insecure”

I gape at him and am about to LOUDLY refute when it hits me head on that he’s sort of right. Where did this urgency to get busy come from anyway? I’m not a girl; I don’t have a time of the month. So, basically, am I feeling a need to do this for reassurance? Neji himself is doing a ridiculously good job of doing that already, so is there something more physical about this I’m missing out on?
I AM pretty touchy-feely, but has that got anything to do with it?

“ARGH! I HATE when you do that!” I thump my forehead against Neji’s chest in irritation, “You’re turning me into a girl”

Neji doesn’t answer unless you count steady breathing. With my forehead resting where it is I can already tell he’s asleep.

As I reach down and pull up my comforter, I begin to suspect that Neji was probably too tired to actually do anything, much less get busy. He does, however, get brownie points for being crafty enough to plant a seed of doubt in my blond head.

It got him the quiet he needed to get to sleep, didn’t it?

I grin fondly at him and curl up to sleep.

~!@!~

I am, and have never been, a morning person. Neji, since last time he slept over, has proven he’s the opposite. When I pull the comforter down enough to see my room, Neji is sitting on the end of my bed, attaching a hair tie. I sit up on my elbows and contemplate his broad back and long neck. He’s so much bigger then I am that it still amazes me. Sasuke is probably a little smaller then him, and Shika and Shino aren’t tiny either. Haku, Gaara and I are probably the smallest.

I let my head drop back down onto my pillow, “Where are you going?”

Neji turns, though I only hear him do it, and closes a wrist around my left ankle and pulls. I yelp and burst out laughing as he drags me halfway down the bed and grabs me, comforter and all, before looking me in the eyes, “Home”

I sigh and smooth my hands against his sweater-covered chest, “What do I do?”

Neji shrugs and gestures with a liberated hand the general area, “Pack?”

I look him in the eyes again, baby-blue to silver-gray, “Seriously? Is this going to work?”

Neji sets me down and picks up the bag Haku left me last night and sets it down in my lap, “Worry about packing”

I grin and stand to see him out. It’s only when he’s standing just inside the door that I notice he’s wearing my green sweater and his black jeans from yesterday. That damn sweater looks better on him then it does me! Laughing, I kiss him goodbye and close the door after him.

I turn back, my more subdued side resurfacing and look at the place that has been my home for the better years of my life.

I sigh and walk back to my room and decide to start with all the arbitrary stuff I have: manga and comics and random clothes lying around. After the first ten minutes, it’s clear I’m going to need some music and a garbage bag.

In the kitchen, I notice Haku’s bag and open it after I grab a garbage bag from under the sink; it’s his CD collection.

I laugh and wonder how he could have known and dig up my Boom box, and pick a random CD. Haku is into a lot of that Hip Hop stuff, which I can listen to, but he likes some mellower stuff too. When the first song starts, I get curious and glance at the CD case. I’ve never heard of Citizen Cope, but they have a nice sound.

Just when I’ve gotten myself immersed, I hear a knock at the door. I freeze, unsure I should go check, in case it’s the social worker looking for me, but then I hear the door open and close.

I know I locked it when Neji left, so I’m pretty sure I know who it is. Shaking my head and grinning, I keep sorting out the newest batch of crap from under my bed.

“You’re up early, brat”

I pull a face at Tsunade, “Yea? I though hags slept in on weekdays?”

Tsunade’s eye twitches but she stays where she is and calm, which is surprising. She looks around and runs a hand over her shoulder to sweep one of her low ponytails over her shoulder, “Need any help, Blondie?”

I gape at her. First, she doesn’t punch me out for the hag comment, and then she offers to help me? I grin and motion to my closet, “Are you THAT sad I’m leaving?”

She huffs and throws the closet door open with her usual force, which makes it rattle in its hinges, and grumbles, “You wish”

After that, we fall into companionable silence, except the music, and clean our respective corners.

Tsunade turns to me suddenly, the case she gave me her necklace in hand. She gives me a long look and I smile.

“Neji’s is wearing it”

Tsunade’s eyes widen, “You gave it to him? When’s the wedding?”

“Shut that big hole you call your face!” I say mock-sternly and have to laugh at the scandalized look on her face. It’s amazing what she’s letting me get away with this morning.

She huffs and turns back to her task, “I better get gran-kids outta this”

I gape at her back, “Hello? Two guys?”

Tsunade shrugs without turning around, “It’s called adoption, stupid”

I pause. Firstly, I never thought that far ahead in matters concerning my future and second, I never though of adopting. Ironic isn’t it? I was never adopted, but I could do for some poor kid what I always wish someone could have had the heart to do for me back when I needed it. The fact that they want to place me somewhere NOW doesn’t count now that I’m old enough to handle my own crap.

“-least one girl”, Tsunade is saying when I tune in again.

“What?” I say, absently.

Tsunade sighs and motions over her shoulder, “You have to have at least one girl, maybe more then one boy to keep Neji busy. Might be good for you, a little parenthood”

I laugh, “What do you know about parenthood?”

Tsunade gives me at sad look over the top of her shoulder, “More then you think”

That shuts me up. I’ve been doing that a lot lately, putting my own foot in my mouth. I occupy myself with resuming what I was sorting.

“Anyway”, she continues, “I’ll do what I can for you, I’m not old enough to sit around and watch just yet”

~!@!~

The apartment, when we’re done half past noon, is empty. It looks abandoned, what with all the garbage bags pilled by the door and all the luggage lumped together on the kitchen floor. I stand in the hall with Tsunade, just looking.

She looks as tired as I do, and I reach over and loop my arm in hers, “Thanks for helping me pack up my whole life”

She grins, “You’re bound to do it at least once more in your lifetime. This isn’t the hardest part”

She’s right too. Saying goodbye to her, to this place, to this reality, will be hardest.

Sighing in annoyance, I shake the arm I have in my grip, “Will you shut the hell up? You’re making this worse”

Tsunade cackles and gives me a one armed hug hard enough to crush my shoulders and sweeps me out of the place, saying she has paperwork and that I might want to visit my workplace, let Anko know what’s up, considering I’m moving and need time off.

About my moving, Tsunade seems as sure about it as Neji, which makes me a little suspicious, but whatever, my stomachs empty and I feel a headache coming on.

Since that’s not a bad train of thought, I grab my bus pass and leave my keys with Tsunade. Taking the bus is something I like to do, especially during the day, when I should be in school and there is no one my own age wandering about, except for the odd skipper.

I get off down the street from my workplace, at the caf where Shika works and order a quick bite to eat. I get near-migraines when I go without eating too long, not to mention that I have a serious energy-eating metabolism to cater to.

I walk the rest of the way down the street and ignore the ‘Closed’ sign and walk into the store. The bell tingles overhead and I freeze in the doorway, peering incredulously at whom I see at the counter.

Itachi is dressed more casually then I have yet to have ever seen him: deep mauve hoodie, black slacks, red converse sneakers and hair down.

At the sound of the bell, he turned, laying deep wine-red eyes on me. I also get a clear look at his face, which is as pristine as ever despite the tiniest blue bruise along his lower jaw.

Shaking myself out of my stupor, I step inside and let the door fall closed behind me.

“Naruto, is it?” Itachi asks me in that dangerously calm voice of his.

I nod and step over to him, cautious despite myself, “Yeah and you’re Itachi? Sasuke’s brother?”

He nods back, seeming amused by my guarded approach.

“Delivery?” I ask as I slip casually behind the counter, putting a short distance between us, which despite everything, reassures me.

“Termination of contract” Itachi corrects me, still amused by my not so subtle attempt at distance.

I pause, “Termination?”

Itachi lays his ring hand on the counter, casual like a predator about to pounce, “No more deliveries”

I nod, but wonder, “Something wrong?”

Itachi remains motionless for a second or two before his mouth curls up at the corners in a decidedly sardonic smile, “At home, not here”

“Is Sasuke okay?” I ask, automatically concerned, amusing Itachi further if the way his smile widens slightly is any indication.

“Kisame is taking care if it”

I want to ask how, because I’m not saying I don’t like Kisame, but he’s big, and pretty tough, so if you hear that HE’S taking care of something, he’s probably killing it somewhere quiet, “Oh…okay”

Itachi looks past me to Anko who is suddenly standing behind me, “Signatures?”

She nods and lays a clipboard down, looking more serious then I’m used to seeing. Itachi signs the marked places with a flowing, singular cursive. Nothing fancy, but captivating nonetheless.

Anko takes back the clipboard and hurries back to her office.

Itachi focuses his attentions on me again, “No need to worry. Sasuke can handle himself; I’ve made sure of that”

I gulp and nod.

Itachi tilts his head thoughtfully and regards me less intensely, “Something wrong?” He echoes back to me.

Something about his eyes makes me want to spill the beans, but I glance down and away and shake my head.

“Good”, I hear him say.

The door opens and the bell tingles; I glance up.

Kisame is standing in the doorway: slacks, suspender and sleeveless turtleneck. He looks grim, but when he nods at Itachi, the latter seems pleased.

Itachi turns back to me, holding out the ring hand. I reach out and take it, allowing him to shake once, firmly, before letting go.

Kisame holds the door wider open when Itachi walks past and eyes me thoughtfully.

I stare back and he shakes his head, holding up a hand as he walks out, saying goodbye his own way.

Not long after they are gone, I muse over what Itachi was saying about having made sure Sasuke can take care of himself, not to mention Kisame’s grim look. It gives me this bad feeling I can’t explain.

Anko peeks out of behind her office door, “Why the hell didn’t you tell me they left, I’ve been suffocating in here waiting for the all-clear!”

She’s suddenly herself again and I’m beginning to think that Itachi has the effect he has on everyone, not just me.

That realization scares me a little more then it should, too.

I grin and shrug, earning myself a light punch.

I tell Anko I have to talk to her, and we settle in the office while Autopilot Naruto relates the main points to her. The real me is still on about Sasuke. I’d be ashamed about being so hung up on this if my gut wasn’t twisting to hard thinking about it…

~!@!~

Turns out Neji didn’t have any trouble getting the place, considering he’s so mature and he was right about his Uncle wanting to keep tabs on him not to mention that he had to accept to still accommodate Hinata as per usual.

I didn’t have the heart to have a big goodbye party, so we all ended up just moving my stuff that same afternoon. At least, I surmised, that living downtown would have its advantages. Shino lives in the same building, two floors under us and Haku and Gaara live within walking distance. Also, Shika was close enough to take the bus to see, on top of things, which he’d never been before. I promised Tsunade I’d call at least twice a week to check in too.

On the other side, there were a lot of new things to get used to.

Living WITH Neji, for one, wasn’t going to be the easiest thing in the world, not because he’s difficult or anything, but because now that I finally had him, I’d be sharing him with his family. Not to mention, I’d be alone more often then not in a place nearly eight or nine or even ten times bigger then my last place considering it’s made to comfortably fit more then two young adults.

Lucky for me, it was already the weekend, and Neji was around to help me unpack. We decided to stay only on one side of the place, simply because we didn’t need the other half. We stuck to the kitchen, living room, and nearest bathroom ,bedroom and hall closet.

Neji also had to explain about this whacktastic security system around the place, about the doorman and the maid that comes in twice a week, about that bin in the hall just outside our front door being for the laundry, about the emergency numbers on the red phone in the kitchen cabinet above the furthest counter, and about the automatic showers and taps.

All in all, it was drastically different from what I was used to, not to mention all the perks: a ridiculous amount of channels on the TV, the room-by-room heating system, the gas fireplace and the fact that all the furniture was already in the place before we got there.

Saturday, Neji agreed, was hell, since we’d had to set a bunch of pre-settings on the electronics of the place, plus toss the stuff that didn’t actually get to stay in the place.

Sunday we spent lying in bed. Neji slept like a rock, which I was amused, if not a little concerned about, since he’d been coming in and out of the place going between his home and the apartment.

I felt bad about being responsible for his family working him so hard, since he’d struck some kind of deal with his uncle on my behalf, especially since I was the one benefiting the most from this arrangement.

Neji, being as he is, never complained and just took things in stride. He even let me complain myself to sleep Sunday night when I’d thrown a mini fit over his Uncle calling him over for dinner.

He’s awfully patient with me.

I can’t say I’m totally unhappy, though. This is the best thing to happen to me since Neji.

~!@!~

Monday is a nightmare. I wake up alone, Neji having had to go to school and me still in hideout due to social worker guy.

It’s so amazingly weird walking around the new place by myself. It doesn’t feel like home yet and I can’t say I like the ridiculous amount of space all that much. Finding anything in the fridge is adventurous and the remote for the TV is impossible.

I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but lack of human contact has me jittery and I can’t expect my friends to hang around all the time. I’m not a brat; contrary to what Tsunade was fond of saying, so why am I tripping so hard over all this?

Exhausted with myself, I return to bed, waking later to find Neji home along with Gaara and Haku.

Haku relates some of the more interesting events of the day to me while Gaara crawls into bed with me, mussing his hair further and wrinkling his blue silk Cookie monster jacket.

Neji orders pizza but falls asleep before it gets here. Haku takes that opportunity to drag Gaara and I out of bed to leave him to rest.

In the kitchen Gaara takes a single slice of pizza and moves to the living room to figure out the remote. Alone, Haku turns serious and whispers to me, “Do you know if anything is up with Sasuke?”

My gut tightens and I shake my head, unsure, “I met his brother on Friday, but I had a bad feeling about the whole conversation”

Haku nods, absently, and Gaara interrupts us, “He’s switched schools”

We both look at each other, incredulous, and I motion for Gaara to elaborate.

Gaara has pulled off his jacket and is wearing a black and white checkerboard shirt, to go with his black jeans, “In the office, they were doing the paperwork. I was there to update my medical records”

Haku’s eyes widen, “I remember the secretaries being all excited about it. Apparently, a student had been transferred without first going through the office”

Gaara nods, panda eyes narrowing thoughtfully, “Which means it was a sudden change”

I nod, piecing things from Itachi’s conversation into this. Makes sense, doesn’t it? Itachi had a vague bruise under his jaw, which means he probably fought with Sasuke and by the looks of it, won. He was also terminating his contract with the Gallery, which meant he was probably switching places, not to mention the fact that he said Sasuke was solid enough to handle anything Itachi might throw his way.

Did that mean Sasuke was forced to make the school transfer? Is that what Kisame had been taking care of? And looking grim from having to deal with pissed off Sasuke on top of things?

Gaara nods at my assumptions and I realize I’ve been rationalizing out loud. Haku shakes his head, “Itachi may not just have switched galleries. I went over to visit Sasuke and they told me the apartment was already up for sale”

I gape at him, “Like, it’s empty?”

Haku nods, “They are already gone”

Gaara shakes his head, “Itachi might be gone, but a school transfer means Sasuke is still around. If not living at home, then maybe at a private school. A dormitory”

Then that was what Itachi meant about Sasuke being tough enough to handle whatever. Being dumped in a private school might make Sasuke bitter but it wouldn’t kill him.

“Any ideas where?” I ask Gaara, since he’s the one the most on the ball.

Gaara shrugs, “There aren’t that many private schools around. My brother, Kankuro, attends one, though he comes home the afternoons”

Haku checks the time and has to leave, since Zabuza will be home soon and Gaara opts to go with him.

They leave me like that, leftover pizza, the TV on and my head a mess.

Methodically, I put the pizza in the fridge, turn off the TV and clamber back into bed with Neji, who even deeply asleep curls me into him when I tap on his shoulder.

I lie there a long time awake. I fake sleep when Neji wakes later to eat and do his homework, and continue to play dead when Neji comes back to bed, freshly showered. He curls around me and fall asleep again as easily as he did earlier in the afternoon, but still, I lie awake.

If I ever see Sasuke again, how much more broken, or dangerous, or angry will he be?

~!@!~

P.S: About 'Citizen Cope', their songs 'If There's Love', 'Sun's Gonna Rise', 'Hurricane Waters' and 'Bullet And A Target' inspired this chapter

Ja!