Colors

*A/N: Hiya all. Today’s chapter is rather short for two reasons.
1) Thought that it would be a nice way to break it.
2) I have to head off for a business trip next week and may not have a chance to write.

In any case, I’m so happy that you guys are still reviewing and loving it. I hope I will continue to live up to your expectations. Do keep up with the feedback. I’m literally feeding off the inspirtation and motivation you’ve all been providing. Cheers and onwards to the chapter.

*HuGz all reviewers*

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Chapter 18

Sasuke finally arrived at his apartment alone with Deidara whilst Kisame had hurried off on his own to make a quick report on the weekend’s events to Itachi. Sasuke entered the door and quickly headed to the lounge and kitchen to check for his brother, but he was no where to be found much to his relief. He then headed back towards his front door to help Deidara with his bags.

“If you were looking for your brother he’ll only be in town tomorrow morning. So you have the night off to rest.” Deidara explained with a warm smile.

Sasuke picked up one of his bags and turned. He was about to head to his room before deciding that he needed to vent. He had stayed quiet for far too long and Deidara’s help had proven he was there to support him. He needed to talk, to let the anger, frustration and pain leak out before he broke and there wasn’t any alternative left except to consult the only person he knew was genuine towards him.

“Deidara, my apartment isn’t bugged, is it?” Sasuke asked with his back still facing the older man.

“No, so don’t worry. Itachi thought it’d be a little too much of a prison if it was.”

“I see.” A slight shadow of sarcasm coated the dark prince’s answer. “Well, if you’re not doing anything for dinner, I was thinking of ordering in. You wanna join me?” Sasuke asked, a little hesitantly. He wasn’t used to giving invitations.

Detecting the dark angel’s silent pleas for comfort Deidara agreed and the two set about putting away the bags before Sasuke dialed a sushi delivery line to order some take-outs. Meanwhile, the older man had made himself comfortable on one of the luxurious leather couches in the living room. He examined a few of the remotes arranged neatly on the glossy black coffee table before successfully switching on the large 50-inch plasma TV. Sasuke joined him shortly after. Playing currently was a cheesy Japanese family drama, a boring serial for non devoted followers and both paid less attention to the TV program than to the surrounding silence and their thoughts.

As he sat there, Sasuke wondered how he would bring the subject matter up. He didn’t know where to begin in the first place or what it was exactly he needed to explain or vent. There were so many issues revolving the complexities of his case from the relationship to Itachi and why he couldn’t just take off with the blond to some remote island. He accidentally let out a sigh at the overwhelming bulk of troubled thoughts in his head.

“So, you mind if I ask why you punched Naruto earlier today?” Deidara knew that the usually poised dark prince would have difficulty expressing himself. Thus he decided to initiate.

“He said some crap. But basically I think he was angry about me choosing to succumb myself to Itachi rather than to run.”

“Why did you choose to do so?”

“Come on, you know Itachi as well as I do.” Sasuke smirked. “There’s no way he’d let us go that easily. Even I know how to stop someone from leaving this country if I wanted to. You think Itachi wouldn’t?”

“Well, in any case. I think you should consider it.” Deidara faced away from Sasuke and stared out the large windows that spanned from the ceiling to the floor. The view was breathtaking and the man briefly wondered if all the surrounding luxury and richness had been in exchange for Sasuke’s suffering.

“Deidara, you know better than anyone else about my brother’s methods.” There was a short lingering silence before Sasuke spoke again, “which makes me wonder why you went out of your way to help us.” The young Uchiha looked at Deidara, his gaze bearing suspicions of the older blond’s recent actions.

Deidara lowered his gaze towards his hands, which were firmly clasped together. “You don’t really remember those days do you?”

Sasuke’s eyebrows furrowed. “What days?”

“There’s a lot I owe to your family. Afterall, I was merely the bastard son of a maid in your household.”

“Oh… that.” Sasuke smirked. “You owe your duty to the head of the family, which is Itachi, not me.”

“You’re right in some sense. But Itachi wasn’t the one that first invited me to play games with the rich kids. You were.” Deidara turned towards Sasuke, but saw that the young man had a melancholy look cast upon his graceful features, which wasn’t surprising considering those were the days when his parents were still alive. No doubt these were painful memories for Sasuke and the older blond regretted having brought the subject matter to light.

“That was a long time ago.” Sasuke spoke softly, his eyes distant.

“Still, I was despised all because I was a bastard child and in the rich folk’s eyes, I had to be avoided like the plague. It didn’t matter that your parents treated me as one of their own or if they sent me to the best school along with Itachi. Nothing you all did was ever going to make me fit in since those rich snobbish pricks only understood that my mother had no husband and was a lowly maid in your household.”

Sasuke couldn’t deny that fact. What Deidara had said brought back memories of his younger days. He remembered how all the other kids looked at the blond youth like they would be stained by his bad luck if they went too near. Deidara was always left alone in a corner to watch the others play soccer in the field with smiling faces, while he sat crouched on the grass, waiting patiently at each session and hoping that someone would ask him to join in.

“But you, you reached out to me and asked, if I would like to play.” Deidara’s smile returned to his previously sullen features. Sasuke looked at him, slightly wide eyed at the remark, but he broke the gaze as a slight blush had built upon his cheek at the subtle praise.

“That’s why,” Deidara continued, “because of who you are deep down inside, you’ll never beat your brother in his own game.”

Sasuke’s eyes fully widened and he stood abruptly, fuming. “What?!”

“You don’t have the heart for it Sasuke, you never had.”

“Tch, as if you know. I’ve done quite a fair bit of shit already and it just seems to only get easier so don’t think I’m not capable of it.” Sasuke turned and headed towards the open kitchen area.

Deidara was disappointed at his reply. He did not expect that the young man could have grown so cold in only a few years with the Uchiha Corporation. He began to think that perhaps Itachi had carved more than just hatred onto his brother’s heart, that he had been moulding him into something worse. “So you’re saying that you wanna be just like that fucking asshole. Sure Sasuke, go ahead. Be exactly like your brother.” Deidara taunted as he watched the dark prince’s back for the slightest reaction.

Sasuke stopped in his tracks. Without turning to face Deidara he replied in a low voice, “I know where I’m heading Deidara, you don’t have to remind me. But I also know better than to foster hope in impossible fantasies. That’s why I have to keep walking down this path. I don’t have a fucking choice.”

Deidara watched as Sasuke clenched his fists tightly. He stood up and slowly walked over to the quivering dark haired angel. Placing a hand on one of Sasuke’s shoulders, he squeezed lightly. “I understand, and whatever path you choose, I’ll make sure I’m on it as well.”

“Thanks,” Sasuke murmured and Deidara removed his hand. “Anytime,” he replied before heading back towards the couch. But as he sat down, his phone started beeping. He lifted the gadget out of his pocket and stared at the message sender ID.

“Beer?” Sasuke offered.

Deidara looked up. “Sure,” he answered and accepted the offered bottle, whilst his other hand fiddled with his phone to read the message. “Watch your tracks,” he read softly against his lips before placing the phone upon his chin and pausing to think.

“Who’s that?” Sasuke asked casually.

Suddenly a horrific thought occurred to Deidara and he paled. But he pushed it aside not wanting to worry the young Uchiha. Afterall, he wasn’t entirely sure what the message had meant in the first place. “Nothing. Just an old friend,” he answered with a flawless smile, successfully masking the worry he would be carrying throughout the rest of their peaceful evening together.

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Naruto blinked. Something bright was bothering his vision excruciatingly. He fluttered his eyelids a few times more before turning his body around to face away from the offending sunlight. But as he turned, his hand hit against something hard that groaned. He opened his eyes further only to realize that a bunch of dreadlocks were staring right back at him.

*Oh my God. Fuck. What did I bring home this time? Hmm… wait.* Naruto’s brain slowly began piecing together the vague memories of him, Shikamaru and Neji’s visit to a pub after arriving back in Tokyo. He sighed in relief. Unfortunately, the harsh maneuver had jolted Shikamaru from his sleep and he began shifting into a sit-up position.

“Morning Shika.”

Shikamaru grunted and groaned before he flipped the covers off of him and headed towards the bathroom still clad in his T-shirt and khakis from the night before. Naruto sat up slowly and looked towards his right. There Neji lay, sound asleep. His pale skin bathed by the surrounding sunlight gave him a golden hue that made his appearance simply angelic. Naruto watched as his friend’s chest rose and fell in a slow even rhythm. He smiled and hoped that one day Neji would find the love of his life and be truly happy. He didn’t deserve rejection and the blond cursed himself once more for being unable to accept his dear friend’s affections. But such were the cruelties of life and Naruto had decided that he would never be involved in another obligatory relationship again, which only seemed to result in nothing but pain for both parties.

Naruto sighed softly before slowly edging himself off the bed in order to not wake Neji up. As he did so, Shikamaru came back into the room looking fresher.

He eyed Naruto briefly before whispering, “What do you have for breakfast?”

“Raid my fridge and kitchen. There’s milk and ramen and eggs. The usual grub.” His friend loitered out of the room and Naruto made his way into the bathroom to clean-up. Once done and feeling revitalized from the much needed shower, he headed back into his room clad only in his bathrobe. He observed Neji’s still sleeping figure and deciding that he wouldn’t be waking up anytime soon, he stripped off his robe and rummaged his chest of drawers for a fresh set of underwear and clothes to put on. As he bent clumsily to pull on his orange briefs, he locked gazes with Neji, who had woken up and was now upright, blushing and staring dumbfounded at Naruto’s awkward position.

“Err, oops.” Naruto chuckled shyly and quickly pulled on his underwear. Meanwhile Neji had gotten up from the bed and in a few quick strides was next to Naruto. Turning the blond around to face him, he pinned Naruto against the wooden chest with his taller frame and landed a rough kiss on the surprised man. He felt Neji’s tongue dive into his mouth repeatedly and his friend’s hands circle his hips to give his butt a tight squeeze; the handsome brunette’s erection throbbing intrusively against Naruto’s thigh. But then, just when the blond was about to voice his protest, Neji stepped backwards.

“Sorry…. about that.” He replied in between heavy breaths to the blond who was still standing stupefied against the chest in his orange underwear. Naruto watched as Neji headed towards the bathroom and slammed the door behind him.

He winced and smacked a hand against his forehead. *Crap, should’ve been more careful.* Once he had finished dressing he headed towards the kitchen but found that Shikamaru was waiting at his lounge instead.

“Not grabbing anything?”

“Didn’t realize the time. Its 11.00 already and Temari will kill me if I miss another Sunday lunch appointment with her. By the way, what was that loud bang?”

“Neji just slammed the door a tad too hard.” Naruto answered casually, hoping Shikamaru wouldn’t make a big fuss out of the small issue, which he probably had to take up on his own with Neji.

“Oh well, I’m off now. Tell Neji I’ll catch up with him during the week.”

“Sure.” With that Naruto escorted Shikamaru out of his apartment. When he turned round, Neji had appeared from his room, all traces of the earlier encounter had vanished from his expression.

“Where’s Shika?”

“Oh, he’s left. Said he had to meet up with Temari if not she’d kill him.”

“Oh, I see. Erm… I’m…”

“Don’t apologize Neji. I think I should’ve been just a little more careful. Kinda used to getting dressed in my own room and I thought you were asleep.”

A small smile graced Neji’s lips and the blond continued, “So you wanna go out and grab something to eat instead? Its nearly lunch anyway.”

“Yeah I suppose.” The two smiled at each other briefly before heading out to a nearby sushi bar. All the way, Neji pondered about how long it would be before he’d have to admit that being around Naruto would never allow him room to heal from his bleeding heart.

TBC