Delusional Companions

A/N: Old chapter, not sure why it didn't make it up. im cleaning house at the moment, getting rid of old fics i may never finish, because i've written a lot of crap in my day, and theres no need to keep it. i think i might keep working on this one though, if anyone's interested. I have a bit of the next chapter, but i dunno yet.



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Patient File, name: Uzumaki Naruto

Doctor on Case: Umino Iruka, ward 6

1st week of February, XXXX

Notes: Patient seems to be ready for social interaction, and I can't say I see any other reason to keep him under observation. His other personality has yet to show any signs of manifesting itself or vying for control, but this dormancy may be due to abscence of certain stressing factors, and though it has succeeded in the past I don't believe that this is yet a case to induce such a response forcefully, as we're not sure how the boy would react. It's probably better to let him become comfortable in the environment here a little before we try anything more.



I have arranged for his transfer today, from the observation ward to ward 6. There are many boys there his own age, and it should be easier to monitor his social interactions and his responses there. I am going to keep seeing him on his own every other day for awhile, but I want to start him in group therapy this week, which will probably prove to be a new experience for him. I am interested to see how he reacts to this, and it will be crucial to make sure all of this goes smoothly.





Naruto worried the nylon webbed strap of the small duffle bag in his hands as he followed Iruka up the steps. He was nervous, not quite sure what to expect, even if the doctor in front of him had assured him that everything would be alright and there really wasn't anything to worry about. This was a hospital after all, and that fact alone made him nervous. He didn't know what was wrong with him, that he needed to be in a hospital, and that made it even scarier, because Iruka had said he would be here for awhile, so they obviously didn't quite know either. And if they didn't know what was wrong, they couldn't possibly cure him, so maybe whatever it was was incurable, something wrong decaying inside of his body, undetected until one day the stench broke through and by that time he'd be hollow, his insides gone and there really would be nothing, nothing, too late now.



He shivered as the doctor led him to a stop in front of two big wooden doors, knocking soundly, and still talking in that calming, smooth voice of his. The doors were opened from the inside by a boy with a head shaped oddly like a pineapple, and Naruto nervously chuckled at this, still not sure where to put his hands, or what to say, or even where to direct his eyes so he crossed gazes with this new boy, not much older than him really, before he looked down again, blushing a little. The boy with the pineapple head smiled.



"Hello Doc, this must be Naruto, right? I have the room ready for him, he'll be in next to Kiba, right?" The doctor nodded, and Naruto was ushered through the doors into a small room, thick scratched glass on one side, and he could see another room beyond it, with windows lining the far wall and assorted people spread out across it. It wasn't big but from his glance at it Naruto relaxed a little. It had a couch and a television and pillows scattered on the floor, a bookcase in one corner. It was like any other room, anywhere else. He jumped slightly when he felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked up to see the pineapple boy smiling down at him, Iruka moving backwards towards the door again, waving.



"Hey Naruto, my name's Shikamura, I work this ward on a regular basis so you'll see me a whole lot. Iruka had some other business to take care of so he asked me to show you in, and introduce you to everyone, or at least everyone whose up right now." Naruto watched as Shikamura took a ring of keys from his belt and carefully locked the outer door before moving to another door, set into the battered glass wall, and unlocked it, swinging it open and gesturing the blond through. He didn't miss how the older boy locked it carefully after them, and it sent a small shiver down his spine. He was locked in now. Though, really, he could think of many many places that he would enjoy being locked in far less than this airy loft of a room, high ceilings and large windows flooding the space with light. He smiled, as Shika touched him lightly again, steering him by the shoulder to a small row of doors, showing him where he could set his stuff down.



The room he was led to wasn't huge, but it wasn't tiny either. There was a bed, a dresser, a desk, a closet, and not much else. Off white curtains were pulled shut over the window set into one wall, but he could see the shadows cast on it from the bars outside. It made him shiver, but he supposed it made sense. This was where they put the nut-cases after all, who knew if they'd try to jump. The thought was scary to him, because he had no idea why he was here, and he didn't think he had any intention of jumping, but he was here because he was crazy so maybe he really would someday.

"I'll give you a chance to get unpacked and settled in then."



X



Patient File, name: Inuzuka KIba

Doctor on Case: Hatake Kakashi, ward 6

1st week of February, XXXX

Notes: Lately the patient has been doing much better than usual in dealing with others on the ward. He has not shown any sign of violence towards the other patients, even Sasuke, and his problems sleeping seem to be resolving themselves with a placebo treatment, so they appeared to be mostly psychological in nature. Last week though his SDC (syndrome of delusional companions) kicked into overdrive and he seems to have developed an attachment to the birds outside his window, and he's been feeding them on the ledge outside. When asked why he said that Akamaru had told him he liked to watch the birds, and that they had all held a conversation on the topic.



All in all I don't believe that these developments are serious, certainly not a danger to himself or anyone else, but I'm not quite certain what is triggering these periods of increased focus in the delusions, and his companions seem to be conversing not only with him but with others as well. The patient seems stable enough to handle the new case moving onto the ward today, but he will still need to be monitored for unanticipated effects. This could work out to be the perfect test of his progress. The new case is one of Iruka's patients so I haven't conducted an examination of his state myself, but Iruka tells me that the boy is fine, just in need of some time.







Kiba sat on the couch, leaning up against the arm, cradling a rather ratty looking stuffed dog in his lap, playing idly with the ear and running his fingers down the back as he stared at the television. The show on screen was in spanish, a soap opera, and they were talking too fast for his to understand anything. Well, he didn't really know the language, but usually he could at least figure out what the words were, without knowing what they meant.



To his right, Sasuke sat rather stiffly, staring at the book he had gotten the last time they had let him off ward for the afternoon. Not all of the "residents" here needed to be kept locked up at all times, so on Sunday afternoons those with their doctor's permission were aloud to make the short trip into town in the van the hospital owned, going to the library or the movies or something. It was not a privilege everyone got, but Sasuke was one of the lucky ones.



Kiba laughed at something he didn't really understand, making the boy beside him shake his head a little. Kiba ignored the Uchiha, like always, but found that he couldn't re-focus himself on the plot in front of him, eyes darting to the blond boy sitting in an armchair dragged over to the window. The boy was new to the ward, since Gaara had been transfered upstairs, to a slightly more secure ward, with less sharp point edges and a whole lot more medication.



The boy hadn't talked since he'd come out of the room two hours ago, merely pushing the chair over to the glass and staring at the snow that was falling once again. He sat inhumanly still there, all curled up, a blanket draped across his knees, and it made Kiba nervous. He raised Akamaru from his lap carefully before he rearranged himself on the cushions, still eyeing the boy across the room.



The sound of Sasuke's grunt brought him back to the moment. He looked over to see the boy glaring at him, returning a giant smile.



"Fuck Kiba, if you're going to ignore the TV and stare at the new kid at least put on something a little less obnoxious." The words were a little sharp, and Kiba blushed. His fingers tightened unconsciously on the sides of the stuffed dog, when he realized it he glared at Sasuke, petting the thing apologetically. Sasuke just rolled his eyes and grabbed the remote off the table. Kiba let out a small squawk of indignance, and lunged for it once, before settling back on the couch, a pout settling on his cooling face.



He glanced back over at the blonde boy sitting by the window, but this time he kept his head down, looking out of the corner of his eye at the boy. He didn't want Sasuke to notice him looking, not again, because then Sasuke would tease the ever loving crap out of him for the rest of the week. There was a snort from beside him and he jumped, glaring over at the other boy just in time to see him rolling his eyes. Crap.



X





Sasuke tried to ignore the new kid, really he did. It wasn't like the blond was doing anything interesting, in fact he hadn't moved from that freaking chair all day, even though the snow had stopped falling hours ago. He let his gaze twitch over to the indistinct shape outlined against the darkness outside the windows. He had the blanket wrapped around him now, pulled over his head so that from the Uchiha's vantage point no flesh could be seen, only slightly dirty light blue fleece. He snorted. The boy just had to pick the girliest fucking blanket in the world, didn't he. Still, he couldn't stop himself from turning to watch him every once and awhile.



He forced his eyes back to the tv though, trying to focus on the plot of whatever vapid sitcom the nurse on duty had put on. It was Sakura now, and she'd wrestled the remote from Kiba's hands as soon as she's gone on the clock, leaving the scruffy boy to pout silently in the chair to the side of him for awhile before he retreated to his room. Sasuke turned to glance at the clock. It was almost 7pm, and 7pm meant dinner time. Finally, he was getting antsy now, he wanted to get out of the fucking day room so badly. They got to go out after dinner, and he wanted to leave.



Neji had had to go in for a battery of tests today, and was probably passed out in some upper floor recovery room right now, sleeping off the drugs. The thought made him smile a little. When the boy came back from those tests, he would always swear he felt dirty, the smell of humming medical equipment and sharpened steel sticking heavily to his skin. The first thing he did when he came back was shower, scrubbing himself down until his pale skin was red and raw, almost to the point of bleeding. The second thing he always did though was come see Sasuke. He said the feeling of sweat against sweat and the slow slip of skin on skin helped throw off the rest of his contamination, but Sasuke knew that was mostly in his head. Still, he wasn't complaining about it.



The smirk slipped into place on his mouth, and he let himself fall lower in the soft couch. It was a little lumpy, and it had a tendancy to smell a little funny when you got too close, but it was still more comfortable than the stupid chairs, at least he could stretch his legs out. He yawned, mouth going wide enough to unhinge and swallow the room whole before he stretched his arms up high, relishing the almost painful crack of his back.



He heard the door open and close on the other side of the fishbowl the nurses sat in. Well, Sakura sat in it most of the time, Shika would always come out into the room with them, converse quietly and play board games with the patients inside. The familiar voice he barely heard told him that the dark haired nurse had been the one to enter. He smiled, turning his head to see if he was maybe delivering back a half drugged Neji. To his great dissapointment the man was alone. He still smiled a little, stiff and forced, and turned back to the television. The credits were rolling by that time though, so he gave up on that, standing languidly and stretching again. He heard the crackle of the barely used intercom coming to life and grinned.



"Attention, Kids! It's dinner time right about now, so why don't you all get your scrawny buts out here, the trolley should be coming by any minute." Sasuke rolled his eyes, but couldn't hold back a slight smile. He watched as the current populace of the small ward trickled out. Kiba came scurrying out of his room first, shooting glances at the blond boy. It took a minute for him to wonder over, eyes looking a little glassy. Sasuke wondered idly if they had doped him up a whole lot or something. Sometimes that was the only thing they could do to keep the patients in a semblance of sanity. He shivered.



The knock on the door came then though, thankfully enough, and they were rescued by the arrival of dinner. Shika accepted the cart from the man in the hallway graciously, chatting happily for a second before waving distractedly over his shoulder as he turned back into the room.



Sasuke eyed the selection of the day with a sudden disinterest. There were five trays, with meatloaf burgers, each one balanced on a plain roll. Beside each sandwich was a pile of steamed vegetables and a small square of what could either be cake or brownie. On the side of each one was a carton of juice. Still, he stepped forwards and took one, walking over to the couch and setting it on the low coffee table in front of it. He sat, waiting patiently for the rest of the ward to settle around him, Kiba on the floor to his left, Shino on the dog boy's other side, Chouji pulled a chair up with a smile, sitting on the other end, leaving the blushing blond, the new kid, the seat next to Sasuke on the couch. Naruto just stood by them though, looking rather awkward and uncomfortable, until Sasuke sighed heavily.



"Ever plan on coming to sit down, idiot?" He smirked a little at the angry look that spread across the boy's face.



"Shut up, bastard! Just because I'm new doesn't mean you get to push me around, who the hell do you think you are anyways!" Kiba's eyes widened, as he turned a little to stare at the new boy. That was the most they'd heard him say, in fact it was the first time many of them had heard his voice at all. Sasuke just hmphed a little, turning back to his food.



"Whatever, from that stupid look on your face, I thought you might need instructions. I take it from that little tirade you do understand the mechanics of sitting down? Then again, you're still standing there like the idiot you are, should I draw you a diagram?" Everyone around the table rolled their eyes at that, knowing Sasuke only ever got that defensive when something had hit him harder than usual, though what in the blond's speech had done that none of them knew.



"Ever think that maybe I'm still over here so that I don't have to sit next to your stupid ass. I do have to eat after all, I'm not sure I could keep it down, having to look at your ugly face..." Chouji couldn't quite stifle his giggle at that one, which set Kiba off laughing as well. Shino stayed silent though, like always, watching the Uchiha carefully. The boy just rolled his eyes with a huff though.



Naruto took that as a sign that he was free to take the offered seat, and did so, though his eyes remained wary, watching the Uchiha carefully from the side. The table was quiet, as those surrounding it picked at their rather unappetizing meal. Kiba kept sneaking glances at Naruto across the table, but the blond ignored him for the most part. It took a little while, and a couple promptings from Akamaru, who was sitting under the table, by his knees, for the boy to speak.



"Hey Naruto ... It is Naruto, right?-" He waited for the blond to nod before continuing, "-What are you in here for, anyways?" The boy chewed his bite thoughtfully, before setting the burger down on his tray.



"I guess I'm crazy..." Sasuke snorted.



"Of course you're crazy, idiot, thats why you're here. We're all crazy, he meant, what kind of crazy!" The blond sent Sasuke a deathly scowl which didn't seem to affect him that much before turning to the dog boy again, smiling a little.



"Well, I have these blackouts, and they say I have something else that comes out. Thats about all I know." Naruto shrugged it off with a grin, and returned to his dinner.





X





Neji stumbled into the ward three hours after dinner, still a little loopy, but able to function on his own for the most part. He shot a glance at the blond in the corner, not having been here when he was brought in. When he looked to Sasuke for answers the boy just shrugged. Neji sighed. Probably on his way somewhere else. We don't get new long terms often.



He moved to his room first thing after Shika signed him in, gathering his stuff before he got the other nurse on duty, the obnoxious one with pink hair and a squeaky voice, to open up the shower room in the little bathroom at the end of their hall. He smiled as she walked away, proceeding to turn the water on as hot as he could stand.



He pulled a loofah sponge from his bath caddy, scrubbing his skin hard with it, until he was red and puffy. He felt a little cleaner then, especially once he'd washed out his hair well. He hated it when the smell of the tests lingered on his skin. Sasuke always said he couldn't smell it but Neji knew he was lying, it was there, it was awful. He could feel it on his skin, like some sticky residue, like oil spilt on open ocean, seeping in and killing everything.



Neji shivered as he turned the water off, grabbing a towel from the rack above him, pulling it harshly over his already hypersensitive skin, red and raw from the scrubbing. He felt a bit more human now, and less like a lab rat, drugged and forced to run some pointless maze. Still, he felt it in his pores, deeper than the soap and water could get. He shifted on his feet, knowing what he needed now.



He stepped out of the room, signaling to the nurse that he'd left before making eye contact with Sasuke on the way back. He slipped into his room and dried off, sitting on the edge of the bed with the towel laying over his knees. He couldn't wait for checks, not today. He fidgeted, hoping that Sasuke would hurry. He needed to feel skin against his own, to bury himself in someone else's sex and sweat, to rub it on himself until it was the only thing he could taste and feel and smell.



The door clicked open, after what felt like an eternity, but was only really a couple minutes. He gave his best smile, but now it was shaky and desperate and he knew it. He didn't even give the Uchiha time to close the door fully before he pulled him in, fingers tangling tightly in the boy's shirt as he pushed his back against the door, shutting it himself as he locked his lips over Sasuke's. It took the Uchiha a dazed moment of having his mouth ravaged before he clicked back into reality, returning the pressure, arms around Neji's slim form, the boy's hands already peeling his dark shirt up, bunching it in his hands until the pale chest was uncovered.



Contact only broke for a second, fabric pulled up over dark hair and thrown casually to one side. Sasuke dove back into the boy's mouth for a second before trailing his lips across the strong jaw and down to the bare neck, suckling the flesh up until a red mark was raised, dark and purpling against the pale skin. He licked it once, slowly and soothingly, before he sunk his teeth in around it, pulling a surprised gasp from Neji's lips.



Sasuke kept the other boy distracted as he used his position to his advantage, steering Neji across the floor until the back of the boy's knees connected with his bed, sending the Hyuuga toppling backwards onto it, his eyes wild and frightened for half a second before he landed, pulling Sasuke down on top of him, hands gripping at the Uchiha's skin, around his sides, like it was the only thing keeping him there.



Sasuke smirked slightly before diving back in, letting those hands fumble downwards and undo his pants deftly, an action practiced countless times, a smooth part of this cleansing ritual they preformed. The fabric was bunching down around his thighs in a heartbeat, and he rocked his hips backwards to let it fall off of him completely. He wasn't expecting the next action, as Neji rolled them over, pinning the Uchiha to the bed with his own frame, clawing his own pants down with more frantic movements, trying desperately to remove this last barrier to skin on skin.



Then there was no warning, no time to think, and the boy was straddling him high on his hips, naked now, fumbling behind him for Sasuke's hard member, weeping slightly from the tension. His last thought was one of surprise at the other boy's forcefulness before he had to slam his eyes shut, hissing in pleasure as he was quickly encased in the hat sheath of Neji's ass.



They sat like that for a second, as the Hyuuga relaxed around him, familiarizing himself with the thick shaft inside him once again. Neji hissed in pleasure then, as he shifted, Sasuke's cock pressing up against his prostate firmly now, sending shots of sensation up his spine. That was all the encouragement he needed to start the steady rise and fall, setting a rhythm to the act, feeling Sasuke's fingers gripping his hips tightly. Soon the boy was rising to meet each of his falls, thrusting up into the clenching heat, feeling his pleasure build in his center of gravity, low in his pelvis.



Sasuke came first that night, which wasn't really normal, but Neji didn't have time to register that thought before his own pleasure snapped loose inside of him, and he focused on riding it out, biting back his own little whimper of completion. He collapsed forwards then, holding himself off of Sasuke with trembling arms as he pulled himself off of the boy, rolling to the side a little.



Sasuke was the first to get up, his breath evening quickly. He rolled the Hyuuga off of him as gently as he could and stood, grabbing his boxers from the floor where they had fallen. Neji propped his head on one arm, watching the other boy dress with quiet eyes, sighing when his shirt slipped over his head, covering up the boy from view. He tried not to let his lingering disappointment show when the Uchiha slipped silently from the room.



Sasuke walked back into the common room, taking a seat on the couch in front of the television next to Kiba. The boy didn't even look up, too engrossed in the made for TV movie that was playing on the screen. He hadn't noticed the flash of blond in the corridor, or the widened blue eyes as he walked past.