Education

Re-education- First Overture: Angst



A/N: While this is more of a sequel, i decided to ass it on to Education anyways. These four chapters are a response to a friend, who complained I liked to leave everyone miserable in fics. They do go in order, a continuation to the events in Education, and each one has a theme. Enjoy?



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Naruto watched the rain fall from the classroom window. He sighed deeply, letting his head fall forwards into his hands. It was cold out, not cold enough for there to be snow yet though, but it still felt positively arctic in comparison to the warm, spring days that they had been blessed with the last few weeks. It was less than a month until graduation, until Naruto would be leaving here. He knew now that he would be, by some small margin, but graduation was graduation and he already knew he couldn't possibly afford to go off to some big fancy college so what was the point of trying for a good GPA?



Still, this rain killed his pleasant mood. He'd have to walk home in it later, to his empty apartment, and he knew he'd be frozen through by the time he got there. At least once he got home he could have a nice hot shower and a cup of tea. That wouldn't be for a couple hours though, school ended soon but he still had detention to attend afterwards. He'd come in late that morning, his alarm clock having given up on life sometime during the night. Iruka had been furious, and had sentenced him to two hours of detention for it. Still, there was an upside. It might stop raining by then.



X



Sasuke let out an aggravated puff of air as he gathered his papers together. It was the end of a long school day, and by all rights he should be heading home, but somehow Kakashi had tricked him into covering the detention hall after school. With any luck, this close to the end of the school year it would be empty. Sasuke caught himself crossing his fingers hopefully and scowled. He was an Uchiha, and Uchihas never did such pointless, stupid things.



Still, he held his breath as he pushed open the door to Kakashi's classroom, his body relaxing a little when he scanned the room. Until his eyes caught on the one lone figure, hunched in the back, staring out the windows at the rain pouring down in sheets. Sasuke blushed a little at the familiar shocking orange jacket. He had seen Naruto since their little ... meeting, sure, but that had been in a classroom full of people. The two of them alone was a completely different matter. He cleared his throat, setting his face back into the emotionless mask he usually wore.



"Uzumaki-kun, in trouble again I see? This isn't a very positive way to end your time at this school. That is, if you're graduating..." Sasuke knew he was, he'd been to the meeting the teaching team on his level had held, to discuss the students still struggling to meet the requirements. Hell, he'd spoken in Naruto's defense more than once at that meeting. He felt like he owed the boy that much at least.



Naruto's head snapped around, and his eyes were wide and bright. Sasuke smirked a little, satisfied at the expression of utter surprise on the boy's face, like he'd been totally and completely caught off guard. This might be an uncomfortable turn of events for Sasuke, being alone in detention with this boy again, but he wasn't going to let it show, in fact he was going to make the best of it. Why not, after all?



"Uchiha-sensei, I thought Kakashi-sensei was on detention today..." The boy sounded lost in that second, but then his eyes closed off, the alluring disarmed look fading to something cold. Sasuke found his chest tightening at the thought, and he had to stop himself from reaching out, trying to fill that void with something. He knew he didn't want to see those eyes like that, but he couldn't do anything about it, not now.



It struck him like a mack truck barreling down the highway then. He felt the guilt like a stone, heavy inside of him, for the first time in his life.



X



Naruto stared out the window at the falling rain. It hadn't cleared up at all since he'd gotten here, in fact he thought it just might be coming down even harder. He thought it couldn't possibly go on much longer, not like this. Briefly he entertained the notion that it might not stop, not ever. He thought maybe it would be nice, the world flooded with rain forever, washing out everything, all the pain and the loneliness he felt gripping at his chest.



When he'd seen Sasuke his mind had frozen, he'd been avoiding the man as much as he could ever since their last ... meeting. Every time he looked at the man's face now, it was overlaid with the sweet, open expression he'd worn then, his face contorted in pleasure, eyes closed, unworried about the outside world. Naruto had felt nice in that moment, for that single moment. He'd felt like he was wanted, like he was worth something more than he'd ever been before, and it had been so warm, so comfortable.



It had faded quickly though, and all he felt now, seeing that expression in his mind, was an incredible, solid sense of emptiness. He wasn't supposed to see that, it hadn't been meant for him. Sasuke had wanted something yes, but not necessarily from him, he'd just been the most available, the easiest option, nothing more. It made him oddly cold inside to think that. He stopped himself from sighing, knowing that it would only draw attention to him.



He thought about walking home then, in the rain, cold and alone, back to him empty apartment. It didn't feel like a home to him though, that place. He was only staying there so he would have to trouble his guardian as little as possible. Not for the first time, he considered abstractly just pooling what little money he kept ahold of and buying a ticket to somewhere else, somewhere far away. It wasn't like anyone here would miss him. His friends would be leaving for college soon anyways, they'd find new people to hang around, and his guardian might look for him a little, but not for more than a day or two, then he could detach from the man, never bothering him again.



The idea seemed nice then, but Naruto knew he wouldn't actually do it. He wasn't that brave. While his life now was hollow in certain undeniable ways, it still held a degree of safety and certainty for him, it was a known quantity. Still, the idea of going home, wet and cold and alone wasn't something he enjoyed. He jumped a little when H suddenly felt Sasuke behind him, the older boy clearing his throat in that gruff, impatient way he had. He turned around with the best scowl he could muster, but it wasn't much.



"It's time to go, Uzumaki-kun, detention is over now." Naruto turned away quickly, gathering his bag and the few books he had out on the desk. He'd tried to push everything out of his face then, all of the warring emotions. He couldn't let Sasuke see these things, not while he was being such a cold, untouchable bastard. It would just give the man something else to get on his case about, and Sasuke sure as hell didn't need that.



Still, it felt weird to push past him, into the cold hallway, and his fingers shook slightly as he opened the locker door, fumbling to enter his combination correctly.



X



Sasuke stared after Naruto for a second before turning back into the room, shaking his head as he gathered his papers into his suitcase. It was pouring rain outside, miserably so, and he was glad he'd managed to finish the grading he needed to get done while he was here, even with Naruto across the classroom sulking, staring out the window. He didn't even look down the other end of the hallway when he walked out, the end that Naruto had turned down. Naruto had seemed in a hurry to leave, no need for him to stick around anymore. Sasuke tossed his suitcase into the bottom drawer of his desk, re-locking it carefully before he stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him.



He was surprised to find Naruto still there, only just closing the door to his locker. Sasuke sighed heavily. He didn't want to have to wait here for the boy's parents to pick him up, but he noticed with some inner relief that the boy seemed to be headed out the door. Sasuke silently thanked the gods he didn't really believe in, as he went to the end of the hallway to flip off the rest of the lights, jiggling the key around in the lock to the door before he closed it behind him, testing to make sure it really was locked before he was satisfied. Such was the responsibility of the last one in the building.



He turned to deliver some sniping little remark to Naruto, feeling like he'd been off his game tonight and had to make up for it in some way, but he found the boy gone. He frowned, thinking that Naruto's parents must have come by while he was still inside. He sighed, half disappointed, and popped his umbrella open.



Even as big as it was, the umbrella failed to keep his from getting quite wet on the walk to his car. He scowled as he opened the door to his expensive car, a graduation gift from his asshole brother, and slid inside, the wet fabric of his pants sticking to the leather seats, only serving to make him colder. he started the car, revving the engine and cranking the heater up, closing his eyes as the stereo kicked in, filling the small space with the low melodic tones of a violin. It warmed up quickly, the small pulsing beats of one of his favorite ambient tracks weaving into the strings, tangling with them before moving beyond. He opened his eyes, throwing the car into gear and pulling up to the stop sign entirely to quickly in his haste to just get home, spraying up a curtain of water on an unwitting pedestrian.



He braced himself then, almost looking forwards to the outraged response he was sure to get. He was bristling, looking for a way to burn off the pent up energy he'd picked up from staying at school so long, trapped in the awkward space of the detention room with a student he'd blatantly taken advantage of like that.



It didn't come though, the body stopping for a moment, flinching at the assault of the dirty, freezing water, but not responding much. He turned slightly though, as he crossed the street, and Sasuke's heart skipped a beat. It was Naruto, walking alone, in the rain. He found his body moving before the thought had even registered in his mind.



X



Naruto shivered, pulling the dark hooded sweatshirt he wore closer around himself, not that it did much good. He could feel the dirty water from the puddle on his hands, and he tried to wipe them off but it didn't do much. He sighed heavily. It had been an expensive car, that's the only thing that had registered for him in that single moment he glanced back.



He couldn't believe he was barely even out of the parking lot, he still had a little over a half a mile to walk and he was already soaked through and miserable. He'd managed to leave his books in his locker, he could go into school early tomorrow and finish up the little bit of work he still had to do. He couldn't really afford to replace books now though, especially when he was this close to graduating. He sighed, and started down the other side of the street.



He sensed the car slow down next to him, and he tensed but didn't stop. He was used to being harassed. The apartment complex he lived in was pretty crappy, but it had never happened this close to school before. He didn't even turn his head around when he heard the sound of the window rolling down. The sound of the voice from inside stopped him in his tracks though.



"Uzumaki-kun, kindly explain to me what exactly it is you think you're doing..." It was Sasuke. The tone in the man's voice made him tense, defensive.



"What does it look like, Uchiha-san," He spit the honorific like it was laced with acid, "I'm going home, just like you told me." He turned to walk away again, but Sasuke's voice was cold, commanding.



"You can't just walk home like this, not in this kind of weather, you'll get sick moron. You can't afford to miss anymore school, now can you?" The tone in the older boy's voice made the anger and frustration he was holding down bubble up, exploding out of him so quickly it almost physically hurt. He found he had tears in his eyes then, but he couldn't really stop them. He just prayed Sasuke couldn't see them in the rain.



"Not all of us have fancy cars to drive home in, you asshole. If I want to get home, I have to walk, so I don't really see much of a better choice." Sasuke cocked his head to one side, and glared.



"Call your parents. Or can you not tell them you got a detention tonight?" Naruto's breath was coming unevenly now, in panting gasps. He clenched his teeth, struggling not to let it show, but he was so goddamn tired, and he was wet and cold and everything he'd been holding in since that night, his last detention with the Uchiha, came tumbling forth, running it's sharp talons through him over and over.



"My parents are dead, so I can't exactly call them, now can I? Even if they could, they wouldn't come pick me up, I'm not worth it. I'm just the fuck up, the disappointing son. Now I'm tired, and I just want to go home, so if you'll excuse me I'll just be on my way." Naruto snapped, turning around and starting his slow trek again. He heard the sound of the car following him, and the faint sound of Sasuke's voice, but he couldn't hear it over the pounding in his head. Not that he was listening anyways, the man never said anything nice and Naruto didn't think he could deal with anymore putdowns right now.



Next thing he knew though, the car was blocking his path again. Sasuke had driven up onto the sidewalk in front of him, the passenger side door swung open, leaning over the seat, yelling at him to get the fuck in. He weighed his options, deciding a short trip in the bastard's car was a lesser evil than the twenty or so minutes he'd be walking in the rain.



He walked over, climbing in the car, careful not to make eye contact with the older boy. He shut the door behind him, and let the warmth wash over him.