Puzzle Pieces

A/N Angst, angst, ANGST! This is a character building chapter that shows how, idk, low the characters have come so that they can build eachother up. So there's alot of Sasuke's internal monologue and Naruto being pathetic. Oh! And we get a new character, Gaara's in this one. And I think I managed to keep him in character, he's very direct and doesn't say very much. Enjoy!!!



Chapter 2





Sasuke balled his fist in his mouth to keep from crying out as he listened at his older brother’s door. Why couldn’t he have said something!? Nothing that Itachi could do to him was worth knowing that his best friend, rivals though they may be, was at this moment being raped by his bastard brother. The raven haired teen blinked through his tears, sliding down the door to sit on the floor as the pained cries and low pants reached a climax and subsided.



It was his fault. He was completely and utterly to blame for this, and the worst part was, he could see no way to fix it. Even if he managed to keep Itachi away from Naruto in the future, the past hour could not be undone. He would never be able to wipe the blonde’s agonized screams and choked pleading out of his memory. I mean, how do you forget sudden brutal rape? You don’t. Naruto would be irrevocably scarred, and the blue eyed boy would be correct in blaming him for his cowardice. Why was he so weak? Sure, his brother would punish him later, but it couldn’t be much worse than what he’d gone through before. Even knowing that, he said nothing; suffered in silence, separated by a single unlocked door from the scene of disgrace.



And now it seemed like Itachi had fallen asleep, his twisted desires sated, and still Sasuke cowered outside the room.



Weak.



Then do something about it, stupid. He wiped his eyes and stood up, knees shaking. He reached out to turn the door handle and froze, his pale fingertips gracing the elegant brass knob.



“Shit…” he murmured, to no one in particular. Leaning against the heavy wood, he breathed deeply to steady himself and tried to rev his courage enough to face what lay inside, or more specifically, who. Steeling himself, he grasped the door knob and turned it slowly, inching the door open when the latch pulled free. The sight made him tear up again. The smaller form trapped under the larger, both covered in sweat. Sasuke looked closely at his brother, relieved to see that he truly was asleep and not just resting. As carefully as he could, he stepped into the room, gasping softly at the sight of Naruto. He’d never seen anyone looking so hopeless and forlorn. The blond turned to look at him with lifeless eyes and the evidence of the forced blow job and the weeping that came with it clear on his face.



Naruto blinked and looked away. He hadn’t wanted Sasuke, of all people, to see him like this, covered in the proof of his own filth. And weakness. For it to be so obvious that he hadn’t put up a struggle, that he let another man rape him. So when the raven haired boy bent over him to try to get the inert body off of him, he stared impassively at the wall, determined not to fall crying into the arms of the proud Uchiha.



Sasuke wasn’t sure it was the best idea to try to move his sleeping brother, let sleeping dogs lie, and all that, but he couldn’t leave Naruto there. So, as carefully as he could, he moved Itachi off of the blond underneath him. Naruto just lay there, not even looking at him. With disgust, he realized the older man hadn’t even bothered to pull out before going to sleep. He thought you only did that when you wanted to prove a point.



Naruto’s blank face crumbled around the edges when Sasuke grabbed him under the armpits to drag him away from the offending dick, grunting when it squeezed free and left a sticky trail as Sasuke pulled him to the side of the bed. But as Sasuke carried the inert form to the door, Naruto’s eyes began to droop. As he drifted off to a disturbed sleep, he snuggled closer to the warm body who had yet to say one demeaning thing.



- - -



“Naruto! Naruto, wake up!” The blond dragged his eyes open to stare blearily at the voice. “I ran a bath to get you cleaned up, but I don’t want to leave you sleeping in it, in case you drown.” He stared a little more intently at the brunette. Feeling sorry for him, he could understand, but this level of concern was unwarranted. Looking up into the onyx eyes, he realized that Sasuke didn’t look down on him for what happened, in fact was filled with regret. As he gazed with wonder at the pale face, he noticed in the depths of those eyes something that looked dangerously like shame. Sasuke looked away.



“I… I’m sorry. I know that doesn’t help, but I wanted you to know.” Naruto continued to stare at him, confused.



“Why do you care?” Sasuke’s eyes narrowed, dejection and mortification chased away in the face of his pride. Neither his pride nor his humiliation, however, supplied him an adequate response and he was reduced to glaring at the blond. Naruto, caught off guard by the confession, felt his rising indignation begin to chase away the sense of fear and degradation, to be replaced by his familiar contention with the other boy. “Why do you care what happens to me? You can laugh, I don’t mind, you can tease me, you’re perfect and no one will ever look at you and say you’re anything but a wonderful, amazing, brilliant guy! And no one will ever look at me like that! Everyone sees me as a mess-up, a failure. And you know what? They’re right! They’re right.” Naruto’s voice broke and turned into silent sobs as he glared a hole into the far wall.



“Idiot. As usual, you just don’t get it.”



“Bastard. Just leave me the fuck alone.” Sasuke got up hesitantly to leave.



“Very well. If you want it to be this way.” He took one step towards the bathroom door and paused. “But I meant what I said. I really am sorry.” He put a towel on the edge of the tub and walked out the door.



As soon as the door closed behind the retreating boy, Naruto hugged his knees to himself and began to gasp as huge sobs racked his frame.



- - -



Itachi woke slowly, drifting lazily out of the realm of sleep. That little blond kid had really worn him out. With a jerk, he suddenly realized the boy was no longer beneath him. Had he been that deeply asleep? Damn. He got up to take a shower, noticing as he went that his sheets needed to be washed. Again. Oh well. After taking a quick shower, he put on a robe and went in search of that snack.

And ran straight into his little brother.



“Ah, I was just going to go looking for you. How’s your little friend doing, eh?” Sasuke looked murderous.



“I should have you shot for what you’ve done. How dare you?”



“You forget yourself, little brother.”



“Fuck you, asshole.” Sasuke heard rather than felt the slap. He recovered smoothly from the blow, turning to stare evenly at the taller man.



“You will pay dearly for that remark. Why are you defending that kid anyway? I thought you two hated each other.”



“Doesn’t give you any right to rape him, you self-righteous son of a bitch!” Itachi grabbed his throat and slammed the smaller teen into the counter behind him.



“I didn’t notice you being quite this adamant about it while I was doing the deed. Eh, Sasuke-kun? Where were you when I was making him scream?” He picked up the struggling boy by the throat and threw him to the hardwood floor, kneeling on his solar plexus and caressing the side of his face. “Oh, that’s right, you were cowering in fear. You’re pathetic, but at least you’re smart. Know your place, or I will have to remind you, and it will be more painful than anything you could possibly imagine.” His voice dropped to a painfully low growl. “Don’t ever cross me again.” And with that he left his brother gasping on the floor.



Sasuke staggered to his feet. Locking himself in his room, he punched Gaara’s number into his cell phone. The red-haired loner had once, in a fit of embarrassed hauteur, proclaimed his own story of longstanding emotional abuse from a live-in uncle and his parents’ refusal to acknowledge that anything was abnormal, and Sasuke felt that if anyone could help in this situation, it would be him.



“Sasuke, what’s up?”



“Hey, Gaara, um, I need some help.”



“Bastard brother again?”



“Sorta, but, uh, it’s Naruto.”



“Fuck. Yeah, I’ll be right over.”



“Thanks.” Sasuke clicked the phone shut with a sigh of relief.



- - -



Gaara liked looking like a rebel. Tight Nine Inch Nails tank top, Tripp pants three sizes too large, long black armlets, combat boots, and heavy black eyeliner, it all just fit. So it had come as quite a surprise when, two years ago, he and the prince of the school had become quasi-friends. They didn’t really hang out at all, but when either wanted to talk or rant, the other would listen. After a particularly spiked jab about being a perfect goody-goody during a chance meeting in the park, the dark-haired boy had spilled the beans. Surprised out of his loner mentality, Gaara had confessed a similar story and the two had relied on each other ever since.



A somewhat similar occurrence had brought him and the blonde together. So he knew with absolute certainty that anything involving Naruto and the elder Uchiha would not have a happy ending.



Figuring the best way to get in without alerting Itachi was through Sasuke’s room, he clambered up onto the small second-story deck and let himself in the screen door, nodding to the boy as he entered. Sasuke gestured towards the closed bathroom door.



“I put him in there to clean up, and when I checked in last, he was getting dressed. He won’t talk to me. I can’t say I really blame him, but I don’t know what to do.” Gaara glanced at the distraught teen on the edge of the bed and walked to the door, letting himself in without knocking and closing the door behind him.



Naruto was cleaned up and fully dressed, leaning over the sink and staring at his reflection. He nodded an acknowledgement to the new addition and went back his stony contemplation. The red-head sat down on the edge of the bathtub and waited for the blonde to start. It took him a couple of minutes, but Naruto finally spoke, his soft voice barely making it to his waiting confidante.



“It was just like all the other times, you know? I just cried and pleaded and didn’t fight at all. Just lay back and let him do it. Even after he fell asleep on top of me, I didn’t do anything. I’m broken, and I’m beginning to think I can’t be fixed. As long as no one knew, I could look forward to moving out and leaving all that behind me and maybe start to have a normal life, you know? But he saw. He saw it happen and he helped me and I don’t think I can live with him seeing me like this.” Gaara thought he had a pretty good idea who he was.



“Naruto, there’s things about Sasuke that you don’t know. Things that would probably make him the best person to help you deal with this right now.” Naruto looked at him quizzically in the mirror.



“That stone faced bastard? He wouldn’t know how to comfort a lost puppy.”



“I think you’ll be surprised. Just go out there and ask him why he helped you.” Naruto resumed his study of his face. After a minute or so of this, he finally found the resolve to face the person that sat in the adjoining bedroom.







_______________________________________________________





A/N Huh, huh!? You like? Then review!! I know, I know, no smut in this one, but I like character driven plots, not PWP, so you'll have to wait. And later chapters will get lighter and much more comical, after Naruto and Sasuke have their little discussion.