Under The Enemy's Roof

A/N: Wow it's really late right now and I haven't really proofread this, so I hope that it's okay gramatically and everything. I'm sorry that I'm so tired right now that I can't answer your reviews, but I will definitely get around to doing so soon! Thanks for all your generous reviews and keep them coming!


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Under The Enemy's Roof
chapter iii

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Naruto stalked the halls with a sour look on his face as he tried desperately to avoid the curious stares that bored down on him like November hail. He groaned miserably as he felt the gazes ricocheting off of him, denting his confidence more with each hushed whisper and silenced conversation. It was quite obvious that the blonde was officially the talk of the school, being not only the Sasuke’s object of previously-theorized impossible affection, but also his new brother. Even more scandalous, it seemed that the unfortunate blonde was also involved in the already well-grounded rivalry between the Uchiha and the Hyuuga. Naruto cringed as he heard a flock of girls pass him by giggling and talking with only semi-muted voices about the courtyard incident.

Sighing in defeat, the small boy took to dragging himself to his home room and readied himself for the humiliating episode about to follow. He shuddered as he thought of all the jabs he would get from the rest of the class on his questionable sexuality, and, even more embarrassingly, his relation with the Uchiha. Although Naruto had to admit that being part of the Uchiha household had its benefits, he still felt shy about mentioning his relation with them. Truthfully, he was almost afraid of being treated kindly, or, even worse, worshiped like Sasuke had been. All he wanted to do was to live out his life as a wallflower, never really there, and, hopefully, never really noticed. He scoffed at the thought of that dream now that his bastard of a ‘brother’ had gone off and blown his top as if he were some jealous boyfriend.

Just what was that all about anyway?

Caught in the assessment of his impending social doom, he didn’t realize that he had been blocking the entrance to the classroom.

“Move,” came a biting command from behind.

The blonde twisted around sharply, expecting Sasuke to be smirking behind him. His fists had already clenched and he was more than ready to pound the other down to the floor for his previous offense. What he saw instead, however, was a pair of thickly-lined eyes that glared at him condescendingly through the veil of ruddy hair. He shivered as he felt the other’s unnaturally green gaze practically pierce his soul.

“I said,” growled the other boy slowly, between gritted teeth, “move.”

After staring at the other for a little while longer, Naruto’s eyes suddenly narrowed dangerously.

“Fuck. No,” grounded out the smaller boy defiantly. Although Naruto was frightened of being attacked by large groups of anonymous people, he had made it a point in life to never run away from a direct challenge. Planting his feet squarely on the floor, he effectively barred any chance of passage the other might take. He bent his knees so that he was in a defensive position and prepared himself for a physical scuffle.

The other boy snarled at the blonde’s stubbornness, and immediately grabbed Naruto’s collar. The entire hallway suddenly went silent as everyone watched, from a safe distance, the redhead hoist the smaller one up by the shirt so that the other’s feet were now sufficiently above the ground. The student body rustled with a mixture of excitement and fear as they watched Naruto struggle in vain against Gaara’s death grip. Many were shaking their heads at the newcomer’s insolence while others simply looked on in shock. It was common knowledge that no one messed with Gaara.

Naruto, who was flailing helplessly, was blushing brightly from the embarrassment of being beaten so easily on his first day. He wanted desperately to land at least one decent punch on his opponent before being taken down. It came as a surprise to both of them when one of the blonde’s wayward swings actually landed on Gaara’s jaw. Unused to the sensation of being hit, the belligerent boy stumbled back a few steps and loosened his hold of Naruto’s shirt long enough for him to squirm away.

Panting heavily, the blonde staggered back, before realizing that it would take more than a few clumsily-placed steps to escape his opponent. The redhead was now thoroughly upset at the boy and, before Naruto could collect himself, pounced forcefully on top of the sputtering blonde, showering him with punches. The smaller boy, surprisingly managed to block most of the fists before they managed to land on his face, and he was doing a pretty good job of keeping himself from his teeth when suddenly the world began the spin violently.

The blonde gasped and arched his back, trying to throw off the intangible weight of his mental attack. Everything was blending together, from the floor to the chairs to the tables to the chalkboards, suddenly nothing made sense. Trying to clear his head, Naruto took a deep breath, only to find there to be a plethora of scents swirling about him, strangling his lungs, disabling his ability to breathe. He cried out in confusion when he started hearing everything that was around him, from the squeaking of shoes to those damn whispers that seemed to follow him where ever he went.

He vaguely noted that his attacker had stopped punching him before passing out.

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The blonde groaned as he opened his eyes wearily, blinking several times to dry the excess tears out and so the world would shift back into focus. He found himself lying on his bed in the Uchiha residence. He winced as he struggled to a sitting position and let out a yelp when he felt a sharp sting on his wrist. Glancing down, his blue eyes widened at the sight of a thick IV needle burrowed against the delicate bones of his hand. His head spun as he struggled to remember the previous events of the day. Images of lilac eyes, bloody-red hair, and terrible green eyes invaded his mind. He grimaced as his first day of school, which probably didn’t even count as a legitimate day at school since he had fainted before his first class, flooded back to him.

“You’re awake, Naruto-kun,” came a gentle voice. Looking up, the young patient found Sasuke’s mother smiling cheerfully at him from the door. She was carrying a tray of hot soup and wearing a lab coat, which he suspected was because she had rushed back from work. He blushed as he thought of the trouble he was putting the Uchihas through, though he really had no control over the situation. He pointedly ignored the tiny voice in his head that pipped in about him confronting Gaara.

“How are you feeling?” asked the woman as she set down the tray on Naruto’s night stand. She offered him a bowl of chicken soup, which he took gratefully.

“Okay, I guess. Sort of confused though,” replied the boy weakly as he sipped his soup. “Erm...why am I here? Shouldn’t I be in the school infirmary instead?”

Sasuke’s mother merely smiled and replied, “Well, we were worried about you, Naruto-kun, and since we were doctors, we thought that it’d be okay to bring you back home for the day anyway. You’re probably still stressed from your parents’ murder so we probably shouldn’t have rushed you off to school so early.”

“No, it’s okay,” Naruto grinned back at her. “I felt okay until...”

His thoughts immediately flashed back to the murderous redhead and shuddered. There was something about that boy that the blonde couldn’t put a finger on. It frightened him somewhat, but also excited him in an unexplainable way. He felt as if they shared a bond, something that no one else had, and something that he himself didn’t know he had until he was up close with the other. It was almost as being near that boy had caused his entire world to suddenly explode into a million different pieces.

“Until what, Naruto-kun?” inquired his guardian curiously. Naruto couldn’t help but notice how serious she had become at his words.

“Until...I don’t know...until I got into that fight with Gaara,” the blonde said sheepishly. He felt bad about starting that fight, especially now that he was under someone else’s charge. He realized now how stupid and impulsive his actions had been, but he just couldn’t help the frustration that was spilling out of him then. His eyes narrowed dangerously as he remembered the rest of the day’s events. His hands began to clench into fists as he thought of Sasuke’s smug face looking down at him.

“Ah, I see,” said the doctor, breaking the thick silence that had formed in the room. An awkward pause ensued.

“Naruto-kun,” began the woman as she shifted uncomfortably in her spot on Naruto’s bed. “The Uzumaki household and the Uchiha household were once very close. My husband and I were good friends of your parents when you were young...”

She trailed off as if not knowing whether or not she should tell the blonde any more. Naruto simply stared at her in shock. He had never known his parents to have had any significant allies or friends in life, particularly not such well-to-do ones like the Uchihas.

“Itachi used to play with you often when you were young, although you never met Sasuke in your childhood,” continued the Uchiha with a nostalgic smile playing on her lips. “We were your family doctors when you were little, Naruto-kun. And...”

She stopped and looked down at her lap, suddenly not knowing how to continue.

“You are very special, Naruto-kun. You were born with...a condition.”

The blonde looked at her as if she had grown an extra head. He brain was swimming with all of the information he had received throughout the past week. His parents had been murdered, he had been adopted by the Uchihas, Sasuke was his brother, he was involved in some imaginary love triangle between said brother and Neji, and now he had a condition? None of it made sense to him. Everything seemed to be tangled and confusing. All he could think of then was: why him?

“What sort of condition?” croaked Naruto. His brain immediately began to run through all of the terrible defects that a human could be born with, from anemia to monosomy. Realizing what the boy must have been thinking of, the woman smiled.

“It’s nothing life-threatening, Naruto-kun. It’s simply...a curiosity, I suppose you could say,” laughed the Uchiha as she ran her fingers through the boy’s golden locks. Then, suddenly her face grew serious.

“Your parents refused to give you medication for your condition, which, was fine for childhood, since your condition doesn’t show symptoms until puberty. However, we had wanted to monitor you for any possible effects. Your parents refused all the same, and so, our friendship ended,” recounted the woman sadly. “But I’m afraid now, you will have to start taking medication just in case you get another one of those attacks, and, I strongly suggest you keep away from Gaara from now on. Your condition isn’t life threatening, but it may prevent you from doing many of the things you enjoy if you don’t take medication.”

“So,” began Naruto, still trying desperately to absorb this information. “I’m basically fine, right? As long as I take my medication, I won’t get another one of those attacks.”

“That is correct, Naruto-kun. However, we will probably take blood tests every few weeks to check your cells,” answered his guardian.

Naruto made a face at the thought of having to deal with needles, but accepted this part of his life. He decided that it couldn’t be too bad, and that it was probably nothing compared to some people who had to take blood everyday. “Okay.”

“All right, you should get some rest Naruto-kun. I’ll bring you some dinner up when it’s ready,” soothed the woman as she began to gather the bowls and tray.

“Ah...if you don’t mind telling me,” called the blonde after her retreating form. “What exactly...is my condition?”

The woman froze and didn’t reply.

“Because, when I was back there in the school, all of a sudden I felt...I felt almost like I could smell everything and hear everything...almost like an anim-“

“Maybe another time, Naruto-kun,” interrupted his guardian, signifying that it was not up for discussion. Not wanting to argue with his new-found mother, Naruto reluctantly complied. Burrowing himself into the blankets, he drifted off into a fitful sleep.

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“Is Naruto home?” asked Sasuke immediately after walking through the door. His pale face was flushed from his brisk walk through the cool autumn evening. His hair was tousled from the chilly breeze, signifying that he had hurried his walk back home. Although his voice was still flat and cold, his eyes seemed to shine with a questionable emotion. It was evident through his actions that he knew about Naruto’s unexpected collapse at school after fighting with one of the most vicious and wealthy boys in his class.

“Ah, Sasuke, yes, Naruto-kun is upstairs resting right now,” replied his mother cheerfully from the kitchen. “Dinner’s ready too, so why don’t you take dinner up to him and eat in his room while you’re there. I’m sure he would appreciate the company.”

Sasuke scoffed at the idea of the two of them sharing a civil, much less nice or relaxing, dinner together. However, he was still curious about the blonde’s condition, though he told himself it was completely normal since Naruto was now legally his brother. Yet, there was something that he couldn’t quite place as brotherly love when he had first caught news of the smaller boy’s dramatic episode. He had panicked, and, he hardly ever panicked. The entire sensation had been foreign and puzzling to him, though he decided immediately that he did not like the painful tingling feeling in the center of his chest.

He didn’t know why he would react that way to such a idiotic boy. Perhaps it was out of guilt from the way he had treated Naruto in their elementary years. He hadn’t meant to turn the other down so abruptly, but he had simply been too frightened, too shocked to know what to do. It had been the first time that anyone had ever wanted to eat lunch together simply because they wanted to be friends. He had panicked then too.

Sasuke decided, as he made his way to Naruto’s room, that the blonde had a knack for making him panic.

Not bothering to knock on the door, the brunette made his way inside. There, he spotted Naruto reading a comic book with intense interest. Rolling his eyes at the other’s juvenile enthrallment in simple pictures depicting either busty women or large robots, Sasuke placed the overflowing tray on top of Naruto’s lamp table.

“Dobe, it’s time for dinner.”

Growling up from his book, Naruto glared at Sasuke, blue eyes full of annoyance, though not hatred. “Don’t call me that, teme.”

Putting down his comic book anyway, the blonde grabbed a bowl of rice and started eating. The brunette watched the younger boy gobble up the food with an amused look on his face. Then, picking up his own bowl of rice and chopsticks, he sat down next to Naruto on the bed and started eating as well. This, however, surprised the smaller boy, who had half expected Sasuke to leave as soon as he had given him his food.

“What do you think you’re doing, bastard?!” demanded Naruto, who immediately withdrew to the far corner of the bed. A thought flitted through his mind that maybe Sasuke had poisoned his food to be rid of him and seriously considered throwing up everything he had just eaten.

“Eating,” replied the dark-haired boy nonchalantly as he rolled his eyes. Deciding to ignore his companion, he continued to eat his rice and sip his miso soup. Naruto, meanwhile, realized that the Uchiha was not going to do anything painful to him, physical or otherwise, also settled down to finish his dinner.

After a long, companionable silence, Sasuke finally decided to speak.

“You should stay away from Gaara.”

Naruto looked up, surprised that the other boy was actually speaking to him in a semi-decent manner. Then realizing that Sasuke was telling him what to do, again, his face began to grow red with irritation. “Don’t tell me what to do, bastard.”

“I mean it, Naruto,” snapped the brunette, eyes now narrowed dangerously, almost daring the blond to object again. Naruto, realizing that it must be serious if Sasuke was actually saying his name, decided to at least listen to what the other had to say.

“He’s dangerous. He could kill you the next time he sees you,” growled the dark-haired boy. Suddenly the blood began to rush to the smaller boy’s face as he processed the words coming out of the other’s mouth.

“And why do you care,” spat Naruto. “It’s not like you ever cared before.”

Sasuke blinked at the other boy’s words, surprised at the venom in the blonde’s voice. It hadn’t occurred to him that perhaps Naruto felt pain every time someone tripped him or put him down. It hadn’t ever occurred to him that the blonde was slowly dying away inside every time someone denied him of love. It hadn’t occurred to him, because the other was always smiling and laughing it off as if he liked it happening to him.

But it also hadn’t ever occurred to him that maybe it was all just an act.

Standing from where he had been seated, Sasuke reached out and brought a firm hand to Naruto’s shoulder. Clasping it tightly, he looked into Naruto’s determined blue eyes and said, “I don’t want to see you dead.”

With that, he left the room, leaving a speechless blonde behind him.

‘What was that?!’ thought Naruto.