Bye Bye Beautiful

3.



Dinner was . . . interesting, to say the least. They had the boys all lined up on one side of the dinner table and the girls on the opposite side. It was as if they were putting them up for show. They were all told to face forward at all times, leaving them to stare at the opposite sex the whole time. They had to talk with them too, but staring at the same girl who he had kissed not too long ago – a sad attempt on both of their parts – Sasuke found he didn't know what to say, so he and Sakura were just left to stare at each other.



To his left, however, Naruto was talking up a storm to Hinata, who seemed to have issues simply keeping her eyes on him. Her eyes kept darting around the table on her side, getting scolded by a priest and having her name said in a harsh tone every time she was caught.



Sasuke now knew all the other kids there by name. There were a total of twelve of them, six boys and six girls. Sasuke almost wished that there were six priests as well, just so he could put those three six's together and see what the priests said about that. They would probably fire someone or kick someone out just to change it; it wouldn't surprise him if they did anyway.



On the girls' side there was Sakura, sitting across from him, and then there was Hinata, a mouse of a girl. He wondered at first if she was truly not into men, the way she kept blushing around Naruto, but then he noticed that she blushed around everyone and realized she was just shy. There was Temari, who had the strength and attitude of a proud man, according to Naruto; he had filled Sasuke in on all of their housemates. Tenten was next to Temari, which was fitting, they both thought they were boys, apparently. Tenten was a proud tom boy and feminist and when she first came she argued with the priests about women's rights and their place in God's green earth. She also threw a tantrum when they took away all of her pants and 'boy' clothes and replaced it all with skirts and dresses of appropriate length. Then last in line was Karin, which was so fitting. She wasn't at all like Temari and Tenten in the way that she was a feminist who enjoyed being female, but she was a feminist and Naruto made a joke about the three of them having a threesome after they got out. Sasuke couldn't help but smirk before the priest gave him a questioning look.



Then there was the boys' side. Other than Naruto and Sasuke, there was Neji, who was ironically Hinata's older cousin – it must run in the family, Naruto had joked. Neji and Hinata did share a resemblance with their strange pale eyes and long hair. To be honest, Sasuke didn't particularly find the guy attractive and so didn't care what else Naruto had to say about him. Next to Neji there was Lee, that one was interesting. According to Naruto he had gotten caught masturbating to his gym teacher in his room, screaming out his name as his parents walked in on him, then confessed to his parents that he wanted to be with his sensei once he was legal. Then lastly there was Shikamaru, who according to Naruto was a 'chubby chaser' as his boyfriend back home was overweight.



To say the least, they were all kind of interesting characters, but Sasuke wasn't particularly interested in the girls and the only boy he was really interested in was sitting right next to him.



Once the food came, everyone closed their eyes, bowed their head and said grace. This wasn't something Sasuke had to get used to, at least, his family said grace every night as well, though he secretly wished he could just eat most of the time. He made a silent vow that if this becoming straight thing didn't work out, and he got out when he was eighteen, he would never say grace again.



"So Sasuke, your birthday is coming up soon, is that right?" one of the priests asked.



Sasuke nearly choked on his food. How did they know?



"Hn."



"You should answer appropriately when someone asks you a question," the man said kindly but firmly.



Resisting the urge to glare at him Sasuke answered, "Yes, my birthday is July 23rd."



"Oooh, how old will you be?" Sakura asked sweetly, seeming almost like she was flirting with him, earning an approving look from the priests.



"Seventeen."



Naruto smirked next to him. "Wow, only one more year until freedom."



"Mr. Uzumaki, that is not appropriate," one of the men said, sounding angry, but Naruto just shrugged.



"Well, I'll be right behind you there, I'll be seventeen this October." The priests almost looked relieved to hear it. "So what will you do when you're out? Do you have a hot boyfriend waiting for you home?"



"Uzumaki, that is enough!"



Naruto looked on innocently at the grown men. "What? I was just asking a question?"



"It is not appropriate, look at him, you're confusing him." Sasuke frowned, wondering what his face looked like. "You will stop now and talk to the girl across from you, don't speak to Mr. Uchiha for the rest of the night, understand?"



With a blank stare he said, "Yes sir."



The silence felt heavy and Sasuke found himself wanting to answer Naruto and also wondered if the blond was subtly trying to flirt with him. Was he interested in Sasuke too? Well, that was a stupid question. He had eyes. He had seen the blond checking him out and giving him an 'I-think-I-want-that-for-desert' look. Naruto seemed so comfortable with his sexuality and it also seemed like the priests knew it. He remembered Naruto's comment about not being raised by people like this and wondered how he got there.



When dinner was over everyone was escorted back to their rooms, their escort walking behind them to make sure they didn't touch as they walked. Sasuke had to wonder at this unique method of their 'training'. They forced those of the same sex together, put them together, while making sure they don't touch each other. It didn't take Sasuke long to figure what they were doing. They were trying to train them to be in the same room and place with other members of the same sex and not doing anything with them. They were training them to ignore any attractive they might have towards the member of the same sex and teaching them how to mingle with them in a way they deemed straight.



It was risky, but he was sure they believed it would come in handy when they left the place and had to be around members of the same sex again with no supervision.



When they got to their rooms they were instructed to pray before going to bed. Naruto and Sasuke instantly got down on their knees by their separate beds, clasped their hands together and prayed. The priests left the doorway to walk around to make sure everyone was doing it.



When the lights were out and Naruto and Sasuke were in their beds with nothing but the light from the moon and from the hallway on them – the hallway light so the priests could peek in and make sure they were both in their own bed – Sasuke turned to face Naruto's back. They were instructed to sleep facing away from each other but Sasuke wanted to see if Naruto actually did that, he was surprised to find the blond staring right back at him, but wasn't sure why.



"I don't, by the way," Sasuke whispered, figuring he had a minute or two before the priest came by.



Naruto raised an eyebrow at him.



"I don't have a boyfriend, never have, actually." He didn't count the boy he made out with on his couch. That was just a fun experiment.



Naruto hummed in answer to that and turned to face away from Sasuke, though Sasuke could have sworn he saw a grin on that face.



Upon hearing footsteps, Sasuke turned away from Naruto as well and closed his eyes to sleep.



~*~



He really shouldn't have expected anything, and he berated himself for the thought even crossing his mind. He had been there for a week and it was his birthday, he was seventeen now but the day was going by completely unnoticed. His parents didn't even try to contact him and it stung. Did they ever really care about him at all? Perhaps all they cared about was their appearance and how society viewed them. If that was the case, what the hell was he doing there? He had kissed Sakura two more times but each time was a failure on their part. After the third kiss they decided to just stop while they were ahead and be friends.



Hinata also asked him to kiss her but at that time he was too busy keeping his eye on Neji who had been staring at Naruto longer than he liked. Apparently it was longer than the priests liked too because he got scolded for it – though Sasuke was actually thankful for the interference that time. He wondered if Naruto found that long haired zombie attractive – he was sorry, but his eyes seriously reminded him of the walking dead – but he wasn't sure how to ask without making his own interest too obvious.



It wasn't until after they had lunch that the priest dragged Sasuke away to tell him happy birthday.



"It's customary that you get a wish."



Well, at least he got something.



"What if I wished to leave?" he asked, completely serious.



The priest frowned. "Unfortunately, you must wish for something we can give you. Perhaps you'd like to make a call to your parents?"



He thought about that and realized that no, he didn't want to call them. He was angry with them. They should just accept him the way he was without trying to change him like good parents would. He shouldn't even be there at all.



"I want to go to my room, for the rest of the day, and not talk to anyone."



"Naruto's up there, he's not feeling so well."



Of course. He was never feeling well! He was such a faker.



"We took his temperature this time and he seems genuinely ill. It might be wise you not go up there."



"If he's sick he'll be sleeping right?" Sasuke asked, wanting to go more now that he knew he would be in the company of the one person he actually didn't mind being in the company of.



"True, we did give him medication that would leave him groggy and put him to sleep."



"I won't bother him. I just don't want to be down here. That's my wish. My only wish." He made sure not to make his voice sound too eager, not wanting them to get suspicious.



The man nodded, reluctantly, and he escaped to his room.



He saw a messy mop of blond hair sticking out from under the blankets but that was it. It seemed as if Naruto was actually really sick this time, which honestly surprised him with how much he faked it. Perhaps karma had finally come around to him.



Of course being the birthday boy didn't exclude him from getting checked on every now and then. Just five minutes into it and someone came in. However they checked Naruto and made sure he was dead asleep before deciding to give Sasuke a break and only coming in every fifteen to twenty minutes. Sasuke knew, since he timed it.



It was two hours before Naruto woke up and Sasuke was busy staring at the ceiling, thoughts of his family invading his mind.



"What are you doin' here?" Naruto asked groggily, his eyes peeking out from under the covers while the rest of his face remained hidden.



Sasuke allowed himself to think it rather cute.



"It's my birthday wish to be up here."



"Oh right, they give those . . ."



"You should go back to sleep."



"Mmm, I will . . . later . . ." His eyes seemed to reflect disappointment. "You know, if I weren't sick I'd probably be hitting on you, tryin' to get you to let me kiss you."



Sasuke couldn't stop the smirk.



"You do that often to your roommates?"



"Mm? Not really. You're only my second one and the first one wasn't really my type."



Looking at the clock on the wall – a regular, round, boring clock – he saw that he still had about ten minutes before he was checked on. He wondered if Naruto would fake sleeping for him when they did come so they could have some time to themselves. He'd have to make sure to keep an eye on the time and ask.



Deeming it safe, he got up from his bed and walked over to Naruto's. The boy's eyes sparked as he kneeled down beside his bed.



"They're giving me more privacy than usual today, figuring you'd be out for the rest of the day, probably."



"I usually sleep all day when I'm sick," he snickered, "or at least, that's what I lead them to believe. I'm already starting to feel better though. I heal quickly, yanno?"



"I can tell. You don't sound as out of it."



"Mmm."



"Hey . . . can I ask you something?"



"Sure."



"What are you doing here Naruto?" The question was soft and Naruto didn't answer right away, letting silence settle over them. Eventually Sasuke had to get up and go to his own bed. The priest came in to check on them and Naruto had buried his face under the covers again as Sasuke also foreigner sleep, softening his breathing and smoothing his face, while wondering if he had said something wrong.



When the sound of footsteps left the room and faded he heard Naruto say, "I was adopted."



Opening his eyes, he looked over at the boy who was still hiding under the covers.



"My parents – my real parents – they weren't really religious. My mother was a bit of a hippie in her day and believed in love for everyone. And I'm an army brat. My father was in the army, and my grandfather before him. And my father told me stories that his father told him. When I came out and told him I was gay, my father told me a story of the Nazis in Germany. He told me about how Hitler put gays in the camps and how they were treated unusually cruelly, even by their own inmates. He also told me about how in Muslim countries, coming out of the closet would just win someone an execution.



Then my father told me, that the way they were treated was wrong. That everyone has the right to live the way they choose to so long as they're not hurting anyone else and that everyone has the right to be happy. He said that, more than anything, he wanted me to live strong, proud, and happy. He told me to never be ashamed of who I am, no matter what anyone else says."



Mentally, Sasuke wished his father would have said something like that to him.



"And so you're here . . ."



"I'm here because my parents are dead; they died in a car crash." The voice was hollow, not like Naruto at all. "They're dead and I was adopted by the fucker who owns this place. And damn, I really hate him."



Swallowing, Sasuke whispered, "I'm sorry. I know that . . . losing a family member is painful . . ."



Naruto nodded under the covers. "Sounds like you've lost someone too."



The blond didn't get an answer. Sasuke wasn't completely sure why he had just said that, he hadn't talked about it, ever, but he had never met someone like Naruto. He felt it deep in his gut and he knew. He knew that if he ever wanted or needed to talk about something, anything, that the blond would not only listen to him, but accept him afterwards. It was an amazing feeling, one that no one had ever given him before. He didn't have many friends in school, just people who he talked to in class on occasion and they were all Catholic. He wouldn't be surprised if they were gossiping about him and his disease at the very moment, and his parents, well, they had already proven to him that they didn't accept him for the way he was.



The feeling of being accepted no matter what he said, how weak he seemed, was like nothing else. It made him want to talk, which was saying something for him since he was mostly a solitary person. But he knew that if Naruto asked him a question he would answer it and that in itself was something else. How many times had people tried to get him to open up? He was even sent to a therapist and the man who was a graduate from Harvard couldn't get as much as an honest sentence out of him.



But Naruto didn't ask and he wondered if the blond was thinking of his parents. Respecting that, Sasuke rolled over on his side, facing away from Naruto. In the back of his mind, he remembered that this could be one of the few times he could be alone with Naruto with little interruption, but his mind was too busy thinking of other things now. Gripping the sheets, he thought of the man who had left him behind, his chest clenching painfully as he bit his lip and squeezed his eyes shut.



Itachi . . .



~*~



Naruto watched Sasuke turn away from him and wanted to sigh in disappointment. A part of him berated himself for ruining such a perfect opportunity. He shouldn't have brought up his parents, usually never did, changing the subject to something more cheery. But something about Sasuke told him that the dark boy understood pain. Those dark eyes, which reminded him so much of an eclipse . . . he wondered how much was hiding behind them. He hadn't known the boy long and they didn't get many opportunities to talk like this – never before this, actually – but he wanted to know. He wanted to learn the boy, he was interesting and Naruto was interested in more ways than one.



He had never been attracted to someone like Sasuke before. He had been with boys before. He'd acted on his lust towards those of the same sex before, he wasn't a virgin anymore, but it wasn't the same. Maybe it was just because Sasuke was forbidden fruit that made getting a taste of him so much sweeter, he didn't know, but he wanted him. And Naruto always went after the things he wanted. It was how he was raised.



Deciding to stop torturing himself with the view of Sasuke turned away from him, Naruto turned around to face the wall. He wanted to reach out and touch Sasuke, to feel him and kiss him. It didn't help that he was sexually frustrated as hell, not even allowed to masturbate. If he masturbated in his room they'd know, they checked the sheets and their clothes before cleaning them and they were watched everywhere else except for when they went to the toilet, but he was busy doing other things then.



He couldn't wait until he got out of there. A part of him wanted to get out and have meaningless sex with random men just to spite this place. But that just wasn't who he was. Sure, he used the past lovers in his life merely for experimenting and play, but those relationships were never fully satisfying. He was a commitment type of guy. He wondered if Sasuke was too. Not that it'd matter. Sasuke would be out before him.



His thoughts shifting, he wondered who Sasuke lost, but decided it best not to talk about it.



Glancing over his shoulders he let his eyes rake along the body on the bed next to his.



He should probably stop. Once he got too interested it became nearly impossible for him to hide it. But he didn't want to stop. He wanted to flirt with Sasuke and let his attraction and interest be known. So what if Sasuke got out before him? So what if they were being watched almost twenty four seven? They still got some moments alone . . . and who knew where it would go once it started? Maybe it would go somewhere and the raven would wait for him once he got out. Naruto didn't want to fool around anymore when he got out. He just wasn't that kind of guy. He didn't have to have meaningless sex out of spite; he could just drag Sasuke to a church and defile him there for his own, strange, personal payback.



Mentally groaning, he decided to stop that fantasy before he got too excited. Closing his eyes, he decided to go back to sleep. His head still hurt and it wasn't as if there was anything else to do.



"Nice ass by the way," he commented lowly before dozing off, deciding to at least let Sasuke know that.



Now he just had to figure out a way to flirt with him with the old farts lurking around like the creepers they were.



Then he heard Sasuke say, "Hn. Nice package."



Ha! He knew he caught Sasuke sneaked glance at it in the showers! Sure he had never seen him do it but he had a feeling and he was right.



Naruto fell asleep with a grin on his face.





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Review replies:





qwerty: Thank you for the review. *heart*





SamuraiSaaya: My, so you've noticed that too? XD Well, unless you read Greek Mythology and such then it's a woman who's been the cause of war and such. *facepalm* Some people...*sighs* It is very sad. These places should really stop existing. >.>





Carousel: You're the second person to ref that. I should probably watch it. XD





Venerate: Your review reminded me to upload a chapter. ^^; Thanks for that. Sometimes I just forget. The reason for Sasuke's character is being, he is not an avenger in this. And that makes up the majority of his character. When I don't make him an avenger and all that, I try and go by how Sasuke was pre-massacre and how I view that lil' guy being as an adult. At that point, it's all about how you view that person as an adult and different people will come up with different versions, so you can play around with that more. :/ Then there's also the fact that this was originally an original story of mine and Julius is more timid than Sasuke. I already modified him as much as I could while still giving him the role I want him to have for the story. ^^; Thank you very much. I'm glad I did good on that background and such. *smooches*