A bond thicker than blood

right guys, here is anothe chapter for my loyal readers. thank you to all and thank you Leila my awesome beta reader.

LadyRonin: yeah as i said in my other story comment to you, i left it out on purpose. although now that i have written this chapter my brilliant plan seem to not work, so have to look at that another way. havent decided yet what role Sasuke will have in the challange yet, or Haku, Momochi and Gaara either. well now we know Ino is a loose skrew i was wondering making Neji the oposit but dunno yet, i'll see whn i write the next chapter, i have decided he will make an apperance there. yeah Neji doesnt know so i guess thats why he can easily hang on to Naruto, havent decided if he should find out or not, but then again it might be unavoidable, havent decided yet i'll see in the next chapter


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 33

Momochi had been out all day doing nothing, accept loaf around. He did have the option of going home and doing the exact same thing but instead of walking he would be sitting on the windowsill watching the world go by outside, but the chances of meeting Naruto at home, even though it was a remote chance, it was still there. He knew he was the last person the blond wanted to see right now, Naruto had not ignored him for the past few weeks for nothing. Momochi sighed, it really was his own fault for creating this situation but he still could not help but feel pain as the blond boy would not even bother to look at him twice.

All of a sudden Momochi noticed where he was and stopped. Momochi stood right in front of the gate leading up to Naruto’s flat. Without really knowing why his legs had taken him there but he figured his subconscious had something to do with it. He stood at the gate for several minutes, just staring at the bottom of the stairs which lead to Nauto’s flat.

“What am I doing” Momochi said quietly to himself before shaking his head and began walking towards the small park situated just outside the building complex. When he reached the entrance he noticed a familiar shape sitting on one of the swings.

‘Sasuke’ Momochi was not sure if it would be wise to talk to him due to the whole situation, but before his brain had any chance of reacting to the situation logically his feet had already carried him half way there.

“Sasuke” Momochi said as he reached the raven haired boy. Sasuke looked up and saw the dark haired man standing in front of him.

“Momochi” he said in an indifferent tone, not really surprising Momochi though. Sasuke could not hide his surprise of seeing the man, but tried his best to hide all the signs of his unhappy state. But even though he did his best, Momochi could see the pain and sadness, even confusion was present in the raven haired eyes which usually revealed nothing but its dark colour.

“Its been a while” he said and sat down next to Sasuke.

“hn” was all Sasuke replied with.

“I guess they are right” Momochi paused and looked up towards the full moon before continuing “it is a thin line between love and hate.” He could not help but crack a little smile, he sounded so old. Sasuke’s eyes were fixed on him as Momochi continued to talk.

“We may be Yakuza, but we are humans too. We are a family, a family which has taken a long time for Naruto to understand and accept and a family which he is now willing to give everything to protect.” Momochi could not help but show a worried face “that stupid boy, he thinks he can handle everything alone. It is his biggest weakness and yet ironically it is what makes him so strong, being able to suppress and forget anything.”

Sasuke lowered his gaze “I … don’t hate any of you, I just … don’t know … I’m confused” Sasuke interrupted, so much had happened. He was just not sure how to deal with everything and even if Sasuke turned around leaving everything as it was, just accept things without understanding, is that what Naruto want? Last time they had talked it was all about the Yakuza, nothing about Orochimaru raping him. He really did not think it was something the blond boy would ever want to talk about, not after the statement he had blurted out. Naruto relied on not remembering just to be able to live; it had hurt Sasuke’s more than he cared to admit.

“It’s funny really” Momochi continued talking just to make Sasuke feel less guilty “I kept pushing Naruto to tell you before it would end in disaster and yet I was exactly like him, not telling him about the person responsible for his parents death.” Momochi never took his eyes off the moon as he talked, he knew Sasuke well enough now to know that he did not show any emotion to people except Naruto. This way Sasuke did not have to try so hard to hide his emotions.

Sasuke was not sure what to say, he just had the image of Naruto’s eyes filled with a mixture of emotion as he had told him he did not know, playing through his head. It was the first time Sasuke had seen the blond boy showed so much emotion. He wanted to know how Naruto was but was not sure if he had the right to ask, after their conversation earlier.

“um” Sasuke shut his mouth again, the words he wanted to say did not come out. But Momochi knew instinctively what the raven haired boy wanted to ask, although Sasuke did his best to hide his emotions, the concern for the blond still leaked out.

“I wouldn’t know, he is avoiding me at the moment. Ironically enough almost for the same reason you are avoiding him, but I can hear him at night. Tossing and turning at night when he actually does fall asleep, he might not show it but the darkness Orochimaru created in him is eating him alive. It takes longer and longer to pull Naruto back from the darkness each time the suppressed memories surface when he sleeps, I dunno how much longer his mind will be able to cope before it breaks and let the darkness completely consume him...” Momochi sighed, the thought of loosing the boy to that darkness scared him because he knew he was not the one who would be able to help him.

Sasukes chest hurt as the memories of Naruto sitting in the shower covered in blood, shaking, his eyes cold, dark and empty. Sasuke had never been so scared, he was scared now, afraid that the blond boy would hurt himself more than he did that time.

“I promised his father that I would never let Naruto turn into a murderer, killing with no mercy and no regret. He told me I had to tell him that taking another persons life had to be the last resort and only if he was capable of accepting that his life was no longer his. If he crosses that line to darkness, I fail. Not that I haven’t failed already … but there is still time …” Momochi paused and got up from the swing, he hated to admit it but the boy sitting on that swing was Naruto’s only chance.

“Sasuke … Haku and I may be his family, but we aren’t the ones binding him to this world … you are” Momochi felt helpless and sad as he said it, they were family and yet he hand Haku could only stand at the side line and watch. Momochi sighed before walking away, hoping he had gotten something through to the raven haired boy.

Sasuke’s eyes widened as he heard Momochi’s last words, ‘me? How?’ Suddenly his mother’s voice filled his head ‘to love some one means you accept everything a person is. The past, the present and the future, and the accomplishment as well as the failures. But most importantly you are there when they need you, acting as a pillar of support to help them through. To be in love means you’ll never be alone.’

He got up from the swing, he had failed Naruto. He had failed to stand next to him and failed to support him when he needed him the most, he hated himself. After a couple of seconds of letting everything sink in, the confusion was gone and he began running after Momochi.

“Momochi!!” he yelled after the man. Momochi turned around watching the raven haired boy come closer.

“Where” *pant* “can I find Naruto” *pant* Sasuke was struggling to get enough air down his lungs. Momochi could not help but smile.

“He should be home in our flat or in the shop if n …” Momochi did not get to say anymore as Sasuke took down the street, Momochi smiled again, maybe everything would be alright. “Thank you Sasuke” he whispered.

Sasuke ran down the street towards Haku and Momochi’s flat. ‘I am so sorry Naruto. Please be home.’ The image of the blond boy walking away from him made him run faster as if he was chasing the image. He needed to tell Naruto that everything was okay, that he was sorry. He needed to know if, even though he failed the first time, he would still be able to stand by his side this time. There were so many things he wanted, needed to tell the blond, but most importantly he needed to tell the dobe he loved him.