Lonely Faces (*aka. -Roommates) | Chapter 23

Beta: abnegation218

Lonely Faces (*aka. - Roommates)


Chapter 05

On Monday morning, Kiba and Naruto walked together to their first class. Kiba kept his head down as the whispering crowds around them watched their progress through the halls. Naruto was giving him words of encouragement, but they didn’t help alleviate Kiba’s dread.

In class, Naruto spotted many people passing notes and looking back at them. When the teacher announced that they could leave, Naruto hated himself for being in different classes as Kiba for the rest of the day. He hoped he would be ok.

Kiba spent the remainder of the morning and afternoon, drudging to his various classes and keeping out of sight. As his last class ended, he rushed back to his dorm room, Naruto would be there already. He desperately needed him; today had really been hard on him.

Kiba opened the door, the lights were off and the curtains drawn, it was pitch black. Maybe he had gone somewhere? He turned on the lights.

Kiba let out a loud gasp. Naruto was lying on the floor, foaming at the mouth, nose bleeding. Kiba rushed to his side and knelt down next to him. He spotted a small bag on the floor, lined with a white powder. Cocaine?

“Naruto!” he cried, hitting him gently on the face. “Naruto, can you hear me!? NARUTO!”

Kiba checked his pulse, still there, but weak. He took out his phone and called an ambulance.

“Naruto! You idiot, what have you done!” he yelled, scooping him up.

Kiba knew that he needed to get him help as soon as possible. He ran down the 4 flights of stairs from their room, Naruto clutched in his arms, and exited the building. An ambulance pulled into the parking lot and Kiba sprinted for it.

“Please, you have to help him! I think he overdosed on cocaine!” he said to the paramedic.

“Ok, just put him down here.” she said, lowering the stretcher from the back of the flashing vehicle.

A crowd gathered as he lowered Naruto’s prone form. He then followed the cart into the ambulance and they drove off, speeding for the hospital.

-

Kiba sat on the chair beside Naruto’s bed, holding his hand and circling his thumb over the boy’s fingers. The doctors had told him that he was in a stable condition, and that if he had gotten him here any later, his life may have been in jeopardy. They also said that they had called his guardians; so far they hadn’t shown up.

Kiba just stared into Naruto’s face. What on earth had possessed him to do such a thing? Naruto never mentioned anything about a drug problem.

The door opened and a woman with brown graying hair walked into the room.

“Naruto!” she screamed, running to his side. “Naruto! Not again! I thought we were through this!”

“Are you Naruto’s foster parent?” asked Kiba, startled at her sudden appearance.

“Yes, well, I was his last one.” she said, looking down at Naruto, a mixture of sadness and anger in her eyes.

“What do you mean, not again?” inquired Kiba.

“This isn’t the first time he’s overdosed on drugs!” she said, anger now apparent in her voice.

Kiba’s eyes widened in shock. “He’s done this before? When?”

“Who are you anyway? Why do you care so much about him?” she asked suspiciously.

“I’m … I’m his roommate, and, I guess … his boyfriend.” said Kiba, blushing slightly.

“I see.” she said, her voice flat. “And he hasn’t told you yet. Well, now’s as good a time as any.”

She paused for a moment and turned to Kiba, a look grievance on her face. “Naruto met a boy, his name was Sasuke. After he met this boy, Naruto began to develop feelings for him. They went out for a while, but Sasuke wasn’t the faithful type. After he had had enough, Naruto ended their relationship. All of Naruto’s friends showed their true colors when he told them about his being gay, and he was left with no one to help him through this period in his life. After that, he slipped into a deep depression, and turned to drugs.”

She stopped and rubbed her temples. Kiba listened to every part of her story with rapt attention.

She breathed in heavily and continued. “A couple of years passed, he was pushed from home to home; no family could take it for long. Me and my husband then took him in. We worked hard, trying to help his addiction, but my husband grew tired of his constant slip ups. Naruto finally kicked the stuff and began living a normal life. And now …”

Kiba turned to Naruto’s bed, still clutching his hand “Oh god, this is all my fault! I didn’t know! I’ve been having troubles lately, but … Naruto, why didn’t you tell me!?”

Kiba closed his eyes, tears ran down his face, and he pulled Naruto’s arm to his chest, embracing it. “Naruto, please forgive me!”

“… There’s nothing to forgive …”

Kiba eye’s shot open and he looked at Naruto.

Naruto, eye lids fluttered open and he groaned as he turned groggily and sat up.

“Naruto!” yelled Kiba, embracing him and burying his face into Naruto’s chest as he wept. “Naruto, I’m sorry!”

“Stop! Stop blaming yourself! This isn’t your fault! It’s mine, I’m such an idiot! I never wanted you to see me like this. I’m the one that should be sorry!” he said, tears of his own splashing down on Kiba’s head.

The woman sighed as she saw the two boys sob into each other’s arms. Naruto looked up, and noticed for the first time that someone else was in the room.

“… Granny Smith.” sniffed Naruto, wiping his face.

“You’ve really done it this time. Paul absolutely refused to come. He’s worried about you, but he just thinks you’re going to end up doing it again.” she said, shaking her head.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what got over me. I was just so unhappy to see Kiba struggling, and I …”

He looked down, ashamed to show his face.

“Naruto, I wish you would have told me about this. I thought you trusted me?” said Kiba, looking imploringly into Naruto’s eyes.

“… I do, I just didn’t want to lose you. If I’d told you, you’d just have thought I was some drug addict and never spoken to me again.” he mumbled, still staring at a spot on the blanket.

“I would never do such a thing! What would give you that idea?” asked Kiba, trying to place his face in front of the area that Naruto was staring at.

Naruto kept quiet, feeling that this question could not be answered satisfactorily. Kiba got up and sat beside him on the bed, placing his arm over his shoulder comfortingly, as Naruto had done the day before. Naruto looked up, teary-eyed and lips trembling.

“Thank you Kiba!” he said, leaning his head onto Kiba’s shoulder. “You’re such a good person!”

“Yes he is, not everyone would put up with this!” said Granny Smith. “You’re lucky you have him, and you better not screw it up!”

She gazed at them a moment longer, before exhaling deeply and heading for the door. “I’m going to go tell Paul that you’re fine. This had better be the last time! I might not forgive you next time!”

She left them, and Kiba stared after her. He hoped Naruto wouldn’t do this again, but even if she wouldn’t forgive him, he would.

-

Over the next couple of days, Naruto recuperated in the hospital. The University agreed to let Naruto come back under the condition that he attend some drug user’s anonymous meetings, and of course, that he promised not to do it again. Naruto might have found this extremely stressful had he done it alone, but Kiba was there with him every step of the way.

He found himself growing more and more in love with Kiba, not that he really knew what love felt like. He just adored him with every particle that made up his being. He was his life raft in an ocean of worries, doubts, and regrets.

Once he was cleared to go home, Kiba brought him back to the campus. He didn’t want anyone to see him come back, so they waited until classes started, that way he stood less chance of being spotted and questioned.

They entered the dorm building and walked up the stairs to their floor. They rounded the corner to where their room was and saw a figure sitting in front of their door, apparently asleep.

“Hinata?” said Kiba, trying to rouse the girl.

She opened her eyes and, seeing them, jumped to her feet. Hinata paused, looking at Naruto with anger on her features before slapping him, hard across the face.

“Don’t you ever worry me like that again!” she said, and embraced him, bawling into his shirt.

Naruto rubbed the spot where she had hit him for a moment and hugged her back. He too began to cry.

‘I’m so lucky to have friends that care about me.’ he thought.

Kiba guided his two blubbering friends into the room with a sigh and closed the door behind them.

They calmed down a little and Hinata explained that his trip to the hospital didn’t go unnoticed. He was currently the talk of the school. The problem was, they either really felt for him, or really hated him.

“So you’d better be on your guard, I don’t like the way some people are talking about you.” she said.

“Don’t worry, I know how to defend myself.” said Naruto, flexing his arm jokingly.

Kiba was glad to see that he was able to poke fun at the situation, he was returning to his old, exuberant self. He wondered though if Hinata’s words where true, and some of their schoolmates were actually targeting him. If they were, he would defend him; nobody would harm Naruto on his watch.

Naruto turned to Kiba, a serious look in his eyes. “Kiba, I want to thank you, you’ve been a great friend and I just want you to know I appreciate it.”

Kiba smiled. “What kind of boyfriend would I be if I wasn’t there for you at a time like this? Stop being so appreciative, it’s just something anyone would do!”

Naruto stared at him for a moment, and burst into tears again, clutching Kiba. Kiba exhaled noisily and rolled his eyes as he stroked Naruto’s back comfortingly.

He may be a drama queen, but he’s my drama queen.