The Challenge

Special Author Note: PLEASE READ

A while back I was reading a story that was great. It was long and well written. The plot was intriguing and I waited anxiously to read what would happen next. In respect I will not mention the title or author. Just when the story was getting good and Sasuke and Naruto had hooked up the author disappeared. It turned out that the author lost inspiration and not only did the author stop writing but deleted the stories all together.

I have been reading fan fiction a long time and this is not the first time this has happened. The difference is that this story was rather long like 12+ chapters. It is a lot easier to see a one or two chapter story die. As a writer I know how this happens. Stories start out with a strong beginning but the middle gets weak and the author losses interest.

It always seems to me that the great lengthy stories that have great sentence structure, are formatted well, little to no grammar or spelling errors, and are fun to read and you can’t wait to read what happens next barely ever get finished. But the crappy stories that are slapped together and the author clearly only wants reviews will stay up forever. You know what these stories look like. There the ones that have one giant paragraph for a chapter with no breaks or every sentence is a new paragraph. My biggest pet peeves are the small author notes inside sentences, posting unfinished chapters, and the note at the end holding the next chapter hostage for more reviews.

This rant brings me to my main point. Be patient I will finish. Like I typed above I also read fan fiction and there are a few stories on my favorites list that I have to wait months in-between chapters. I have all the plot twists and ending planed out so that will make writing go faster. Thank you for reading and on to the story.

Sorry for the really long note and the semi-rant.

XX***XX

Chapter Six: “Naruto Meet Itachi”

Naruto read the street signs carefully looking out for the one Sasuke specified only looking away to watch Sasuke. The other boy was curled up staring out the window. He knew he should have been watching the road but Sasuke was too much of a draw. The winter sun light fogged the window leaving sun splotches in his vision every time he looked over at Sasuke. Sasuke breathed on the window leaving a foggy spot then brought up one pale finger and drew a spiral in the fog. Normally he would bitch about finger prints but the other boy just looked so cute that he let it slide.

“You missed my turn.” Sasuke’s sudden voice startled him.

“How do you know?” His eyes moved back to looking at street signs.

“I take this ride everyday with Itachi and you’ve been driving too long.”

“Oh sorry,” to recover he took the first right turn he came to then another. When he got to the correct street he turned left. “What does your house look like?”

“It’s brown and Uchiha is on the mail box. Don’t pull in to the driveway, park in front.” Sasuke sounded tired so he sped up slightly wanting to get him home soon. “That’s it there.” Finally the black haired boy turned from the side window to look out the wind-shield and point.

“Okay.” Naruto slowed and pulled over; ignoring the way Sasuke grunted at him for not using his turn signal. He was kind of annoyed at Sasuke’s complaints about his driving habits. First his music was too loud then his heater smelled funny. What bothered Sasuke the most and had almost stopped him from taking the ride all together was the broken passenger seat belt. He tried to explain that it was just a couple blocks but Sasuke just huffed and eventually got into the car. Naruto complained that he wouldn’t be able to untie it but Sasuke tired the seat belt together again. Right now was why he didn’t want him to do it. Sasuke was struggling with picking at the strange knot in the flat material. “Let me do it.” He wrapped his fingers around the knot before Sasuke could move his hands. Those thin fingers were still cold to the touch despite the heat inside the car. After sometime and effort he got the knot undone.

“Come on lets go inside.” They exited the car and started towards the stoop. The house was plain with a close cut lawn but no other plants. Next to the steps going to the door were some decretive rocks one of which Sasuke picked up with ease. It was a fake rock with a hatch on the bottom for a hide-a-key. “We keep this here for emergencies,” Sasuke explained while unlocking the door. “I usually don’t enter this way. We usually come in through the garage entrance.” Naruto supposed that was why the key didn’t want to easily unlock the door. When it was open he replaced the key hiding rock.

Inside was clean almost too clean for two young men living together. Everything seemed the opposite of his own place. The furniture all matched like it was purchased as a set. It was the same with the dinning room set and the kitchen dishes. If that wasn’t weird enough the carpet matched the curtains and wall colorings. “Do you have a house keeper or something?” Naruto was convince that a fifteen and twenty year old couldn’t kept a house this clean.

“No, we pick up after ourselves.” Sasuke walked through the house with familiar ease and Naruto followed behind. Their shoes were removed at the door and Sasuke stood by a coat rack looking confused. “I left my coat and backpack at school and my books in the library.” He took off his sweater and hung it up but still stared at the rack.

“Its okay the librarian grabbed our things and your other things are in your locker.” Sasuke didn’t move and Naruto was getting worried. There was an emptiness in his eyes that made him uncomfortable. “Listen,” he touched Sasuke’s shoulders, “show me the kitchen and I’ll make you some tea.” His younger class mate’s lost look made him uncomfortable.

Sasuke let the blond lead him further into the house toward where he guessed the kitchen was at. The tea kettle was on the stove so while Sasuke sat down Naruto filled it with water. The stove was a high tech thing but he figured out how to put the water on to boil on medium heat before sitting down at the table with Sasuke.

He watched Sasuke trace the wood grain on the table for a while before speaking up. “I’m not going to push it but I wish you would tell me what happened with Gaara.” The sooner he got the whole story out of him the sooner he could break Gaara’s face. He was smart enough to know that this was beyond just Gaara and possibly beyond anything he could handle by beating someone up. Whatever had happened in Sasuke’s past Gaara was making it leak into the present and he hated seeing this lost, confused version of the cute little brunet.

Just saying the name seemed to make Sasuke uncomfortable. “I’d really rather not if that’s okay?” He looked up from his hand to catch Naruto’s gaze. “Maybe later.” They sat in silence for a while when the kettle screamed making both boys jump in surprise. Naruto stood and paced some before turning back to Sasuke who laughed quietly. “That cupboard has cups and tea bags are in a canister by the fridge. Use the caffeine-free ones; they’re the blue ones. The caffeine ones are green.”

Naruto followed his pointing fingers to the tea making supplies. He was relieved when he pointed out the tea bags because the Uchiha’s seemed like formal, homemade, pressed herbs type tea people. Especially when the cupboard held plant printed tea cups with matching saucers. He pulled out two and placed tea bags in them; caffeine-free for Sasuke but he grabbed a caffeinated one for himself. Earlier that morning he ran out of coffee and could use a pick-me-up.

Sasuke watched him quietly as he poured boiling water into the two cups and carried them to the table. “Thanks,” the dark haired boy cradled the cup and saucer in his hands and inhaled the raising steam. “I like the peppermint.” Sasuke’s smile made him uncomfortable. There was something it was hiding and Naruto guessed it was the same thing that caused him to faint earlier. With the size of the cups it didn’t take long for the tea to seep to their desired strengths. Naruto followed Sasuke’s example by removing the bag and putting it on the saucer. However, he didn’t drink as Sasuke did. Sasuke must have noticed his grimace because he pointed at the counter top. “There’s sugar over there if you want it.”

“Thanks,” he stood and retrieved the small bowl full of sugar cubes. “Do you want some?” Sasuke shook his head and continued sipping his tea.

“Itachi doesn’t like me having a lot of sugar.”

“Your brother is strange.” He didn’t know any parents that were as strict as Sasuke’s older brother. He thought that having a young guardian would be fun and freeing. His own guardian was a grown man who was never home and allowed him to do anything he wanted. “I mean you can’t get yourself home that is only a couple blocks away, here you’re drinking caffeine-free organic tea with no sugar and the way Neji heard from Hinata it’s a miracle he allowed you to participate in the science fair. Just what is Itachi’s problem?” For reasons he couldn’t understand he was angry at this person he’d never met. No one this guarded could be expected to be normal.

Sasuke, however, didn’t share his anger. “Itachi works very hard to prove to the government that he’s a good guardian. Without him I’d be in a foster home.” That sent a shiver down both their spines. With how young they were when their parents died they must have spent some time in a foster home. Naruto was lucky enough to have been handed strait over to Jiraiya from his real parents. “Somehow Itachi got custody of me when he was legally emancipated at sixteen.”

“At twenty he’s hit majority.” Naruto commented. “Why is he still so uptight?”

Sasuke sighed putting his cup down. “We thought it would get better once he was a legal adult but that asshole wouldn’t let up.” Naruto laughed abruptly at hearing him curse for the first time. “Anyway,” he rolled his eyes and continued. “Every little thing that happens makes that man make a report to his bosses. If I lose a little bit of weight then I’m being neglected or if I get even the littlest wound then I’m being abused. Whenever one of those reports gets turned in then my brother and I have to go to court. It’ll stay that way for the next five years until I reach majority.”

Now he felt like an asshole. In his group of friends he had the most complicated home life. Most of his friends lived in two parent homes with the exception of Neji who lived with his aunt and uncle. The three of them had all been placed with family members but Sasuke was the only one being monitored by the government. It made the reasons behind Itachi’s over protectiveness clearer. If the authorities knew that Jiraiya was never home then he would be taken away. “Sorry I didn’t know.”

“Yeah, you didn’t.“ Sasuke snorted looking down and frowning.

They sat in an awkward silence both sipping their tea slowly. When both cups were empty there was nothing to do to occupy the dead space between them. “I guess we could watch TV until your brother gets home.” Naruto stood caring his cup to the sink. At his home he would leave it on the table and possibly use it again later. He supposed that wouldn’t fly here at Sasuke’s house.

“We could but we don‘t have cable or anything. There‘s just the broadcast channels so Itachi can watch the news.” This shocked Naruto in to stammering confusion.

“Aw man, that means you only have like four or five channels.” Naruto shook his head in disbelief. “How can you not have cable?”

“Me and,” he stopped and restarted, “Itachi and I have better things to do than waste time in front of the stupid box.”

Naruto scoffed and snorted at him. “Then what the hell do you do all the time?”

“I do homework. Then we read together or talk.” Sasuke got up and put away his own cup. “What do you do at home?”

The blonde sighed and leaned against the counter top. “I don’t spend a lot of time at home. It’s hard being there alone all the time.” Most of his time was spent at friends’ homes or with Iruka who always had an empty guestroom for him. Over the last couple weeks he hadn’t been sleeping over due to Kakashi’s presence.

Sasuke moved to stand in front of him. Even in his leaning back position he was at least two inches taller than the other boy. Impossibly deep black eyes looked up at him in a sadness that he himself didn’t possess. “Why are you alone? Where are your parents?”

“My mother died giving birth to me and my dad sometime afterward. The man who takes care of me is a writer friend of my dad’s, Jiraiya.” Laughing without mirth he turned towards the window overlooking the backyard. “Well he doesn’t so much take care of me as he sends money and pays all the bills. Sometimes he comes home for a couple days every few months.”

It wasn’t so bad since he and Jiraiya never had a father son relationship so he didn’t feel abandoned. Jiraiya was the closest thing his father had to a father and his mother didn’t have any family. He really liked Jiraiya but he knew the man wasn’t ready to be a father. The man stuck around just as long as it took for him to be able to care for himself. When he turned thirteen and became good friends with Iruka, Jiraiya started traveling to write his books. He was okay on his own but it would be nice to not come home to an empty house.

Sasuke must have sensed his sadness because he moved behind him and wrapped his arms around his waist. The feel of the other boy against his back took his breath away. Being intimately close with another wasn’t new but the position was. Usually it was him doing the holding and comforting. Sasuke’s cool body felt refreshing against his naturally warm body making him shiver slightly. Pale hands clasped over his stomach spreading more chills over his body. “I’m sorry you’re alone.” Warm breath caressed his neck contrasting the feel of Sasuke’s cold skin against his neck. He let his eyes slide shut and just enjoyed the feel of Sasuke against him.

Unfortunately he didn’t get to enjoy it for long. Somewhere in the house a door burst open and footsteps sped through the house towards the kitchen. “Sasuke, where are you?” Sasuke had barely enough time to pull away from him before an almost frantic Itachi barreled into the kitchen. “There you are.”

Naruto watched the interaction of the two brothers feeling very much like a third wheel. He had never seen Itachi before without the car window’s as a filter. At a glance the two looked very similar but looking closer the visible differences stood out. Where Sasuke’s black hair was spiked messily, Itachi’s hair laid down his back tied at the nape of his neck. It was the same deep black but lacked Sasuke’s blue tint. The older brother towered over the two of them by at least a foot and had strange marks or scars running along the sides of his nose. Naruto brought his hand up to touch the three marks on either side of his cheeks.

Itachi grabbed his brother pulling him into a tight embrace. Then he went about checking him for fever and wounds all while asking questions faster than Sasuke could answer. “They called me at school saying you passed out. Why are you home? How did you get here?” His hand felt his forehead for the fifth time before cupping his cheeks.

“Calm down Itachi. Yes I passed out but I feel fine now and Naruto brought me home.” Finally Itachi seemed to start to calm down. He stepped back and ran his hands through his already messy hair. Naruto felt uneasy watching Itachi fuss over Sasuke.

“Okay, why don’t you go change into something warmer.” As he walked out of the room Sasuke gave him an uneasy smile. Itachi turned to him and bowed slightly. “Naruto thank you for bringing Sasuke home and talking care of him. I hope missing school won’t cause any problem for you.”

“No it’ll be fine. I’m good friends with the principal so everything should work out.” He scratched at his messy blonde hair unsure of what he should do now. “Um well since you’re home maybe I should go back to school.” There was something in Itachi’s eyes that told him he was glad to see Naruto leave. He bowed deeply. “Nice meeting you.”

As he passed Itachi the older boy turned and followed him to the front door. At the door Itachi stopped him. “I don’t know what Sasuke told you about our situation but it’s a fragile one. Sasuke has several health issues and it’s come to my attention that you smoke. I’d rather he not be exposed to that.”

“Oh you don’t have to worry about that I don’t smoke anymore. In fact,” he smiled, “Sasuke destroyed my last pack.”

Itachi wrapped his hand around his upper arm but didn’t squeeze painfully. “That wasn’t really the point.” The older boy’s gaze turned hard. “I’m very careful about who my brother spends time with. If I find out you had anything to do with what happened to Sasuke today I’ll make sure the two of you never come in contact with each other ever again. Understand?”

Naruto pulled his arm away banging it into the wall in the process. “I understand but Sasuke’s my friend and I had nothing to do with what happened. It might be hard to believe but there are people other than you who care about him.” He gave Itachi his own hard glare before letting his eyes drift over his shoulder. Sasuke was standing there watching the exchange but Naruto was unsure how much of the conversation he heard. “Bye Sasuke, see you at school tomorrow.”

“Bye,” on his way out Sasuke waved and gave him a sad little smile.

XX***XX

Itachi managed to get the door closed before Sasuke started yelling. “What the hell are you doing? You can’t talk to him like that.” The harshness of his brother’s voice made him jump. Sasuke had never spoken to him in such away.

“I was just trying to figure out what happened to you.” He walked over to his brother and tried to hug him only to have him pull away. It was unusual for Sasuke to keep secrets from him. His temper was raising but he gritted his teeth and restrained himself from grabbing his brother. “Do you have any idea how scared I was. They called me out of class to say that you fainted, then I find out the nurse let some other student bring you home. Why did you faint.” This time he couldn’t keep himself from grabbing Sasuke.

Sasuke flinched but didn’t struggle. “I didn’t faint, I..” he paused not sure how to continue. What really happened was worse then fainted for no reason.

“You what?” Itachi shook him slightly.

“I had a panic attack and hyperventilated.” Itachi’s eyes grew substantially.

“Panic attack, hyperventilated! What brought it on after so long?” He was on the verge of his own panic attack. It had been over a year since the last episode. Itachi thought they were done with nightmare filled nights, wet beds, and flashback induced panic attacks. Something must have happened to trigger the panic attack.

“Someone cornered me in the bathroom the other day. I kind of got freaked out. When Naruto asked me about it this morning I had a flashback and then a panic attack. The next thing I knew it I woke up in the nurse’s office.”

“Was the flashback of the bathroom incident or did that make you think of before?” Sasuke’s silence and downcast gaze gave him his answer. Itachi gathered his brother into his arms. “I don’t mean anything by this but this ‘someone’ wasn’t Naruto was it?”

“No of course not.” His voice was muffled by Itachi’s chest.

“You’re not going to tell me who it was are you?”

“No but it wasn‘t him. Naruto‘s my friend and don‘t have a lot. I‘d appreciate it if you didn‘t scare him away.”

“Fine then.” He stepped back looking his brother over. “Are you hungry or tired?” It was the middle of a weekday and they were both missing classes. This was definitely a kink in their routine.

“I’m fine.” Sasuke shoved his hands in his pockets and shuffled his feet. “I mean I’m good if you want to go back to school.”

“No I don’t think so.” He had to laugh at the idea. “Do you really think I’m going to leave you alone after fainting at school. You’ll be lucky if I don’t keep you home tomorrow.” Sasuke opened his mouth to argue but Itachi stopped him. “We’ll talk about that later after dinner. I do want you to contact Hinata and explain that you can’t make it tomorrow. You need to take it easy: I’m sure one day won’t hurt your project.” His brother seemed disappointed but didn’t speak up.

“Okay.” He could see the mixed emotions on his brother’s face but Sasuke walked over to the phone. Itachi took off his coat and walked away from the door. Sasuke was taking on the phone probably to Hinata’s mother since the girl would still be in school.

Afterwards he just disappeared into his room. Itachi didn’t bother him, knowing that when he made restrictions on Sasuke’s behavior his brother liked to sulk. He would just need sometime alone to get over it. There were other things he needed to do other than worry about Sasuke sulking.

There would probably have to be a meeting with the school’s principal or at the very least the nurse. Notice of missing the day would no doubt make it to their social worker so he would call him first to keep conflict down. The bi-weekly visit to Sasuke’s doctor would need to be changed especially since the episode involved a flashback. Both of them would need to make up a day’s worth of school work. It always seemed that when everything started to work itself out something else would pop up and drive their progress back several steps.

XX***XX

Notes:
1) I’m sorry that this chapter is a lot shorter than the others. The next one will be longer.

2) I understand that in the real world the nurse probably would have called 911 and never would have let Naruto take him anywhere. This is the world of fan fiction and not the real world so Naruto had to take him home so he could meet Itachi.

3) My favorite flavor of tea is peppermint.

4) To help Sasuke heal from his traumatic experience they established a routine and any deviation from this routine leaves Sasuke lost. Coming into the house through the front door and not having all his things is different then his regular routine. This deviation left him stuck in one place until Naruto distracts him.

5) Itachi’s over protectiveness comes from his guilt of not being able to protect his brother in the past: during the fire and in the foster home. (Explained in later chapters) This internal source is reinforced by an external source. Having a hard assed social worker watching and criticizing his parenting skills justifies how protective he is. If it wasn’t for his money even when emancipated Itachi would never get custody of his brother so he is held to a different set of standard than other parents.

6) This is ADULT fan fiction so starting next chapter this story will starting earning the maturity rating I gave it.

XX***XX

It took a while to get this chapter out because of some personal issues in my real life. These issues have smoothed out so the next chapters will start coming faster.

Thank you so much for all the reviews. I love that all of you love this story and want more. I will deliver.

Thanks Again.