Rehabbing the Dobe

I do not and never will own Naruto. This story is yoai (boy x boy love)

Rehabbing the Dobe

Chapter 8: Dirty Little Secrets

Tsunade watched as the jonin and chuunin carried the sleeping genin away, "Have Uchiha brought in." The woman walked over to her desk and reached for a small ceramic bottle. She noticed a box setting on her desk.

She hadn’t been in her office since the previous evening. Tsunade had been so busy she had forgotten the investigation into Nakamura's activities regarding Naruto. She cursed herself and the black-opps officer who was too much of a coward to hunt her down. He simply left the box and a scroll with a detailed report.

Tsunade opened it knowing she would not be a happy Hokage. The three elders were still standing in her office as an ANBU officer escorted Sasuke in. Suddenly the Hokage's powerful fist made contact with the large ornate oak desk cracking it down the middle its content sliding toward the center. She grabbed the ratty looking shoe box and turned toward the audience that had gathered, "In light of new evidence I think charges should be dropped on Uchiha-san."

"What evidence is that?" The Auberame elder spoke in an even timber masking his unease, but his bugs were swarming like mad. The Inuzuka elder felt her hair stand on end and she let out a low growl. The Hyuuga was the only one who seemed calm.

"It will have to wait. We will reconvene, and you," She pointed at the masked ninja, "Keep and eye on Nakamura Gorou." he nodded and left. “Uchiha," She gestured him to come closer.

“Yes, Hokage-sama?"

"Please take a seat I want to speak with you shortly," He followed her directions, "Please excuse us. I will be right back."

He nodded, "Yes ma'am."

The woman left him and lead the three clan representatives out of the office. Sasuke squirmed in his seat. The last he saw of his beloved Naruto the boy was shaking like a frightened rabbit. Sasuke just wanted to leap out the window and over turn every rock until he found his dobe. He waited however, it would be wise not to aggravate the Hokage further then she was already.

...

Naruto opened heavy eyes. Being sedated left him feeling weak and groggy, "Sas' ke?"

"No, Sasuke's not here," Iruka leaned forward, "Naruto, are you feeling OK?"

"I feel like I have an elephant sitting on my chest," Naruto sat up slowly, "What happened? Oh-no! The hearing, did we miss it?"

Iruka was partly relieved Naruto seemed to be in his right mind, but his amnesia regarding the trial was concerning, "Well Naruto we were already there. You had a panic attack, and we brought you home."

"Oh," Naruto only nodded as if it were a natural response for him to freak and then forget even being there, "So when will I get to see Sasuke again?"

Both men looked at the boy and each other. Kakashi spoke this time, "I wish we knew, but for now you are still staying in this safe house." Naruto looked at his fingers playing with the blanket of his futon, "Hey Naruto would you like to have Ramen for dinner tonight?"

"Sounds great," He didn't really sound that enthused, "I'm feelin' kinda tired though. I think I'll lay back down." He leaned back and turned away from his two temporary guardians.

Iruka gently patted his head, "OK Naruto-kun you just rest and I'll wake you before dinner time." If he saw the glistening tears running down the boy's cheek he had pretended not to notice. Naruto was grateful for that. He wanted to cry in peace. He wanted to see Sasuke. He wanted Sasuke, Sasuke made him feel safe like no one else seemed to be able to. Naruto cursed himself for going off on his own with those two boys he barely knew. "If I wasn't such a baka I'd still be with him right now," Naruto sniffed as he chastised himself quietly. Kakashi heard his words not having left yet, but he wisely pretended not to hear. He got up and silently padded out of the small bedroom.

...

The Hokage didn't know weather to be pissed or thankful she had not looked at the content of the box until after Naruto's breakdown. She would not have had him up there testifying. Frankly she had been against it the whole way, but some good may come out of it after all. Thanks to the stupidity of Elder Saito many things about Naruto's horrible past were coming to light. It took all of ten minutes with Ibiki for the pathetic bastard to crack. Naruto was a favorite amongst a ring of pedophiles in Konoha. He was perfect because he was both beautiful and scorned by the general public. Despite the intervention of the Third Hokage; Naruto was abused and neglected. He had no legal guardian and Sandaime Hokage had him put up in an apartment at the tender age of six. He had been evicted from the orphanage he had been in. They cited his unruly behavior, but everybody knew it was because of his demonic prisoner.

Unsupervised and in an apartment in a less then savory area of the village; Naruto was easy prey for the seedy underground. They only had Saito's word for much of the story so far, but he had named a few names. Most were civilian men that he knew. Most were wealthy and influential in the village. He admitted that they had had sex parties in the child's presence. He admitted to molesting the boy, but denied vehemently to raping Naruto. He said it never went that far. She was not inclined to believe him. Saito was still being held in the interrogation's office.

She held a small committee meeting with the elders (excluding Saito of course) where she discussed formally dropping the case against Sasuke in light of the evidence, and bringing charges of sexual assault and stalking against Nakamura. She also wanted to question Takeda who seemed to be Nakamura's 'partner in crime' in much of the incident. She wanted to know who was present at the site when Naruto was abused in his hospital bed. They convened agreeing to release Sasuke from all charges, but she wanted to have a talk with the boy before she would let him go charging off to find Naruto.

...

Sasuke sat as patiently as possible remembering that it was for Naruto's sake that he was waiting. He heard the door open and the woman herself came in shutting the door behind her, "Well Uchiha, I have good news for you. All charges have been dropped against you. New evidence was brought to my attention. We will be requesting your appearance, however, at a hearing to be held some time in the near furture."

"For what, Hokage-sama?" He was slightly concerned and it bled through his stoic facade.

"Well I can not say, only I must tell you not to worry. You have been cleared, and Naruto is safe for now," He breathed deeply, "He-he's in a very delicate state right now. I can not lie and say I am not deeply concerned. You of course know at least a little of his abusive past. I can not express enough my regrets at how things went today. I-I think it might be best if he were kept in hiding for a while longer. I am sorry, but he will not be returning to you any time soon."

"Nani? Hokage-sama! Why? Naruto has to come back to me I will protect him with my own life if it were to come down to it. I would sacrifice my very soul to save him. Why can't I have him back? Can I not at least see him?"

"I am sorry, but his mental and physical well being are at stake and he may not want to see anybody right now. I promise he is with someone whom I trust implicitly. No harm will-" She would have continued but the boy had already stormed out. "Damn Uchiha-baka," She huffed, "Shizune! Please come help me pick up these documents."

She began cleaning her various papers and nick-nack's off the cracked desk so they could clear out this one and a new one could be delivered from her mythical warehouse of endless office furniture. Honestly even she did not know where they managed to get identical furniture every time she destroyed something. She wondered what the bill for her tantrums added up to in any given month.

...

Sasuke ran over roof tops. It wasn't fair. Life gave him almost exactly what he wanted for once, only to cruelly snatch it away. He needed to get away. He needed to destroy something, to obliterate it and it would perhaps be unwise to destroy buildings when he had just escaped criminal charges not fifteen minutes prior.

He headed to the heavily wooded area where the training grounds were. There he released chidori after chidori onto trees and boulders leaving nothing but splinters and gravel in his wake. He only stopped when there was nothing left of his chakra but a tiny spark. There he passed out on the ground not even noticing the familiar red irises watching his tirade. He was allowed his momentary peace as the dark cloaked figure turned and silently vanished into the sunset.

...

Naruto woke feeling only slightly better, but he was hungry having not eaten since their hurried breakfast that morning. He had to admit the smell of ramen was enticing. It smelled as good as Ichiraku's. Naruto shifted in his bed and sat up. The blankets slid off him and he frowned to see he was wearing the wrinkled outfit he had put on that morning. He was not feeling fresh and decided he wanted to shower and change before eating. He made his intentions known and walked off to the bathroom with a towel thrown over his shoulder.

Naruto's thoughts kept circling around one topic, "Sasuke," He mumbled to himself under the hot spray of the shower, 'I know they said everything was going to be fine. I just can't forgive my stupidity. If I am the reason he gets punished I could never forgive myself.' The boy clenched his fist and punched the wall with out much force. Naruto felt disgusted with himself. He felt shamed by his weak and yielding body. Looking down he saw his ribs, his soft stomach, once defined with muscles. His arms were slightly muscled he had been working on them and his legs for the most part in physical therapy.

He should really have been there, today it was his day. He went still every Monday Wednesday and Friday. He really liked going because Sakura-chan was usually who he worked with. While he didn't even pretend to be in love with her anymore; he did truly love her and she had been coming around. She was like a sister and he would not have it any other way.

Sakura had not changed all that much. It seemed both grew, and they grew closer as friends. He would always have her as a supporter. He missed that support today. He had needed it, and then there was Sasuke. The more he thought about his friend the more uncomfortable he felt, not in a bad way. It was more like a tingling pleasant sensation. He wanted Sasuke in a way he had never thought about having Sakura. He didn't understand. He had been infatuated with the girl. He had just assumed that they were both too young to think of bedroom antics at that age.

Naruto was no stranger to the physical act, though unwilling in all encounters. He never associated love with sex. Sex was about over powering a weaker person and forcing them to bend to your will. With Sasuke it was like sex and love were mutually inclusive. One could not exist with out the other. Sasuke wanted Naruto. He had made that crystal clear, but he had made it equally obvious to the dense blond that it was not just about physical love. Sasuke wanted him body and soul. He loved Naruto, "I don't deserve your love. If you knew. If you only knew what things I have done in the past you would be disgusted by me, you would hate me." Naruto rested his head against the shower feeling the tears roll and mix with the soapy water, "I love you too much to allow you to love me. It would break my heart if you changed your mind. It's been broken too many times. I can't glue it back together anymore."

Naruto turned the water from hot to cold letting it hit his head and back before finally deciding it he had been in too long. He reached out of the tub and grabbed for the towel with pruned fingers. He dried off and threw on his pajamas walking out he tossed the towel into the hamper along with his soiled clothes. He found Kakashi and Iruka waiting for him. He plastered a fake smile on and sat down, "This looks really good. Thank you."

"No problem Naruto-kun," Iruka smiled and blushed a little at the compliment. Dinner was a little more lively then the previous night. Naruto worked hard at fitting his mask back into place, but he managed to do it almost seamlessly. Had the two not known him so well Kakashi and Iruka might not have seen where the real Naruto left off and the mask took his place. They allowed him his shield for the time being, but they knew that there was only so much a soul could take before it shattered completely. Naruto has had more then one very close call before and now he was slipping away again. They would have to do something. They didn't know what, but something must be done to save the boy from drowning in his own sorrow.