Chapter Text
Sasuke groaned as his senses were assaulted by the brightness that could only come from the blaring glare of the sun as it peaked through the blinds.
He angrily tossed on his other side in hopes of escaping those evil rays. Curling his arm under the soft, plush, white pillow, he snuggled deeper into the cover. He nuzzled into the pillow, taking a deep deep breath when suddenly his eyes snapped open and he jumped up. Startled and frazzled, he looked around frantically - trying to identify his location. This was not his room, not his bed and not his smell. He was in his school uniform but nothing around him, other than the familiarity of his clothing, made sense.
And then, in a flash, it hit.
Returning to the city, discovering Itachi would be a father but wanted nothing to do with the family he had abandoned. He remembered sobbing, returning to his new town only to desperately seek affection from a man he had slept with in the back of a car. The drug dealer, Gaara, and then, the sounds and Naruto.
In summary, the night before could chalk up to being the worst day of life and not only that but he was waking up somewhere that wasn’t his own bed.
In other words, he needed to get out of here and fast.
Sasuke slowly pulled the sheets away from his body, turning his body to the side in order to kick his legs off the bed and set his feet on the floor slowly - cringing at the creaking sound that it made as soon as he applied pressure to the loose floor board.
“Oh, you’re awake.” A voice resounded from behind him. Sasuke gasped, snapping his head towards the owner of said husky voice, and spotted Naruto in the corner of the room - sitting cozily, with his legs crossed and his hands gripping the armrests of the small chair that was in the corner of the room. Sasuke couldn’t remember it being there when he had first gotten into the room.
“Yo-you scared me! How long have you been sitting there?” Sasuke placed a hand over his heart to try to calm down a little bit as he turned his body to fully face the blond bane of his existence. The tension between them was largely unresolved and after what happened the day prior, Sasuke was finding it difficult to look the other in the eyes.
“For a couple of minutes only, I got back home about an hour ago.” Naruto explained as he pushed up from his spot, striding forward to grab Sasuke’s arms in a comforting yet oppressive manner. “There were a couple of things that I needed to handle last night so I haven’t gotten much rest. Meaning, i’m too tired for your questions. You have about half an hour to go home and shower before you need to start heading to school.”
“But-” Sasuke shouted in protest only to be shut down by a piercing blue gaze.
“Listen to me carefully Sasuke because my patience is tremendously thin at this very moment and the last thing I want to do is get angry with you. Understand?”
The tone of the conversation was enough to make Sasuke want to curl into himself in fear of being reprimanded. He didn’t want to disappoint Naruto but he also had so many questions. The duality of those emotions weighed his heart down as though he was about to burst into tears. Finally, he slowly lowered his gaze in submission. Being accepted by Naruto meant more in this vulnerable moment.
“Yes, I understand…”
Naruto smiled, reaching up to cup Sasuke’s cheeks, rubbing below his eyes to catch the wetness that had begun to gather there. Sasuke’s heart swelled at the sight and comforting touch. Love, from Naruto, felt like a drug that he needed in order to live.
“You will go home and tell your parents you stayed over at Sakura’s to work on a school project. If they ask about me, you will tell them that you saw me the other night but have not seen me since.” Naruto instructed. “You will then go to school and speak to Sakura only. If you see Gaara, you do not say a word to him and do not speak my name over there. Once you’re done with your day, you will return over here and then you can ask me whatever you want. Okay?”
Sasuke made a mental note of everything Naruto said, paying profound attention to the requirements that would hopefully make Naruto proud of him. He nodded after a couple minutes of processing the instructions. Naruto patted his arm proudly before manhandling Sasuke until he was facing the door, tapping his bottom as a sign that he should get moving
Sasuke gasped slightly as he was pushed forward by the tap and took a couple of firm steps towards the door.
“Oh and Sasuke?” Naruto called as he was almost halfway out of the door.
Sasuke turned around, looking over his shoulder inquisitively.
“Act normal.”
-xxxxxx-
“Sasuke!” His mother cried out the second he opened the front door of his own after taking the couple shaky steps it took to get him from Naruto’s home to here. She rushed over to him, her eyes appearing almost sunken in from lack of school. “Do you have any idea how worried I was about you young man? I was so sick with worry I thought that you had left just like-”
Her eyes lowered in sadness as she realized what she was about to say. Sasuke’s heart clenched at the guilt he felt.
“I’m sorry, mom.” Sasuke whispered, wrapping his arms around his mom. “I was over at Sakura’s doing a project and ended up falling asleep. It wasn’t anything like what happened with Itachi.”
The words came out of him mechanically, much like reciting lines. The last part was the truth. When Itachi had walked away from the family - there was no conversation nor were there any goodbyes. He woke up in the middle of the night with a packed bag and left in a taxi. At first, they thought that maybe he had an emergency at work but after it became clear that Itachi was not coming back. That Itachi was never ever coming back.
Sasuke never wanted to see his mother in such a dark place again. Even if just her marriage to their father was a perpetual dark place - he wouldn’t be the one to add onto her plate.
“Okay Sasuke.” Mikoto squeezed back and pulled away with a sad smile. “Next time try to get to a phone and let me know where you are okay? You’re father and I can’t lose you.”
Sasuke nodded with a smile but wanted nothing more than to roll his eyes. His father barely thought about him. He wasn’t even home nor has he been home in a couple days.
After a quick conversation about his evening, which was largely fabricated, Sasuke rushed up the stairs and practically threw himself into the hot spray of the shower. He took his new loofa, massaging it together with a bar of soap, using the coarse material to scrub away the impurities left behind by that vile drug dealer.
He could remember those clammy hands pulling him in, holding him hostage as Naruto watched in anger. As he rubbed the loofa down the expanse of his chest, crazing over his heart, he could remember the way his heart thumped in his chest as that man held a knife to his face - threatening him with drugs that would change his life forever. He bit off at the memory and the anger that it brought him. This was a person that lived to hurt others.
“I hope Naruto killed him - no no stop Sas…don’t say this like that.” He scolded himself, walking deeper into the spray to let the suds wash off his body. There was no reason why the man should be dead - even if he was clearly not a good person and besides, Naruto had said that he wasn’t a murderer. Sasuke felt like he was hanging off the other’s every word - trusting every inch of the man. A pale hand rubbed his stomach unconsciously, soothing the feeling that was bubbling there.
He hadn’t taken Plan B. When he woke up, the bag was no longer there. Supposedly someone might have mistaken it for trash.
Sasuke sighed, annoyed at himself for not being as prudent as he should be but regardless, he had to get out of the shower and get ready for school.
After drying up, Sasuke threw on his usual uniform. He grabbed his brush and worked through the knots that had formed in his hair where it had been pulled last night. He then applied a small amount of concealer onto the healing hickey that was still kind of visible on his neck. The young Uchiha grabbed his backpack once he was fully ready, kissed his mom goodbye on the forehead and headed out the door.
Once the fresh air hit his face, Sasuke let out a sigh of relief. Confidently, he strode down the street - his gaze flickering quickly to Naruto’s run down house before refocusing on the task at hand.
Part one of Naruto’s instructions had gone off without a hitch. His mother had never been one to ask too many questions so Sasuke was quite pleased at how easy he had gotten away with it. The next part of the plan would be easy as well, he thought as he noticed Sakura was waiting for him at the department store a few blocks from his house.
“Good morning, Sasuke!” Sakura greeted cheerfully, a bright smile pulling her face the moment she say the young Uchiha. Sasuke smiled back happily at the girl, intertwining their arms together as they walked side by side. “How are you feeling today? I was worried sick about you last night - I wanted to call you but I remembered that your phone was broken.”
“I’m feeling a lot better.” Sasuke lied, he wasn’t really but she didn’t need to know anything about that. “Ahh, I’m going to need to get a new phone soon. I’m guessing people might be getting a bit worried if there is no way to reach me…wanna go to the city center later-?”
He then remembered one of Naruto’s requests.
“Oh wait, maybe not today - mom says I need to be home right after class. Nevermind.”
Sakura smiled. “We can just go another time! I think it would be awesome to be able to text you during the day. I never really had a friend that I felt close enough with to text regularly.”
Sasuke frowned at the statement, it was a bit sad to hear that someone so sweet was never able to make profound enough connections with anyone. He wanted so desperately to change that and to be there for her in the same way that she had been there for him during his time of need.
He squeezed her arm against his side and kicked a rock at his feet, not quite sure what to say so he allowed a pleasant silence to carry them through the short trek up to the high school. The two of them walked in quick strides, pushing past students who chattered with their friends or who were silently listening to their own music in their own little world.
Sasuke let himself drift silently into his thoughts until the sight of Gaara standing at the school gate ripped him out of his peace and into a state of discomfort. He tensed up and Sakura took notice. She looked at his pale face with those big green eyes.
“What’s up?” She asked, “You look like you’ve seen a ghost all of a sudden.”
Sasuke couldn’t help the shiver that trailed up his spine at the sight of the redhead standing so casually against the school gate as though he had no involvement last night. There was little that the young Uchiha did know about the boy.
However, from what he did know, nothing good could come out of being around someone like the redhead. He wanted nothing more than to run up to him and yell at him for answers. He wanted to ask him why he was at Naruto’s place and what happened after he was forced to stay in Naruto’s bedroom while a mess of fighting occurred downstairs. He wanted to know why the redhead felt so comfortable in Naruto’s home.
It made him insanely jealous.
But he had to swallow down that emotion as he smiled reassuringly at Sakura and pushed past Gaara who seemed to not mind his existence at all.
Sasuke let out another sigh of relief.
Part two of the instructions completed.
The rest of the day was mostly uneventful. He spent most of the lectures looking out the window - wondering what exactly would be in store for him once he finally made it back to Naruto’s home. The amount of questions he had swirled in his head.
When the last period rolled around and concluded, Sasuke quickly bid Sakura farewell - informing her that they wouldn’t be able to walk together today as he needed to get home quickly. He snatched his bag and took the stairs two steps at a time. Weaving through the many students heading out, he quickly ran past the exit and could see the clear path towards all his answers.
“Sasuke!” A familiar voice called and his heart fell into his stomach as he came to an abrupt stop.
It could never be easy.