Eight

Sasuke watched in silence as rain pelted against his bedroom window. The water ran in thick streams down the smooth glass before puddling at the base, dripping on the people below. Sakura had called nearly twenty times in the last hour, wanting to come over and see if he was okay.

So what if he'd locked himself in his apartment for a week?

He wanted time alone. He needed time alone.

The regret had started to surface mid-week, his mind turning over and over about showing Naruto his past. Or at least...a part of his past. The blonde couldn't be trusted and he went along and kissed the idiot anyways.

But it was the only way to prove...

He closed his eyes harshly as the phone rang again. The shrill sound made his headache far worse than it needed to be. So he waited and waited for the answering machine to pick up.

" Bastard?"

Coal eyes opened fast, his head spinning to stare at the phone.

" I know you're there. Sakura said you haven't left home."

Sasuke sighed heavily, walked over and picked up the receiver. " What do you want?"

" Can I come over? I won't touch you, I just want to talk...that and Ino wants to go out and I'm not really in the mood for..."

He could understand. As much as the blonde idiot annoyed and confused him, he couldn't refuse. Naruto had seen into the mind of a Psychic and the effects didn't just go away. " Sure. You remember the way?"

" Yea."

The line clicked and Sasuke made his way to the kitchen to make a pot of warm tea. With the rain, wind and the blonde's mind. Chances were, Naruto would be soaked to the bone and colder than Antarctica. The Uchiha chuckled slightly at that, then caught himself.

His eyes narrowed.

Oh no. He was not going to get feelings for Naruto, that was far too dangerous. They couldn't even touch without scorching each other or if their powers were out of control, destroy the world. But they needed his help, useless as his powers were at the moment, with training, things would progress.

The doorbell rang and he unlocked the door with his mind. Calling out for him to come in. There was the sound of a jacket being taken off, shoes set against the wall, the door closing and soft footsteps on the red carpet.

A blonde head of hair poked around the doorway, blue eyes blinking. " How did you move so fast?"

Sasuke shrugged, " Just a trick of mine. Go sit on the sofa, I'll bring the tea out in a minute."

Naruto nodded, then continued onward.

Sasuke joined him soon after, setting the tea on the coffee table and heading back to grab a bag of cookies. He set them on the table as well, taking a seat in the chair opposite of the sofa the blonde was on. " I hear you eat alot, " he shook the bag slightly, " So help yourself."

Blue eyes narrowed before snatching a cookies and stuffing it in his mouth. They sat, drank and munched for a while before Naruto set his cup down and gave the Uchiha a serious look. " Why does it hurt to touch you?"

Sasuke nursed his cup between both hands and sighed, " Empaths and Psychics are almost in the same class. Since I'm a Dark Psychic and your a good Empath, we don't mix well. Not many know why though, I've come in contact with my team and they're all good."

" Oh."

" Why? Do you want to touch me?" Sasuke smirked.

Naruto huffed, " You've asked me that before and I said No!"

The Uchiha chuckled, setting his cup down and pouring more into it. " No need to get all bent out of shape, it was just a question."

Naruto looked away, growing quiet again before opening his mouth, " Why do you need me?"

" Someone opened a time rift. We told you. They let loose a killer from the future and now he's running around in what is considered, to him, the past." Sasuke's eyes narrowed, " This world is in danger now. Tsunade guards the past and Jiriya guards the future, but no one has ever gotten past either of them in hundreds of years."

Naruto swallowed thickly, " Hundreds?"

Sasuke nodded, " They're immortal. Chosen from thousands of our kind and given the gift of eternal life to guard the time vortex."

" This is insane."

" I thought so too." Sasuke said, " But they brought me back to reality before I lost control."

Blue eyes blinked, " Lost...control?"

" My kind are evil. It's in their nature, at young ages, if something painful happens it swallows us whole. Itachi doesn't have any powers, but he's always been understanding about mine. If Sakura and Tsunade hadn't found me, someone far worse would have." His eyes returned to the water-soaked window, " And we wouldn't be sitting here drinking tea and talking."

" What would we be doing?"

" You'd be dead."

Naruto cringed, picking up the tea-pot with shaking hands. Yea, that wasn't a very comforting thought.

" Naruto...watch it!" Sasuke hissed as the the blonde's hands slipped.

Hot tea poured out on the oak table, scalding the surface and Naruto's hands. " Fuck!" The blonde hissed, retracting his hands into his stomach and doubling over in pain. Sasuke stood up fast, rushing into the bathroom to grab towels and sop up the mess.

He then grabbed paper towels and a bowl of ice and returned to the living room to kneel beside the blonde moron. " Give me your hands."

" No. You'll burn them."

The words stung more than they should have, Sasuke thought miserably. It was only a far cry away from saying 'you'll destroy them too'. Naruto must have sensed the stab, for his head shot up. " I didn't mean it like that..."

" I know." Sasuke whispered, ripping so papers towels and wrapping them around his hands. " Just give me your hands."

Naruto nodded slowly, removing his now red hands and setting them into Sasuke's wrapped ones. He shut his eyes, waiting for the burn, but it never came.

" Hn. As long as there's something blocking the skin, we'll be fine." Sasuke muttered, " good to know."

" You didn't know?!" Naruto snarled, then yelped when Sasuke shoved his hands into the bowl of ice.

" Of course not, I've never met a good empath before. You're kind is almost extinct. We haven't seen one for generations." Sasuke snorted, watching the blondes face carefully, " Now, after I take them out, I'm going to have you rub some Aloe Vera oil on it. I have some in a jar. It needs physical contact to spread, so you'll have to manage."

They were engrossed into silence once again, Sasuke still squatting with hands on Naruto's wrists and the blonde watching the floor.

" I don't like it..."

" What..the cold?"

" No." Naruto lifted his head, blue eyes sad. " I don't like not being able to touch you."

Sasuke blinked, " What on earth are you..."

" That's what you're feeling right now." The blonde whispered, slowly retracting his hands from the ice. He stood up then, walking to the bathroom and searching for the oil.

Sasuke leaned back against the couch, putting a hand to his forehead and closing dark eyes. This was getting far too dangerous.

--

" Think they'll be alright?" Neji asked, staring up at Sasuke's apartment window. Sakura sat in the passenger seat, head against the glass and a Lipton tea in her right hand.

" They'll be fine." She whispered, " It'll take a while for Naruto's powers to grow to an extent to where they can't even brush against each other."

" And what would happen if that time came and it happened?" Neji said, looking over at her now.

Her eyes closed tightly, fingers curling into her black slacks.

" The weakest one would die instantly."

To be continued...

Ahhhh. An update for this one as well. I feel so proud of myself. Thank you ALL for waiting on it. The writers block I had for this one is now cleared.

So now it's time to find some way to clear the other ones.

Ja!

Blessed be,

Angel