Hey fanfiction readers, so I thought this story was worth publishing. I hope you'll feel the same way! This is a NaruSasu story. Enjoy : )

Chapter 1

Inspiration

He had never heard anything like it before. The long, painful notes came out of the beautiful, pale wooden instrument and filled the subway station with this sad, melancholic melody. The young man playing was a talented violinist, there was no doubting that.

Naruto was currently taking a break from work, and his life… He was in vacation in Kyoto, and in four days he was going back to central Tokyo. Naruto was an illustrator for a publishing company. He had lost his inspiration and passion for drawing though, due to recent, quite traumatizing events... This sort of vacation had been, amongst other things, an attempt to find it again.

Somehow this guy, this young man with bluish black hair hiding his pale face partly, standing and leaning against the wall as he played violin intensely, well he troubled Naruto a lot. Not only the music, but the obvious passion behind it, and what he played was so sad, filled with an obvious sorrow and pain… Naruto felt like this was what he needed right now. What he'd been looking for. It was a strange feeling, really. Naruto didn't put too much thought into it, or else he would've realized how odd it all sounded.

Suddenly the raven-haired male stopped playing and Naruto was startled. Then he realized there was no one else around. It was late, after all. The guy looked up, flipped his bangs aside and glared at him with dark eyes, behind long eyelashes. Naruto was struck by the thought that this guy's beauty could rival many girls. His skin was pale and smooth, and he had nice lips. He was really thin, almost delicate, as revealed by tight black clothes.

The stranger looked down at his violin case filled with coins and a few bills. Naruto realized he hadn't given him any money. Surely the musician had continued playing just for him – since he was the only person standing there right now, it made sense – hoping to get some money out of it. Naruto felt bad but then he cleared his throat and did the most spontaneous thing he had ever done in his life.

"Do you, um, do private shows?"

God that sounded wrong. But Naruto figured trying to correct himself would only make things worst. The young man was unfazed. He put a knee down next to his opened case and started gathering the money.

Without looking up, he spoke in a surprisingly deep, soft voice, "If you pay for it."

"Yeah, of course," Naruto let out a small, nervous laugh, "I mean I really like your music so… If I could hear more of it…" God he felt like drawing to this guy's music… But he didn't want to elaborate right now. "How much do you… um…charge?"

He had finished gathering the money, and he put it in a separate compartment in his case. Then he safely put his delicate instrument inside. It was easy to see he treated the violin like it was his most precious possession – and perhaps that was the case indeed.

Then the big dark eyes looked Naruto up and down, almost as if he were checking him out or something. Naruto felt self-conscious suddenly, although he didn't really know why. He didn't exactly have a reason to feel insecure. He was used to being 'checked out' by people actually. He wasn't ugly at all, quite the opposite; tall, thin, fit but not overly muscular, tan skin, deep blue eyes, semi-long blonde hair. Currently he sported nice black slacks with a white button down shirt and a silk black tie. He had just been to a painting exhibit earlier and had wanted to dress nicely for it.

"How much do you offer?" The dark-haired boy eventually returned the question.

"I don't… really know um…" Naruto had no idea what the price could be for a private music show or whatever it was that he asked. He hadn't expected the guy to say yes so he didn't really know how to react.

He surprised him again by saying, "Whatever, I don't care; we can discuss it later I guess. Let's hurry, or we'll miss the last train."

"Uh… yeah… okay."

Naruto followed him and together they waited for the train. There were only very few other people waiting as well. They didn't talk. The only difference was that the raven-haired guy looked comfortable with the silence, whereas Naruto found this situation extremely awkward. He wondered if there was a misunderstanding here.

So again he cleared his throat nervously before speaking up, "I really just want you to play violin for me, you know? It's just that, it's my favorite instrument, and when I heard you I just… I love how you play so…"

"Okay," he said simply in that deep voice without looking at Naruto, "but I mean it's okay too if you want other stuff so don't be shy. I'm used to it. As long as you pay for it."

"What do you mean other stuff?"

Naruto was horrified by the mere idea that this beautiful, young musician offered those kinds of 'services' for older men.

This time he looked up and dark, onyx eyes met with deep blue. He'd been about to answer but the train arrived so they stepped inside. They were alone in their wagon. After sitting side by side he finally replied.

"Well I mean sometimes people want like, a massage, hand job, blow job, whatever… Like I said, as long as you pay for it."

"No, I really just want you to play music!" Naruto exclaimed almost fervently.

When their eyes met again Naruto saw the other man smile for the first time. It was merely a small twitch of his full, pale lips but it was still attractive. Naruto still hated the idea, but he could understand why other guys asked him to do stuff like that.

"That's fine," he said softly, then asked, "What's your name?"

"Naruto, what's yours?"

He hesitated, and didn't answer. Instead he asked another question, "How old are you?"

"Why should I answer your questions if you don't answer mine?"

"You're not a cop or anything are you?"

"No! Believe me I'm not! And for the last time we're not gonna do anything illegal!" He insisted.

"I'm nineteen," he said but he didn't reveal his name.

Nonetheless Naruto replied, "I'm twenty four."

His birthday had been last month. And his life had fallen apart. Naruto worked at his godfather's publishing company. The old man owned the place and that was probably the only reason why Naruto hadn't been fired. His assignments had been given to other artists because he just couldn't do anything… Naruto was seeing a therapist to try to deal with his depression. He had advised him to get out of town and go on a spontaneous vacation. And here he was.

Later, as the two guys walked quietly outside, Naruto leading the way to his hotel, they were shivering a little. It was a warm night for November, but even so they were underdressed. Naruto had forgotten his jacket at the art exhibit's check room. He always forgot his things everywhere; it was one bad habit he had never gotten rid of.

As for the raven-haired boy he just had a simple, thin black shirt with skinny jeans. No wonder he was shivering… Naruto looked away. He didn't want to be caught staring. They were almost there at least. The hotel was modest, but still his room was nice and comfortable.

Naruto found the situation way too quiet and awkward, that is, until later, safely in the room, when the boy started playing for him. He stood in the corner, right next to the window, and played slowly at first, as the sad melody started. Naruto couldn't care less if the situation was awkward anymore. He just wanted to hear more of it. He wanted this talented, passionate, intriguing young man to never, ever stop playing. And Naruto sat on the double sized bed, loosened his tie, tucked his sketchbook and drawing material in his lap, and let himself be filled by this new found inspiration.

Without even thinking he just drew him. This guy… He was a perfect subject. His long raven locks were gorgeous as they fell and partly hid his pretty dark eyes. His face was truly beautiful, and so was his body. Naruto even found his slender pale fingers to be lovely as he played the delicate instrument. All of this was from an artistic point of view and Naruto couldn't stop drawing, perfectionist that he was, until he was completely satisfied.

He didn't usually drew live portraits – hadn't since art school, in fact. But he was enjoying this experience tonight. And he was surprisingly pleased with his drawing. He would've thought he'd be a little rusty. But it was lovely, and delicate, just like the model himself. If people were to see it, the image would leave them guessing if it was a pretty boy or a really slender girl with boyish hair. But that just added to the beauty of it, in Naruto's opinion. He had rendered every detail, from the slightly worn black sneakers, and silver spiked belt low on his thin hips, to the good quality violin and bow.

The male stopped playing and Naruto wondered just how much time had passed by. For sure it had taken quite a while to do such a detailed drawing. But time had just gone by so quickly. Before he knew it the raven was looking over his shoulder, still holding his violin. Naruto held his breath.

Things were too quiet again. Not awkward though, not this time. They were just, in turn, lost in each other's art. When Naruto found the courage to look up into those deep, dark eyes he was surprised. The boy looked very troubled, in fact, perhaps just as troubled as Naruto had been with his music.

"I don't know what to say," a light chuckle escaped the pale lips, "this is really good."

Without hesitating Naruto removed the sheet of paper carefully from the sketchbook and handed it to him.

"You can have it," he said softly, smiling. He could see how much the raven loved the drawing.

He held it as if it were so very precious, just like the violin, Naruto mused.

In an equally soft tone he said, "Well then you don't have to pay me."

Naruto was a really generous person. Normally he would have said something like, 'don't be silly, of course I'll pay you…' But right now, the truth was, he was broke, so this offer was welcome. So he just continued smiling as he nodded gratefully.

"I'm Sasuke," he finally introduced himself.

"Nice to meet you," Naruto said mockingly.

Without a word the raven went to place the drawing on his violin case. Then he turned around to face him again.

"Do you want me to play some more or…?"

"If you want but you don't have to…" Naruto secretly wanted him to play more, but now that the spontaneous moment was gone, he indeed didn't feel like spending more money than he had to. So he just shrugged and sat cross legged as he put away his drawing material.

Sasuke apparently took this as a no because he also put away his violin. But he didn't pick up the case or anything. He just stood there, thoughtful it seemed.

"So you live off your art?" He asked, tilting his head slightly.

"Well yeah, I'm an illustrator; I work on a bunch of different stuff back home…"

"Where's that?"

"Tokyo."

Sasuke nodded, "That's pretty cool. I bet I could make more money there too."

"You don't go to school?" Naruto asked.

He hesitated. He came to sit on the other side of the bed, and he looked down.

"I finished high school at least but… No I don't go to school right now. I wish I could pay for violin lessons though. I'm not that good, you know?" He looked up, and his eyes were a little sad, "I mean I'm really glad you liked my music but my technique is far from perfect. I stopped taking lessons too early."

"Why is that?" Naruto tilted his head. He wanted him to continue talking for some reason. Maybe he had simply felt too lonely as of late.

"Because my parents died," he said then chuckled as though he was surprised himself by those words, "I'm sorry I have no idea why I said that. But yeah my… mother wasn't around anymore to pay for the lessons and encourage me so that was it. I kept playing on my own but it's just not the same."

Needless to say Naruto was very surprised by the revelation as well. They were complete strangers after all. But then a thought came to mind and instead of saying the usual, 'I'm so sorry about your parents' or some lame stuff like that, he said, "You know, my therapist told me that sometimes the best way to deal with painful, private stuff is to tell a stranger; therapist or not."

"Maybe that's true," the raven shrugged, "tell me something painful and private about yourself too then."

There was a slight teasing tone to his voice. But Naruto didn't think. It just came out.

"The reason why I'm on this vacation right now is… I really needed to get away from home. Last month my… girlfriend died, so…"

Sasuke's eyes widened. "Wasn't expecting that. You didn't actually have to tell me you know? I'm not good at comforting people."

Naruto smiled, and he leaned back against the pillow, folding his legs. "It's okay. I don't really need comforting anyway. My friends back home, they tried but it was just annoying in the end."

"Right… well if all you need is someone to listen to you then I guess I can try to do that."

"We were together five years," he said, biting his lip slightly. It hurt to think about her. His precious Hinata…

"That's a long time," Sasuke said somewhat awkwardly. Clearly he didn't know what to say. Naruto actually laughed a little and shook his head in disbelief. What the hell was he doing?

"I'm sorry to bother you with that. You can go if you want, you know?"

At hearing those words the young man got up suddenly, "Yeah, I guess I should… Um thanks for the drawing."

"Thanks for the inspiration," Naruto chuckled, and gave a slight shrug.

Sasuke picked up his violin case and headed for the door. He just turned one last time to give him a rare smile before leaving. Naruto almost didn't want to let him go… as if he was someone important, somehow… But he was just being ridiculous. Maybe he just felt way too lonely, yeah, that was probably it.

Thoughts of Hinata filled his mind. The short, petite, yet curvy, lovely girl with long black hair, a shy smile and pretty pale gray eyes that had been his life partner for five years now. When you were with someone that long, it was difficult to suddenly be alone. And Hinata and Naruto had been extremely close, always together, devoted to each other. For that reason, he supposed, he didn't have many close friends. With Hinata they had been each other's universe.

They had completed each other perfectly, Naruto with his constant smiles, jokes, laughter – loud annoying guy that he was – and Hinata with her rather soft and quiet laugh, always smiling fondly at Naruto, perhaps the only person who didn't find him annoying. She just loved him, and he loved her and that had been more than enough to make them happy.

Those were his thoughts that night as he crawled under the sheets of his hotel bed. He tossed and turned, endlessly it seemed, unable to find sleep. At some point he kicked the sheets away and got up to his feet. He went to stand next to the window to look at the full moon and stars in the sky. It had been nice to draw tonight, he really was thankful for this – strange perhaps – encounter with Sasuke earlier.

As his thoughts drifted he was surprised to find said raven-haired boy sleeping on the bench across the street. What the hell? Didn't he have a place to go? He had seemed clean enough, and his clothes had looked nice, so he definitely wasn't living in the streets. Yet there he was sleeping on the bench, or maybe he wasn't sleeping. How could he sleep in such an uncomfortable place, and clutching his violin case in his arms? He was probably very cold, too.

Naruto was about to move from the window to get dressed – he wanted to go talk to him at the very least, make sure he was gonna be okay – when something happened. Frowning, Naruto kept glancing out the window at the scene before him. Some tall, big guy walking by tried to steal the violin, probably thinking that it might be worth a lot. But of course Sasuke didn't let him. He held on to it like his life depended on it.

But then the stranger punched Sasuke in the face. Naruto had seen enough. Never in his life had he put on jeans and sneakers so quickly. And he didn't even bother with a shirt. He just stormed outside of the hotel, startling some janitor who worked the night shift.

Outside the situation wasn't getting any better. Sasuke had the disadvantage because he was holding onto his violin case and he had been taken by surprise. Now he had fallen down on the ground, curled up on his side protecting the instrument as well as his face as he received angry kicks.

"Hey!" Naruto yelled as he ran across the street. The stranger went still as he glared at the blonde.

"Who the hell are you?"

Naruto wasn't in the mood for talking. The sight of the half-conscious boy on the ground, already bruised up, made him really fucking pissed. He grabbed the male by the collar with one hand harshly, and with the other he punched him, hitting so hard that he went down. He yelled in pain, cupping his face as he coughed blood. He crawled away, got up and then ran away. Naruto didn't even notice that his knuckles were bleeding.

He crouched down next to Sasuke. He still wasn't letting go of the violin case, and he was trembling; in shock, perhaps. But what an idiot for sleeping on a bench, really. Naruto tried to take the instrument but Sasuke wouldn't let go.

"It's okay," he said trying to sound reassuring. It seemed to work. Sasuke's slender arms slid from the case as Naruto finally put it away.

He rolled him on his back softly and winced at the side of the dark bruise on his cheek.

"What an asshole."

"I… T-Thanks… for…" Sasuke choked out in a weak voice.

"I should call an ambulance," Naruto said more to himself, "shit I left my phone inside."

Before he could get up Sasuke grabbed his arm. "N-No… Don't." He seemed to be coming back to his senses. "I'll be fine, I just need… a moment."

His pale hand was so cold on Naruto's skin. He needed to get this guy inside, in any case.

"Can you get up?"

Sasuke frowned and winced as he lifted himself up, using Naruto's arm as support. He steadied himself and let go of his arm. Naruto picked up the instrument and they crossed the street slowly together.

"Why were you sleeping here anyway?"

"I didn't feel like… going home…" his voice was still weak.

Naruto frowned. "People don't just… sleep on benches on the sidewalk when they don't feel like going home."

The raven just sighed. They walked together in the hotel, down the hallway and to Naruto's room. "It's complicated."

"What do you mean?"

Naruto felt like he at least deserved an explanation after saving the guy. But he didn't get one. Sasuke just sat on the floor, next to where Naruto put the instrument case.

"What are you doing? You should clean up…"

Sasuke cut him, "You first." He glanced up at Naruto's bleeding hand. "I'll wait."

Naruto finally noticed. He nodded and went to grab his first aid kit. It stung when he disinfected his hand. When he was done he used a bandage from his kit to wrap it up. Naruto had the tendency to injure himself accidentally sometimes, he was just clumsy, or unlucky – maybe both. So he always carried a first aid kit with him. Well back home he kept it in his car but yeah, now he was glad he had decided to bring it for this trip. Sasuke watched him the whole time, still sitting on the other side of the small room.

Naruto said, "Your turn…"

"I think I'm fine, really," Sasuke whispered, and he closed his eyes, leaning back against the wall. He looked extremely tired.

But Naruto was worried. "Take off your clothes."

"What?" Sasuke teased, "I thought you didn't want to do anything 'illegal' with me," he lazily did the quotation marks in the air.

"I just wanna see if you're hurt," he rolled his eyes. He thought that just by mentioning it again, Sasuke seemed willing enough in which case it wouldn't be illegal anyway. But he kept his mouth shut.

Sasuke sighed and got up, using the desk next to him as support. He slowly took off his shirt, clearly wincing in pain.

"Shit," Naruto made a face as he stepped closer still holding the disinfectant and bandages.

It seemed that asshole had kicked Sasuke's ribs and his back repeatedly. The skin was really irritated, and there were some scrapes. Naruto hadn't noticed before, but the black t-shirt now tossed on the floor wasn't in a very good state.

"Why would he do that anyway?"

"He wanted to steal my-"

"I know," Naruto interrupted him, "but I just... can't understand that."

Without a word Sasuke held up his arms as Naruto cleaned the injuries. He was a bit troubled by how skinny the guy was. He also noticed a big scar across his chest, as if he had been hurt there in the past. Naruto didn't question it.

He looked so fragile, especially bruised up like that. Naruto disinfected the injured skin but he couldn't really apply his small bandages on large bruises like that. It had worked for his hand but… for Sasuke disinfectant would have to do.

"I'll be fine," the raven said in a low, soft voice, probably guessing how worried the other was.

"Are you sure I mean," Naruto pulled away and frowned, "are you… are you hurt anywhere else?"

Sasuke sat on the floor again, exhausted. He folded his left leg and winced slightly. He tried to pull up his jeans but grimaced.

"Fucking skinny jeans…"

"Where does it hurt?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke indicated the ripped fabric of the black jeans, where most likely he had fallen on his knee earlier.

"Oh… I guess you should…"

"Yeah, yeah," Sasuke said. Again he got up so he could take off his pants. He was left in just his black boxer briefs as he shivered and sat, looking at his knee. It was indeed bleeding a little.

Naruto disinfected it and applied a bandage on this one at least.

"You're so nice to me," Sasuke tilted his head, his black bangs falling in his eyes. "You're weird…"

Naruto chuckled, "You could just say thanks."

"Thanks," he teased.

Naruto played along, "No problem." Then, more seriously, "I couldn't just leave you like that."

"I would probably have survived."

Naruto ignored it, and stood. "Anyway, you can sleep here for tonight – what's left of it." He glanced out the window. It was still dark but dawn wasn't that far away. "I don't know why you don't want to go home but…"

"I have…" Sasuke cleared his throat, looking down. "A bunch of roommates and…" He lifted his hand and with his long pale fingers placed his hair behind his ear. He fumbled with the silver studs which Naruto noticed for the first time. Until then they'd been hidden by his hair. "Most of them don't have real jobs, they're, y'know, hustlers, so they can pay for rent and all… So yeah there was a party tonight," his hand was shaky as he ran it through his hair a few times, "I didn't exactly want to be there. Last party was…" He hesitated a long moment. "Rough."

"What happened?" Sasuke looked up, and their eyes met for just a few seconds. Then he looked away and refused to answer. Naruto asked, "Why do you live with people like that anyway? You're not like them are you?"

"I don't do drugs – I mean I won't say I've never tried anything but I managed never to get addicted. And well I try to make enough money with my music, but yeah sometimes it's not enough. You heard me back in the train…"

"Yeah," Naruto said dryly. He wasn't one to judge but… it was regrettable that a talented, interesting and he seemed like a smart and nice guy too, had to get naked and give hand jobs and do god knows what else to be able to pay for rent.

"Anyway we should just go to sleep I guess," he added and Sasuke nodded.

"I'll just sleep on the floor," as though illustrating his words he lay down on his side – the less injured one, but still he winced in pain – and closed his eyes, "I don't want to bother you anymore than I already have…"

"What is wrong with you? It's a double sized bed I really don't care! Just get up!"

"No… It's really fine…" he trailed off and didn't even open his eyes.

"Just get up," Naruto said again stubbornly. He wasn't going to let him sleep on the floor, damn it. He waited but Sasuke wasn't moving, or even reacting.

Was he asleep already? Damn that was fast.

Naruto felt a bit awkward about it, and at the same time… troubled… but he decided to carry him to the bed. So he slid one arm under his knees and the other under his shoulders and lifted him up. He couldn't help but notice that Sasuke's pale skin was very soft, and so was his black hair as it brushed against Naruto's bare shoulder.

He put him down on the bed. The sheets were already messy since Naruto had previously tried to sleep. Sasuke's arm fell limply next to his head as it rolled to the side a little, his bangs hiding his eyes. Naruto couldn't stop looking at him.

Naruto felt inspired again. And he thought that he was, in fact, pretty damn weird. After all, the guy was exposed in just his underwear, and hurt too… But Naruto still found him beautiful and inspiring in this vulnerable state. Damn, there was something wrong with him. Why was he such a perverted artist all of a sudden? He shook his head and approached again so that he could place the slender pale legs under the sheet. He then pulled it up to his chest to cover him up.

Then he sighed and took off his jeans, before crawling under the sheets as well. He stayed on his side of the bed, at a safe distance, and closed his eyes, finally letting sleep take over and end this strange day.