Author: Kage no Nikko
Rating: M, cuz it mentions rape. (I know you'll kill me. Shut up.)
Summary: Sasuke returns. Naruto finds about something he really shouldn't know. Sasuke cries. Naruto comforts. They fall in love.
Disclaimer: Kishimoto: Nikko, sign here, here, here, and here. There you go.
Nikko: What's this?
Kishimoto: The handover. I'm handing Naruto over to you, Dolce.
Nikko: What? Really?
Kishimoto: No. Just kidding. Bye! performs a hand seal and poofs away
Nikko: sobs
A/N: I'm dedicating this to one particular mrk33. At least…that's what I think that reviewer's penname is…Anyway, it's because he/she was the first ever person to review me. That's why. Wow. Just a few hours, then I got a frickin' review!
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Sasuke thrashed in his bed, cold sweat beading his brow. Greasy skin and hair…Hands roaming all over his body… sweat… pain… blood… screams… Tainted.
"Yameyo…yameyo…YAMEYO!!" he yelled, sitting bolt upright. "Oh…god…" he whimpered. "Nononononono…this can't happen to me…nooo…" he moaned, covering his head with his pillow. Suddenly, his stomach decided to turn itself inside out. Eyes widening, Sasuke sprinted to the bathroom and puked into the bowl.
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Sasuke saw his tears dripping into the clear basin of water that he had set aside. It was inevitable, he knew. He still hated the knife, anyway. As he opened the cupboard above his sink, he contemplated stopping. No, he couldn't, not unless he wanted insomnia. He sighed, taking a fresh blade out of his cupboard. Uncovering it, he put it down and took his shirt off.
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"Why does this have to happen to me? Why?" he asked himself as he dragged the blade across the flesh of his arm. The blade cut a fine line through his skin, drawing a bead of blood. He continued asking himself the same question, cutting more and more lines. It was wrong, he knew. He shouldn't be doing this, but what could he do, in fact, to stop himself?
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At the end of his session, he was bleeding profusely from his arm. He dunked his arm in the basin of disinfectant and water, watching the blood swirl through the water. It fascinated him, really. The sight of blood had always fascinated him since…no, it wouldn't do to remember that incident, it hurt too much to remember. Sasuke paused for a second, his eyes unfocused. He quickly shook himself out of it and bandaged his arm.
With a heavy sigh, Sasuke lowered himself back into the bed. Finally, he could sleep well. For the time being.
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"Ne, Sasuke!! Listen to me!" Sasuke shook himself out of his trance and glanced at Naruto. He had been doing that lately. Most recently, Sasuke had come back, finally killing Itachi and Orochimaru. Regardless, the memory of that incident still stayed with him. After he came back, he changed a lot. He talked more, he laughed more and…well, he was more friendly overall.
"What is it, Naruto?" he asked. Naruto looked at him, concerned.
"Are you alright? You've been spacing out a lot, lately." He put his hand over Sasuke's forehead, feeling for a temperature. Sasuke swatted his hand away, attempting yet again to put his chopsticks to proper use. He had trouble using it because he cut his left arm instead of his right, and today, he was bearing the consequences.
"I'm fine, Naruto." He dropped his chopsticks for the nth time and 'tch'ed, sighing in annoyance.
"Why are you using your right hand for chopsticks, anyway? I thought you were left handed…" Naruto said. "Is your left hand hurt?" he asked, grabbing Sasuke's left hand. Sasuke flinched and pulled his arm out of Naruto's grip.
"Leave me alone." Sasuke said monotonously. Naruto blinked. Sasuke had never used that tone with him for a long time.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Naruto pressed. Sasuke got up, putting the money on the counter. "Hey, where're you going?"
"Moron. I gotta go, anyway. Bye!" Sasuke said, poofing away, leaving a yelling Naruto behind.
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Naruto strolled through the main road, pondering Sasuke's weird behavior that day.
'I wonder why he acted so weird…it's not like him to be so…different. He's acting really strange…He obviously hurt his left arm, though, that's certain. Maybe I'll visit him…' He quickly ran through the events earlier.
'Yeah, I'm right. He's acting really, really weird.' He made a hand sign and 'poof'ed away to the Uchiha compound.
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Naruto entered through the back door, glancing around to check whether the raven was anywhere.
"Sasuke?" he called, creeping towards the raven's room.
"Sasuke?" he called another time. 'It isn't like him…'
"Sasuke?" he called, opening the door. What he saw made him stop dead in his tracks. Sasuke was cutting himself. He was sobbing while he did it.
"Sasuke…" Naruto breathed, immediately rushing to Sasuke's side. He knocked the blade out of Sasuke's hand and quickly wrapped the arm up. He tried to pull Sasuke to the bathroom, but Sasuke pulled his arm out of Naruto's grip, reaching for the blade.
"Don't!!" Naruto yelled. Sasuke stopped, looking up at Naruto with beseeching eyes.
"I have to. If I don't…I don't know what will happen…" he said. Naruto could only watch as if in a trance as Sasuke lowered the blade to his arm, shaking.
"Don't you dare! Don't you dare, Sasuke!" he yelled, furious. Sasuke stilled for the second time. "You coward, have you even thought of the people around you? What would happen if you died? If you continue with this? Have you thought of the people who love you? Idiot!!" Tears were streaming down Naruto's face. It hurt so much. Why? He didn't know. Sasuke started to sob.
Sasuke's sobs shook Naruto out of his rant. He went over and held Sasuke in an embrace, comforting him in every way he could.
"I can't…I can't, Naruto… He took it away…he took it away...he took…he took the only thing that I couldn't get back…ever…" Sasuke sobbed, clawing at Naruto. Naruto stilled when he realized what Sasuke meant.
"Who's 'he', Sasuke? What did he take away?" he asked. It wasn't as if he didn't know. He was just asking for confirmation. Sasuke only sobbed harder.
"Orochimaru…he…he took…teisetsu…Naruto…" Naruto's eyes instantly hardened at Sasuke's words.
"Shh…Sasuke…let's get you cleaned up, alright?" he said, pulling Sasuke up. Sasuke tried to get up, but he was too weak from blood loss the last few days. As his legs collapsed, Naruto quickly held onto the raven. He picked him up bridal style and carried him to the bathroom.
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Sasuke sat on the toilet seat as Naruto bustled about, first carefully sponging Sasuke's arm with water, then drying it. He applied some medicine onto the arm and deftly bandaged it, though with infinite care not to aggravate the wound. 'Naruto…I owe you so much for this…' Sasuke thought as he looked at Naruto.
Naruto looked up, noticing the stare and blushed at the close proximity. Their faces were only a few centimeters apart. Sasuke sucked in his breath, exhaling slowly. Naruto crossed his eyes to look at his nose. Sasuke let out a small laugh.
A nervous silence permeated the air. Sasuke cleared his throat and attempted to move away. Naruto gently cupped his cheek and turned Sasuke's head to look at him. Sasuke faced him, looking nervous. He started to relax, turning his head nuzzle into the hand.
"Naruto…" Sasuke breathed. Naruto closed the distance by initiating a kiss. Sasuke's eyes flew open, then gently fluttered closed as he lost himself in the kiss.
Naruto nibbled at Sasuke's lower lip, pleading for entrance. Sasuke moaned softly as Naruto started to suck on his lower lip. The moan shook Naruto out of it. Naruto quickly withdrew, leaving Sasuke breathless.
"I'm sorry…" Naruto started, then shook his head, getting up. Sasuke couldn't really comprehend the situation. Naruto was out of the bathroom before he could process the information. When his mind finally comprehended the situation, he just curled up and cried.
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Over the next few days, Sasuke's condition got worse and worse. He looked like a zombie moving around. Naruto had been avoiding him. At times, he would run off to the bathroom, just to break down.
'Well, at least now I have another reason to cut myself.' he thought wryly.
Sakura and the others could only watch as Sasuke's mental and physical health deteriorated.
Sasuke had thrown a fit at his house, breaking most of Itachi's stuff. Why, he had screamed. He told his brother's spirit that it was his fault, if Itachi hadn't massacred the family, it wouldn't have led to this.
'Sasuke…who did this to you?' Sakura thought, staring at Sasuke's broken form. Kakashi put a hand on her shoulder and she looked up.
"I have a feeling this might be tied to Naruto." he said. Sakura looked questioningly at him, but he nodded. "Would you prefer it if I go? Or would you like to go?" Sakura shook her head and pecked Lee on the lips. Lee understood. This was to be in between Team 7. Sakura got up and set off towards Naruto's home.
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Sakura held the cup of green tea that Naruto had given her in both hands, staring into its depths. Naruto sat down opposite her, looking questioningly at her.
"Ne, Sakura-chan, you said there was something you wanted to talk to me about. What's it?" he asked. Sakura looked up and set the green tea on the table.
"Naruto…I hope you won't get angry with me over this…but it's about Sasuke." Sakura grimaced inwardly as Naruto flinched at the name.
"What about him?" Naruto asked, albeit a little hesitantly. Sakura shifted a little in her seat.
"His condition is deteriorating. I don't know what it is, but Kakashi-sensei thinks that it might have something to do with you." she said, looking down. Naruto clenched his fists. "I'm sorry if I offended you. Maybe I should go…" Sakura got up. As she neared the door, Naruto mumbled something.
"Pardon?" she asked, turning.
"I said, yes, it does." Naruto said, standing up. Sakura walked back to the living room and sat down. Naruto sat down with her.
"Care to tell me about it?" Sakura asked.
"Well…it began like this…
(Skipping the story. If you want to read it, scroll up.)
Sakura let out a breath. The tale made sense…in a weird way.
"I know I shouldn't have done that, but what if the public won't accept us? What will I do?" Naruto asked, looking at her.
"They will. Remember Kakashi-sensei and Iruka-sensei? They got together not too long ago. The public accepted them anyway, didn't they?" Sakura said, holding Naruto's hand. Naruto pondered this for a moment.
"Then…what should I do?" he asked. " I really like him. You could almost call it love, but I don't want to hurt him."
"I think you should apologize."
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Naruto stood in front of Sasuke's door. He contemplated knocking, but he was too nervous to do it. He raised his hand to press the doorbell, then stopped.
'If you don't do this, you'll be one hell of a failure, Naruto.'
He pressed the doorbell, flinching when the sound resonated through the house. Footsteps shuffled down the hall, then stopped. A lock clattered, then the door opened. Sasuke's was eyes were red. His knuckles were bleeding. Overall, he looked really broken.
"Sas'ke-" Naruto began, but he was cut off as Sasuke slammed the door in his face. "Sasuke, listen to me!"
"No. Go away." came the reply through the door.
"I'm not gonna go away unless you open the door." Naruto said stubbornly, sitting down and leaning heavily against the door.
"I said, go away."
"I'm not going away…" Naruto sing-songed.
"Fine. Suit yourself. You can freeze out there for all I care."
They sat there for an hour, one on each side before Sasuke finally relented. Naruto's teeth were chattering by then. Sasuke opened the door and left it there. Naruto fell back and landed on the floor, still chattering. Sasuke looked down.
"What-t-t-t-t. I'm d-d-doing t-t-this on p-p-purpose." Naruto said, folding his arms. Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"Tch. Moron." he said before walking off. Naruto scrambled up and grabbed him, holding him tight. Sasuke pushed weakly at Naruto's chest, trying not to cry.
"I missed you." Naruto said into Sasuke's hair, breathing Sasuke's scent of spice and cinnamon.
"Well, I didn't." Sasuke replied. Naruto glanced down at Sasuke before chuckling.
"Always the teme, ne?" Sasuke smiled slightly and put his chin on Naruto's shoulder.
"Dobe."
"Teme." Naruto kissed the side of Sasuke's face. He kissed along his angular jaw and finally, finally he met those lips that he loved so much. Sasuke let out a happy sigh as he kissed back with passion. Naruto pulled away and rubbed noses with Sasuke, his forehead resting against the brunet's. Sasuke blushed and pulled away, bounding up the stairs two at a time.
"Wha-" Naruto started.
"Come upstairs. Aren't you supposed to follow me up to the bedroom?" Naruto's eyes widened with glee, and he bounded up the stairs, much like Sasuke, just this time, he took the stairs three at a time.
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'At least you don't hurt anymore, teme. Don't worry. I'll protect you until the end of time.'
'I know. I know.'
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Yameyo-Stop
Teisetsu-Chastity/Virginity
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Rating Guide: 1 star: Oh my god. This is awful. 2 stars: It really needs work. 3 stars: It's not good, but not bad either. Work a little harder, maybe? 4 stars: It's really good. 5 stars: Oh mi god! This is really excellent!
I changed this…cuz everything was so bloody rushed. Heheh…Oh yeah, btw, this is set around 10 to 12 years after Sasuke's rape.
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© Kage no Nikko A.K.A Nicole Lee 2008