Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ None the Wiser ❯ Stolen Smiles ( Chapter 6 )

Title: None the Wiser

Author: The Uke Reformation

Genre: Naruto

Subgenre: Romance/Drama

Summary: There are some things not meant to be said. There are some pasts that you cannot escape. Some people that will always hunt you down. And every once in a while, there are special students that reward you for all your teaching...SasuNaru, yaoi

Rated: R for harsh language, as well as sexual and mature content.

Author's Note: This chapter was posted early out of revenge for life; my BETA had recently been in a car incident I was rather broken up about. She is perfectly alright, of course, but rash actions have their consequences, this one being that the chapter (which, in comparison to the previous one took only a day and a half to type) was unBETAd.

Note: Boy love is good for the soul.

Disclaimer: Copyright The Uke Reformation, 2005. All rights reserved.

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None the Wiser

by The Uke Reformation

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Chapter 6

" Stolen smiles

spread no joy. "

It wasn't the first time Naruto had woken and not known where he was. Certainly, he'd been in worse conditions before, but he couldn't recall ever feeling this miserable about it. It was unfamiliar and yet scarily real to him. He shivered, vaguely recalling things he had no desire to think about before pushing them out of his mind. His arms stung as the goosebumps traveled up the skin.

He sat still - he was sitting, he realized, half-upright - and listened, trying to get a better idea of his surrounding without moving too much. His seat was warm and he felt a weird attachment to it, even though he could tell the air around him was very warm as well. He was in an apartment, on a very downy couch cushion. He shivered again, breathing in the small of ramen as the situation became ever the more familiar by way of circumstances and he looked up as his resident caretaker came in with a steaming bowl and chopsticks.

“How did you know I was up?” His voice was quiet as his eyes. Yohko set the bowl down before her own descent, folding her legs and sitting down upon them with a tired-looking exterior.

She smiled softly. “I always know.”

He would've laughed if his heart didn't feel so weighted. “Just do?”

“Just do. Here.” She took some noodles from the broth and offered them to him in an expert fashion, careful not to drip anything upon the blanket Naruto was wrapped in. He slurped them up gratefully, suddenly realizing his hunger. She was quick to dive back to the bowl and bring him more, and he dug in more heartily, moving in his seat.

“I can eat it on my own.” He shrugged the blanket from his shoulders and put his hands out as the bowl was handed to him along with the chopsticks, and he began eating with the ferocity of a wild man. Yohko watched him for a while before leaving, only to return with more ramen. He could have kissed her, were he not so indulged with his food.

When he finally stopped for air, five bowls lay discarded on the floor. Yohko smiled at him, radiating patience.

“Want any more?”

He swallowed a last bite of noodles and shook his head. “No. I'm good.” He finally smiled at her. “Thanks, though.” She smiled back at him, appreciatively.

He cleared his throat, regaining a more business-like air. She noticed and watched him expectantly.

“How long was I asleep?”

Yohko shrugged, her hands together in her lap. “I'm not sure. Just under twenty-four hours.”

Naruto swore, pressing his palm to his head in thought. “What's that make today?”

“Around 7 o'clock PM on Saturday.”

Naruto swore again. “I didn't wake up at all between then and now?”

“Not really. Certainly there were times when your eyes were open but…” Yohko looked down and Naruto groaned, knowing exactly what she was implying and not liking it. “You put me back to bed,” he said, chest hurting. She nodded.

“There wasn't much else to do. You were really out of it.”

“That leads into my next question.”

“Which is…?”

“How did I get here?”

Yohko watched him with golden eyes that were full of something that Naruto could not entirely decipher. There was a darkness there, beyond the mix of regret and concern and love, that he recognized as a presence that always came around when they discussed things like that. He paled, his stomach plummeting.

“Kakashi.”

He shook his head, dissatisfied with only hearing that part of the story. He wanted the whole thing, even if it was only a summarization of events that would've been better off not happening. Yohko's lips tightened and she nodded, understanding and liking it no more than he did.

“He walked you here…he told me he didn't want to leave you alone. I…well, I agreed with him…you were really out of it, Naruto. It was…I mean, you were awake, but not really. Like…like your eyes were open but you were still gone. I…I don't know…you just looked so scared, Naruto, I didn't even know what to do. So we just took you in here and stayed with you until you fell asleep.”

She was wringing her hands. That was a bad sign. Naruto watched her silently, listening to the story and knowing she knew what was behind it all. He couldn't remember anything. That was a bad sign too. The last thing he could recall…

His head ached tremendously and he immediately blotted everything out, scared of himself and what his mind might reveal to him. No. He remembered nothing, because that was a safety zone. He knew who he was, that was all that mattered. Anything else was better forgotten.

But something in him wouldn't stand for that, and the words escaped his mouth before he could stop them.

“How?”

Yohko looked at him. He grimaced and repeated himself.

“How? Why was I like that? Kakashi…how did Kakashi…how had I gotten like that?”

Yohko seemed to see that he was struggling with himself. He could see her contemplate whether she should tell him, whether to ask him if he really wanted to know, and then bite it back. He desperately wanted to know, and yet desperately wanted to recant. Questioning that desperation would give it too much freedom.

She hesitated once more before going forward.

“It was entirely by chance, he told me. You were in your classroom…on a desk I think.”

Naruto stared at her.

“Was…I was alone…?”

“Yes, Naruto.”

Naruto stared at her, but past her, into empty space, his tired self stumbling over something and looking back. No…something was amiss with this tale. There had been someone there. He had been certain of it. He could remember something…

His temples stung but he persisted past it this time.

“No…that's not true…”

Yohko's eyes flashed when she looked at him now. “…Naruto?”

“There was someone…someone was…”

Someone had…who…? Who had been there with him…? Who had—

He froze.

“Sasuke.”

The pain in his head became unbearable. The hurt that came with remembering everything was so intense that he could just barely feel himself falling, again, as if this had happened before, and he could not feel Yohko's hands on him, or hearing her calling his name. No, he thought, there was only one name that mattered right now and it zoomed around his brain at a dizzying speed. Everything was dizzying, he noticed; everything about the world made him nauseous.

`Uchiha Sasuke…'

The blackness enveloped him.

-----

 

There was a wall pressing up against his back. He knew it was there, because that cold thickness was unmistakable. He knew it couldn't be a table or a floor, even though they were somewhat similar. No, inanimate surfaces were easier to interpret than most people thought, especially to people like him and Yohko who were so used to being thrown against them. It was definitely a wall.

He didn't want to be here. He couldn't have possibly communicated to another human being how much he didn't want to be here. He was paralyzed by his own thoughts, though. Maybe his condition, too, if only a little. But he didn't often blame that for things. After all, even if he did, how would that make things any better? Kyuubi had done this to him…done this to both of them! Blaming his condition for his own faults made nothing easier on him.

There were hands on his legs. Maybe that was it. Maybe his own fears were what was making him stand so still. Those hands were so small in comparison to his own, articulate and warm in the palm. But the heat of them made him shiver uncontrollably. He damned himself, eternally, for being such a coward.

Black eyes captivated him, staring into his. He knew that he looked frightened, and he couldn't help it. He was frightened. He was terribly frightened of what was happening right now. This was a nightmare that he could not will himself to wake up from. His brain was screaming but his voice was shaking to hard for him to do anything.

“Do I scare you, sensei…?”

He knew the boy was resisting the urge to smirk. There was a part of him that hated this so much he thought he would revert right then and there, and have one of those `episodes' that Tsunade would always warn him about. But that part of him wasn't enough of him, this time. His own survival urge had turned against him, keeping him still as anything.

“Why…?”

It was only one word, and yet it summed up all that he wanted out of a question, all that he had to ask of the situation he was in. Why this? Why here, why now? Why me? What had he ever done to deserve this life? Why? Why, why, why…? Why me…?

He stared down at the Uchiha.

Why you…?

Sasuke leaned up after a while, putting his mouth right near Naruto's ear and pressing them against the wall harder. The teacher whimpered, unable to do anything for himself, and hating it as the boy breathed against his neck.

“You had the same dream I did last night.”

Why? Why couldn't he do anything? Why couldn't he defend himself…?

“No…”

“You did have it. It's what kept your eyes on me, today.”

Naruto twisted, his chest aching, his face bent and shadowed. “No…no…” There was no strength in him, none at all. He hated it, he hated it all so much. What kept him living? What could possibly make him so worthless as this…? No…

Sasuke watched him, reaching to touch his cheek at last and turning the man's face towards his.

“You kissed me. Do you remember that…?”

Naruto squirmed, the scream in his head rippling through his bones more forcefully. There was something there, in the back of his brain, he knew it. He could remember it. He remembered strong arms - so many! - pushing him down, pushing him into a table not so long ago, pushing him down and holding him there. He could remember the brutality in the voices around him and the words he'd screamed as he'd writhed against the influence of the drugs.

“No! Don't touch me! No! Let me go! LET ME GO!”

They hadn't though. In its own way, it had been just like this, to be ripped apart by that many people. Except now he was even more worthless for being tainted and unable to defend himself still. He hated himself for his own weakness, for refusing only in spirit a boy who was half his size at the very most and ten years younger.

Lips that fell on the skin near his eye made him crack, and he plummeted into a place far, far away. Sasuke's words, not for the first or last time, rang through his mind as a parting gift before the darkness. And for the first time, Naruto heard the uncharacteristic gentleness in it.

“It's a lie, sensei. We both know it is.

So why do you keep pretending?”

-----

 

Voices were the first thing he noticed. There were only four of them, two that dominated the others, but he felt alien, as if he did not know who was speaking, even though he did. He pressed his eyelids together and groaned, pain echoing through him like some phantom thing that stayed on as a resident even though it hardly said a word to anyone else. He felt someone touch his hand, recognizing the familiar palms without flaw, and yet still feeling disconnected.

“Naruto…?”

He could hear how worried she was, how desperately worried she had been since he'd stumbled into her apartment what felt like a decade ago. He couldn't will himself to do anything, though. The affects of the memory that had played out in his dream still paralyzed him, and the strings of sleep hung tight around the skin of his face.

A different voice took charge of the situation, and from the muscles of her fingers, Naruto felt Yohko turn to look up at the man who tapped him on the forehead now.

“I know you're in there, dunce.”

Naruto groaned again, squeezing his eyes shut before finally bidding them open. The light was bright and his vision was blurry, but he slowly blinked it off. His tongue felt thick and it stuck to the roof of his mouth, unlatching with a bitter taste of dryness. He felt like coughing, the taste was so undesirable, but tried to focus his attention on the task at hand.

Both Kakashi and Yohko were hovering over him, worry etched into both of their features. Yohko's thumb ran along his and her grip was tight on his hand. She looked near ready to cry, which he hated for the pain it invoked in both of them. Kakashi looked as if he hadn't slept in a while, the grooves of his cheeks seeming to be cut more jaggedly. He looked old, which was saying a lot. Most of the time the only indication that the scarecrow was any older than his student's was his height. (Sakura said it was because he was so slow to get anywhere - the years missed him by miles whenever they did come.)

Naruto managed to smile beleagueredly at them both.

“Hi.”

He could tell Yohko was going to have a breakdown if he talked to her directly, so he avoided looking at her and spoke in a general tone, keep his eyes on Kakashi. The scarecrow watched him in what seemed a wary fashion.

“How are you feeling?”

“Head hurts.”

“Anything else?”

“Not much.” If there was he wasn't aware of it. He would've said so, but his headache kept him well informed that speaking was not a pastime he should partake in much longer. His stamina was shot, which was odd because it didn't happen very often.

Kakashi kept quiet for a minute, seeming to think very thoroughly over what he was about to say. Naruto didn't let his gaze falter, and it set the scarecrow in his decisions.

“Do you remember anything, Naruto?”

Naruto shrugged. Kakashi gave him a stern look.

“How much?”

“Only a little.”

“Naruto…”

The blonde heard the threat in his voice, and moved, almost uneasily. He hadn't heard that tone on Kakashi's breath in a while. It sent shivers through him. Jesus, too much remembering for one day.

Of course he remembered everything. Not as if it was useful to anyone or anything. Besides, the less they thought they remembered the less subtle their measures to protect him would be, which would be better than anything else he could imagine. Although, there was no way for him to know how much Kakashi actually knew, which was probably another reason to fudge it. It wasn't as if he was good at flat-out lying; he didn't much like the feel of it, which made him reluctant to actually try at it.

But he wasn't sure he really wanted Kakashi and the others to take control of this situation just yet. So he was going to limit their knowledge and hinder that interference for just a little while longer. Until he was certain he couldn't handle it on his own - and maybe even past that point - he was going to keep it as much to himself as he could.

Why? Because it's what he did, that's why.

“I dunno…I mean, I remember being in the classroom up until a point…and little snippets of you and Yohko…and waking up a few times…and the rest of its blank.” He shrugged again.

Kakashi watched him a while before nodding, seeming satisfied. Naruto watched him, trying to make it as genuine as he could. “Why? Is there something I'm—?”

Kakashi stopped him before he could continue, putting a hand on his shoulder and pressing him back down into the couch cushions. Naruto shivered, remembering the dream, but forcibly kept all other signs of recollection on his face.

“No. Don't worry. That's about it.” He smiled, visible eye curling upwards. Naruto smiled back at him, feeling fake, the action leaving him depleted as energy as the scarecrow turned to Yohko.

“I'll leave you two alone, hm? I need to speak with Iruka.”

For the first time, Naruto turned to face Yohko, and saw her nod to Kakashi, her face kept blank. “The phone's in the kitchen.” He nodded and opened the door, ushering Inari and Konohamaru away from it.

“C'mon boys, let's go get you something to eat if you're so hungry for the latest gossip…”

Naruto almost chuckled as the door shut, cutting the boys' whining to a fuzzy, incoherent sound that muttered through the walls. His chest weighed too much, though, and he did not. He looked at Yohko, where she sat, unmoving, staring down at his fingers. He took one of his own and stroked along her wrist in a way that he hoped was a little comforting, and she looked up at him. He could see how her eyes shone as she choked out the words she'd wanted to say.

“Why did you lie to him?”

Naruto shook his head, slowly, feeling his own tearducts begin working for the first time in months. “I don't know.” He didn't, either. He had no idea why he'd lied. He'd just felt that he had to, that there was something about the knowledge worth protecting.

Yohko shook her head, closing her eyes tightly, as if willing herself not to cry with all the might she had.

“I knew it. You never sleep for longer than five hours unless something bad happens.”

She opened them finally to look into him, clutching his hands.

“It's him, isn't it? Uchiha Sasuke. What did he do, Naruto? What did he do to you?”

“How did you—”

“You kept saying his name. You kept saying it over and over and over, and…and…” She was truly biting it back now, and it threatened to spill over. Naruto could see it, and it only made his own battle harder. He gripped her hands and she took the cue, springing upon him and gripping him the tightest embrace imaginable. The tears flowed on both sides as they clung to each other, unable to hold it in anymore.

It was so weird, for Naruto to cry. It felt so foreign, he hadn't done it in so long. But he'd only done it in Yohko's presence for as long as he could really remember so atleast the set up wasn't so odd. He was really crying, wasn't he? Oh, damn. Why? Hadn't he learned a long time ago that crying didn't solve anything?

It hurt so badly, though, that they were not able to fulfill their vows to keep one another safe from all and everything that ever threatened to harm them. It hurt with an unbearable intensity that only made them hug each other harder, afraid to let go, afraid to lose any more of each other to the world.

“I couldn't do anything…God, Yohko I couldn't do anything…”

Her reply was muffled as she sobbed against his shoulder. “It's not your fault…”

“All he had to do was back me into a wall and I lost it, Yohko…I couldn't do a thing…”

“It's not your fault, Naruto…it's not.”

“Whose fault is it then?” The salty trails that wafted down his cheeks were cold from the air, freezing through him as it all came out into the open. “If I didn't want it…”

“You didn't want it, Naruto.”

“Then why didn't I do anything, Yohko?”

“Oh Naruto…” Yohko pressed her face to his chest, crying hard and seeming to just barely be holding back still, trying to retain her ability to speak, if only for his sake. He felt terrible, doing this to everyone. Why did he have to be such a burden? Why did he always weigh everyone else down?

“I should've done something…Jesus, he could've had his way with me and I wouldn't have done a thing!” He was so angry at himself. Why couldn't he refuse like any mildly intelligent person? He knew that saying this to her would make her cry, which hurt almost as much as having had it happen in the first place. But it was true, which stung even more. It didn't matter if he didn't want it if he never did anything to stop it.

“I hate him.” Yohko gripped him tightly, her arms curled around his neck. It was all in the way she talked, the things that were left unsaid between them.

I hate him for doing this to you. I hate him forever and ever.

He hugged her to him, trying to quiet himself and not succeeding very well. What was he crying about…? It was his own fault wasn't him? What kind of man faints and then spontaneously bursts into tears? He was more of a disappointment than he gave himself credit for. He wanted to go back to sleep, but that would require stopping his tears.

And no matter how much he told himself he was trying, he wasn't really. It wasn't as if crying made things better, but it was sure better than simply lying there and thinking about how sad and tired and frustrated you were.

“I don't want to go on Monday, Yohko.” He'll be there, if I go. I don't want him to be there.

“You have to go, Naruto. It's your job.” His cousin seemed even more broken up about this fact than he did, and it didn't surprise him. The empathetic spectator was often at the most risk of everyone in a bad situation; they were subjected to all things the participants were, and yet they were rendered useless, unable to do anything no matter how much they wanted to.

He held her to him, and cried, wishing that reality wasn't as deceptive as it appeared to be at this moment. He just wanted to leave, and take Yohko and everything he loved with him. He wanted his life to be perfect like it had seemed to be when he was six years old. He wanted for his bad memories to truly leave him for once. He wanted to be normal.

“I love you so much.”

“I love you too, Yohko…”

…So why can't I make our lives happy, if only for a little while?

-----

 

The world was quiet where he was, staring out the window at the leaves that refused to change color, as of yet. Autumn always seemed to come suddenly and unpredictably to the city; it was one of the reasons he lived where he did. He sipped at the steam of his cup of instant ramen, not minding the way it scalded his tongue and throat only slightly, in an almost affectionate manner.

His fingers were cold, even if the room wasn't. In fact, the thermostat beneath the eaves of the cupboards read 78° Farenheit to the outside's 50°. He sighed, steam twirling away from his breath as it drifted up from his noodles, and shifted his shoulders. His old scars had all been given him trouble since his chaotic weekend, and he hadn't slept well last night. There was something wrong with him, and it probably rested in the pit of his stomach where the ache usually lay.

Or, as a voice behind him made him better realize, there was a better chance it was sitting in the middle of his classroom, looking moody and acting in a way that was particularly aggravating.

“Sensei, if there's anything else you'd have me do, I'd request you'd inform me of it. Otherwise I'll assume we're done.”

Naruto's set lips constricted visibly, the rage set in him by the insolence lurking in the back of Sasuke's voice flaring unpleasantly in his blue eyes. His hands tightened on the cup of ramen and he sipped it, forcing his anger to take the back burner to the best of his ability. Of course, that didn't do much for the smoke already clouding his judgment, but it prevented it from spreading, atleast momentarily.

“You'll assume no such thing, Uchiha-san.” He turned his cold face, masked of emotion, upon his student with a vengeance. “Until I say we are done, we are far from it. Do you understand?”

Sasuke's eyes narrowed and he went silent, reflecting Naruto's harsh coldness back at him. Naruto left the safety of where he stood near the window, setting his ramen down on the nearby counter, taking the boy's silence as the only reply he would be awarded without missing a beat.

He walked past the first row of tables and down the second, going to the Uchiha's desk and sitting on the one ahead of it, crossing one leg over the other and looking over the boy's `completed' work. It was answered, sure, but that wasn't what they were here for. Finished was nothing in Naruto's eyes if there was no effort behind it.

Sasuke sat watching him for a long time, it seemed, before speaking.

“Do you faint often?”

Naruto twitched, flinching half out of anger that the Uchiha had voiced anything at all and half out of fear of something he did not understand. He looked up, tick forming on his brow. Sasuke stared back in what would've been an innocent fashion had it not been Sasuke that was the subject of such a description. He seemed to be genuinely interested, if one could've read that from his expression. But, then, that would be implying that Naruto could not - and he could.

Still, he played the dumb card without hesitation.

“No.”

There was no `why do you ask' added to the end of the sentence, because in all honesty Naruto had absolutely no intention of pretending he wanted to know. He knew already, but as long as they were playing games he was willing to participate. He was fed up with the boy, and his nerves were shot from having waited for this questionnaire for all of that day. He was - to put it nicely - in no mood.

Sasuke - who, doubtless, could tell this with ease - persisted.

“That wouldn't appear to be the case.”

“Based on what?” Naruto was close to simply off and hitting him. Sure, it was illegal, but what were they going to do? Press charges? Pfft. He could handle charges. Shit, he could handle as many charges as they could dish out if it would just get Uchiha out of his life. And quick.

Sasuke continued to watch him nose resting on the bridge of his fingers where they were meshed in front of his face. Naruto ignored him, which was difficult, considering that they were centimeters away from one another. Naruto tended to be able to do anything he set his mind to, though, and he might've succeeded at what he was attempting if Sasuke hadn't decided to start smirking.

Naruto looked up at him, temper fearsome. “What?”

“You really don't like me very much, do you sensei?”

“Not too much, no.” Naruto couldn't avoid being straight-forward with that one. He wasn't sure what it had to do something or why Sasuke had to have him say it aloud, but they both knew it was true. He could harbor as much dislike of the Uchiha as he wanted, but if the boy asked it wasn't as if he'd deny it.

Sasuke let one of his hands drop to the table, still holding his cheek in the other.

“I rephrase my question, then.”

Naruto's reply was bitter where it echoed in his head, but he said nothing, choosing to meet Sasuke's gaze instead. Not for the first time since this had all started only about thirty minutes ago, he willed the time to speed through itself.

“Do I scare you, sensei?”

Naruto froze, staring.

“What did you say?”

Sasuke reiterated flawlessly. “Do I scare you, sensei?”

“No.” Naruto's reply was curt. His eyes were hard and Sasuke seemed to watch them with a sick sort of interest, as if he thought that if he could only read them, there would be no way that his teacher could elude him any longer. He kept his face straight through it all.

“That wouldn't appear the case, either.”

“Based on what, Uchiha?” Naruto's whole being pulsed with anger. He had no desire to deal with this, not here, and certainly not now. Why hadn't he hit this kid yet…?

“Based on the fact that it isn't the truth,” Sasuke said matter-of-factly.

Naruto sneered at him, eyes flashing. “You're calling me a liar? That's a pretty bold accusation.”

Sasuke shrugged, disaffected as ever. “One that I'm fully prepared to make.”

“To what cost?”

“Yours, I assume.”

“Yet again you assume wrongly in my presence, Uchiha.”

Sasuke's eyes had not left him. He felt put on the spot and nervous. He had no idea why he was nervous, and had no intention of revealing it at all. He kept his exterior solid, if not somewhat dangerous. This bastard was really asking for it, and he hated whatever it was that was holding him back, and hated it with a passion.

“Sensei, if you dislike me so very much, I'm curious as to why you continue to insist on my presence.”

Naruto ground his teeth. It was a good point, not that he'd ever admit to it.

Sasuke continued, giving him neither time nor opportunity to interrupt. “I don't really care. You can keep me here as long as you want. I don't like going home and the longer I can put it off the better.”

Naruto watched him, the depths of his rage unfathomable.

“Good. You'll be here as long as the state will let me keep you here.”

“That's saying a lot, seeing how much you don't like me.” Sasuke drummed his fingers against his jaw in an `I-don't-care' sort of way, facial features relaxed and uncaring. Naruto wanted to tear him limb from limb and barely resisted doing so.

“Get used to surprises.”

Sasuke's abandoned smirk flitted back among his features and he closed his eyes. “Fine.”

“I mean it.”

Sasuke looked at Naruto again with a question in his eyes.

I don't know why you've turned this into a battle but…

“I'm going to get you to try in this class. You just watch.”

…I can't let you win.

“I'm not giving up, and I'm not backing down. I don't care what you are to your fellow students, because I'm not one of them. I'm just as friendly as the next person, but I'm your teacher. And I'm going to get you to try to succeed in this class.”

Sasuke raised one eyebrow, leaning on his hand. “You act as if you're certain you can. I doubt that.”

“I know. Which is exactly why I have to do it.”

I have to prove you wrong just like I prove everyone else wrong.

“I refuse to fail you and let you win.”

No matter what.

Sasuke gazed at him for a while. “Win what?”

“It doesn't matter. Whatever it is, I can't let you.”

They stared at one another. It was weird to have come to this one spot of motionlessness, this one moment of mutual silence after so much brooding and so many arguments, even if they were only waged with quiet passive-aggressive movements. It was almost perfect which made Naruto feel funny. There was barely anything in his life that was almost perfect, and yet this one piece of time would cover his necessities for a while, he thought.

Sasuke broke it, at long last.

“You're extremely unintelligent, preaching like that. How old are you?”

Naruto kept quiet, calmed by something inhuman that seemed to have possessed him in that short silence they had just shared. “Over twenty, which is all you need know.”

“Hn.”

“Although, it's hardly a shock that my mental capacities don't impress you very much.” Naruto looked up, staring into Sasuke's face. “No, I have no doubt you're several times smarter than me, at the very least. It doesn't matter, really. The situation is what it is.”

“And what is that, sensei?”

“You tell me.” Naruto shut his eye tiredly. “You're good at that.”

Sasuke watched him for a long time, then, and they shared another silence. Naruto listened to the air buzz around them, feeling empty and yet full to the brim with exhaustion. He was so tired of this, now. He needed sleep so badly. He had been awake for so long. It was probably making him delirious. No wonder he was speaking so honestly. It wouldn't surprise him if this was all as fake as the façade he put on for everyone else, which almost made him laugh.

He hadn't really laughed since he was very young, though, which was a sobering factor. He sighed and let his head tilt backwards, staring up at the ceiling. His awareness of Sasuke was fading into the quietness surrounding them. It wasn't something he greatly minded, either.

“Get used to surprises, huh?”

It was more of a scoff than anything else, but for once the boy looked truly pensive, which was weird seeing as he was in Naruto's company. The blonde glanced at him, absently, hands folded behind his head. The Uchiha was watching him with something outlandish dancing behind his black eyes. Naruto refused to let on that he wondered about what it might've been.

“Yeah,” he said finally, closing his eyes again.

He regretted it instantly as a hand shot out to grab him by the tie. It would've choked him as he was jerked downwards if he hadn't traveled with it. Unfortunately, though, that had its consequences just like everything else, and gravity prevented him from stopping himself when someone else darted in to do it instead.

Their lips slammed together clumsily before he could do anything to save himself.

Surprise…

-----

End Chapter 06

Ooh-la-la. We'll leave it at that, shall we?

-- Lady Lamb