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Alternative Education	By : Ljiljana Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 1207 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 13
- 14
m.
Part Eleven

Sasuke carefully closed the
door of the bedroom behind him. Naruto would not ring the bell to his own
house, so it had to be someone else. The hard floor was cold underneath his
bare feet. He grabbed something to wear, but just when he�d been thinking where
Naruto could be keeping his socks � and was it possible he�d have a clean, complete
pair � the visitor impatiently rang again, longer, so he gave up. The heating
system was left on during the night, anyway, so the house was warm enough.

From the other side of the
outer door, Sasuke�s father scanned him up and down before ordering, �Go get
ready, I�ll be waiting here. You�re coming with me.�

�Where?� Sasuke dared. The
word barely tore out of his throat, but the will to ask was pepped up with some
spite. Last time he saw his father, the man was raging at him for a picture
that was not even Sasuke�s responsibility.

�Just put on some socks and
grab your jacket, Sasuke. I�m in a hurry.�

Sasuke hesitated for a moment
longer, looking at his father. There was no anger, no disappointment, no any
signs at all that should be typical of a father on the mission to drag home a
runaway son. All Sasuke could read on his face was some light worry and
impatience.

But it was his father, after
all, asking him to do something. There are some things you just do for some
people, despite the confusion and insecurity. He stepped back, leaving the door
slightly open behind him.

In a hurry, Sasuke tracked
his dirty socks. They were discussing, but he would probably be going straight
home, so it didn�t matter much. When he was ready to go, his father had walked inside
and was looking around.

�This place looks� cleaner
than I expected.� He commented. �Does anyone aside from Naruto live here?�

Sasuke thought about Naruto
preparing food and washing dishes the previous day, with practiced ease. He
didn�t need anyone�s help to function around the house.

He settled on a �No.�

Fortunately, the spare key
was hanging on the hook behind the door. Sasuke locked up as quickly as he
could. He didn�t want to go down and try to leave it where he knew Naruto was
keeping them, so he put it in his pocket. He would give it back later.

When he finished, his father
was already waiting in the car and he quickly got in. They drove in silence,
but it became clear in just a couple of minutes they were not headed toward
their house.

�Where are we going?�

�Social services
institution.�

The Home? But� �Why?�

�Your brother wants to talk
to you. He wouldn�t say what about.�

Sasuke stared at his father�s
face that was carefully wiped out of all emotion. That meant nothing to him. It
only invoked millions of questions.� He
didn�t even know where to start, but some things it �seemed, could take care of themselves.

�You talked to him?�

His father glanced sideways
at him. �Social service and the police are closely related. I had to talk to
him.�

The balloon of hope lost all
its air. But Sasuke didn�t miss the importance of the statement because of it. His
father was talking to Itachi as a cop. That meant that something had happened
at the Home, something serious enough to involve the police.

�What happened?�

There was no response for a
long moment. That, more than anything else could, assured Sasuke whatever it
was, it had something � something that wasn�t good � to do with Naruto. He managed
to inhale the extra oxygen just before he got the answer.

�There was a fight last night
� early this morning. A prot�g� of the institution attacked one of the social
workers. They are both in the hospital right now��

�If Naruto is in the
hospital, I want to go there.� Sasuke said. Hell, he interrupted his father rudely
why the man was providing information he asked for and he did not even care.

�As I said, Itachi wants to
talk to you. I�ll take you to the hospital later, but Naruto is fine. He only
has a few bruises and a mild concussion. The social worker is the one with a
head trauma of unknown severity. He is very confused and barely aware.�

�It�s that Kabuto guy, isn�t
it?� Sasuke asked. He was telling himself that his father wouldn�t lie about
Naruto being okay. A couple of bruises and a concussion sounded like nothing
next to �trauma of unknown severity� and he was certain he did worse than that
to Naruto at one point in their second year.

�What do you know about
that?�

Against the odds, Sasuke�s
nerves smoothened out a notch at the sharp tone and the professional-sounding question.

�Just what Naruto told me� He
answered. �That guy was abusing some younger kids. Itachi knows about it.�

�Itachi knows someone was hurting
the kids, but he doesn�t know who. Not for sure. And the children in question
are refusing to talk about it.� His father answered in a reasonable tone that
made Sasuke grit his teeth. He knew what was coming. He just knew it. �For all we know, it might have
been Naruto himself. We will be keeping him under arrest until Mr. Yakushi is
well enough to tell us his version of the story and we collect the sufficient
evidence. Or until children decide to tell the truth.�

Sasuke stopped himself before
his mouth managed to run off and demand to know if his father actually believed
what he was saying. He tried looking at things from a different point of view.
If no one was talking and there were no proofs, all they had was Naruto�s word
that Kabuto was the guy. That might be worth something to people who knew
Naruto, but it meant nothing to the police.

Though with Kabuto
conveniently �confused and unwell�, at least they could pressure children with
a bit of more efficiency.

Neither said another word
until they parked in front of the Home. Sasuke could see a police officer in
uniform just within glass doors. Nothing else suggested things at the Home were
out of order.

Still in silence, they went
in. Two more officers were on the second floor, one talking to a couple of
residents and Itachi�s coworker, Kurenai. The second was just inside one of the
offices down the hall � presumably Kabuto�s. Sasuke halted to take a better
look around the cop inside, but his father placed a firm hand on his back and
pushed him into Itachi�s workplace. All he�d able to see was a knocked over
chair in the middle of the floor.

�Is there really a need for
these many officers?

�No.� It was the stiff,
muttered answer. �But we�re dealing with children here. It�s better if we look
busy.�

Sasuke had the chance to
glance up at his father�s stony face just for a second, surprised with that
easily given answer about the inner business politics of the police, before
Itachi broke in.

�I�m done. This is the list.�
�

What was the list of Sasuke
would want to know on any other day. But Naruto was in the hospital and Itachi
and their father were in the same room for the first time- that he knew of � in
a very long time. It was not the time for it.

�Thank you.�

�Is there anything else I can
do?� Itachi asked, ignoring completely the tone of finality in the expression
of gratitude. To be able to do that seemed like a really neat skill to have �
anyone else would have succumbed to it.

�Nothing I can think of right
now.� Their father answered. �But we will stay in touch.�

It was almost worth an eye
roll. Even though Sasuke had no doubt that his father wanted Itachi back into
the family, he was still� Very stupid.

Itachi nodded and turn to
Sasuke. �I�m going to the hospital now. Do you want to come?�

Of course,
Sasuke wanted to say. Naruto was there, hurt and most likely alone. But chances
like this one were so rare. And his father
said Naruto was okay. So instead, Sasuke grumbled, �If your girlfriend is
not coming along, yeah.�

It was low, and childish and
below him. It didn�t even make sense, because Itachi�s girlfriend was nowhere
to be seen and not mentioned in any way. But he said �your girlfriend� to Itachi where his father could hear it. And if you
ignore the quick glance Itachi flashed at him that expressed nothing but felt
like a winter on Baltic Sea, it was very
rewarding.

Itachi�s eyes lingered longer
on their father�s face. Sasuke looked too, amazed with the amount of emotions
playing out on it. There was confusion there and some bitterness and even a bit
of spite. But the relief on the man�s eyes as he looked from Itachi to Sasuke
and back again was most obvious and huge. And it hurt very much to see that,
because they had hurt him, to the core and for everything that the man was,
without ever meaning to do it.

After a moment, he cleared
his throat. �I�m sure your mother would love to meet her.�

Itachi said nothing. Sasuke
resisted the urge to yell at him and waited. Their father made an odd sound in
his throat, like he was clearing it again, �Or whoever else you might want to
date in future. Just come home. She misses you.�

Sasuke exhaled even before he
saw Itachi�s shoulders relax. Your mother
misses you was good enough. It was as good as saying I miss you, I want you home. And now Itachi couldn�t find any
excuses to say no. Now Itachi wouldn�t be looking for them.

There was a stray strand of
hair that fell out and rested on Itachi�s cheek. He moved it and turned to take
his coat of the hook. Despite of the tension that was still cracking in the
air, he managed to sound offhand and normal, �This Sunday?�

�I�ll tell her.�

Then Itachi opened the door
and nodded for Sasuke to walk out first. �We�ll just gather a few things from
Naruto�s room. A toothbrush and a pair of pajamas � his doctor told me they
will keep him for a day for observation.�

As they always did in case of
a concussion. There was nothing to worry about. Sasuke�s wish to make sure for
himself didn�t go away just because things in his family were looking up, so he
hurried up the stairs first.

The cop who was lingering
just outside of the door � maybe it was what he was supposed to do or maybe
curiosity got better of him, it didn�t really matter � followed them up.

Naruto�s room wasn�t empty.
His roommate, the kid that fell asleep on Sasuke�s shoulder once, was sitting
there, on the lower bunk bed. He looked tired and his eyes were red from
crying. He snapped his head up as if he was expecting someone to take him out to
be hanged, with guilt and fear. Sasuke had an almost unpleasant feeling curl in
his stomach; a hunch, an idea� And it was closely followed with excitement.

He nodded seriously to Inari.
�We need to pack some things for Naruto. Help me.�

Obediently, the kid slid off
the bed. He took a backpack out of the cupboard. Sasuke stopped him. �That
won�t do. We need something bigger. Do you have a suitcase of some sort?�

�Yeah, but � they told me
he�s going to get out of the hospital in the morning. Why...?�

�The things are for when they
take him out of the hospital to jail.� At the door, where Itachi and the cop
were standing, there was some light commotion. Sasuke decided that it was his
brother, making sure the cop won�t get in the way. He also carefully noted that
he wanted to interfere, which
hopefully meant that Naruto wasn�t really going to jail � at least not for
long. The kid, with a bit of luck, missed it. �I�m not sure what he would like
to have with him, so think hard. We have to pack underwear and toiletries, of
course, but how about his personal things? Photographs? Books�� Yeah, right. �Or magazines?�
��
�But�� Inari started again,
eyes widening in fear. Sasuke interrupted. He needed him scared, so thinking
time was better not left possible.

�There�s no time, I�m in a
hurry. Get on with it.�

This time, Inari burst into
movement. He took out a bag of what were likely to be Naruto�s cosmetics and
added some things from another bag into it. It went into a ratty but strong and
large sport bag. Inari took out some cloths and carefully stared picking what
to pack. Sasuke was impatient, he wanted to go to the hospital. But it was
quite obvious from the fear and guilt in this kid that he knew more than he let
on. There was no way he didn�t care about what happened to Naruto, so it was a
matter of scaring him enough. It was more likely he would talk then.��

Inari turned to glance at
Sasuke. It was a calculating, sharp gaze and he almost swore in disappointment.
Soon, though, it turned out that the kid was assessing him for another purpose.
He picked on of the books from heap of garbage on Naruto�s desk. Sasuke raised
an eyebrow.

�I doubt he�d want his
schoolbooks with him.� The truth was, if Inari packed it without looking back
at him, he would have not even noticed. It was a Biology textbook, better kept
than Sasuke would expect.

�He�d want this one.� Inari
muttered, not looking at him. Sasuke extended his hand and waited. After a
glare and a sigh, Inari gave in and let him have it. Of what relevance a
textbook could have to the case, Sasuke had no idea. He flipped though it,
wondering what he should be looking for. Not that it mattered, the police would
be checking�

Oh, Sasuke
thought when the book opened somewhere in the middle on its own and revealed a
photograph stashed there. It was obviously taken on the field trip that fall,
even though Sasuke couldn�t remember it. But it was likely Kiba who took it,
for it was a snapshot of Naruto and Sasuke, talking to each other in the hotel
room. It was too dark and the expressions on their faces were barely visible,
but Sasuke put it in his pocket anyway.

It wasn�t relevant to the
case, the kid was just afraid of exposing Naruto�s privacy to Sasuke. Which was
cute, but not enough to get him off the hook.

�Hurry. And be careful what
you put in there, because cops will search though it.�

In the meantime, Inari
recovered enough to ask, �But why is he going to jail? He didn�t do anything.�

�I�m sure he didn�t. Until
they find enough evidence of that, it�s not very likely he will get out,
though. Abuse of children is a serious charge.�

The color drained from
Inari�s face in less than two seconds. �What? But he was fighting, that�s why
he�s going and not� He didn�t do anything!�

There was desperation in his
tone. Sasuke thought it would be enough. He just wished he could know for sure
if it was the truth or not himself. He shrugged, allowing some of the worry to
ooze out.

�It�s his word against
Kabuto�s � and Kabuto is not well and won�t be for quite some time. Until there
are evidence or someone to confirm one story or the other, Naruto will be in
more trouble because he has less authority. I know he didn�t do anything,�
Sasuke added when he noticed the desperate kind of glare Inari was giving him.
He didn�t think it was about his loyalty, but it was a good excuse for the next
part. �And I told him it was none of his business, that he will just get into
trouble if he keeps trying to help everyone around here. Apparently, I was
right. No one is even grateful to him for his worry and efforts, not enough to
help him. Now finish that, I really want to go to the hospital and make sure he
is okay.�

The last bit sort of escaped
from him in the stream of words. However, it did not matter; and Inari sobbed
dryly. Sasuke narrows his eyes, noticing for
the first time that the kid was shaking rather violently. Before he could say
anything, Inari pushed through and was out of the door.

Hoping he went to tell
someone something important instead of to cry in the bathroom, Sasuke picked up
the bag as it was and turned to leave.

�I�ll go see what he�s up
to.� The cop announced. Part of Sasuke wanted to go as well, but he had all
delay as he could take already. He caught Itachi�s eye and they left the
building as quickly as possible, with Sasuke leading the way through the
hallways and down the stairs.

But at least, some progress
was made that day.

�I need you to stay with
him.� Itachi said when they were in the car.

�Why?�

�Stay with him until he is
released. Kabuto is on the same floor. I don�t want any further scandals.�

If Naruto knew about the
stream of investigation and felt �well
enough to be outraged, he might as well need a guard. Kabuto�s wellbeing was
not a matter of concern to Sasuke, but if Naruto really did end up arrested, he
would most likely lose sponsorship.

�You said he was kept for
observation until morning. There�s no way they would let me stay.�

�I�ll take care of it.�
Itachi promised. �Just make sure he doesn�t do anything stupid.� �

Easier said than done,
certainly, but Sasuke was willing to try.

When they arrived to the
hospital, Itachi lead him straight to Naruto�s room. There were four beds on
each side of the door, pushed against the walls to make aisle between. Strong
smell of oranges tickled Sasuke�s nose, reminding him that he should have
brought Naruto something, but he couldn�t determine the source of it with just
a few short glances over the room.

Only three beds were taken.
Naruto, all the way in the opposite corner, was staring though the window that
was too high to see anything but sky when they walked in. The set of his jaw
gave away his mental condition he was angry and scared.�

�Are you feeling any better?�
Itachi asked him.

�Great.� Naruto muttered. The
blue hospital pajama was too big on him, collar around his neck so wide
Naruto�s shoulder was bared. With his back against the low headrest and arms
crossed, he looked very young. And very hurt. Itachi�s urge to protect him from
further harm made much more sense now.

�And your head?� Naruto
glanced back at Itachi, annoyed �that�s what I was talking about� clear on his
face. When he caught the sight of Sasuke, he offered a half-hearted smile, not
surprised at least. Itachi must have told him that he would bring Sasuke with
him.

�I�m fine.� Naruto answered,
a bit more unguarded. �Better go check if that creep is okay.�

�Are you worried?�

Naruto opened his mouth, affronted
as if the question was insulting, �As if! He�s just acting!�

�I�m sure he will be fine
soon. You just get rest and stay in bed.� Itachi instructed. He offered a
single nod and left the room.

Sasuke looked around again.
Both Naruto�s roommates were pretending as hard as possible that they weren�t
listening, in that manner hospital rooms usually abided to. Naruto moved his
legs as he approached the bed, to make room for him, so Sasuke sat.

�I�m not worried.� Naruto
told him. He sounded worried. �I just
don�t want to go to jail. Besides, he�s just acting.�

�You have a really ugly
bruise on your face.� Sasuke told him. At the moment, he couldn�t care less
about Kabuto.

Naruto almost touched his
cheek with his fingers, where an oddly shaped, angular bruise was still fresh
and reddish, but he changed his mind at the last moment. It could not have possibly
been made by a hand, or a fist. Sasuke tilted Naruto�s head to the side with
his right hand. Blond hair moved to show a couple of more bruises, higher up
and slightly swollen.

Naruto moved forward, not
quite close enough for their contact to appear indecent. He reached up, intent
on clasping Sasuke�s hand but he changed his mind again and instead grabbed
Sasuke�s sleeve to pull his hand off.�

�I told you I�ll help you.�
Sasuke said quietly as Naruto�s fingers entangled more firmly into the ham of
his sleeve. �What did you do?�

Naruto clasped his jaw tight
again, hurt. It was an unfortunate choice of words. Sasuke caught his hand
before Naruto was able to retreat it completely. So what if they were
practically holding hands? Other patients were pretending to be asleep, anyway.

�What happened?� Sasuke
insisted, finding the coldness of the hand in his unnerving.�

�Inari wasn�t in the room
when I got back,� Naruto said. He frowned and shook his head a little. The
movement might have made him dizzy, as he closed his eyes and took a deep
breath.

�Where was he?� Sasuke
prompted, guessing that Naruto found him with Kabuto.

��Kabuto�s office. They were just talking, but
it was really weird.� Naruto opened his eyes again, confused and tired. �I couldn�t
stay out there and just listen, you know. It sounded like � I don�t know. And
Inari was kneeling on some beans or something, Kabuto was at his desk. I didn�t
even manage to see anything.�

�He was kneeling on some
beans?�

�Itachi said it�s an old form
of punishment. Not cruel enough to be illegal, but not pleasant at all.�

Naruto fell quiet again. Was
he hesitating because he was tired or because he didn�t know how to explain Sasuke
couldn�t tell, but he pressed again, anyway. �What were they saying? Before you
came in?�

�It sounded like � like
Kabuto was trying to talk Inari into holding on through his punishment so he
wouldn�t have to be punished in another way.� Naruto lifted his hand � the one
that wasn�t still warm in Sasuke�s � as if to touch his cheek again. �It
doesn�t sound so bad, I know, but � I�m pretty sure the other way of punishment
was being whipped with this belt-like thing he had.�

Which was what Naruto was hit
over his cheek with, apparently.

One of the other two patients
coughed and turned in his bed. Automatically, Sasuke glanced to that direction.
Underneath his, Naruto twisted his hand, entangled their fingers and squeezed
tightly. His fingers were still cold, but the palm was warmer than it usually
was. Sasuke squeezed back, wondering idly what kind of reassurance he just gave
as Naruto smiled at him.

�Sorry.� Naruto breathed.

�It�s fine.� Apology wasn�t
clearing up what was in Naruto�s head, but as long as he wasn�t trying to let
go or stop talking, it was fine. �Who
was the first to attack?�

�He was.� Naruto said. �I
don�t know. I think it was him � I was trying to see what he�s holding, the
belt thing, and he hit me with it. But he might have been thinking I was
attacking him, so��

�That doesn�t make it better.
Were you unarmed?�

�Yeah � like I�d need��

�And the kid was there,
that�s good.� Sasuke interrupted. In this situation, Naruto�s upper hand had
better stayed unmentioned. �It�s even better that you were the one who pointed
out to the authorities � to Itachi � that there was something going on��

�I told Kurenai, too.� Naruto
made a face. �She was the first one to ask questions, but no one would talk. I
don�t know why, but it means nothing Inari was there. He won�t say a thing. No
one will. I don�t understand it�� He trailed off. �If it was me, I�d grab that
thing and threw it out of the window, you know. It was right there, next to him,
Inari could have just reached for it, take it and run to someone.�

It was right there, next to him�

�It sounds like it was meant
for him to use it.�

�What?�

�For Inari.� Sasuke
clarified. �If it was within his reach, during a punishment section, then it
could have been meant for him to use it, not Kabuto.�

�On what? Who?�

�Himself.�

Naruto blinked, his
expression completely blank. It was like he could not grasp the idea of self
harm under any circumstances.

�To use it on himself?�
Naruto said. �You can�t be serious � you would not say that if you saw those
bruises on them�.�

�What?� Sasuke asked when
Naruto stopped talking.

�No, it�s just� That would
explain why they�re insisting that Kabuto didn�t do anything, right? If he just
told them to do it and they actually did it themselves��

�It doesn�t make him any less
of a sick children molester.�

Naruto shook his head,
ignoring him. �But that makes no sense. Why would they do that? Maybe there are
all very young, but why would children hit themselves just because some
stranger said so and never say a word about it?�

He didn�t understand,
hopefully he never would, what some people were capable of doing to themselves
in order to please someone else. Naruto, one of many with sad history and shady
future, was strong enough not to know.

Sasuke wasn�t.

For a bunch of unwanted
children, all it would take was to make them feel loved.

�How long was Kabuto working
with children?� Naruto shrugged, still looking (disgusted?) and shocked. That
meant that Kabuto worked for longer than he was there, which was� at least four
years. �And how was he like with them?�

�Horrible.� Naruto snorted. �Strict,
sometimes even harsh.�

�The harsher he was, the
harder it must have been to please him. And if they were promised affection in
return�� How far would those kids go for love?

�He didn�t love them! He was
horrible to them!�

�Yeah, I bet he was. Where
everyone could see. But he had them for years. If he showed them glimpses of
how kind he could be if they pleased him and promised more�� He could see it.
It might not have been true, Sasuke had no way of knowing right then, but he could
see it happening.

��Maybe he told them that if they don�t hit
themselves, he would hit them much harder. So they had to choose less from two
evils.� Naruto persisted. He might have been right, but that explanation did
not cover the part as to why they were so utterly silent about it. �They were
afraid, that�s it. I can�t see anything else that would make them hit
themselves.�

Naruto was upset. He really
couldn�t see it, he never would. Inappropriate as it was, Sasuke smiled. Bruised
and angry, as good as arrested and in the hospital bed, yet, he still appeared
brighter, stronger than ever before. Was it that strength what was making him
so fascinating?

A part of his brain took into
consideration and dismissed as unimportant the other two patients as Sasuke
leaned quickly but carefully in and kissed Naruto. There was no response for a
moment, Naruto seemed stunned. That lasted just a moment, though, before he
kissed back. The taste of it was sharp and sour; since Naruto�s lips were rough
and dry underneath his. Itachi, or anyone, really, could have walked in, too.
But all of that meant little as Naruto sunk deeper into the pillow and relaxed some.
Sasuke broke the kiss with a small sound that was probably laugh. Probably.

�Are you okay?� Naruto asked,
his blue eyes intent and searching Sasuke�s face.

�Yes.� Sasuke said. It was
unconvincing at the least, with his voice shaky. But it wasn�t as if he knew
why he was feeling so unsteady, so it didn�t matter.

�Right.� Naruto suspiciously
drawled, a bit uncomfortable and very perplexed. �Well, I�m sleepy. Do you want
to lie next to me?�

He moved the cover and
gestured to the free space on his left, obviously not planning to ask any more
questions. Sasuke wordlessly knocked his shoes off. Before he managed to get
in, the door opened. Itachi had returned.
Naruto straightened up. He
waited expectantly for Itachi to come closer to the bed and inform them of what
he had found out, but the small touch of concern that was there earlier when he
asked about Kabuto was gone.

�He�s still the same.� Itachi
said. But I think I have some good news. Father just called me, he has three
children insisting to talk to him about what Kabuto and what happened as soon
as possible. I have to go back. Will you two be alright?�

�What kids?� Naruto demanded.
�Don�t force them! What if Kabuto has someone to hurt them instead of him? It�s
dangerous!�

�They asked for it
themselves, no one is forcing them.� Itachi repeated patiently. He glanced
shortly at Sasuke, offering a small smile, as if to tell him that his
conversation with Inari worked � or so Sasuke hoped. It disappeared quickly,
but Naruto caught it and frowned on the two of them. �The police will be around
for awhile, no one will get near them. Stop worrying and get some rest, I�ll
tell you what they said as soon as I can, someone from social service has to be
there during questioning of its prot�g�es.�

When Itachi left, Naruto
settled back on the pillow. He was still worried and anxious, but the tiredness
was creeping back to this face. He yawned. Sasuke followed him quickly, getting
under the cover into the left, empty part of the narrow hospital bed. �They are
talking again. I told father Itachi has a girlfriend.�

Naruto gave him a bemused �you really think I�m so easy to distract�
look. Then he gave in and grinned. �You didn�t have to bother. Itachi would
have found a way to tell them himself soon enough.�

�No, he wouldn�t.�

�Don�t be stupid.� Naruto
said through another yawn. �It�s one thing to pick between good relationship
with you father and his pride. This is completely different. Now he has to
choose between his pride and making you
enter the same stupid circle yourself. Of course he would have told them, I bet
it was a relief when you took care of it for him.�

�You don�t know what you�re
talking about.� Sasuke snapped. He tried to, anyway, but his throat was not
functioning properly. Naruto was suggesting that Sasuke was more important to
Itachi than anyone and anything else, which was a little overwhelming.

Naruto moved to lay on his
side, to face Sasuke and closed his eyes, undisturbed. Under the cover, he let
his arm fall over Sasuke�s stomach and murmured, �Mhhm. I wouldn�t be surprised
if he planned this entire thing from the start, many years ago, for the moment
you decided to get out of the closet. To � you know, to make sure your parents
knew exactly how it is to lose a son and not pull off anything stupid with you.�

It was, of course, mumbling
of a half asleep idealist who was probably on some medication, so Sasuke was
not about to continue conversation. Itachi did not plan anything, he was not
pretending to be gay for five years and did not go through hell of fighting
with his family and being alone just so Sasuke would not have too many problems
one day. If that in itself wasn�t unreasonable and senseless, there was also no
way for him to know Sasuke would find himself in a situation like that one day.
�

It was stupid to even think
about it, so Sasuke shook it off. There was one thing left he wanted to say,
before Naruto fell asleep. He called, �Naruto?�

�Hmmm?�

�You should come to our house
this Sunday. Around lunch time.�

Naruto opened one eye to look
at him. Maybe he was too sleepy to ask questions, or maybe Sasuke�s face held
all the answers he needed, but he agreed, ��Okay.�

For a couple of minutes
after, Sasuke continued to watch sleep take over his bedmate. He could still
smell oranges in the air and feel slight sourness from kissing Naruto earlier.
The silence in the room was of that pleasant, imperfect kind � lulling sounds
were coming outside, from other beds and from Naruto, who was snoring softly.

With Naruto�s now hot hand
still resting on his stomach, Sasuke soon started drifting off himself, wondering
drowsily how would other patients in the room take it Naruto was to have a wet
dream like that one on the first night of their field trip that fall.

Not that he would let them
hear all that much of it.

end

n.
And with that, I said all I
wanted to. Before anyone asks what happens with Kabuto, I�d like to remind you
that this story was never about that, not when it was a couple of randomly
posted oneshots set in the same universe and not when I started �developing�
the story. However, he is in the hospital, guarded by the police and the
children are talking, so he is likely to pay for being� what he is in this
story.

Or maybe I�m letting him
escape so, once educated for it, Naruto can catch him. But it�s not likely.

Either way, I hope you
enjoyed the story � chaotic and messy as it is. Thank you all for the lovely
comments and encouragement. <3

And thanks to Aerae for
proof-reading his last chapter.�
- 13
- 14
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