Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

Gray Areas	By : Midnightstorm Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male > Naruto/Sasuke Views: 1624 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 3
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. They all belong to Masashi Kishimoto; though I do wish he could lend them to me indefinitely. I also do not make any profits off any of the stories I write using these characters!

Chapter List
- 2
- 3
- 4
A/N: I am so glad I finally had time to write this up. I got employed two months ago as a sub-editor in a national newspaper. So I work nights and am extremely busy. Both this story and the Guest are still in my mind and heart and will be updated soon. Both stories drive me nuts anyway with plot points popping up at unexpected times. So forgive me. I work till 3 am all the time, so am generally too tired to come home and write.
On a side note, I am keeping my characters as realistic as possible. The emotions and feelings they go through are based on the experiences of me and others who have given me permission to share their experiences. So I hope you like it.
HAPPY NEW YEAR! Hope the year allows me to write with as much focus as I did this morning till 2013!

Chapter 3:
He picked up the Queen of Spades and lazily dropped her below her King. It was a cold and windy Thursday and he was playing a game of Spider Solitaire. Sasuke had been called out by Neji again. It had now been three months since he'd come to Sasuke's home, and the shrink had given him the green signal to go back to school. It was a new school. Itachi had spoken to the Nara family and had decided after a talk with Sasuke, that Naruto would join the Nara prodigy at Konoha High, an elite private high school. In the past two months, Naruto had reinvented himself. He'd slowly picked up his forgotten martial art routine and begun to eat well. He had no idea still, about how to get his revenge on Sasuke. The conversation he'd heard between Sasuke and Kiba kept popping up in his head, but he had no idea what kind of a weakness he was. Sasuke was just as aloof with him as he was with everyone else.
He grunted in displeasure as he struggled to find his next move before clicking on the 'deal' button again. He had no choice. He clicked the button and frowned when he saw the cards he'd received. He could never finish the highest difficulty level in the damned game! He closed the game window and took to twirling himself around in the chair. When one was under house arrest for three months, one got caught up in being lazy and over thinking everything. Well he'd been good at that to begin with, he thought to himself with a short smile. He was looking forward to school. He could be new there.
After days of watching Sasuke's bastardly attitude, he'd realised that maybe a bit of that wouldn't be too bad. The Naruto before the accident had been sweet and friendly, the one after had been lost and withdrawn. Now Naruto decided he wanted to live a little. The phrase made him laugh. He'd just have fun. Do anything he wanted to. He could work on his revenge plan for Sasuke side by side anyway, since he lived with the fucking bastard.
A low song began to pound through the house. While Sasuke loved classical, Naruto lived for rock. He began looking around for his phone. Sasuke had finally gotten him a brand new cell phone a month back. In a way Naruto was grateful, since he'd been forced to use Sasuke's landline every time he called Itachi. He found his phone on the end table beside his bed. He frowned; it was a number he didn't recognise. Unusual...he only had family numbers on the phone. None of his old friends would know how to contact him. He suddenly realised that the phone would ring off if he didn't take the call. He pressed the green button and brought the phone to his ear.
"Hello?"
"Naruto-kun."
The blond boy almost dropped the phone. The blood seemed to drain out of his face so fast, he looked like a corpse. His voice came out in a soft whisper. "You..."
"Yes, me. It took a while to find out what had happened to you. I didn't expect that so much would occur when I was away." The deep voice paused, before turning a little dangerous. "I hear you tried to kill yourself..."
Naruto swallowed hard. "I..."
"You belong to me, Naruto-kun. I thought I had made that clear." The voice sighed like all the burdens in the world were placed up on the person who owned it. "So you're living with Sasuke-kun now. Tell me, Naruto...how does it feel to live with the very person who helped your parents die? The very person who sold you to me?"
Naruto growled. The fear burning inside giving way to a white hot anger. "I hate it. I hate him..."
"Then come to me. Live with me."
In the fraction of a second, the anger in Naruto fell apart, giving way to disgust and fear all over again. "No." He badly wanted to add "You're worse than him" to the refusal, but he knew he had to be careful.
"I see. You'd rather stay with the blood traitor than take your rightful place with me. Who else needs to die to convince you, Naruto?" The voice turned harsh. "Who else must die for your sake? Itachi? Kyuubi? Sasuke?"
Naruto slid onto the bed, his knees shaking violently. "Please...please...stop it. Please...I don't get my inheritance for the next seven years. I'm of no use to you..."
"You think I want you for your money?" a loud slightly hysterical laugh sounded on the other end. "I have more than enough money, Naruto. I just want you here. Do you remember? At the hospital? I asked you to come stay with me. You've avoided it for the past four years...I can't let you run anymore..."
"Why? Why must I come to you?"
"All in good time. You haven't answered me yet. Who else do you want dead?"
"A year. Give me a year and I'll come to you. I promise. Please...don't hurt anyone else."
"A year. Alright. One year Naruto-kun. But let me warn you, one more attempt at dying, and I'll murder everyone around you. You understand?"
"Yes! I get it! I won't!"
The end tone sounded, as the person cut the call. Naruto crumpled onto the bed, clutching a pillow close and burying his face in it. The resulting darkness seemed frightening. He'd found him. The three words flew around in his head in circles until tears started to wet the pillow. A year...after that he'd have to leave. If he didn't...the details of the accident came rushing back to him. Naruto started to breathe hard, close to hyperventilating. That man had made it so anything Naruto did to get away would cost him. The man was fucking crazy!
A tiny watery giggle escaped his mouth as the thought flitted through his mind. The giggle erupted into a bout of crazy laughter, as Naruto realised that he was just as crazy as the man. He continued to laugh rather maniacally, before the sounds turned into screams. Suddenly he shoved everything off his end table, enjoying the clattering they made as they hit the ground. He went on a rampage through the room as his mind carefully locked itself away from the grief and claustrophobia that enveloped him now. Instead his mind retreated to a safer place where everything else was okay.

-Flashback-
Naruto sat by a low table in the playroom, colouring a few pictures Sasuke-nii had given him. The older boy had just taught him how to colour within the lines. So the six year old was neatly following the lines of the pictures with his preferred colour before filling it in. He felt so proud of himself, he almost wiggled with joy. He finished colouring his picture and then scraped away the extra colour from the pastels with his ruler. Then he got down to rubbing the left over colour brutally with a rag, till the whole thing became smoother than Sasuke-nii's skin.
He put the rag down and rubbed his aching hands. Lying back on the carpet he waved his arms and legs in the same way one makes a snow angel, before he stopped and took small breaths. Okay! He was ready to go show Sasuke-nii how awesome he was! He picked up all the pictures and went off at a run towards the door only to slam into someone's legs.
He fell onto his butt, his pictures scattering everywhere. For a minute his eyes filled and his mouth trembled, but he bit his lip. Sasuke-nii had told him that he needed to stop crying at every little thing if he wanted to be a big boy.
A pair of hands quickly gathered the pictures and then wrapped around him, helping him stand up. The man who'd helped him, smiled at him kindly. "I'm sorry Naruto-kun. I didn't see you there."
Naruto looked up at the man a little hesitantly before smiling up at him widely. "Hello! Thank you for helping me! I have to go now!"
The man shook his head. "I came here especially to meet you, Naruto-kun. I have something for you. Do you want to see what it is?"
Naruto nodded wide-eyed. He'd never had anyone come to see him specially before. The man smiled and pulled out a frog stuffed toy that came up to Naruto's knee. It had one eye coming off. The man held it out to him. "Do you remember your real Otou-san, Naruto?"
"My old Otou-san? Yeah, I remember!" He took the toy and cuddled it. His Otou-san always showed him a picture of his old parents and made sure Naruto never forgot. But Naruto was forgetting a little, and he really did love his new father and mother a lot.
"Well, this froggy belonged to your old Otou-san, when he was as small as you. Its name is Gamabunta. You'll take care of him won't you?"
"Okay! I like Gamabunta!"
At that point, Fugaku walked in at the door. "Oh, I see you've both met. Naruto, this man is..."
-Flashback End-

"NARUTO! NARUTO!"
Sasuke had come home only to hear crashes and screams emanating from upstairs. He'd run up the stairs two at a time and burst into Naruto's room, only to find it completely destroyed, with a screaming distraught Naruto breaking anything he came into contact with. He hadn't spent too much time wondering what to do. He'd quickly tackled the boy while calling out his name to get his attention.
Naruto had fought back hard, but Sasuke had finally managed to wrap his arms around the boy and pin him to his chest. He held him there in the tightest hold he could manage. Looking at Naruto, he wondered why the boy had suddenly gone off his rocker. They'd seemed to be making progress recently. Well not that Naruto's attitude towards him was any better, but at least the boy had started eating and taking an interest in life.
Naruto's eyes showed that amidst all the destruction, Naruto was far away, somewhere else. For some reason it scared Sasuke. He dropped his head against Naruto's, before calling out his name again in a loud and clear voice, while trying to keep any frantic tones out of it.
The glazed blue eyes came back to life, looking up at him for a few minutes, before filling up with tears. Pain threatened to carve Sasuke to bits as Naruto started to sob against his chest. Each painful, long drawn out sob, had Sasuke holding the boy closer. The dark haired man suddenly found comforting the blond boy easy, as he rubbed the others back and whispered soft soothing reassurances into his ear.
The sobbing quietened after a while, but Naruto didn't seem to want to let him go. They sat there in the darkening, devastated room for a long time, just holding each other. Finally Sasuke moved, realising that Naruto was feeling too insecure to let him leave, he helped the blond boy to his feet and slipped his hand into the tan one. Then he led the boy to his living room and lightly pushed him down into a chair. Wrapping a fleece throw around him, Sasuke headed to the kitchen to heat up some ramen for Naruto and a microwave curry meal for himself. He guessed neither of them was in the mood for any proper cooking.
They ate silently, sitting closer to each other than they ever had before. Naruto kept his focus firmly on each action he was performing. When he ate he just concentrated on chewing and swallowing. Somehow Sasuke's presence made him feel comfortable instead of angry. But Naruto's mind was too tired to think about that. He decided that one day without any hatred was okay. He didn't want to be alone at this very moment.
So when they finished, he washed and dried their forks and put them back in the drawer by the sink. He placed his hands on the counter and sighed. He'd have to take the couch tonight; his room was in such a mess that the bed wasn't usable. A light touch at his shoulder made him turn around to see Sasuke standing there, the usual calm expression on his face. He followed the dark haired man all the way back to his room.
"You can sleep here tonight." Sasuke gestured to the bed and then to the couch by the window on the left. "I'll take the couch over there."
The sleeping arrangements didn't really suit either of them. Naruto wanted company to keep the nightmares away; he wanted some good sleep for just one night. Sasuke was almost overwhelmed by this crazy desire to protect Naruto; it mirrored exactly what he felt all those years ago.
Sasuke stayed awake listening to Naruto breathe after the boy had finally drifted off to sleep. He'd never seen Naruto act the way he did today. It was almost like he'd been possessed. He slowly got to his feet and made his way to Naruto's room. He couldn't sleep anyway and he might as well put himself to use somewhere.
The boy's room resembled a military missile test site. Everything lay in pieces. Sasuke sighed and went to get the dust pan to clear up the glass. He also made sure to stop and put on a pair gloves and slippers. This was going to take a while.

Flashback/Dream:
When he opened his eyes he was in the car. His father was driving over the speed limit, looking scared and harried. He didn't know what all this was about, but from what he'd gleaned from the talk between his parents, it had something to do with Sasuke. They stopped at a big building and got out of the car. Naruto and his mother waited in the lobby while his father disappeared to talk to someone.
Naruto looked around at the building. He smiled when he thought that maybe one day he'd own a building as nice as this one. It was the perfect bustling company, people moving around busily. He watched as a man walked out the doors with interest. He looked the man up and down, it seemed like he was hurrying, as though he had some urgent work. He stopped suddenly and bent down by their car. It looked like he was tying his shoelace, but Naruto remembered that his shoelace had been tied...
"Naruto?"
He turned away from the man to look at his mother. "Hm?"
"We might get a chance to go to your Sasuke-nii's house." His mother fake smiled at him. Naruto could tell her fake smiles from her real ones easily now. After all he was thirteen now. He looked seriously at his mother.
"Is Sasuke-nii in any trouble?" He was worried. Even after the last time Sasuke had screamed at him for trying to contact him, Naruto couldn't erase his concern and love for his foster brother.
Mikoto looked uncertain. "I don't know. Fugaku heard that...well I don't believe Sasuke did it..."
Naruto frowned. "I don't believe Sasuke-nii would ever do anything bad! I heard you and father talking about stealing some documents...Sasu-nii would never..."
Mikoto hushed him quietly. "I don't believe it either. He's not a thief. He would have told me, if he had taken them..."
"Of course he would have told you if he had. But Sasuke-nii wouldn't STEAL anything!" Naruto sighed and fidgeted for a while. "Kaa-san...I'm so jealous of you. You get to talk to him everyday...you're the only one he talks to. He screamed at me when I tried to call him again."
"Aww, it's ok, Naru. Sasuke is going through a hard time right now. He's only seventeen…I know he's going to be eighteen in two months but eighteen isn't all that grown up and he's already in his third and final year at university. All teenagers go through this and he probably sees you as any older brother sees his younger brother. He loves you Naru, it'll be alright."
That was when their father came back. Naruto had never seen his father looking like that. Fugaku's face looked utterly defeated. He ignored Naruto and looked at his wife. "He did give them away..."
"Not Sasuke!" Mikoto's eyes were wide and denial shone through them clearly.
"He did. It's been scanned for finger prints. The bastard had the documents scanned just so he could prove it to me and rub it in my face. Sasuke gave him the documents...for a place at his goddamn university..." Fugaku grabbed Mikoto's arm and led her out, gesturing for Naruto to follow. "Apparently they'd denied him a place because of his age, genius or not, so he did it so he could have a place at the university."
Mikoto slumped in her seat as soon as they got into the car. "This is dangerous. I don't think Sasuke knew what they were, we should talk to him."
"I'm sure he didn't know. But let's head over to his dorm and then see what we can do from there..." Fugaku started the car. Silence reigned over everyone for a while. They were in what looked like the countryside. Fugaku was just about keeping to the speed limit. The phone began to ring. Naruto watched his father pick up. After a few seconds his expression changed. He dropped the phone. "Mikoto, get the boy out of here, now!"
It would have only taken a few seconds, but to Naruto, the details from here on were slow and perfectly clear. His mother snapped open her seat belt and reached over to him. She frantically unclipped his seat belt, opened the door and shoved him out. Naruto hit the sidewalk hard and rolled. He came up to hear a short crack and the car swerved out of control. He saw his mother get thrown out of the windshield, sailing across the air and hitting the sidewalk hard. The car hit the end of a small bridge and began to roll. Then it rested on the green grass for a moment before bursting into flames. Naruto watched the whole thing in slow motion. Then he limped over to his mother; her head was resting at a weird angle, blank eyes staring into the distance. Then reality came crashing down on him as the few people on the road started to gather...

"AAAAAAAAAAH!"
He sat up in bed, air being sucked into his lungs in short gasping breaths and half-sobs. His eyes blurred, it seemed like his tears glands always stood at attention these days, ready to let forth a flood at every given opportunity. A shape materialized at his doorway and he blinked to get a better look. It was Sasuke; for some reason the dark haired man had yellow cleaning gloves on his hands.
Sasuke's face softened and in two wide steps the man had come to the bed and sat down beside Naruto. Two strong arms came around the boy, pulling him close and holding him tight. It seemed Sasuke's reservations about getting close to him had disappeared with their last encounter.
Inside, Naruto struggled. One part of him wanting to push the man away, all the scenes in his nightmare coming back with clarity...but another part of him wanted to sink into this embrace again. He chose the latter. Not because of his revenge plan or anything, just because he needed it. Sasuke was making him feel protected again.
This time tears made their way down on their own, though he fought to keep them back. They wet Sasuke's shirt, though the boy didn't make a sound. Naruto's mind kept going over the memory nightmare again. It would never leave him. They'd saved him. He knew what had happened; after all he'd met that man in the hospital. He'd explained everything. He'd explained how he hadn't known that his precious Naruto was in the car, how he'd gotten someone to tape a small explosive to the brake wires of the car. How he'd take care of Naruto, now that Fugaku and Mikoto were out of the way. How he'd never have been able to do this if Sasuke hadn't given him the documents.
Naruto stopped at that point. Going there right now was not a good thing. Instead he pulled back from Sasuke's hug and looked at him a little pleadingly. "Stay?" that was all he could get out without his pride being pummelled anymore.
Sasuke looked a little surprised but nodded. He worked the gloves off his hands and then went to fetch his pillow from the couch. He lay down next to the blond, firmly putting his back against the blond's back; comfort without the cuddling. Sleep came for them both a while later, smothering them in her embrace and Comfort followed to tuck them in.

Sasuke looked at his watch and frowned. He'd been calling for Naruto for the last five minutes, but the boy was yet to appear. They'd be late to his school at this rate. Sasuke paced the living room, irritation shadowing him. It would take fifteen minutes to get to Konoha High; but Naruto didn't seem to be hurrying. Sasuke swore; he didn't want to drive in a hurry through the jam packed streets of Central Konoha, and everybody would be heading for West Konoha since the road to the school also connected to two of the major business parks.
Naruto had gone back to his original attitude even after that night a week ago; but he was just a tad less frigid. Sometimes a sudden camaraderie would surface and he'd make jokes and smile. Sasuke sighed. He breathed in to call for the blond one more time, when he appeared. The breath Sasuke had taken caught and held rather painfully.
The blond looked fine. No not fine in the 'I'm fine way' but fine in a 'damn hot' way. The black uniform slacks hung off the well formed hips, outlining his tight ass rather sexily. The shirt was a deep red; a deep red tie with thin navy blue diagonal stripes hanging off an open collar. The black blazer fitted perfectly showing off the broadening shoulders, giving the blond a rather neatly dishevelled appearance. The blond hair was also perfectly mussed, the golden spikes falling about his face and the blue eyes glinted with life and excitement. The boy's wrists though, had black wrist bands to cover his scars.
Sasuke finally realised he was suffocating himself and silently took a deep breath. The blue eyes locked with his and a touch of nervousness appeared in them. One single word voiced the emotion.
"Okay?"
Sasuke nodded and kept his voice nonchalant. "You look fine. Can we leave now?"
The blond nodded and went out the door, leaving Sasuke to lock up. Sasuke shut the door and turned to follow the blond. To his annoyance, just before they reached the car, he realised that his eyes kept coming back to Naruto. He expelled an angry hiss before sliding into his car, wondering if it was alright to send Naruto to school looking this good. God, this was his foster brother. Sasuke shook his head in irritation. He stubbornly kept his eyes on the road and tried to strangle the thoughts of all the people who would hit on his little brother.
Naruto was only feeling a little nervous. After everything he'd been through, school couldn't faze him. He looked out the window at all the passing buildings, wondering what his first day would be like. He glanced at Sasuke and saw the man scowling a little, eyes firmly fixed on the road. He noted that Sasuke looked good, as always.
A crisp striped green and white shirt with khaki pants hugged his frame like a lover. Naruto eyed the shirt in wonder, Sasuke usually preferred blues, reds, blacks and whites. This green shirt actually looked great on him. He suddenly realised his gaze was making Sasuke uncomfortable, if the tiny signs were anything to go by, so he upped the strength of his gaze and amused himself.
Sasuke finally looked at him, though it was fleeting. "I do wear other colours once in a while." He said, correctly guessing the object of Naruto's attention. He tried changing the subject. "You do have enough money for lunch don't you?"
Naruto nodded. "Yes, this is the fourth time you're asking me, mom..."
Sasuke scowled at the road ahead, thanking God for the Nth time, for not giving him super powers. He would have blasted the little monkey in the seat next to him to smithereens. He sighed in relief as they finally drove up to the school parking lot.
Naruto frowned when Sasuke got out with him. The brunet saw the look and sighed. "Look I'm supposed to go show my face, show them that I am here for you and will attend anything that they might contact me for and all that. It would be inexcusable for me to leave you to go to school on your first day without meeting your principal with you."
Naruto grimaced at this, but waited for the man anyway. He supposed he should be happy that Sasuke didn't care much for this whole meet the principal thing either. He opted to look around.
They walked through the first garden. Naruto liked it, the school was a red brick building but with lots of open spaces. The whole building was built around a bunch of gardens and the playing fields stretched out behind it. The way to the principal's office was through a long lonely winding path through one of the gardens, it gave you small glimpses through parts of the wall where the bricks were thin and hollow making a sort of brick mesh. So Naruto could soak in the school's atmosphere somewhat before being thrown into the mix.
They reached the reception, a large airy room painted a nice cream, with a few couches for people to wait. Sasuke and Naruto were ushered in to meet Principal Tsunade. The men gaped. When Itachi, who had taken care of finding and entering Naruto into the school, had told Sasuke he was in for a 'surprise' with the principal, little did the man imagine this.
They were bazookas. The woman was tall and beautiful. She didn't look a day older than twenty and her boobs...were bazookas. Sasuke idly wondered if they could be used as weapons, his head tilted as he examined that possibility. A sudden pain in his foot accompanied by a blue glare brought him back and he almost blurted what he'd been thinking to the younger boy.
A throat cleared and the pretty pink lips parted in a smile, bringing their attention to her face. "I'm Principal Tsunade. You must be Naruto and Sasuke. Welcome to Konoha High. I'll just run through a quick introductory talk."
The talk didn't last too long. The woman just gave a short explanation as to the school rules, what she expected from Sasuke, what she expected from Naruto and then sent them both out with a clipped dismissal. The two men walked to the reception and Naruto collected his timetable and other documents. They stepped out and looked at each other.
Sasuke gave a short Uchiha nod. "Have fun, I'll pick you up at five."
Naruto nodded and made his way up the path to a door. Principal Tsunade had said Nara would be waiting for him there. He opened it and walked through to find the genius leaning against a wall, eyes closed. He looked the same.
Tanned, short straight pony tail which stood up over his head and two silver earrings. The uniform which became Naruto so well, gave Nara a tall, lean and uncharacteristic sexiness.
The small black eyes opened lazily. "Yo..."
Naruto gave him a short smile. "It's good to see you again. It's been a really long time."
"That it has. Follow me; we're already a little late..."
The hallways were large and airy, with medium sized potted plants placed by the walls at strategic points. From what Naruto could see the classrooms were also really large, giving a sort of 'free' effect. Shikamaru stopped at class 12A. The students who were sitting with their heads down, reading their textbooks looked up as the two entered. Naruto suddenly realised he recognised the teacher behind the desk. Iruka-sensei had been his teacher when he'd been in middle school; bit had transferred out before his last year there. The man smiled warmly.
"Naruto-kun! It's great to see you again!" Iruka patted his shoulder before turning to the rest of the class. "Class this is Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto, he'll be joining you for this last year, please take care of him."
Naruto bowed shortly, noticing how whispers had begun to sound from every single desk in the classroom. He looked up again to meet pretty light green eyes which lit up in a smile.
"Naruto!"
"Sakura-chan?" Naruto couldn't believe his eyes or the sudden gladness that spread through him. Sakura had been his best friend ever since first grade and then up to middle school. She'd transferred out to Kumo when they were in middle school. They'd kept in touch for a long time, but then he'd stopped contacting her when the accident happened. Naruto hadn't even known she'd returned.
Iruka grinned at him. "Why don't you take the desk next to Sakura, then? You seem like old friends."
The whispers had gained intensity and Naruto's barely sat down at his desk when a girl behind Sakura, with long brown hair leaned forward. "I'm Kaori. It's really nice to meet you, Naruto-kun…" She said his name flirtily.
It only fazed him for a second. He ran his fingers through his hair and gave her an easy smile, his eyes raking over her well proportioned figure before placing his face a tad bit closer to hers. "Very nice to meet you too…"
He had the effect he'd expected as the girl flushed a little, her eyes lighting up in 'flirt-mode', just as the old pervert had told him they would. When he was in his old school, back when he was fourteen, a year after his parents passed away, he'd bumped into the 'pervert'. The old man had seen him moping around by the river and had somehow wheedled his way into Naruto's life. He had claimed that Naruto was going to be his best pupil and had imparted some 'wisdom' about women then and there. Later Naruto had found out that the man had been a friend of his blood-father and their friendship had progressed.
This was the first time the blond was putting into practice what he had learnt. He had heard a lot about how 'letting go' and 'just living' would help from his therapist and though some part of him argued that this was not what it had meant, he just went ahead with it. By the end of the class, Kaori was all but drooling over him, while the rest of the women were crowding around trying to get his attention.
Sakura frowned a little and grabbed his arm, leading him outside to his next class. "You've changed a lot…"
Naruto tried a charming grin on her. "You think so? You wanna find out how much I've changed?" his raised his eyebrows.
She slapped his shoulder. "No I don't. We were best friends, Naruto…I won't fall for your tricks and you know it…"
The smile left his face, giving way to a slightly broody expression, which turn changed to relief. When he turned to smile at her again, it was a genuine. "I'm sorry we lost touch. We have a lot of catching up to do…"
She smiled back at him. "Yes we do…"
So Sakura was left out his plans of debauchery. Though she tried again and again to stop him, his playboy attitude continued, until one day a month after he joined Konoha High, it paid off…
"Naruto-kun!"
Naruto turned lazily, a bored expression on his features. He cut a handsome figure, his left hand holding a bag over his shoulder, while his right found purchase on the wall. "Hm?"
It was Kaori, her long brown hair left open, hanging like a curtain over her shoulders and her hands stretched out to him holding an envelope. "I…Please go out with me…"
The blue eyes studied her for a moment, expressionlessly. Naruto's tone was light, casual. "Gomen Kaori-chan, I don't do relationships…" He paused a moment, give her a quick look from top to bottom. "I'm a bit of a commitment-phobe, you might say…"
Kaori looked up at him wide-eyed. "But…but you…we've been flirting all this time…I thought you liked me…"
Naruto sighed, now leaning against the wall, looking sympathetic in a rather cold way. "I do like you, Kaori…but I don't want a relationship…if you get what I mean…"
"I'd still like to be with you…"
Naruto grimaced a little at that. Then he turned to her fully, serious. "No, I mean it. I'll be blunt here, for me it would be a onetime thing. You don't know me, anything about me! You can't change me. I won't reform or suddenly fall for you or anything of the sort…"
Kaori was silent seeming to consider it. Then she bit her lip. "That's ok…" She missed the slight look of disgust that flitted through those very blue eyes.
Naruto exhaled and made up his mind. It wasn't like he had anything loose. "Fine." He gave her a sexy grin and held out his hand. His screaming conscience was tucked away into a box and thrown away as she took it. He had a year…he might as well enjoy it.
Kaori was just the first in a long line of people who were willing to just have his body. For Naruto, it was sex…and which hormonal teenage boy would turn down sex?

Sasuke nodded to everything that was being said as he went through the designs on his desk. The Yamanaka's finished talking and leaned back in their chairs, watching Sasuke concentrate on the plans, his eyes scanning them speedily before he replaced them on the desk. He picked up a pencil, his hand blurring as he made quick changes to the designs, explaining as he drew. Then he smiled. "I think this would work better, it gives you what you want, while making your employees feel like you care about them too."
Yamanaka Inoichi let a small smile ease the stern lines of his face. Uchiha Sasuke was brilliant, which was why he, Inoichi, had sacked the old architect and come to him. The plans also made his new building look sleeker, while the changes were much more cost efficient. "I love it. Let's meet at the site day after tomorrow and meet the masons and contractors. I'm glad I listened to my daughter…"
His beautiful blond daughter smiled. "Sasuke is the best in the city, Daddy. We should have come to him sooner…"
Inoichi agreed with his daughter and shook Sasuke's hand with a firm grip. He looked at the watch before he made his excuses and made for the door. Ino called after him, saying she would be down in ten minutes. Then she turned to Sasuke and shot him a triumphant look, her fingers trailing the hair that hung over her shoulder. "So are you pleased? Am I to be rewarded?"
Sasuke grinned at her and threw himself into his seat making it creak and roll backwards a little. He placed his right arm on the desk and pulled himself closer to it. "Another million dollar deal! Ino, if we hadn't broken up and made peace two years ago, this would have made me propose."
Ino shook her head and smiled without regret. "I'm taken…Neji is far better looking and well mannered. It's also a part of why daddy trusted you…because my fiancé is your partner. Now, I have more good news for you."
Sasuke shook his head in wonder raising his eyebrows in expectation. "More good news?"
"Well, Neji said he was fine with me accompanying you to the Hatake gala. He's going to be out of town so you won't have to go looking for some toy to hang off your arm and make you look respectable. Our engagement is a secret, so there will be no talk or gossip, save for the usual." Ino's pale blue eyes twinkled merrily. "Happy?"
"Ecstatic!" Sasuke did feel content. Ino and Neji were his closest friends apart from Kiba. When things with Kiba hit rock bottom and he'd ended, these two had helped him get through the brunet's rants and accusations. He and Ino had dated briefly and then broken it off when they realised how utterly unsuited they were to each other. "You have to go now?"
Ino sighed prettily and stood. "Yes. I'm off to some other meeting with daddy. He wants me to take over soon…" Then she stopped at the door. "Sasuke…I know we haven't talked in a long while, since I just got back from Wave country. I met Kiba recently. He's engaged to Hinata…their wedding is next week. Did you know?"
For a moment Sasuke froze. No he hadn't known. While, Kiba had told him that he was going to make his move on someone…he had had no idea it would be Neji's cousin. The same Hinata they'd fought about once or twice. He looked out the window. "No…"
Ino exhaled a little loudly. "Well, now you do. When I spoke to him he told me Naruto-kun was living with you…"
Sasuke nodded. "I got custody."
Ino was silent for a long while. Then she turned to meet his eyes. "Sasuke…" She faltered, her fingers tightening and loosening on the door, then continued. "Sasuke, this time, you have to handle it better. I also heard that Haruno Sakura was back too. Are you sure you'll be okay? That he'll be okay?"
Sasuke's eyes flashed with a suppressed anger, before he smoothed his face out. "I'm 22. I think I'm old enough to keep a lid on myself and not repeat the mistakes of the past." He regretted telling those three why he'd cut it off with Naruto. Well he hadn't told them why exactly, just that it had to do with Sakura too.
Ino nodded sombrely. "Kiba also mentioned that he was suspicious of your feelings towards…"
Sasuke slammed his hands on the table with a crash. The desk vibrated with his anger, a sheaf of papers sliding of it. "Kiba should learn to leave well enough alone! Don't you dare say it. I denied it before and I'm telling you that he's wrong again! Do you get it? Or are you going to choose to believe the mutt over me?"
Ino bit her lip in resignation. "Look, I just want you to be alright. Naruto-kun too. I'm sorry, I'll talk to you later…" She walked out and shut the door softly behind her leaving Sasuke fuming.
The dark haired man sat down hard and turned his chair to gaze out the window. Millions of people milled around like ants under the afternoon sun. He sighed and took in the view trying to be calmer. It had been a little more than a month since Naruto had gotten back to school. Sasuke had stopped picking him up and had given him a set of keys after consulting his therapist, so they both could have some privacy. He just had to be back by six for another month and then the therapist had said to give him some more freedom. His thoughts shifted to the time Naruto had come home for a project last week, he'd brought her. Sakura Haruno…Sasuke intensely disliked her.

-Flashback-
Sasuke sat on the bench idly, his legs curled up next to him and his head resting on the board behind him. Naruto was making his debut in this new park, where he'd said all his classmates came to play. Sasuke had been towed along as 'piggy-back-chauffer', chaperone and ATM for Naruto's victual needs. He was bored out of his life. After he'd been dragged around to be shown off as the all-rounder in Naruto care, the little boy had deposited him on the bench and pushed off to play.
Sasuke opened one eye and saw that Naruto was talking to one pink haired little girl and a tubby little boy. Then he closed his eyes and went back to his zoned out state, which he hoped would protect him from the little kid cooties. He hoped that his pretence of sleep would induce Naruto to leave him alone, but it was not to be. After a while there were some soft touches that got heavier as a small body scrambled up his and then two small hands patted his cheeks.
"Sasu-nii?"
Sasuke opened his eyes and regarded the blue eyed bundle currently standing on his lap. Naruto grinned at him and promptly sat down on his lap. Then he leaned to the side, the bones in his scrawny butt digging into Sasuke's soft thighs painfully, while he patted the bench next to them and hauled the pink haired child onto it.
Then he beamed up at Sasuke and said the words that could still bring a boiling rage churning inside Sasuke till date. "Sasu-nii…this is Haruno Sakura. Sakura-chan has agreed to let me marry her when I grow up."
It was a baby-introduction. Just some nonsense that all seven-year-olds who have watched too much TV spewed. But all Sasuke felt was a sudden dismal ache in his being, a hole, which, for the time being, slowly filled up with a mild hatred for the little girl who was nodding and adding to Naruto's talk of their wedding cake and how he'd eat it all.
It should have stopped at that really. Later, when Sasuke was grown up, he'd tell himself it was all childish jealousy. But it is rightly said that childhood emotions can spark a grown up war. With Haruno Sakura began the path of destruction that would sow bitterness in its path.
Naruto spent all his time at school with his new friends. She tagged along when he came to visit Sasuke. She came to all his parties, she visited their house; she took away more time with Naruto than he was willing to share. So Sasuke began competing. The competition began as a need for Sasuke to retain his foster brother's affection; an affection that had been given to him with no strings attached that warmed him in his world of pressure. It went on for a whole year, his replies to Sakura becoming sharper and sharper, his attitude towards her worsening, until even his friends began to notice it.
Naruto, of course, remained completely oblivious to the whole thing. He was never shown Sasuke's dislike of Sakura openly and no matter how much the little girl complained, he just didn't believe that Sasu-nii could be mean. He still proclaimed his love for Sasuke and his crush on Sakura in the same breath, making Sasuke want to strangle the girl. Then finally when Sasuke was thirteen, it culminated in the blow that would get Sasuke to stop and let go.
Ever since this whole vendetta against Sakura, Sasuke's school work had been steadily slipping. Though when Sasuke's work slipped, it only slipped to an A from the usual Distinction. He had been put in the 11th grade at the start of the new school year and the work was extremely difficult, even for him. He should have been able to keep up his scores, but he was more interested in keeping Naruto to himself. No one had even loved him for himself the way Naruto had. Sasuke missed that. He missed someone who had no expectations of him.
The fateful evening, Sasuke got taken aside by his teachers. They wanted to know if everything was okay. The boy kept spacing out, submitting his assignments late and his grades had dropped. They were worried the workload was too much and that they might have to send him back to the 10th grade. Sasuke was scared and worried. Things had been going good with his father and he didn't want his teachers talking to his parents, though he knew at this point that it was moot. He didn't want to go home alone and face his parents by himself.
So Sasuke made his way to Naruto's part of the school. Naruto's school had just ended, so the blond was found in the field with his friends has usual. Sasuke beckoned him over. Sasuke smiled as Naruto ran over at once. Usually the blond walked home with his friends after playing in the field for another hour, since they all lived close-by and it was relatively safe.
"Naru…I was wondering if you wanted to walk home together?" Sasuke tried to keep the tension out of his voice. It wasn't that his father would hurt him; it was just that disappointment he would see in those eyes. He just wanted Naruto nearby so he wouldn't feel as pathetic.
"Is something wrong, Sasu-nii?"
Sasuke shifted a little, knowing that those blue eyes could see through him. Naruto knew him too well. "I think my teacher's going to call Otou-san…I…I haven't been doing too well…"
Naruto's eyes went wide. "Of course, I'll come with you." He puffed up with a childish pride. "Otou-san won't be mad if I explain everything!" The sentence should have made Sasuke mad, but it only stung a little.
Sasuke smiled at him, full of affection and love. He knew Naruto would always be there for him. "Get your bags…let's go." Naruto nodded and ran to scoop up his bags. He was about to join Sasuke, when a voice called out to him.
"Naruto! Where are you going? It's my birthday and you promised you'd come home!" Sakura was standing a few feet behind the blond.
Naruto's eyes widened. He swallowed looking back and forth between them. Sakura's birthday was special, but Sasuke really needed him. Then he saw Sasuke's eyes soften.
The dark haired boy shook his head. "It's okay, go ahead. It's her birthday…" As much as Sasuke hated Sakura, he knew Naruto would guilt trip himself if he didn't go, later.
The blond looked at him torn. "Sasu-nii, I'll quickly go and then meet you in an hour by the river? We can walk home together and then talk to Otou-san. So we'll meet at 5?"
Sasuke felt a surge of joy that Naruto actually thought it important enough to cut short his party. He nodded and watched the blond run off with the pink haired girl, before making his way to the river. One hour wasn't too long to wait and he was sure he would bide that time someone.
Sometimes things can go cosmically wrong. When Sasuke opened his eyes, the sky was dark and full of stars. He had dozed off while he waited, he supposed. Then he paused. Wait, what's the time? A glance at his watch told him it was 8. It took him a little time to realise that three hours had passed and Naruto hadn't shown up. He checked his phone and while there were plenty of missed calls from his family, Naruto's number or Sakura's home number wasn't among them. Something sank very slowly to the bottom of his stomach. He picked up his bag and made his way down the road towards his home.
As he got in, Mikoto caught him up in a hug. "Where were you? We were so worried…School let out four hours ago, Sasuke!"
"I thought I'd sit by the river a while, I fell asleep…where's Naruto?" Sasuke's voice was deadpan.
"He's still at the Haruno's. They insisted he stay for dinner, Sakura's mother called. Itachi's going to pick him up on his way back from college. Your brother's coming home for a while you know." Mikoto looked at Sasuke's blank face, but she knew him too well. She put an arm around him. "Sasuke, I don't know what's really bothering you but everything will be okay."
They walked to the dining room. Fugaku sat alone at the table. They had waited for him to come home for dinner. The three of them ate quietly making small talk. After dinner, Sasuke followed Fugaku to the study, suddenly aware that he was alone, even Itachi wasn't here. Just his mother waiting outside.
Fugaku took an arm chair and sat down, beckoning Sasuke to sit on the sofa. Once they were both settled he turned to look at his son. "I had a phone call from your teacher today…she said you were a little distant in class. Is everything okay, Sasuke?"
Sasuke looked into his father's eyes and mistook the concern brimming there for disappointment. "No everything's fine. The coursework is a little challenging, I'm getting there, don't worry."
Fugaku just got more worried. He wished there was someone way to turn Sasuke's brain off sometimes. The boy got flustered every time he tried to talk to him. Fugaku sighed and tried again. "It's ok if it's tough, son. I just want to know if you're sure about this…it wouldn't be such a bad thing, if you went back to your old grade…"
Sasuke blanched at the thought. He panicked a little, nervousness and guilt tearing at him. "No, Otou-san, I'm fine. I'll do well. I promise…I won't get distracted…"
Fugaku gave up. Sasuke always panicked when it was about school. Once that happened, nothing Fugaku said would get through and everything would be read as disappointment. If this went on, the boy would break under the pressure. He made his face blank and gave Sasuke, what he thought his son wanted. "Well son, you've always done me proud. If you think you can manage, then I'm sure you'll do fine. Don't disappoint me…I'll hand you the company one day…"
He nodded at his father. "I won't." But somehow, today, it seemed a farce. Only the disappointment bit at him. He had disappointed his father. Naruto had stood him up and chosen Sakura. The two most important people in his short life had just shown him how valued he was and he ached inside because he believed he didn't really mean anything. His mother hugged him close at the foot of the stairs to his room.
"I love you son. Just do what you want, think is right and be happy…"
He nodded, but couldn't lift his spirits. He left his room dark as he changed, managing with the light from the street lamp outside. Then he snuggled under the blankets and tried to sleep. This time, sleep was far away. It seemed like half hour later, when the door opened and someone walked in. A few minutes later the bed covers were pushed back and someone slid in next to him. Two arms wound around him and he was hugged.
"Sasu-nii, I'm sorry. Sakura's mom made us all leave our phones behind. Then she forced me to stay to dinner…I'm really sorry." Naruto tried to turn the older boy over.
Sasuke stayed where he was. He asked the only question he could think of. "Why couldn't you tell her you had to make a phone call? One phone call…"
He felt Naruto shift and felt the blond's head drop down. "I was worried for a bit and then…" Naruto had been brought up to be truthful. "Well we began playing games and then…I'm sorry, I forgot. When I remembered, it was already 6.30 and I thought you'd have gone home."
Sasuke had too much pride to tell the boy that he'd waited for much longer than that. He grunted, but stayed where he was. It took Naruto another ten minutes of pleading and apologising to get Sasuke to turn around. The moment he'd turned around, Naruto had burrowed into his arms and snuggled close, murmuring apologies.
Sasuke had forgiven him as always and the boys lay together, until Naruto fell asleep. Sasuke, filled with hurt and betrayal, looked down at the sleeping form. He took in those small perfect lips and suddenly felt how perfectly Naruto fit in his arms. Realisation crashed down on him like a boulder. He wasn't just dependant on Naruto. It wasn't just understanding he wanted…
Puberty had begun a year back. The feelings that came with it had set on Naruto in midst of his competition with Sakura. Sasuke knew now…it wasn't even just attraction; it was purer than that. He wanted to protect the little boy, see him smile, make him happy and he'd do anything to make Naruto happy. He could fall in love with this bundle of sunshine. Sasuke stiffened. My god, he's my little brother…not related by blood but still…Sasuke was scared out of his wits. Then came the fact that Naruto had forgotten about him. The whole two years that Sasuke had known the boy, he'd never forgotten about Naruto. Not once. He felt like he was the weak one. Like he was pathetic for caring so much about Naruto, when that care wasn't returned. He slipped a little away from Naruto…and then fell headlong into the Uchiha habit of denial.
He padded to the bathroom and washed his face. Then he looked at himself in mirror. "You don't love him. You're just getting too dependent on him…" Sasuke inhaled deeply, before exhaling with the same slow speed. "Cut him off…you don't need him. You don't need this…"
He thought about his father's disappointment, Naruto forgetting about him, all his teachers, his classmates and he made up his mind. He was going to start living for himself. For Sasuke. He was going to excel because he wanted it, he was going to work towards becoming an architect and he was going to get into the best university on scholarship by himself. For himself. Stepping out he slipped out to Naruto's room and got into the bed there. He was done with this.
-Flashback End-

Sasuke drove into the parking lot and pulled into his spot. He turned off the music player and checked that all the windows were closed. As he got out, he wondered whether they should get take out or not. Sasuke was feeling a little tired, since he'd had to work at home as well yesterday, which had resulted in an all-nighter, which was why he'd come home much earlier than usual. He whistled softly and headed towards the elevator. Inside he leaned against the cool metal and kept his thoughts on mundane things like what he'd like to eat, his favourite music, some gossip that his secretary had blessed him with and such like.
The elevator doors pinged open and Sasuke made his way to his door, unlocking it. He saw no one in the living room and assumed that Naruto was upstairs in his room. Sasuke shut the door and began walking up the stairs, in the corridor at the top he bumped into someone, almost falling back down the stairs.
A soft gasp sounded and Sasuke caught the person to steady them. He found himself looking at a school girl with short dark hair. Her clothes were mussed and half buttoned, her hair messed up and her hand was curled around a pair of panties. It took a few minutes to register the whole thing and then Sasuke saw red. He shoved the girl aside and took big strides towards his foster brother's room. The sight made him stop.
Naruto has his eyes closed has he lay in the crumpled bedding. The tan, gold and gorgeous body was stretched out on the sheets, glistening with sweat and a sliver of the white bed sheet was all that protected his modesty. The room smelt of musk and sex. Sasuke could not stop his eyes from dragging up the lean lines of the beautiful torso in front of him. Then he realised exactly why Naruto looked like this and the rage churned his guts even more.
In the meanwhile, Naruto was in his bed. He was feeling sort of sated, the sex hadn't been that great. He heard the sound of feet and the door slammed. He groaned, the girl could have left quietly, just in case the people living downstairs complained to Sasuke. He stretched and decided he should clean up before the bastard got home. He opened his eyes only to have them focus on Sasuke, the man's dark eyes snapping in unadulterated fury in his too pale face.

A/N: Please review and let me know what you think about the plot and characters. I love reading your views and hearing your advise, which I might take if it agrees with the plot. I love you all for your love and support!
Thank you!
Taka
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Gray Areas