Disclaimer: Naruto and all associated characters and place names belong to Kishimoto Masashi-sama. I am simply borrowing them for my own twisted fantasies.
A/N: If you are reading this, thank you for your interest in my fanfiction! This is by no means my first fanfiction, but it is my first Naruto fic and my first yaoi, so it practically is my first! I'm really nervous about this, since I've never written yaoi before. It's not going to get really good for a few chapters, but I like to set things up nicely before starting any romance. Comments, criticism and suggestions are greatly appreciated!
Split
Prologue
"Dude, this party is awesome!" a brunet yelled across the room, clutching a cup of rum and Coke in his right hand. He swayed slightly as he tried to cross the room, picking his way through a throng of people blocking his path. The red triangular tattoos on his cheeks were almost completely overpowered by his drunken flush. Inuzuka Kiba finally made it across the room, only to turn around as he heard a loud cheer from the center of the crowd—apparently, the party's hostess had decided to get on top of a table and do a striptease. "Haha, I bet Lee's gonna be pissed when he finds out about tonight!" he roared in amusement.
"Why are we even at this troublesome party?" Kiba's friend Nara Shikamaru asked from the couch along the wall, near the spot where Kiba had braced his weight in an effort to make the room stop spinning. Next to him, his girlfriend Sabaku Temari had passed out and was leaning against his shoulder, snoring lightly. Shikamaru had one arm wrapped around her shoulders protectively.
"You know Naruto can't resist Sakura. She's got him wrapped around her little finger," Kiba replied, slurring his words slightly. He was about to continue, but stopped when he noticed a head of spiked blond hair approaching him. "Speak of the devil, here he is now! How's the party, Naruto?"
Uzumaki Naruto shot a wry look over his shoulder at the table where Haruno Sakura and her best friend Yamanaka Ino were now doing a very interesting sort of bump-n-grind, both of them half-naked and holding bottles of beer as they giggled madly. "Despite the fact that the sight of two girls grinding each other like that is really hot, this party is pretty much a waste of time. You guys ready to go?"
"I've been ready for the past two hours," Shikamaru replied dully, despite having to practically scream to be heard over the music.
"Aww, Kyuubi-kun, the party's just heating up! All the 'cool' people just got here." Naruto groaned at Kiba's nickname for him—ever since their class had studied the folklore of the tailed beasts in Literature class, Kiba had been using the name of the nine-tailed demon fox for Naruto. It was all because of his whisker-like birthmarks, and the fact that he had taken on vulpine features as he'd grown from a slightly chubby, baby-faced child into a slim, yet muscular adult—narrow, slanted eyes with a glint of mischief shining in the ocean-blue irises; a thin, straight nose; a foxy grin set with straight, white teeth.
"Is that so?" Naruto asked. "Name one person that's cooler than me."
Kiba had opened his mouth to reply when a voice from behind Naruto said, "Dobe, when will you learn?" Naruto turned around to see obsidian eyes set in a porcelain-perfect face, shaded by bangs of midnight tinged with blue. "You know that I am so much cooler than you."
"Teme!" Naruto cried, glaring daggers at the pale-skinned boy. "Who do you think you are?" Uchiha Sasuke merely smirked at him.
"Obviously, I'm not only cooler than you, but smarter as well. I heard you only barely passed the latest batch of exams. How did you even get into university?" Sasuke asked smugly.
"Why you…you…teme!"
"I think you already said that, usuratonkachi." Sasuke patted Naruto's head with a chuckle before turning and walking away.
Naruto clenched his fists and teeth, seeing red. He let out a growl and stalked over to the couch where Shikamaru and Temari were still seated, plopping down on the free end with a huff. "That guy gets on my nerves so much! He thinks he's the greatest thing to step foot on this earth."
"Well, he is one of the most popular guys in school…even if he doesn't seem to like anyone," Kiba pointed out.
"It's all so troublesome. Why do you even let yourself get worked up over Uchiha?" Shikamaru asked Naruto.
"I don't know. It's just always been like this. He says something rude, I get worked up, and he humiliates me."
"Well, if you would just let it slide, not let it get to you; then he wouldn't have a reason to humiliate you."
Naruto glared at Shikamaru. "Don't you think I've tried that before? It doesn't work. He knows exactly how to get me riled up, no matter how hard I try and keep my cool."
"So avoid him altogether."
"I've tried that too. It's like…I dunno, it's like he's got this 'Naruto Detector' and can find me no matter where I try to go to avoid him. And I know that I'm the only one he torments like this. It's like I'm his own personal punching bag, but I don't know what I did to make him act this way toward me."
"It's the fact that you exist, Naruto. Don't you know that?" Naruto looked up at the intruding voice to see Sakura and Ino standing in front of him. "Sasuke-kun hates you because you exist. Get that through your head." Sakura reached out to poke Naruto's forehead, but missed her aim and ended up falling forward into Naruto's lap, giggling madly. "Now, me on the other hand…I hate you because you won't fucking leave me alone," she slurred. She leaned forward and sloppily kissed him on the lips, breath reeking of vodka and beer. "There, now you've got a kiss, so you can leave me alone for the rest of your life."
Sakura's words twisted in Naruto's heart like a jagged knife. In a fit of anger, he pushed the cherry blossom-haired girl off him and stormed out of the house. Kiba and Shikamaru gave each other a glance before Kiba started to follow the blond, while Shikamaru picked up Temari and placed her gently on his back, carrying her out of the house. When Shikamaru got outside, he saw Kiba with his hands on Naruto's shoulders, trying to calm down their friend. "Dude, it's not worth it. She was drunk; she didn't know what the hell she was saying."
"Drunken people can't lie very well, can they?" Naruto asked, his voice deathly calm. "I'm leaving." Naruto pulled his keys out of his pocket and turned around, walking toward his car.
"Wait!" Kiba ran after him, slipping slightly on the dewy grass of the Haruno's lawn. "You're all worked up. Let me drive."
"I haven't had anything to drink tonight, Kiba; I'll be fine driving." Naruto looked up at Shikamaru. "You taking her home?"
Shikamaru nodded. "She drove here, so I'll take her in her car and spend the night there. She's gonna need someone in case she throws up, and I don't trust either of her brothers to take care of her. They're too troublesome."
Naruto nodded. He didn't want to admit it, but the man was surprisingly tender and loving to Temari, whom he called 'troublesome' at least ten times a day. He watched as Shikamaru dug Temari's keys from her purse and carried her over to the Jeep she drove before getting into his own car, a bright orange station wagon that was older than he was. Kiba got into the passenger's seat as Naruto attempted to start the car. On the third try, the engine finally turned over and Naruto backed out of his parallel parking spot along the road, following the route toward the highway.
Naruto pulled out onto the main road, somewhat surprised by the amount of traffic still on the road; it was already near midnight, but it was a Friday, so it at least made sense. Naruto cruised in the fast lane, half-listening to some song that Kiba had tuned into on the radio. He was absorbed in his thoughts about what Sakura had said to him, so much so that he didn't even notice that the oncoming headlights had crossed the median until they were right in front of him. He slammed on his brakes, but the other car didn't slow down at all—there was a squeal of tires—the breaking of glass, the crunch of folding steel—and then all Naruto knew was blackness.
A/N: That's it for now! I'm already in the process of writing Chapter One, but there won't be any hardcore SasuNaru-ness for a few chapters, as I've already explained.
Here's a preview of the next chapter!
Sasuke stormed into Konoha University Medical Center, walking up to a pretty blonde receptionist who sat at an information desk directly across from the sliding doors that Sasuke had just stepped through. the blonde looked up at Sasuke, finding herself momentarily unable to breathe as she caught a glimpse of obsidian eyes.
"Uzumaki Naruto," Sasuke practically growled, his bangs falling to shade the upper half of his face.
"One moment, please," the blonde practically purred, giving the raveonet a once-over. Sasuke rolled his eyes. Why is it that girls can't seem to understand that I'm gay? he asked himself wearily.I thought women were supposed to have some sort of sixth sense about stuff like that.
The blonde receptionist finally returned her gaze to her computer, but a frown soon appeared on her face. "I'm sorry sir, but Uzumaki-san is in the Intensive Care Unit. No one is allowed in to see him at the moment, but once he has been released to the Recovery Ward, immediate family will be allowed to see him on an individual basis."
Sasuke felt the blood drain from his face--not that anyone could tell, with his skin being so pale. "Can you tell me about his injuries?"
"I'm sorry, sir, that is confidential information. You'll have to speak with the supervising physician." She looked up at Sasuke. "What is your relation to Uzumaki-san?"
"I'm..." I'm his bully. I'm his warden, his torturer, his executioner. I'm in love with him. "...a friend."