Masked-Writer-In-Disguise: Hey, y'all! I've had this written for a while, but I was just too lazy to type it up. It's been a long couple of weeks for me, what with my no sleep and stuff. In fact, this morning I had an emotional break down and I decided to call in and take a personal day. Then I slept, and that was weird. Maybe I should become an owl. Seem to sleep better during the day, anyway…

Disclaimer: Don't own anything. Stop asking.

Inspiration: 10th Grade- Joseph Weisberg

Pairings: There will probably be hints of KakaIru later on. I just couldn't pass the chance up.

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Well, Here We Go… Chapter 3

By: Masked-Writer-In-Disguise

Alright, here we go. Exams. Normally I would be super excited for them, except this time I haven't been getting much sleep due to a certain person with raven black hair and a timid personality invading my dreams. Needless to say, I wake up in random intervals with a hard-on, but that's beside the point. The point is that it's time for exams, in about an hour actually, and I haven't really had a chance to study due to Sasuke and his hotness…I still have no clue as to what happened to him though, and it's really bugging me to hell and back.

I haven't found anything out about his scars, but I have found out a tiny tidbit about his parents and a lot about his older brother. Apparently, Itachi was coming to visit this week. Anyway Sasuke's parents died in a plane crash when Sasuke was seven and Itachi was thirteen. Itachi and Sasuke had been separated after that because their social worker deemed Itachi too unstable to be around Sasuke (he really hadn't been, but they, meaning the state, hadn't wanted them to stay together). So Sasuke had been sent to Kakashi and Itachi had been sent to a foster care home place for unstable teens where he'd met his boyfriend (who wasn't unstable anymore; he's on meds and shit). Now Itachi was 21 and was coming to visit and I was going to meet him because I was staying at Sasuke's for the week (insert happy dance here). 'Ruka's going out of town with Konohamaru.

Anyway, back to exams… We have Geometry today. I don't like Geometry. I don't get Geometry. In fact, I just don't get math in general, but Sasuke does. Unfortunately, they put Sasuke on the other side of the room (there was a noise complaint). So, I'm probably gonna flunk this one… Who else of my friends are in Geometry?... Kiba; no, Kiba's just as bad as me… Shino and Shikamaru are in Trig… Gaara's in Geo, and Gaara's good at it… No, I probably shouldn't cheat. I'll just bomb it. Iruka won't be happy, though; he's gonna scream at me… Ah well, it can't be helped.

"How long 'til we have to start?" Kiba asked me quietly (the teachers were really getting on us about the noise level this year).

"Ah, ten minutes," I replied equally as quiet, and there was a collective groan around our table. It didn't matter how good we were in math; we all hated it. Despised it, in fact.

We all started packing up.

"Do we have assigned seats this year?" I asked.

"No, you can pick, but, since we're both in geometry, we'd have to sit at opposite ends of the table," Sasuke said as he came back to our table.

"So you don't have to sit on the other side of the room?" I was ecstatic.

"Nope, and I'm sitting here," he threw his duct taped bag onto the table end opposite me.

Kiba and Gaara got up and moved to another table, each sitting at opposite ends (Choji and Lee were already situated at another table), Shikamaru stayed put (lazy bastard) and Shino moved to sit across from Kiba (I think there's a little bit of a crush going on there, but I don't know how Kankurou and Kiba would react to a three-way; I think they'd all be good together though…). Kankurou took the seat next to Kiba (Kanky dear was in Calc; freakishly smart man…), and the other students began filing into the room. Sakura (Algebra II) and Ino (Algebra I) sat at our table and immediately started hitting on Sasuke, who did not look amused. Joyness.

Alrighty, test time… I'm gonna fail it.

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"Gods! I swear Ibiki is trying to kill us via proofs!" Kiba whined at lunch as we all took our seats with grunts, sighs or groans. We all agreed; even those of us that were in higher levels remembered how tough that exam was.

"You should have seen the calc exam. Quit you bitchin'," Kankurou smacked his boyfriend upside the head. "You have no right to be complaining."

"I thought it was easy," Shikamaru grunted in his offhanded sort of way.

"Says the boy genius," I put in my two cents to the conversation and Sasuke and Gaara snorted. "Where's Tem?"

"She tested out of math this year, so she didn't come in today," Gaara explained in his usual quiet way.

"What exam do we have tomorrow?" Sasuke asked.

"History," Shino answered.

"Ms. Yuhi doesn't try to kill her students, so it should be fairly simple, even the AP one. Which is good, 'cause I have to take it," Kankurou smirked. Shikamaru silently agreed.

"Stupid, freakishly smart people," Choji muttered.

"That's an oxymoron," I said (I'm in AP Lit because I like my language).

"Now, aren't we just special?" Kiba teased and lunch carried on in that manner and the rest of the day was spent goofing off, and coloring in Biology (who says you can get too old to color?).

And it was time to go home with Sasuke. The same thing happened as last time except Sasuke seemed to be much more talkative than he usually was. Kakashi seemed to notice the change as well and smiled at him as he talked. I liked seeing Sasuke happy. Itachi should visit more often, just so I can see this more often. He doesn't smile nearly enough to be healthy.

We got to the house (there was a second car in the driveway, so I assumed in was Itachi's), and Kakashi took my stuff inside again. Sasuke practically bolted for the house and threw open the door. I followed at a more sedate pace and when I got to the living room, I saw two Sasuke's, except one had long hair, and they were hugging and smiling. It was both heart-warming and kind of cheesy, but I pushed that second part out of my head; these two brothers hadn't seen each other in years and they were entitled to at least one cheesy moment in their lives.

"So, where are you guys sleeping?" Sasuke asked when they released each other.

"Here, on an air mattress," Itachi replied. His voice was a smooth baritone; very pleasing to hear and he seemed like the 'okay' kind of guy.

Sasuke nodded and turned to me, "Um, Aniki, this is my best friend, Naruto."

I know my voice said something like 'it's a pleasure to meet you,' but my brain was gone. I was inwardly doing a little happy dance and dying several deaths, and all because of the words 'best friend.' It was ridiculous, I know; I was his best friend, but I didn't want to be only a best friend, I wanted to be his boyfriend and sleep with him, but that was honestly no surprise. I only hoped I wouldn't have any embarrassing dreams while I was here. That would be horrible.

The rest of the evening passed uneventfully. There was laughter and chores and dinner and walking the dogs (all seven of them at the same time; that was an interesting experience), but that was the status quo of that household, and soon it was time to go to school.

Waking up in that house on a week day was highly interesting to say the very least. You see, three things happen simultaneously. First there are three different alarm clocks going off, all in different rooms. Then the dogs start barking and are accompanied by several thumps (Sasuke and Sai always fall out of bed) and Kakashi banged on the walls as he walked down the hall, yelling, "Get up boys; Coffee in five, breakfast in ten!", and that was followed by several groans, including mine. How in the nine hells did they get away with this every morning without someone calling the police?

And that's what happened there in the morning. Exciting, no?

Sasuke looked at me and started laughing, "Good morning. There will be coffee, he wasn't joking about that, so don't look at me like that."

I groaned and pushed myself up and we started getting ready for the day. That's honestly the first time I've ever gotten ready that quickly. Sasuke's family is insane. When we were ready, we went out to the kitchen for breakfast. It was your basic eggs, toast and coffee, but the eggs were delicious (there was curry and brown sugar in them. Most people would think they wouldn't go well together, but they were awesome; very Thai), the toast was buttery and the coffee was very rich. Yummy, I like food.

The table was quiet until everybody'd had at least one cup of coffee in them; Kakashi was silent until his fourth, but when the caffeine was distributed, the noise level picked up considerably. Itachi and Sasuke insult each other in the morning (its kinda funny), and Sai eats a lot; I honestly have no clue where he puts it all 'cause he's not fat at all (he had very nice abs), but he eats enough to rival Choji, and that's saying something. Kakashi barely eats anything (I think he runs on coffee for the first half of the day), Itachi eats like a normal person (he's the only one that does), Kisame (is Itachi's boyfriend and pale enough to look blue) just drank coffee and Sasuke actually ate food, and I was witnessing it! An amazing day for Sasuke!

Breakfast ended and Kakashi drove Sasuke, Sai and me to our respective schools in his loose fitting pajama pants; no shirt. Apparently he didn't like to get dressed on his days off.

The history exam was a piece of cake (in my essay question I got to write about how stupid American's were; it was great), and we went home and things happened in much the same manner as the night before except Sasuke and Itachi didn't 'attack' each other in the living room.

Then, it was dark and I was laying on my futon in Sasuke's room (apparently it was a permanent fixture in here), but I couldn't sleep, so I was just listening to the sounds the house made at night. The dogs snored (did you know dogs could snore?), and sometimes Sai talked in his sleep, and Sasuke yelled… Wait, Sasuke yelled? I sat up quickly and looked at the bed; I couldn't see much, just a shadowy figure, but it was flailing around, like he was trying to keep something away.

I jumped up and went to the side of the bed and started to shake him.

"Sasuke? Sasuke! Wake up!" I said loudly. When he didn't I started to panic. "Kakashi! Itachi!"

There were footsteps (quick footsteps, running footsteps) and thumps against the wall like someone was trying to keep their balance and the door opened, Kakashi coming in first, Itachi next, Sai and Kisame blocking the door. Kakashi climbed into the bad and lifted the boy up, holding him close and effectively restraining the flailing.

"What happened?" Itachi asked as he grabbed his little brother's hand and gently squeezed it.

"I-I don't know. It was quiet, then he seemed to say 'no.' It was really loud and it scared me," I explained. It really hadn't scared me, so much as startled me.

"Yeah, I was trying to figure out what woke me up," Kisame muttered from the door. It wasn't the bitter sort on muttering, either. It was more of the respect for silence type on muttering.

That's when Sasuke woke up and started crying. Kakashi rocked him gently and started humming, looking at Itachi as though he were trying to convey something to him telepathically. The older Uchiha brother seemed to get it because he nodded (obviousness in itself), stood up and grabbed at my arm gently, leading me out of the room.

We went into the kitchen and Itachi made me some tea while I waited expectantly; I wanted to know what had made my best friend have nightmares like that. I'd bet anything that it had a lot to do with those scars.

Finally, after several minutes of silence, Itachi spoke, setting a mug of tea in front of me.

"What I'm going to tell you, Sasuke won't want publicized. He'll be angry enough at me for telling you, but Kakashi and I think you have the right to know. You're his best friend, after all."

I nodded in understanding and waited for the man to begin.

"A while ago, Sasuke had gone out to the book store that had been at the end of their road, and he wasn't back for dinner that night or the next. He'd been kidnapped, beaten and raped by a man named Orochimaru, who is now dead. My little brother had been missing for three weeks, and by the time the police found him, he was almost dead. Orochimaru had been a teacher at the elementary school my little brother had gone to, so Sasuke had no reason not to trust him or anything he said or did.

"Sasuke was nine when that happened and he was home schooled until he decided he wanted to try to have friends."

Itachi finished (he'd said it all clinically, as though he were afraid to put too much emotion into it and make it more real than it already was) and looked at me squarely and I was sure my face would have been comical if this were a time for levity. Then I schooled my features 'cause what I'd been told was remarkably close to what I'd suspected (even if it still surprised me; for once, I wouldn't mind not being right). I nodded.

"Will he be OK?" I asked.

"I don't know. As far as I know, he hasn't had a nightmare since this summer, so I don't know if he'll remember how to deal with them. When you go back in there, he may want proof that you're there," Itachi whispered and took a sip of his drink.

"So that kind of thing used to happen a lot?"

"It used to happen every night, to the point where he was afraid to sleep in his own room alone, and it gradually died down to this summer. We'd thought they'd stopped."

I nodded. "I used to have nightmares, but they were never based on anything that had actually happened to me. They were vague, but terrifying."

Itachi smiled and his eyes focused on something behind me. "Is he sleeping?"

"He wants Naruto," Kisame said, so I got up and went to Sasuke's room to find him curled up in a little ball on top of the blankets. I didn't even think about what I was doing; I climbed onto the bed and pulled Sasuke to me and got us situated under the blankets.

"C'mon, teme. We gotta get some sleep," I murmured gently and petted his hair.

He didn't respond, but he did let me stay in his bed with him, so I held him protectively and did my best to sleep with the object of my affections practically wrapped around me like a second skin. I only prayed I didn't get a boner tonight; I didn't want to freak Sasuke out anymore than he already was. Plus, that would just be embarrassing.

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The next morning I was woken up by Kakashi's gentle tap on my shoulder. I 'hmm'ed groggily and turned my face to the silver-haired man.

"I called the school and told them you two wouldn't be in today. You guys just sleep," he whispered, probably so he wouldn't wake Sasuke.

I nodded and pretended to go back to sleep, but I really didn't want to because I was holding Sasuke, and I may never get a chance like this again. Sasuke was far more frail than he seemed; it felt like he'd break if I should squeeze to tightly. He felt like he was all bones, but he wasn't 'cause there was some muscles in there, probably from walking the dogs (they were very energetic). Sasuke was just so tiny. I was easily 5'11", but Sasuke was maybe 5'4" (maybe), but he seemed so much smaller and I'm sure I've mentioned this before more than a few times.

Well, anyway, I was enjoying the moment, so we laid there for maybe three more hours. Then Sasuke started waking up. He started moving and seemed to take a few minutes to take his situation, and he froze and started shaking. I figured it was a good time to let him know it was me.

"Sasuke," I murmured, rubbing his back lightly, "it's just me."

He relaxed a little bit, but still seemed to be afraid.

"You know?" he whispered.

"Yeah," I replied 'cause I knew exactly what he was talking about.

There were a few moments of silence before Sasuke did something I'd've never thought he'd do; he broke down and cried. I think it was a relief for him to have someone to break down in front of outside his strange little family, but I'll probably never know because I was quite clearly not Sasuke. He cried for about an hour before he started to breathe regularly. Then he sniffled for a bit before sitting up abruptly and looking at the alarm clock, and then back at me.

"Naruto, we have our bio exam today. Why exactly are we still here?"

"We'll have to make it up next week sometime. Kakashi called in and said we'd not be going in today."

Sasuke's mouth formed and 'oh' and he sat, listlessly starting at the comforter. He looked kinda weird; like he didn't care about anything right now. I knew I should be worried about him, but he looked really cute tight then; his hair was all sticking up in every direction, his pajama shirt was too big on him and his face was flushed and his eyes were puffy after crying. I probably shouldn't've been thinking about that, but my brain was rebellious.

I swung my legs over the bed and reached out to tug at Sasuke's arm. ("Let's go get food. You need to eat something."). He looked at me blankly before nodding and following me out of the bed. He looked lost right now, and I felt like I couldn't let go of his hand, so I didn't, and I led him through the house and to the kitchen where Itachi was making us some food.

"You won't tell anybody, will you?" Sasuke asked, sounding pathetic.

"No, I'm not gonna tell anyone."

He gave a weak smile and I gave a brighter one back as Itachi set two mugs of coffee on the counter in front of us.

"Did you boys sleep alright?" Itachi asked.

We nodded in unison and say down to a silent breakfast. There really wasn't anything to talk about, anyway. After breakfast, Sasuke went to take a shower and as I passed the bathroom door, I could swear I heard him crying.

When he came back to the bedroom, I was sitting on the edge of his bed and he was shirtless. He came to sit right next to me and I looked at him.

"Are you OK?"

"Do you like me?"

We both asked at the same time, and I looked at him in confusion.

"What?" I asked intelligently.

"Do you like me? Like 'want to date me,' like me?" Sasuke twisting the edge of the towel draped over his shoulders insecurely.

I looked at him quietly for a few minutes before admitting, "Yeah."

He nodded and looked up at me shyly for a second before looking back down at his lap and smiling cutely. There were a few moments of silence before he stood up and left the room, muttering something about talking to Itachi.

After he was gone, I flopped back onto the unmade bed and stared at the ceiling in shock. What the hell just happened? I just had absolutely no clue. What was going to happen next? Was I going to lose my friend?

I just laid on the bed and stared at the ceiling, waiting for Sasuke to get back, 'cause that was the only way I was ever going to find anything out.

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Masked-Writer-In-Disguise: Oh, a cliffy… kind of… Well, yeah. There's chapter three. I hope you all enjoyed it and aren't too extremely mad about the long wait. I apologize a lot… Please leave a little scrap of a review for the author. They need to eat too!

P.S. That little bit about stupid Americans… Yeah, being American myself, I'm aloud to say those things 'cause we are. I'm sorry if I offended other American's out there, but I just can't bring myself to care about that.