Okay, so how to start this…? Um, trigger warning, I guess. This little drabble-fic-thing does address substance abuse. So, if you struggle with that, please choose wisely, based on your own tolerance, whether or not to continue.

I'm not entirely sure how pleased I am with this one… The idea erupted in my brain while I was stressed out for all the final projects and tests coming up for the end of the semester. (Which has not yet ended, but I'm through with half of the work, so I'm not quite as overwhelmed anymore…) When I first started it, I felt like I had something really good… Now that I've finished it, I'm not so sure.

Crutches

Looking back, Sasuke should have become suspicious the second he spotted Neji Hyuga standing outside his house. The Hyuga and the Uchiha were the two most prominent families in the town, but they weren't exactly on speaking terms. In fact, Sasuke's father had a tendency to get disgruntled just by the mere mention of the name 'Hyuga'.

And perhaps that was reason the youngest Uchiha opened his door to the disgraced Hyuga genius the day the older boy reappeared in Konoha. Coincidentally the day Sasuke's parents were out of town. And, yes, maybe it had something to do with the way Fugaku couldn't contain his praise for Itachi's latest achievement at dinner the night before, even though his older brother was absent, and Sasuke, who had just come home with perfect marks on his mid-term exams, was sitting right there. Nothing was said of the younger boy's accomplishments.

So maybe his graciousness was really a silent, petty revenge on his father's blatant favoritism… Neji never needed to know.

"So what brings you here, of all places?" Sasuke had set out tea for them both, but neither had reached for their cups yet. Really, the Uchiha was beginning to regret inviting him in. He had homework that needed to be done and a slew of projects to finish. So if Neji could just say what he wanted to say and get out…

He forced his hand to stop tapping his thigh impatiently when Neji's eyes focused there. The older boy appeared equally uncomfortable as he cleared his throat.

"I apologize if my arrival feels a little sudden. I know we don't know each other very well."

Sasuke nodded somewhat awkwardly. His polite tone didn't make the words any less true. Neji was a year older than Sasuke. Though they'd attended the same high school for three years, their paths had never really crossed.

"I wouldn't be here if I wasn't doing a favor for my cousin."

Sasuke stared at him blankly for a moment, trying to put a name to a face. His cousin? Right… Hinata Hyuga, the quiet girl who'd been spending an awful lot of time with Naruto these past few months. Were they dating? He didn't know. He hadn't been around much lately.

"What favor?" he asked, his curiosity blocking out thoughts of his workload. What could Hinata possibly want from him? He didn't think he'd ever said a word to the girl.

"She's… worried." Sasuke could tell they were about to get to the crux of the matter, the part Neji was dreading. "You mean a lot to Naruto, and he means a lot to her. She doesn't want you to make the same mistake I did."

Sasuke waited quietly, intrigued. About this time a year ago, Neji had been the pride and joy of Konoha Academy. Accepted to some of the best colleges in the country with big dreams and the world at his fingertips, it had seemed. The Hyuga family had been very quiet about those dreams crashing and burning. No one really knew what had happened or why Neji hadn't gone off to the college of his choice. It certainly wasn't a money problem. But the boy had never left, and he was rarely seen anymore.

He glanced up at the clock above Neji's head and realized he had started tapping his fingers again. Neji, who was watching him closely, chuckled softly, sounding almost bitter.

"It feels almost like magic at first, doesn't it?"

His question caught Sasuke off guard. "What?"

"The first night," Neji continued, "when you finished three assignments and studied for a test and it wasn't even midnight yet. When you weren't even pushing yourself. All those years you spent struggling to stay on top and one little pill could all the hard work for you. What would happen if you did push things a little farther? How long could you stay up, if you tried? How much could you accomplish then?"

Sasuke had frozen early on in his rant, his hands clenched into fists. His heart was pounding. His mouth was dry. How did he know? More importantly, how had Hinata known?

"And for a while, things are going really well. Your teachers are amazed, your family has never been more proud. But then your teachers start handing back tests that you don't remember taking. You wake up one morning and don't remember a single thing about the day before. But at the time it doesn't matter. You're on a whole new high from the night's rest. How many days had it been since you'd stopped to sleep? Three? Four?"

"Stop."

"And then you reach the day when you can see the bottom of the bottle. And panic fills you. Until that day you could pretend it was still a choice. Maybe you can't remember the last day you went without, but you're certainly not an addict. Responsible kids with superior grades don't fall prey to addiction. Especially not when your dad's the police chief. But now the apocalypse is coming… in the form of an empty pill bottle. You can't afford to lose your edge. Not now, when colleges will be watching. So tell me, Sasuke Uchiha, what's your secret weapon?"

There was silence. Sasuke wouldn't look at the older boy. Was the shaking another side effect? Or fear? Or lack of sleep? When was the last time he had slept? He couldn't remember.

His thoughts were frantic. He felt like he should have had some sort of control in his own home, but he didn't.

"Mine was Provigil," he revealed. "You'd be surprised how easy it can be to get your hands on prescription meds. Those street kids you see all the time? They're not as dumb as everyone wants you to think. At the very least, they're resourceful. They can get you just about anything, for the right price."

Neji was silent for a moment. He looked down, contemplative. It was clear he regretted his own mistakes, but he was here on a mission.

"But you never needed to find that out, did you? Your best friend… He's diagnosed with and medicated for ADHD, right? Except Hinata told me it's been almost two years since he's taken that medication. So tell me, how exactly did his pills end up in your hands?"

"…He didn't want it." The words came out through gritted teeth. "Naruto said he didn't like the way the meds made him feel… Like he wasn't himself. But his parents wanted him to at least try… Naruto didn't know how to get rid of them, so I offered to do it for him."

"Except you didn't."

Sasuke and Neji stared each other down, both expressions blank but vaguely uncomfortable. There was no defiance or challenge in either of their eyes. It was an unpleasant subject, but it was what it was.

"No. And if his parents ever suspected anything, it never got back to me."

"I know this isn't something you want to hear, Sasuke, especially right now with so much schoolwork to do, but you need to hear it. Hinata's right. You're too close to going down the path I took, and it's not enviable. I would take struggling through college over rehab any day."

Neji got up to leave. The set up on the table had remained untouched.

"This is the most I can do for you. It really is a matter of willpower and a personal decision. Right now it feels like an advantage. But if you rely on an advantage for too long, it becomes a crutch. Good luck."

Review please!

I don't own Naruto.

…See what I mean? It's not disappointing just to me, right? Well, I guess I'm off to go write an essay… ugh. (^^)