A/N: Wow, that was a really long break, huh? Sorry, lot of stuff happening. That's why my other stories are suffering, too… But one day they will all be completed! And finally, another chapter for this story!
Oh, and since someone asked, "oyasumi nasai" is the polite way of saying "Goodnight." I don't know if that's the literal translation (it could be "I'm going to bed/sleep.") but that's pretty much the gist. If you happen to disagree, please correct me nicely so I don't have to curse my Japanese teachers for wrong information.
Disclaimer: The usual—I do not own Naruto or any other merchandise in this fic.
Warnings: YAOI, SHOUNEN-AI, whatever you want to label it. Mentions of abuse, molestation, obviously mental illness…
Pairings: SasuNaru, ShinoKiba, GaaLee, ZabuHaku, KakaIru, some SaiNaru, NejiNaru, SakuSasu, and others.
THECHAPTERBEGINSTHECHAPTERBEGINSTHECHAPTERBEGINS
"Y-You!" Haku choked out, eyes wide as he stared at the now-puzzled blond. Naruto stared at the other boy, an innocently confused expression on his face. "Me?" the blonde echoed. Haku just stared at him.
"We missing something?" Kiba questioned, eyes narrowed and glancing back and forth between the two. "Tch. Troublesome." was the drawled input of another, and Naruto's and Kiba's heads instantly swiveled to the slouching form of Shikamaru, who was looking off into the air above his left shoulder, muttering under his breath.
"You're alive!"
"You're aware!"
Both boys exclaimed simultaneously, in mild shock. Shikamaru just gave them both an 'are-you-stupid?' look before reclining on his sofa.
"How do you know Naruto?"
Neji's question brought everyone's focus back to the paler teen, who was staring at Naruto with a glazed look in his eyes. Neji himself was tense and glaring spitfire at the other youth. Haku snapped out of his state, shaking his head with a thoughtful frown, before turning to Neji, who looked to be restraining himself from causing Haku physical harm.
"Ah...unfortunately, I met Naruto-kun in an...altercation..." Haku trailed off, eyes once again on the blond, who just looked more confused. "You got in a fight, Naruto?" Kiba snickered, smirking at the whisker-scarred teen. Naruto shot him an indignant look, but answered with a petulant "No!"
Haku just looked strangely frustrated. "Surely you remember, Naruto-kun? I was the one who tackled Sai away from you." he explained calmly. "Sai?!" was the chorus of choked voices that greeted this statement, drowning out Naruto's "Who's that?"
"You ran into Sai?" Neji growled, pale eyes immediately lowering to the blonde's wrists. Naruto didn't answer, feeling uncomfortable with Neji's hot gaze, and he shifted his wrists out of sight nervously.
"Sai had you pinned to the wall, Naruto-kun..." Haku trailed off again, seemingly ignoring the growing fury of the Hyuuga before him. Kiba shifted closer to Shino near-imperceptibly. "Pinned? Just what the hell did he do?" Neji ground out.
"I don't know! I don't even know what he's talking about!" Naruto wailed, arms waving around sporadically, one finger pointed in Haku's direction. "He's whacked!" the blond whined loudly. From Shikamaru's area came a snort, as if the boy found the statement amusing, but no one chose to pursue that.
"MY YOUTHFUL COMPANIONS!!"
All conversation halted as Lee bounded into the room, eyes bright and eyebrows as bushy as ever. Naruto swore he saw roses in the background as Lee reached them, and even a little background music. Still, no one said anything. Not that it would have made a difference.
"I have just returned from an enlightening session with GAI-SENSEI!!" Lee declared, striking a good-guy pose. "I have realized that not only has GAI-SENSEI gotten COOLER and HIPPER, I have also discovered that, in order to reach my true potential, I must---"
"Shut. Up. Lee."
Silence reigned once again after Neji's hissed command, though Lee looked ready to break down into tears. As if to make up for the momentary silence, Haku abruptly burst into tears. Naruto started, catching Neji's attention once again, as the taller, long-haired boy attempted to 'comfort' him (read: excessive touching/groping).
"Nurses." Shikamaru muttered as he slinked away, followed quickly by Kiba and Shino. It was at that moment that Lee started sobbing, and swatting away an imaginary hand from his shoulder. Torn between trying to help the distraught pair or run away, Naruto didn't put up much of a fight as Neji decided on the latter for both of them and led the blond out, just as three nurses swamped the sobbing duo.
"What was that all about?" Naruto grumbled, once they were out of visual range of the commons place. Neji just gave a (dignified) grunt, sweeping his hand through his long hair, checking to make sure it wasn't messed up. Naruto rolled his eyes, looking around for any of their friends, but sadly not spotting any.
"Hey, they won't end up in ISO, right?" Naruto asked, latching on to the taller boy's sleeve. Neji attempted to smile reassuringly at the teen, but it ended up looking more like a grimace. He quickly dropped it. "No; not unless they start getting violent. And Haku-san looked more upset than violent." Neji explained.
"Is that what's going on in there?" a new voice asked, and both boys jumped from the surprise.
Glancing upwards (and inwardly cursing his vertically-challenged height), Naruto blinked at the sight of the silver-haired man's visible happy eye. He was probably smiling, too, but Naruto couldn't know for sure with the black handkerchief tied to cover his mouth.
"Kakashi-sensei." Neji greeted, eyes stormy. Kakashi started radiating smug glee. It wasn't everyday someone could surprise Hyuuga Neji. Ah, to torment the youngsters...this was true happiness...
"Why does he have one of his eyes covered?" Naruto whispered to Neji. The older boy shrugged, disinterested. "The staff in this substandard facility are completely lacking in intelligence. Don't give them much notice, Naruto-kun; they are not worth your worries." he said dismissively. Neji, apparently, did not notice Naruto's 'what-the-freak?' expression. Was he supposed to understand Neji's Higher-Than-Thou babble or something?
"Shouldn't you two be heading towards the cafeteria?" Kakashi questioned, glancing between the two with his one blue eye. Neji sneered at him. "It's only three, you incompetent. Dinner isn't until six." the boy replied. Kakashi, in turn, ruffled the Hyuuga's hair, earning an undignified squawk as Neji hurriedly tried to fix the mess.
"Don't talk to your beloved sensei like that, Ne-ji-kun!" the silver-haired man returned, singing the boy's name playfully. Neji glared at him, his hair still out of place, before leaving with a muttered "I'll be back in just a moment, Naruto-kun." and running off.
Kyuubi stared after the departing boy with a particularly vacant look.
"You must be Naruto-kun. I heard about you from Iruka-sensei." Kakashi started, turning his attention to the small blonde. Said blonde had started to walk away, and only replied with a bored "Whatever." as he strolled down the hallway. Kakashi gave the boy's back a measuring look.
He wondered how Sasuke would handle this.
SASUNARUSASUNARUKONOHAKONOHAKONOHA
"We're in the same group, it seems, Naruto-kun." Haku said amiably, smiling at the blond across from him. Naruto blinked in surprise, pausing in the middle of stirring his porridge. Breakfast the next day had returned a much calmer Haku and Lee (or as calm as Lee ever was), and Haku had joined them at their usual table.
"Group?" the blond questioned, a blatantly confused expression on his face. Haku chuckled good-naturedly. "Aa. For group therapy; group 1-3." the slender boy explained.
"So you are in category one. Figures." Kiba grouched from his place next to the blond boy, breakfast lying untouched in front of him. Next to him, Shino was nudging his own juice pack towards the rugged boy with a pointed stare. Neji, who was sitting on the other side of Naruto, looked irritated at the remembrance of group therapy--it just meant more time away from his precious Naruto-kun!
"Isn't Sai-kun in your group as well, Haku-chan?" Lee asked, causing Naruto to flinch and Haku's eyes to widen in dawning horror. Shikamaru raised his eyes upwards, as if asking the ceiling why it was always him, as Neji's face contorted in fury.
"I think Sai-kun is still in ISO." Shikamaru interjected calmly, and Haku's near-frantic expression melted away into calmness once again. Neji still looked infuriated, but that was quickly remedied as Shikamaru kicked the blond boy in the shin, causing him to jump up with a yelp, landing directly in the Hyuuga's lap. Naruto wasn't buying the ponytailed boy's innocent expression.
"But you still have to deal with Sabaku and that Uchiha bastard." Kiba pointed out with a smirk. "Gaara-kun and Sasuke-kun are actually quite pleasant company during group sessions." Haku defended. He paused, as if contemplating something. "Of course, that's because they refuse to talk..." he trailed off.
"Uchiha?" Naruto asked, turning to Neji, puzzled. He had never heard anything about an Uchiha, and it was obvious Kiba didn't like him. Usually, if Kiba didn't like someone, he made it known as he ranted on and on about how that person was just "waiting for the right moment to strike."
"You'll want to stay away from Uchiha-san, Naruto-kun. He's dangerous, no matter what Sakura-chan says." Lee advised solemnly. Naruto stared at his roommate; he didn't know it was possible for Lee to look so...serious.
"We should finish our breakfast, Naruto-kun, so we can get a head start." Haku said cheerfully. This would be fun.
Naruto felt a chill sweep down his spine.
KONOHAKONOHAKONOHAKONOHAKONOHAKONOHA
"You must be our newest addition!" the doctor with sunglasses greeted, a lopsided smile on his face. Naruto stared at him. Why the hell is he wearing sunglasses indoors? the blond wondered, forcing out a small grin. "Hai. I'm Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto replied.
"I'm your group's doctor, Ebisu-sensei." the man, Ebisu, greeted with strained cheerfulness. "Please feel free to take a seat in one of the chairs, Naruto-kun; we'll begin when everyone's here." he said, motioning to the circle of chairs in the center of the room. Haku had already occupied one, and sat smiling at the blond as he indicated to the seat next to him. Besides the doctor and themselves, they were the only ones currently present.
Taking a seat next to the long-haired teen, Naruto stared at the door, hoping this would just hurry up and end. His nerves were on end with this new development, and he was still tired, for some unfathomable reason. He could have sworn he went to sleep last night in his bed, but when he woke up, he was under his bed. Naruto really, really hated it when that happened.
"Sakura-chan! Good morning, good morning! Please take a seat." Ebisu greeted loudly from the front, and Naruto was broken out of his thoughts as the pink-haired girl walked in, taking a seat in a chair across from them. She gave both of them a bright smile.
"Ohayou, Haku-kun!" she said, before green eyes turned towards Naruto inquisitively. Her mouth opened, likely to ask a question, when Ebisu's cheerful greeting cut her off with a "Sasuke-kun! Good morning!"
Sakura's head whipped around so fast, Naruto was sure she'd get whiplash. Soon after, he also looked up towards the front to see that one-eyed, silver-haired orderly trading a few words with Ebisu-sensei, and...
...that creepy bastard!!
Naruto felt his hackles rise as black eyes glanced over the room before settling on the blond himself. A smug smirk developed on the pale boy's face, resulting in an adoring squeal from the pinkette on the other side of the circle. Naruto shivered against his will, causing the smug smirk to grow more malicious.
"That is Uchiha Sasuke, Naruto-kun." Haku whispered, peaceful brown eyes never straying from staring straight ahead, completely missing the blonde's shudder. "That teme...he keeps lookin' at me..." Naruto growled lowly. He stiffened when he realized the raven-haired boy was sauntering towards them, before taking a seat right next to Naruto.
Personal bubble has been breached! Breached! his mind screamed, sending off warning bells, but Naruto just glared spitfire at the amusement dancing in black orbs. "What the hell are you smirking about, teme?" Naruto growled.
"...usuratonkachi."
Naruto's eyes widened.
"Wh-What did you just--"
There was an obnoxiously loud greeting in the front, once again, and Naruto's attention was reluctantly drawn to where Ebisu was greeting a red-haired boy that stubbornly refused to respond. Next to him was a tall, gangly man with short spiky hair, the bottom half of his face wrapped in bandages. (Naruto was beginning to think this place was the gathering ground for people with strange fashion statements.)
"Zabuza-sensei." Haku breathed excitedly next to him, brown eyes shining with adoration. The slender teen looked ready to jump out of his seat in his excitement, his whole body was shaking.
The newly-christened "Zabuza-sensei" glanced over them, before nodding in acknowledgement to Haku. The teen's face was split with a bright smile, and was he...blushing? With his mind currently reeling in shock, Naruto didn't notice Sasuke's intense stare to his side, nor did he notice Sakura move to be seated directly next to the raven.
"Alright, Gaara-kun, why don't you take a seat so we can get started?" Ebisu prompted, and Gaara stood there stiffly in momentary rebellion, before stalking over to sit next to Haku. Ebisu took the last open seat, and their circle was complete.
"Unfortunately, Sai-kun will not be joining us today for bad behavior." Ebisu started.
"If I had known beating the shit out of someone is all it takes to get out of this damned session, I would have done it sooner." Sasuke muttered lowly.
Having not heard clearly but responding to the tone used, Ebisu leveled a chiding look in the Uchiha's direction, before turning to smile at Naruto. "Now, we have a new member today; I would like everyone to introduce themselves, starting with you, Sakura-chan." Ebisu said, motioning for the girl to begin.
Sakura stood up, smiling at Naruto while she gave a little bow. "I'm Haruno Sakura, and I aspire to be a teacher when I'm older." she said brightly. Her eye ticked ominously when she saw Naruto's gobsmacked expression. His thoughts were clear: How can she be a teacher if she's stuck in this place?
Ebisu nodded encouragingly, eyes moving on to Sasuke. Sasuke scowled, glaring at the man, before turning to stare at Naruto. Naruto shifted closer to Haku, who seemed to still be in some kind of Zabuza-induced high. The smirk reappeared on Sasuke's face at the blonde's actions. Naruto scowled in response, glaring defiantly at the other boy.
"Uchiha Sasuke. That's all you need to know." was the gruff introduction.
Ebisu clicked his tongue in disapproval, writing down something on his clipboard about the Uchiha's (unbeknownst to Naruto) strange behavior. "You should be more polite, Sasuke-kun. You're going to give Naruto-kun a bad impression." Ebisu advised, unsettled as the boy's smirk disappeared.
It's too late for that. Naruto thought irritably.
Ebisu motioned for Haku to start, breaking the teen out of his stupor. Haku blinked, before smiling. "Naruto-kun already knows who I am, Ebisu-sensei." he explained. Ebisu just shook his head. "Introduce yourself again, then, Haku-kun." he goaded. Abruptly, Haku's placating smile twisted into a malicious scowl.
"What if I don't fucking want to?"
Ebisu straightened in his chair, immediately looking alert. Naruto stiffened at the obvious tension in the air, and Sakura made a small whimpering sound as she shuffled a little away from the circle. Gaara made no move to acknowledge the sudden change in the air, his green eyes merely staring at Haku blankly. Next to Naruto, Sasuke smirked, obviously enjoying the show.
"Haku-kun, that's not very positive, now is it?" Ebisu's inquisitive tone held the slightest bit of warning. There was a defiant pause as Haku merely stared him down. Ebisu quickly switched tactics: "If you get thrown in ISO, Haku-kun, you'll miss your one-on-one session with Zabuza-sensei. I know he'll be disappointed you're not living up to his expectations."
Haku stiffened, mind racing behind his eyes as he thought about the scenario. The look of anger dissipated to be replaced by one of shameful worry, and the boy fidgeted in his seat as he looked at Ebisu guiltily. Ebisu relaxed at the change, writing down more notes on the development.
"I am Taniyuki Haku." he murmured. Naruto nodded, turning to look to Ebisu. The man hummed thoughtfully, eyes moving on to Gaara. "Gaara-kun, please introduce yourself." Ebisu said. Gaara just stared at him. Saintly patience was full-blast on Ebisu's face, and the entire group was plunged into silence as tensions rose again.
"I...already know about Gaara-kun..." Naruto interrupted mildly. Instantly, all eyes swiveled to the boy, and Ebisu made that ominous tongue-clicking noise as he wrote down some notes again. Naruto shifted under the attention, not quite sure how to react. "Naruto-kun, you really should have let Gaara-kun introduce himself--" Here, Sasuke snorted, but Ebisu merely ignored him and continued, "--but seeing as Gaara-kun is refusing to cooperate, you may now introduce yourself."
Naruto nodded. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, and I love eating ramen! Particularly miso ramen, but any others will do in a pinch! Though I do hate how it takes three minutes to cook, 'cause then I'm so hungry and--"
"Thank you, Naruto-kun. That will be enough." Ebisu cut off, still writing. Naruto scowled at the man, crossing his arms over his chest huffily. "It's because you talk too much, dobe." Sasuke said lowly. Naruto turned to glare at him, mouth opening to deliver a violent outburst, but they were once again interrupted by Ebisu's voice.
"Okay, so we'll start off the discussion as usual." he began. "Naruto-kun, usually at the beginning of meetings, we share how our time was spent since the last meeting. Feel free to talk about anything you did during the time, and share whatever your thoughts were." he explained amiably.
"That sounds lame." Naruto commented bluntly.
Haku and Sakura laughed softly, but quickly covered up their amusement when Ebisu shot the three of them a chiding look. The man's eyes landed on Haku. "Why don't you start, Haku-kun? I hear you've had an exciting time." Ebisu prompted politely. Haku frowned, shifting into a more comfortable position.
"I made a teapot set in Ceramics on Monday. The cups turned out nice, thanks to Lee-kun. He's very good at pottery." Haku said. He shifted nervously when Gaara's intense stare shifted from the ceiling to him. If he didn't know any better, he'd think the red-head was...
"Hmm. You do like ceramics, Haku-kun; I'm glad you've found an artistic vent. Anything else?" Ebisu said. Haku glanced at Naruto, looking thoughtful. "You could tell us about how it felt decking Sai." Sakura suggested, looking eerily chipper about the incident.
"That's rude, Sakura-chan." Ebisu commented idly.
"So is cutting people off when they talk." Naruto shot in grumpily. He only earned another scolding look.
"It was strangely satisfying." Haku replied. "Though Sai-kun got in a few good shots, too. I don't know if my punches hurt him at all, however, he kept smiling the entire time." he added absently. "But at least Naruto-kun got away."
There was a moment of silence as they digested this new bit of information (though Gaara's attention was once again drawn away, as the topic no longer interested him.)
"Naruto-kun, you were there?" Ebisu asked, the pen in his hand tapping his clipboard as he stared at Naruto questioningly, looking highly interested. Naruto shrugged, looking uncertain. "Uh...I think. All I remember was this really pale guy getting really..." Touchy. he finished in his mind. His body shuddered at the vague memory; he was almost glad his memory had lapsed that time.
"I see. Well, that explains some things." Ebisu murmured to himself, hand going a mile-a-minute as he wrote. He noted Sasuke's scowl had resurfaced with new levels of smothered anger. Sakura blinked at Naruto innocently, mildly curious. "Was Sai-kun picking on you, Naruto-kun? He wasn't talking about your..." she paused to giggle, "Anatomy, was he? Sai-kun enjoys making fun of others'...anatomy." she finished with another giggle. Sasuke twitched, glare increasing as she had talked.
Naruto blushed heavily, and Sasuke's fists clenched.
"Sakura-chan, why don't you tell us about what you did?" Ebisu suggested gently. Thus, the discussion continued, and Naruto ended up tuning out Sakura's recount as it primarily featured who did what behind who's back and their boyfriend had no idea what who was doing last Saturday.
Sasuke's recount was something along the lines of "I prayed once again that the lot of you would just drop dead, but the deities appeared to have ignored me so I'm turning atheist." Sakura had giggled like it was the funniest thing she had ever heard, eliciting Haku's own mocking chuckle at the girl's attempt at passivity.
Gaara refused to talk again, so he was skipped over with an admonishing "This is why you don't get any Good Behavior notes, Gaara-kun."
Naruto's turn came up, and the blond looked thoughtful as he reviewed his week in his mind. "I met a lot of new people...Lee-kun is my roommate, and he has the thickest eyebrows." he started, and Sakura burst out into giggles. Gaara's attention shifted to Naruto, the green glint in the eyes challenging. Naruto looked elsewhere.
"Anou...Kiba-kun is kinda fun, but he keeps losing his temper and rants on and on about conspiracies; Shino-kun doesn't talk much, but he's always hanging around Kiba-kun. Chouji-kun is really nice, but he never stands up for himself even though Neji-teme keeps picking on him. Its sooooo annoying. Especially since Neji keeps hanging around me and never goes away. Arrrgh, he's the most annoying out of all of them! Even more than Shikamaru, who just sleeps all the time or insults us!" he began to gesture wildly.
"Ah...now we can distract Ebisu-sensei from any more projects with Naruto's rambling." Haku murmured, smiling serenely. Gaara glanced at him before focusing back on Ebisu, who was listening to Naruto's experiences with rapt attention. Sasuke had stopped listening; instead letting his eyes wander all over the blonde's body without an ounce of subtlety.
"Well, I'm glad you're settling in, Naruto-kun," Ebisu once again cut in, earning the blonde's baleful glare. He was really starting to dislike this guy. "Now, we have a new project--"
The sound of a chime cut him off, and Sakura squealed with undisguised glee. "Ah, looks like our time has concluded. We'll pick this up next time, ne?" Ebisu-sensei said cheerfully. "We don't have to. We can just pretend we did." Haku offered politely. Ebisu gave the boy a level stare as he stood.
Waiting at the door were three orderlies: Kakashi-sensei, Zabuza-sensei, and Iruka-sensei. Naruto hopped out of his seat at the sight of the scarred man, though he wasn't as fast as Haku, who practically vaulted to the three. The long-haired boy smiled up at Zabuza with adoration, and Zabuza muttered a gruff greeting before slinking out, Haku in tow.
"Naruto-kun, it's good to see you again. Are you doing alright?" Iruka asked politely when the blond reached him, and one tan hand sneaked out and grabbed the glowering redheaded boy before he could escape the room. Strangely enough, Gaara didn't resist, allowing himself to be pulled to Iruka's side, but refused to look at him. Naruto shrugged in response to Iruka's inquiry, shifting closer when Sasuke walked up to Kakashi.
"Sasuke-kuuun!" Kakashi greeted, sounding freakishly like an adoring fangirl. Sasuke's eyes blazed as he glared daggers at his assigned orderly, who looked unrepentant with his eyes curved. "Did you enjoy your session? Did you make any friends?" he asked, chipper. Sasuke shifted his dark look to the wall, looking bored.
"Of course not. There are only idiots in this place." he scoffed. Naruto's hackles raised, and blue eyes shot spitfire at the raven-haired teen. "You're in this place, teme, so I guess that makes you an idiot too!" he snapped. Sasuke swiveled around to face him, eyes narrowed in fury.
"What did you call me, usuratonkachi?" he growled.
Naruto glared back. "I called you an IDIOT! Sasuke-teme no BAKA!" the blond shot back.
"Naruto!" Iruka chided immediately, another hand reaching out to yank the blond back when Sasuke took a threatening step forward. Kakashi also reached out to pull his own charge back, face blank. Sasuke turned away, scowling.
"Usuratonkachi."
"Teme!"
"Dobe!"
"Okay, that's enough from the BOTH OF YOU!!" Iruka scolded, immediately receiving silence. Naruto was staring at the scarred man fearfully, while Sasuke just glowered at him. Gaara stood unnoticed next to Kakashi, having been moved out of the way of the minor argument.
"Anou...Iruka-sensei?" a small voice spoke up from the doorway. Kiba stood there, hugging his stuffed puppy to his chest as he glanced unsurely around the room. Next to him was Shino, and in front of the two was Neji.
"If Naruto-kun is finished, we'd like to bring him along to the Common area." Neji said, pale eyes looking between Naruto and Sasuke calculatively. Naruto practically threw himself at Neji, attempting to push him towards the door.
"I'm done, we're done, let's go go go!" Naruto hurried. Neji looked deliriously happy to have Naruto all over him, and he bravely took the blonde's hand as the newly-formed quartet exited.
None of them heard the furious scream and the sound of a chair being smashed to bits from the room they had just left.
ENDOFCHAPTERENDOFCHAPTERENDOFCHAPTER
Aya: Dun dun duuunnn….can anyone guess who is having the temper tantrum? Here's a hint: it isn't Gaara! (By the way, that isn't meant to be a riddle, it should be pretty obvious who it is…) Anyway, please review! Thank you!