A/N: (grins sheepishly) Yup, back – and with another story. After finishing 'BS' I just couldn't resist starting out with this one, so here I am. (smirks)

As some of you may know, this is the 'next winner' of my poll. And yes, before I forget… Thank you so much to all those who've voted thus far – my goodness, there's already been about 225 of you! (faints from shock, then HUGS) You guys are amazing – thank you so much!

FULL SUMMARY: When Naruto announced he wanted to work in a institution for 'broken' named Tengoku, everyone thought he was going crazy, especially with the blonde's pitch-black past – and in a while, so does Naruto. Especially when he meets a seemingly mute patient named Sasuke, who threatens to drive him straight into insanity. AU NaruSasu

WARNINGS: YAOI, AU, graphic themes, language, sadness, oddness… Heh, the usual when it comes to my stories. (sweatdrops)

DISCLAIMER: The day I own something, cows will most likely be flying, so… (sobs)

Awkay, as nervewrecking as this always is… (gulps) Let's go – I REALLY hope you'll enjoy this first startout!

Closest to Heaven

CHAPTER 1: Prologue – The Arrival

Sasuke kept his eyes closed while he lay on his bed, fighting the urge to wince at how tight the restraints around his wrists and ankles were. The drug they had given him was still fresh and hot in his veins, so the familiar voices floated to his ears as though through a fog.

"He's barely conscious! What the hell is going on?"

"I'm afraid he had another episode. He would've harmed himself even more seriously than he already did if we hadn't medicated him."

"I see." Her voice was quiet, defeated. Apparently she was giving up, too – for some reason the thought felt far worse than he'd expected. He shivered when she brushed his cheek. "Sasuke, can you hear me?"

He cringed.

Couldn't they understand that he was tired, damn it – that he needed to sleep, that his head was about to explode? He wanted them – especially her – to go and leave him alone.

That was what everyone else had done.

She pulled her hand away. "Sasuke… We're all here for you, okay? We want to help you, and we're not about to give up anytime soon. So don't you dare do so, either." With that he heard how she walked away.

-

Tsunade groaned loudly and fought the urge to kick a nearby trashcan as she left the room and rubbed her face with one hand.

In some other state of mind she might've found the situation amusing. She – who'd sworn that she'd let no patient get under her skin – was getting all worked up like this, barely managed to hold back tears and a scream. But now, she hardly found her feelings hilarious.

She groaned loudly, and leaned heavily against the wall.

That brat is going to be the death of me.

She didn't know how long it took before she finally managed to steel herself once more and opened her eyes.

That new summer-worker was supposed to arrive soon, right? She had work to do.

Unable to restrain herself, she turned once more towards the thick window of acrylic glass which separated her from her patient. He was resting with his back towards her, with sweat having glued his usually spiked black hair to his head and neck. Even with the oversized clothes he was wearing, it was easy to see that he was nothing but skin and bones.

Ten doctors had declared Sasuke Uchiha a hopeless case. Even more people had given up trying to reach him. She would've wanted nothing more than to prove them wrong, to show that the boy still had a chance for a future. Unfortunately that idealistic dream seemed quite far off.

Sighing deeply, she finally turned away from him and started to walk away.

She needed some strong coffee to have the energy to face a new employee.

For a sixteen-years-old Naruto Uzumaki, the start of every single day was almost exactly the same – it didn't make much of a difference whether it was a schoolday or not.

He opened his eyes, always finding the same heart-shaped stain on the otherwise nearly white roof. After that he turned to side, and took a glance towards the bright-green clock sitting on his small bedside table. Then getting up, brushing teeth, going to shower.

But this day of early summer was very different – and not only because he discovered that his alarm-clock had broken down and he'd slept in.

His eyes widened, and far faster than he'd ever moved he'd jumped out of the bed and started a mad dash downstairs. "Oh crap… Crap, crap, crap…!"

He was going to be late. What a great beginning for a day when he'd start in his new job…

His foster father Iruka entered the house just when he made it to their kitchen. He tried to seem accusative and failed miserably while searching heatedly for something to eat. His mouth was full of bread as he spoke. "Why didn't you wake me up?" Gulping down the bread, he hurriedly drank some juice to wash it down. He then frowned, coming to think of something. "And where were you, anyway?"

A look he didn't manage to read flashed by Iruka's face. The man focused on cleaning up the mess he'd made while searching for food, and wouldn't look at him. "I just… had to take care of something."

His frown from before deepened, and something cold appeared to his stomach. "Are you okay?"

Hard as he tried, he couldn't tell if the man's smile was faked or not. "Of course I am." The brunet seemed to focus on other matters. "Now go and stop worrying. I'm sure the others are already waiting for you."

He nodded, not really knowing what to say.

Just as he was about to go Iruka's voice made him halt. "Oh, and Naruto?" This time the brunet's smile was a genuine one. "Good luck. And don't worry – I'm sure you're perfect for the job."

A huge grin appeared to his face, and it was hard to resist the temptation to go and hug the man. "Thanks", was all he managed to get out. Then, with a wave of hand, he started to dash towards the room's door. "See you at four, right?"

Had he turned around, he might've been alarmed by the look that lingered on Iruka's face. "Yeah. See you."

By the time Naruto made it to a café, he was almost twenty minutes late. That's why he wasn't all that surprised to find Neji, Kiba, Shikamaru, Sai and Ino already waiting for him.

With thoughts of Iruka's odd behaviour and his new job, it was surprisingly hard to grin freely while he slumped down to sit beside Neji. "'Sorry I'm late – this morning's been pretty crappy."

He felt a tiny shiver when Neji kissed his lips. "It's okay." The boy wrapped a pair of surprisingly possessive arms around him and pulled him close. "I… would've ordered you tea, but I couldn't remember which brand you like."

He smiled somewhat wryly, not sure if he felt amused or disappointed. "We've been together for almost a year, and you still don't remember?"

Neji responded with grunting something and kissing him again.

"Hey, lovebirds." For some reason he wasn't as disappointed by Kiba's interruption as he should've been. "There are also others present, remember?"

He grinned sheepishly. "Sorry." He then withdrew from Neji slightly when the boy's herbal-tea arrived, the drink's aroma making his stomach turn as memories struck. It was almost impossible to focus. "So… Why did you invite me here, anyway? You've been acting… oddly."

Shikamaru shrugged. "We wanted you to come for a chat."

Ino swatted the boy's head. "Stop lying to him!" The girl then looked at him. "We're your friends and we care about you, okay? And we're worried."

He blinked thrice, his chest shrinking as he began to realize where this was all going. "Why would you be worried? I'm fine."
Kiba rolled his eyes a little. "Yeah, yeah, you are now. But… What's gonna happen when you start working there?"

"You've been through a lot", Sai continued. "Are you sure that all isn't too much?"

He smiled a little at his friends' genuine concern. "Iruka already gave me that speech about eight times, okay? Everything's just fine." He then peered towards Neji. "I can't believe they managed to talk someone as sensible as you into this."

Neji shrugged, something he'd never seen before flashing by the boy's eyes. "I'm also worried." The boy brushed his stomach, where they both knew a large scar to locate. "Especially with those, and all your nightmares."

He rolled his eyes and gave Neji's cheek a peck, almost losing control over the smile that appeared. "Yeah, yeah, you're being a good boyfriend." He then grew far more solemn and looked downwards, not wanting anyone to see the look in his eyes. "It's just… It's because of those nightmares I have to do this. Maybe if I do this… Then maybe those dreams will go away." He grit his teeth. "It's been so long. I've gotta let go – that's why I'm doing this, to prove that I'm strong enough." He forced himself to grin when seeing the expressions darted his way. "So you can stop looking at me like that. I'll be fine."

Kiba shrugged. "Well, in that case…" The boy lifted his mug, and the others soon followed. "To new jobs."

He couldn't help laughing out loud when Kiba and Shikamaru started bickering after they'd spilled drinks on each other, and Ino soon joined the havoc. To think that he'd actually managed to get friends like these…

"Naruto." Sai's voice barely managed to catch his attention. "What time is your shift supposed to start?"

He frowned. "At twelve. Why?" Following Sai's nod, he glanced towards the clock to find that he only had five minutes left. He winced and cussed loudly.

This really wasn't his day.

After giving Neji a kiss and saying bye to the others he dashed off, hoping that the punishment he'd receive for being late wouldn't be anything too traumatizing.

Naruto didn't even dare to look at his watch by the time he finally entered his new working place, using the keys he'd gotten from a receptionist only days ago. But even with his horrible sense of time, he knew he was badly late.

But suddenly, instead of heading towards the locker room to change his clothes – which would've been the one reasonable thing to do – he found his legs leading him entirely elsewhere. It felt like he'd been following a call of some sort, and he was both curious and scared to find out where he was going.

He walked for what felt like ages, crossing more hallways than he could count. Then, so suddenly that it surprised him, he stopped before a certain window, almost holding his breath with something close to anticipation. He blinked twice when seeing inside a boy with black, rather messy hair. The raven seemed to be sleeping, or perhaps feigning slumber.

As though enchanted somehow, he took a step closer.

And then, before he could do a thing to escape, the boy sensed his presence. He couldn't even blink before the raven shifted so that their eyes met. For a couple of moments his heart stopped, as though he'd collided with something.

One half of the other boy's face had been burned badly once upon a time, the other side was sickly pale. But he didn't notice any of that. All he could see were those onyx eyes – hazy, most likely from drugs, but nonetheless filled with untamed fire he could've sworn he'd seen before.

He became so captivated that he didn't notice the girl until she was stood beside him. "He's Sasuke Uchiha. I think we've all tried, but he won't talk to any of us – he hasn't said a word since first coming here, and he rarely leaves his room. He's probably the saddest story around here." Turning his head, he found a girl with pink hair and warm green eyes. On her she had clothes that could've been as well a uniform as her regular clothes. She smiled at him. "I'm Sakura."

He couldn't help grinning. "I'm Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki." Unable to look away too long, he turned his gaze back to Sasuke, who'd already turned his back on him. He focused on watching how the raven breathed – one, two, three… It was extremely hard to remember to speak. "How long have you been here?"

To his surprise, Sakura shrugged. "A year, maybe two. It's hard to keep track on time in here."

His mouth was already opened for a question when a new voice interrupted him. "Sakura, I've been looking for you." Turning around, he saw a woman with long, blond hair walking towards them. "You've got an appointment with Shizune, remember?"

Sakura grinned sheepishly. "Sorry." She then waved a hand at him before starting to walk away. "See you later."

His eyes wide with stun, he couldn't help staring for a while as the girl went. "She's… a patient?"

The woman nodded, then focused on him. "You must be Naruto Uzumaki."

He grinned sheepishly. "Yeah. I'm… sorry I'm late."

She waved her hand. "Just don't make a habit out of it, understood?" Her expression stated that she was definitely serious. Her eyes then turned slightly warmer. "I'm Tsunade, the senior physician of this merry place. Welcome to Tengoku."

TBC, or does it?

A/N: So… (gulps) What do you guys think – does that sound like the beginning of a decent story, or was that something that should be deleted immediately?

PLEASE, do leave a review to let me know your thoughts – it'd mean the world to me, especially with how insecure I am about letting stories out on the loose! (gives a irresistible puppy-dog look)

Until next time, I hope – with whichever story that may be!

Thank you so much for reading this!

Take care!