Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/11448663.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Graphic_Depictions_Of_Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
  Category:
      M/M
  Fandom:
      Naruto
  Relationship:
      Hatake_Kakashi/Uchiha_Obito, Uchiha_Sasuke/Uzumaki_Naruto
  Additional Tags:
      lots_of_spooky_shit_wooooo, I_went_on_a_horror_binge_and_now_my_fingers
      can't_stop, GAY_GHOST_HUNTERS, Horror, Supernatural-_freeform, mystery
      crap, trigger_warnings_will_be_updated_with_the_fic, Chaptered,
      Established_Relationship
  Stats:
      Published: 2017-07-09 Updated: 2017-10-20 Chapters: 3/? Words: 5824
****** Liars, Liars Everywhere ******
by khaleesisophie
Summary
     In which Sasuke's life was ordinary. Only child of protective
     parents, two best friends, toast in the morning hanging off the
     corner of his mouth when he made his way to school.
     Well, at least until shit hit the fan.
     The lesson to be learned is that nothing is ever as it seems.
***** Chapter 1 *****
When he walked the streets, he walked alone.
He often enjoyed the feel of the weight of the blade in his hands. His knife
was as long as his forearm, and made with a satisfyingly thick cut of metal. It
glinted under the orange light of the of the streetlamps.
There was a girl just down the street, yapping into her smartphone. Her blonde
hair glowed under orange lights, and her pretty pink mouth flapped open and
shut.
He admired that mouth, its fullness, the perfect heart shape. He waited for her
to take notice of him, and when she did, she gave him a soft smile and put down
her phone.
His breathing under his mask quickened, and he stepped forward to meet her.
***************
 
Waking up was never an elaborate affair in the Uchiha household. Sasuke usually
just got up at the crack of dawn, lather himself in the shower with whatever
fancy French soaps his mother insisted on buying, get dressed grab some toast
from the table, and then wait out on the lawn with his long board.
Being the only child, all of his whims were granted but with compromises: you
can only use that ridiculous board to school if you’re with Naruto and Sakura,
you can only go to the movies with Naruto and Sakura, you can do whatever your
little heart desires as long as it’s with Naruto and Sakura. Well, everything
but drugs.
Sasuke adored his best friends, though he would never admit it, but they were
pretty much his second parents by now.
Naruto was already waiting for him when he stepped out onto his lawn, sitting
on the sidewalk with his long board tucked into his arm. He was absentmindedly
blowing perfectly formed bubbles from a wand onto the street and watching them
pop as they went.
Sasuke stilled in his footsteps, wondering if his heart would never stop
quickening at the sight of Naruto’s hair glowing in the sunrise, of his
impatient foot tapping against the gravel as he waited for him.
Naruto turned to him with a blinding smile, and stuck his bubbles into his
pocket.
“Hey, asshole.” he said. “Sakura’s on the way.”
“Yeah.” was Sasuke’s only reply. He sat down next to Naruto on the sidewalk,
and halved his toast with him. Naruto bit into it, and lay an arm across his
shoulders.
Sasuke wanted nothing more than to lean into his warmth, accept this tender act
of love, but as always, cold fear gripped his heat. But Naruto always
understood.
 
“Good morning, idiot.” he whispered, just as they heard the wheels of Sakura’s
long board rushing down the street.
***************
Guns in the bedroom drawer. Check. Knife collection under the bed. Check. Holy
water… not check.
“Babe,” said Kakashi Hatake to his absolutely wonderful fiance, who totally
didn’t orget the fucking holy water again. “Where’s the holy water?”
“It’s in the pantry!” Obito yelled from the bathroom.
“With the regular water?”
“Yes with the regular water! If a demon breaks in, they wouldn’t look for it in
the fucking pantry!”
Kakashi robbed at his forehead, feeling tired all of a sudden. “Obito, they’re
not going to be looking for it in the pantry because it will be in my pocket.”
“You keep your porn in your pockets!”
“Babe-”
“You know what. Fine. Put your fucking holy water with your fucking porn. Can I
please just PIMFP?”
“PIMFP?”
“POOP IN MOTHER FUCKING PEACE!”
Kakashi laughed, yelled an “I love you!” and ran out the door before his fiance
could finish up in the bathroom and hurl his knife collection at him.
When he got into his car, he revved up the engine and opened the news app on
his phone as he waited for it to warm up. Konoha was Obito’s hometown and
absolutely bursting with Spiritual energy, but he wasn’t sure how much money he
could make as a ghost hunter.
Thankfully he and Obito had thought to secure themselves careers before going
into the supernatural business, but they actually made quite a bit. He was a
teacher, and Obito was an established horror author. He never had to look for
new ideas- they ran into so much weird shit that Obito could simply write down
what happened to them and make it happen to his original characters.
They had been in the business since they had graduated college, after Kakashi
had run into a Kuchisake Onna two years prior. Obito had been the one to find
him, lying on the street with blood pooled around his head.
Before that, Obito had just been a classmate who he occasionally partied with,
but after visiting him in the hospital and explaining to him about the reality
of the supernatural, and his own psychic abilities that had led him to Kakashi
that night, Obito became something else.
A wonder. An enigma. Both too simple words to fully explain what Obito Uchiha
was to him- he was everything in the universe, and more. He’d spent years
trying to put all he felt for him into words, but never quite could but for
mere meaningless phrases such as “wonder” and “universe”.
To this day he still wondered why Obito was with him- the Kakashi Hatake who
was not and would never be as special and beautiful as Obito Uchiha.Obito had
never told him why he’d accepted his invitation for a date, then a second, then
a third. Obito was one of the most emotionally open people he knew, but all
actual talk about it had him shutting off. Kakashi understood. He always had.
He locked his phone just to look at Obito’s face on his lockscreen for a
moment, and then unlocked it again to continue scrolling through the news app.
Something caught his eye then.
KONOHA HIGH STUDENT ATTACKED AND LEFT FOR DEAD
Early this morning, Konoha High Senior Ino Yamanaka was found…
He opened the link. Ino Yamanaka had been found at 3 am in front of her home,
with a Glasgow smile cut into her face.
His heart was beating out of his chest, and suddenly he could feel the throb of
the long-since healed marks on his own face. He dropped the phone.
“Obito!” he yelled, running out of the car. “I think we have business!”
***** Chapter 2 *****
It had been, for all intents and purposes, an ordinary day until Sakura had
received the call that one of her best friends was in the hospital at lunch
time, and got up from the table she shared with Naruto and Sasuke to answer it.
Sasuke watched her walk away from them and towards the trash cans, unable to
explain the hint of dread that made his palms sweat, and watched her lips
pressing into a thin line as she listened to whoever was on the phone. After
she hung up, she walked over them stiffly and told them they were going to
visit Ino in the hospital after class ended for the day.
“What happened?” Naruto asked, blinking in that adorable goofy way of his. “Is
she sick?”
Sakura burst into tears.
Sasuke wordlessly handed a wad of napkins at her while Naruto panicked and gave
her his and Sasuke’s cups of pudding- fucking asshole, didn’t even ask- while
saying “Oh my God, you’re crying, oh God, please don’t cry, fuck, shit-”
After she’d calmed down, she showed them the news article.
Sasuke had never particularly cared for Ino Yamanaka, she was far too bitchy
and annoying, and her crush on him back in middle school and all his efforts
put into avoiding her and Karin Uzumaki (and even Sakura, for a while) still
made him cringe.
However, there was a difference between reading a random news report about a
random violent occurrence in some random place with some random victim, and
reading a news report about a violent occurrence happening ten minutes away
from where you lived and the victim being someone who had been your classmate
since diapers, who also happened to be a mutual acquaintance.
Scrolling through the article on Sakura's phone, he felt bile rise in his
throat. The attacker had sliced from the corners of Ino's mouth to her ears,
and there was a picture of her pale, bleeding head on the familiar pentagonal
tiles of the Yamanaka house's driveway. For whatever reason, guilt twisted his
stomach.
Beside him, Naruto looked very pale. He squeezed his hand.
"Is she alright?" Sasuke asked, trying to keep his composure.
"She's awake and answering questions, if that's what you're asking." Sakura
took her phone back from his hand.
"I'll buy her some ramen." Naruto said, suddenly brightening. "That'll cheer
anyone up! "
"I don't think hot soup near her-"
Sakura interrupted him. A first. "I think she'll love that."
 
******
 
Konoha Medical Center wasn't very far from the school, just a ten minute ride
and you were at the parking lot entrance.
Naruto waved at the guard when they walked in. He was here a lot, as his only
surviving relative, his great Aunt Tsunade (who Naruto lovingly called "bitchy
old hag") was the hospital's Head Doctor.
The guard let them put down their boards at his station, and they bought grape
soda at a vending machine before heading to the elevators.
Naruto put his arm around Sasuke's shoulders as they stood, waiting to reach
the seventh floor.
"Hey, asshole." Naruto whispered, his breath hot at Sasuke's ear. He shivered.
"You haven't insulted me once all day. What's up with you? "
Before he could respond, Sakura was already crying hot, angry tears.
"Someone we knew just got attacked! " she shrieked, causing the elevator
attendant to flinch and cover her ears. "Look what that crazy asshole did to
Ino's face! Lacerations from her mouth to her ears- its so fucking.... fucking
crazy!"
Sasuke didn't know why her words made him so nervous, but he could feel his
palms moisten again.
Naruto was looking back and forth between Sakura, who was ranting and crying,
and Sasuke, who was unusually stoic and pale, even for Sasuke.
It remained tense in the elevator until the attendant was brave enough to point
out that they had arrived at the seventh floor. Sakura huffed and stormed out
of the elevator, face red.
Ino was in a private room at the end of the hall. Sakura knocked on door 706
and it swung open to reveal a smiling nurse, who made them all rub alcohol in
their hands before walking in.
"Hey, Ino pig... " Sakura said, sitting by Ino's feet on the bed and smiling
awkwardly.
Sasuke hadn't seen a makeup-less Ino since elementary, but it didn't really
matter as the lower half of her face was taped up with bandages anyway, and had
a surgical mask over those.
Ino had moved to remove the mask, but the nurse made a tutting sound, and her
hand fell away limply. Then she started to sniffle; big tears streaming down
her face.
Sakura looked outraged. "I thought she was able to talk?! "
"Yes ma'am, " said the nurse. "But her wounds reopened from her interview with
the police. She can't talk for the next couple days, at least."
As Sakura argued with the nurse, Naruto moved closer to Ino and patted her arm.
"Don't worry Ino, you'll be out of here before you know it, and Sakura will
treat you to ramen!"
"Who said I'm paying for it?!" Sakura said, stopping her tirade at the nurse.
Ino didn't seem to find Naruto's words comforting, and she began to
hyperventilate as Sasuke stepped forward to put a hand on Naruto's shoulders.
"Hey," the nurse said, also going to the bed. "You can't get your bandages wet-
"
Ino didn't listen and began to give out pained sobs, breathing hard in between
and violently gasping for air.
The nurse took out what looked like a walkie talkie. "Hey, sensei, can you send
new bandages for Yamanaka in room 706? "
Ino picked up a glass of water and hurled it to the floor.
"She's having a panic attack, you moron! " Sakura snarled.
"O-Oi, Ino..." Naruto looked decidedly awkward now, and a little alarmed. "I
thought you liked ramen... ha ha... "
As Sakura and Naruto started to fuss, Sasuke's stomach was steadily falling to
his feet. He squeezed Naruto's shoulder.
"Let's leave them alone." He whispered.
Naruto slowly backed away from Ino, who seemed to have reopened her wounds
again as spots of blood began to appear along the length of her right cheek.
"We'll just text Sakura later." He told Naruto after they had retrieved their
long boards.
They rode down the streets in tense silence, until Naruto threw a mischievous
grin over his shoulder. His eyes twinkled, and Sasuke's heart skipped a beat.
"Race you to your house! " he shouted, kicking off the gravel to speed up.
"You know I'll win anyway, idiot." Sasuke smirked as he sped up as well, and
soon they were hurling obscenities at each other all the way to the Uchiha
residence.
Soon they had collapsed into Sasuke's driveway with Naruto being held in a
chokehold, but Naruto laughed it off and pressed a kiss to his temple.
His mother was in the living room doing work on her tablet when they walked in.
"There's tomato juice on the kitchen table! " she called out as they ran up the
stairs. Sasuke turned back to grab the chilled cans of tomato juice and ran up
to his room, where Naruto was already sitting Indian-style on his bed. With his
shoes on.
"Idiot, take your shoes off. " he said, putting the cans on the bed. He threw
his backpack on the floor, next to Naruto's.
Sasuke laid on the bed, suddenly feeling exhausted and trying not to think
about Ino's awful, pained sobs...
"Hey asshole, don't fall asleep on me." Naruto muttered, and adjusted himself
to lay down next to him,propped up on his elbows to stare at him.
"I'm not sleeping." Sasuke muttered back at him, his eyes slowly sliding open
to find Naruto's suddenly very close to his.
His heart was quickening again, and he rubbed at Naruto's chest. He told
himself he was just feeling the material of his shirt. Not sexual at all.
He didn't know why he was so afraid of Naruto touching him like... that, but
the two of them always found themselves here, making out in his bedroom, but
Sasuke always telling him not to take it further.
He wondered if he could do it now. His eyes trailed from the full shape of
Naruto's lips, across his lightly scarred cheeks, up to his eyes. They had
darkened with want, and Sasuke's mouth suddenly felt dry.
He ran his tongue over his lips, still staring, and Naruto's eyes darkened even
more.
"You can... " Sasuke whispered.
Next thing he knew, he was being kissed within an inch of his life.
He clutched at Naruto's back.
When they were in here, alone, Sasuke was always able to accept Naruto's touch,
even if it was just this. There was something about being out anywhere that
made Sasuke unable to lean into him, but in here, his anxiety eased and they
could touch as far as Sasuke could allow.
Well, that wasn't exactly true. Sasuke felt Naruto's hand lightly brush against
his hip, and panic bloomed in his chest. He scrambled to push the other boy
away.
Naruto immediately backed off, and watched as Sasuke tried to catch his breath.
Naruto opened his mouth to talk, but Sasuke looked away.
"Oi, asshole, don't go around looking guilty. Come here. "
For a while they just lied there, Sasuke's head on Naruto's chest, just
listening to the steady thump of his heartbeat.
****
An hour later, Sakura texted them to pick her up from the hospital.
They pulled on their trainers and went down the stairs to find his mother in
the landing, sipping a cup of coffee.
"You two together yet? " she asked, her smile bright. Sasuke hid his discomfort
and kept a straight face.
"No, Mother."
"Maybe soon, if His Highness permits. " Naruto's smile was wide as he squeezed
Sasuke's shoulders. Sasuke snorted and swatted his hands away.
******
Sakura was waiting for them in the hospital parking lot, her board tucked under
her arm.
"Let's just walk. " she said when they approached her. Sasuke shrugged.
"How's Ino? " Naruto asked.
"She calmed down a lot after you guys left. They had redo her stitches." Sakura
said.
A black sedan pulled out of its parking space and was driving down where they
walked. Sasuke muttered at the other two to move to the side of the driveway
when the car blinked its lights at them. Rude.
Instead of driving past them, the car stopped and a man with long black hair
and giant aviators stepped out.
Sakura looked alarmed, and stepped in front of them. Sasuke's fingers wrapped
around the house keys in his pocket.
Naruto looked uneasy, but gave a smile to the man, who was now leaning against
the side of his car with his arms crossed and staring at them.
"Is there a problem? " Naruto asked. The man smirked, and Sasuke wondered if
the man wore his giant mirrored aviators for a separation in interaction, or
the man just had a superiority complex.
He thought it might be the latter. Sasuke could see his reflection in the
sunglasses, his figure in the center of each lens, pale in the setting sun.
Something about the image made his blood run cold.
"No problem at all." The man said. "I was just wondering what three kids like
you are doing, hanging around a hospital parking lot at this time. Do you need
a ride home?"
Sakura's voice was clipped when she snapped a "No, thank you." She grabbed both
boys by the arms and was dragging away before either of them could even open
their mouths to protest.
They grabbed their long boards and as they rode away, Sasuke could feel the
man's eyes boring into the back of his neck.
***** Chapter 3 *****
Naruto squeezed Sasuke's hand as they said goodbye, and then ran off the porch
to join Sakura.
Sasuke suppressed a shiver as he thought about the strange man at the parking
lot. He had a terrible feeling about that guy, and he hoped they wouldn't run
into him again. His parents were sitting in the living room when he came in.
"Sasuke," said his father. "We'd like to talk to you."
He put his bag down and sat on the armchair across from then, his hands in his
lap. "About what?"
"Well... " His parents exchanged glances. "We'd like it if you didn't take your
longboard to school anymore."
"It's dangerous. " his father said.
Sasuke frowned. "If this is about what happened to Ino Yamanaka-"
"What happened to Ino Yamanaka?" His mother asked.
"You didn't know?" Sasuke asked, his frown deepening. If this wasn't about Ino,
then why were they suddenly asking him to not longboard to school, out of the
blue?
"The point is, " his mother said. "We just don't think it's.... safe, for you,
anymore."
"We got you a car. " said his father bluntly. Then, the side of his father’s
mouth quirked into an almost smile.
Sasuke stood up, suddenly excited. "You got me a car?! "
"Yes! " his mother's smile was wide. "Suprise! It's in the garage, your father
will show you."
*****
Sitting between his mother's white Lexus and his father's gray Mercedes was a
black sedan. When his eyes adjusted to the dark of the garage, he could see the
Pugeot logo emblazoned on its front.
Sasuke forgot himself and ran to it, opening the door to the driver's seat and
breathing in the amazing smell of new car.
His father smirked at him before tossing him the keys.
"Don't wreck it. " he said. "Dinner will be ready in around fifteen minutes."
*****
Naruto immediately texted him instructions to pick him up for school at his
apartment. Sasuke lost himself in fantasies of parking somewhere random and
allowing Naruto to kiss him senseless there, but then those fantasies were
blown away when Sakura told him the same thing.
The car reminded him of the parking lot stranger's own black sedan- what had
been up with that? His gut told him to steer clear of the guy. It was a good
thing he had a car now, since the guy now couldn't offer to let him hitchhike
if Sasuke came across him again.
His good mood suddenly gone, he went to bed.
****
Sasuke had never had a nightmare before. He was sure he probably did as a
child, but his first seven years of life were filled with blank spots and
blurry images.
But this time he woke up with a scream, tears streaming down his face and
sticky with sweat, and he, for the life of him could not remember what the
nightmare had been about and why it had him so upset.
It was stupid to be so worked up over a dream he couldn't even remember, but
his hands were trembling when he pulled on his trainers.
Naruto was bouncing when he drove up to Naruto's apartment block.
"Shit, " he said, stroking the car's hood with reverence. "Sasuke, it's
beautiful."
Sasuke smirked and allowed him to inspect the rest of the car, oooh-ing and
ahhh-ing at its tires, and the smooth purring of the engine.
It took fifteen minutes to coax Naruto into the car, and then they were driving
off to meet Sakura.
She, if possible, was even more excited over the car than Naruto was and
insisted that Sasuke allow her to pose ironically over the hood for Instagram,
which Sasuke gave a firm "no" to.
He tried not to be distracted by the weird, forgotten nightmare while he drove.
Naruto was showing memes to Sakura on his phone, which kept the two distracted
from him for the time being.
“Did you hear that we have a new History teacher?”Sakura asked, bouncing
forward to put her hands on Naruto’s and Sasuke’s chairs.
“What happened to Ebisu?” Sasuke asked.
“He's on leave, remember? Cause he and Principal Iruka finally are going on
their honeymoon” said Naruto. “Honestly, Sasuke, we went to their wedding.”
“Oh. That. Hn.”
Sasuke saw Sakura roll her eyes in the rearview mirror. He smirked.
It was only a few minutes later when he managed to secure a parking space by
the school (and impress the other two with his parallel parking skills- it
honestly isn't that hard), and then Naruto was bouncing out of the car and
grabbing his arm to drag him out.
“Idiot, what are you- mmf!”
Sasuke was shoved against the car door and being kissed within an inch of his
life. A small part of his brain registered that they were out in public, and he
began to melt into Naruto’s arms instead.
“Guys. What the hell.” Sakura didn't sound happy.
Naruto pulled away from him to start mouthing at his ear.
“Holy shit, can you not?!”
They both ignored her.
“Don't look now, Sasuke…” Naruto’s voice was low as he whispered into his ear.
“But that guy from the parking lot yesterday is here. He was driving behind us
all the way here.”
Sasuke tensed up, his eyes immediately snapping open. True to Naruto’s words,
the creep was parked several cars away, partially hidden by a tree as he leaned
against his car, still wearing those damn mirror sunglasses.
His fists clenched, a mix of fear and anger racing through him.
Naruto pulled away with a final kiss to his cheek and a grin that eased his
tension somewhat. “Let's go, Sasuke.”
“I can't believe you two. You know what. You're not coming with me to visit Ino
later. I'm done. You can buy your own ice cream.”
Naruto stuck out his tongue at her. “You never buy us ice cream.”
“Yeah, and now I'm never going to start.”
It was only halfway through first period when Sasuke realized that he hadn't
felt even a kick of fear at all when Naruto had kissed him outside.
***
Kakashi looked at the senior History class he had been assigned. When looking
at the class list, a few names had immediately jumped out at him.
Naruto Uzumaki. Sasuke Uchiha. Namely, his mentor's son and a possible relative
of his beloved Obito.
The spiritual energy in this particular bunch was a lot higher than the other
classes he'd introduced himself to today. Kakashi’s eyes had immediately been
drawn to the back of the classroom, where the teenager who was obviously
Minatos son was seated. He had an arm slung around another boy who was
definitely an Uchiha from the first glance- this was probably Sasuke. That
would explain it.
There was also a boy and a girl who looked like they could be Hyuugas. You
couldn’t get those white eyes anywhere else other than that family, and it
seems like they had probably both already started in their training if their
spiritual energy was so high.
He raised an eyebrow when he saw Minato’s son bend down to whisper into Sasuke
Uchiha’s ear- that was definitely a surprise. But, thinking again, perhaps not.
From what he could remember, Kushina Uzmaki had always been close to that
Uchiha girl… Mimi or Mikoto, or something.
Kakashi cleared his throat, and the class quieted. “Good morning. My name is
Kakashi Hatake, and I am your new History teacher. As for the things I like and
things I hate… I don’t feel like telling you that.”
The students exchanged confused glances.
“My dreams for the future… never really thought about it. Perhaps marrying my
partner? Huh. As for my hobbies… I have lots of hobbies.”
Naruto Uzumaki raised his hand.
“Yes?”
“What are you hiding under your mask?”
Kakashi allowed himself a smile at that. “Well, if you’re really curious,
perhaps I can show you.”
The students all seemed to perk up at that, and he drew his fingers upwards to
pinch the edge of his mask and slowly pull it down.
“As you can see, students, under my mask is… another mask! Now, let’s see what
your previous teacher left you... have any of you started reading up on the
American-Vietnamese war?”
There was a unanimous groan, and Kakashi snickered to himself.
---
“Well, that was useless.” Sakura grumbled. “He didn’t really tell us anything
other than his name. And a seven page essay due in three days.”
Sasuke was annoyed as well, but chose not to comment. He was still reeling from
this morning- from his nightmare, to his new stalker, him suddenly being okay
with public affection… what did it all mean? Maybe he shouldn’t let strange
creeps mess with his head so much.
Perhaps he was still reeling from Orochimaru. He hadn’t even known their
previous Chemistry teacher was obsessed with him- at least, not until his
mother had discovered him breaking into the house and stealing his underwear.
The hidden camera in his bathroom didn’t help, either. Naruto and Sakura had
been outraged, and Naruto had slept over for nearly three weeks, which was fine
with Sasuke.
He was shaken out his thoughts when he heard the new teacher call his name.
“Uchiha, can I speak with you?”
Naruto gave him a mocking look as he danced out of the classroom. Sasuke glared
at him. Sakura wave before closing the door.
“Yes, sir?” Sasuke went up to the teacher’s des.
“Ah, do you have any siblings?”
Sasuke blinked. “I’m an only child. What did you want to talk to me about?”
“Ah, sorry. I phrased that wrong. I was going to ask you if you are related to
an Obito Uchiha?”
The name did ring a bell. “One of my older cousins, I think. From my father’s
side.”
Kakashi’s face lit up. “A pleasure to make your acquaintance, then. He’s my
partner.”
He held out his hand, and Sasuke regarded it suspiciously before politely
shaking it.
“I also recognized your, uh, friend. Naruto Uzumaki. I and Obito used to be his
students.”
That got Sasuke’s attention. Naruto knew so little about his parents, and this
would definitely cheer the idiot up about that strange creep..
“Nice to meet you.” he said, the corner of his quirking up. “I'm sure the idiot
will go nuts when he knows.”
------
That afternoon, Sakura headed to the hospital nearly the instant the dismissal
bell rang.
Sasuke was alone with Naruto for once, with several hours of free time ahead of
them.
“Oi, Sasuke.” Naruto grinned as he went in the car. “Let's go on a date.”
“Hn. Are you going to woo me with Ichiraku ramen again?”
Naruto had the decency to blush. “Jiraiya told me about this new cafe,
actually.”
“You sure it's not a porn and coffee free for all?”
Naruto snorted at that. “Only one way to find out, neh, Sasuke?”
----
The cafe turned out to be decent- decent, as in, there were no scantily clad
women anywhere as they had feared. There was a very busty and pretty barista at
the cashier, which was what Sasuke imagined to be the reason for Jiraiya’s
recommendation.
Naruto started sweet talking a barista into letting them pay for their drinks
after they were done with them, instead of as they ordered. Sasuke made himself
comfortable at a booth overlooking the street, with lots of sunlight being let
through.
A few minutes later, Naruto was sliding a small cup of Americano towards him.
He thanked him with a murmur.
“So... “ said Naruto. “That thing with Ino was messed up, huh?”
Sasuke tried to hide the shudder that went through him. “I guess. There’s some
psycho roaming the streets and the police hasn’t even found them yet.”
“Pervy Sage was telling me how there wasn’t any DNA in the area. Whoever did
must have been pretty smart. Or…”
Sasuke smirked at him. “Or what? It was a ghost?”
Naruto’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “That would be cool, right? The Phantom
of Konoha!”
“Hn. Keep dreaming, idiot. It’s probably just some pasty teenager who liked to
murder animals as a kid.”
“Oh, like you?”
“Gamabunta didn’t die.”
“Yeah, he just had to go to the vet after throwing up for several hours.”
“Hmpf. How was I supposed to know toads can’t tomatoes?”
“Anyway,” Naruto’s grin grew wider. “Did you get in trouble with that Kakashi
guy.”
“Hmphf. I’m not telling you.”
Naruto pouted at him. “Saaaaaaaasukeeeeeeeeeeeeee.”
“Fine. Idiot.” He gave the idiot an affectionate smile, one that never failed
to make Naruto’s face light up in return. “Turns out, that Kakashi guy used to
be a student of your dad’s. And he’s dating one of my cousins or uncles, or
something.”
Naruto’s eyes brightened with realization. “I was wondering why that weirdo
looked so familiar. Um, hold on.”
He fiddled with his wallet for a second and pulled out a wrinkled, old
photograph that had obviously been folded and refolded too many times. Sasuke
immediately recognized the blond man in the middle- Minato Namikaze, Naruto’s
father. Standing with him were two children, and his eyes were drawn to the one
with a shock of silver hair and wearing a mask.
“Huh.” Sasuke said, taking the picture from Naruto. “His story checks out.”
“What, you didn’t believe him?”
Sasuke smirked at him again.
They were done with their drinks around ten minutes later, though Sasuke had no
idea how someone could drink even half of the sugary disaster that Naruto
usually ordered.
“I’ll go pay.” he said, getting up.
“Wait, here’s my-”
“Naruto.” He squeezed his hand. “Quit it. I’m paying.”
“Your bill is 500 yen.” said the busty cashier when Sasuke went up to the
counter. Sasuke took out the money wordlessly, and was about to hand it to the
lady when a hand grabbed his wrist.
“Hello there.”
The sunglasses-wearing creep was smiling down at him. Suddenly, Sasuke felt his
annoyance towards the creep spike into a burning flash of anger.
“You.” he growled, and attempted to snatch his wrist back.
“Me.” the creep smiled at him. Sasuke was once again looking into his own
twisted, angry face reflected in his lenses.
“Look.” he managed to say through gritted teeth. “I don’t want to talk to you.
If you keep following me around like some kind of fucking creep, I’m calling
the police.”
The man’s smile only grew wider, and his grasp on Sasuke’s wrist tightened.
“Are you?”
This wasn’t good. Alarm bells were ringing all over his mind, screaming at him
to run far, far away.
“Yes. If you don’t let go of me right now-”
“Is there a problem, sirs?” the cashier lady asked.
“Yes!” Sasuke shouted. “This man won’t let go of me!”
“Sir, unhand him before I call security.”
“Sasuke, what’s going on- you!” Sasuke’s head whirled to see that Naruto had
gone up to them. “I’m going to punch you in the fucking-”
The man immediately let go, his hands held up in surrender. “Whoa, I don’t want
a problem. There’s no need to call anyone.”
With that, the man spun on his heel and strode out of the cafe. Sasuke stared
at the back of the man’s head- the deep green of the beanie he used to cover
all of his hair, and the pale skin of his neck.
He needed to watch out for this guy.
Naruto immediately took his arm and started checking it. He was unharmed other
than the red marks where the man had gripped him.
“It’s fine!” he snapped, snatching back his arm, perhaps with a little more
force than necessary.
----
It was tense when he drove Naruto home, but Naruto still pressed a kiss against
his ear before he left the car.
“Oh and Sasuke?”
“Yeah?”
“Be safe, okay? I’m going to kick that guy’s ass next time I see him.”
He nodded silently before driving away.
When he got home, his mother was sitting on the couch with her feet propped up
on the coffee table.
“You’re home early.” she said, looking up. “Where are Naruto and Sakura?”
“Sakura’s visiting Ino Yamanaka at the hospital.” Sasuke said as he threw his
bag on the couch next to her. “So I took Naruto home.”
“Oh, alright.” She smiled. “It’s better not to stay out too late these days,
anyway. Too many creeps.”
A shiver ran down Sasuke’s spine. He picked up his bag and went up to his
bedroom without a word.
-------
When Naruto got home, he called out his arrival half-heartedly, knowing that
Jiraiya was probably too into whatever he was writing to hear him, the pervert.
He rolled his eyes and walked to his room.
A spike of anxiety shot through him as he touched the doorknob.
His eyes went up to the mirror he had hung in front of his door, and glared
into his own eyes.
“I won’t let it get to me.” he whispered, and opened the door.
Please drop_by_the_archive_and_comment to let the author know if you enjoyed
their work!