Chapter 2

He felt a stick poking his arm. Sasuke swatted the stick away and turned into the thick covers. The stick poked his arm again, and Sasuke's eyes snapped open. He turned and blinked blearily at the blond kid, then sat up, rubbing his eyes, feeling surprised that he had gotten a full nights sleep without nightmares. Naruto was standing at the bedside, eyes darting from him to the window, sweater from yesterday still hiding his frail body. Draped over his left arm was a white towel, which he shoved at him.

"Please…take a shower," the boy said, and moved quickly out of the way as Sasuke slid from the bed. He frowned at Naruto as he took the towel, unsure if the other kid was insulting his hygiene. Before he could open his mouth, the timid kid was already exiting the book cluttered room with the airs of someone with errands to run. Sasuke followed, rubbing his nose miserably at the cleanser fumes and watched as Naruto returned from the kitchen with a bucket and rag. He glanced red-rimmed eyes at Sasuke before muttering again, "Please take a shower."

"What? I don't stink," Sasuke retorted, face going red with embarrassment. He even sniffed his arm pits quickly, and could only smell the faint scent of laundry detergent from a previous wash. He glared at his host and watched as a look of pain passed over the pallid face.

"No, I have to clean," Naruto rasped in his small voice, lips trembling and eyes watering. "I have to clean more now." He nudged Sasuke with a thin finger towards the bathroom. Sasuke scowled but entered, not wanting to see the boy cry again, because it reminded him of last night, when he too had been showing that bout of weakness. He glanced around the bathroom, grimacing at the gleaming surfaces and the now very familiar chemical smell. There wasn't anything on the sink counter, but opening the mirror cabinet revealed shampoo and soaps. He proceeded to shower, relaxing when the warm water hit his chilled skin. The apartment was cold- he realized he hadn't felt warmth much when he slept last night except when he was deep in the blanket. He couldn't believe he had stayed the night at some weird kids' house. He'd never been the type to befriend some random kid, or go to his house for that matter. His father had always stressed caution around anyone that wasn't an Uchiha, especially after their distant cousin Hyuuga Hinata had almost been kidnapped.

He didn't think he had much to worry about in the kidnapping department anymore- the Uchiha line was all but dead. Sasuke shut off the water and stared silently as the water drained down into the pipes; he rubbed his face and stepped out of the tub.

Hate me.

Itachi ruined everything.

Hate me.

His whole clan gone.

Hate me.

Sasuke grit his teeth and clenched his fists, felt hot rage run through his small body.

He hated him.

He grabbed the towel and wiped the water from his body, face red with anger. He glanced around, instantly feeling stupid when he realized he hadn't brought any clean clothes. He glanced around for his pants and balked when they were not within sight. He opened the door and sauntered into the hallway, spying Naruto wiping the walls down with a rag, surrounded by bottles of chemical cleansers. He was wiping away at the same spot on the wall, the same rhythmic stroke over an area that seemed devoid of dirt.

"Hey Naruto," the blond jumped and blinked up at him owlishly from across the room. "What did you do with my clothes?" He felt a chill when he realized that he hadn't heard Naruto enter when he was showering.

Naruto stopped wiping the wall and gave a weak shrug.

"They're in the hamper washing…" his eyelids gave a strange flutter. "They have to be washed."

"Well what am I going to wear?"

Naruto just returned to wiping the wall- the same spot. Sasuke threw his hands up in the air with a huff and returned to Naruto's bedroom, wrapped in the towel, and eyed the books that lined the walls. Most of them were about things, plants, animals, buildings; he pulled one up that was on ancient literature…whatever that was. Sasuke placed the book back on its pile when his eye caught a flashy blue book, and upon picking it up, saw that it was on infamous shinobi. He blinked at the gold inked words on the cover and thought back on his class at the Academy. When was the last time he had been there? He had been at the top of his class, hopefully to be as strong as his brother… He gripped the book; he supposed he was way behind now-two months of inactivity most likely had made him weak. Sasuke pursed his lips and concluded that he would return to the Academy as soon as possible.

He stood up, brushing damp hair from his face and headed back into the living room, his stomach grumbling in its emptiness. He hadn't eaten much yesterday except for a bowl of cereal in the morning- and that had barely gone down well. He glanced at Naruto, who was wiping the small table with the lamp, the strong smell of the cleanser making his eyes water. Sasuke moved into the spotless kitchen, tightened his towel, and peeked into the cupboard. It was empty. He glanced back at Naruto, who had moved onto brushing the couch with the cloth- which was weird because wasn't that going to make the couch wet? His stomach grumbled again, and he braved looking into the refrigerator. Not only was it empty- but it also wasn't on. Sasuke gave a small sigh, which he was sure was unbecoming of an Uchiha and moved into the living room. Naruto had left the couch and was examining the carpet- no doubt looking for a reason to clean it too. Sasuke moved over to the couch and touched it- it was cool to the touch but it wasn't wet as he imagined it might be. He slumped down and ignored the ache in his belly, sure that at some point his host would remember it. It was poor manners to ask for food; his mother had said so, and he would just have to wait for it to be offered, though he couldn't imagine what Naruto would give him, since the house was empty.

A buzzer went off, catching Naruto's unwavering attention, and the blond disappeared into the small pantry to return with Sasuke's clothing. Grateful that he could at least put something on, Sasuke removed the towel from his waist and donned his fresh scented blue shirt and black pants. Naruto, on the other hand, headed for the bathroom and moments later the run of water told the hungry Uchiha that the boy was taking a shower. Sasuke returned to the book cluttered room and sat on the edge of the bed, gazing at the news papered window. He would go back to the Academy and learn everything. He would be the best- better than the others, better than Itachi…

He sat there in silent thought until the door opened, and Naruto slipped into the room, eyes darting towards him from under the hood, that he smoothed down, before sitting in his pillowed corner. Sasuke's stomach took the moment to give a rather angry declaration, loud enough that he turned crimson, and Naruto blinked up at him. Sasuke looked away- feeling embarrassed, then looked back at the blond, examining the empty expression, the flutter of his eyelids. Naruto crawled forward and slipped his hand under the bed, retrieving a chocolate bar. He held it out to Sasuke- who blushed and took the candy bar.

As he hungrily ate the bar, thinking that his mother would have a heart attack if she had seen him eat that for breakfast, wondered if this was all that the blond ate. He peered at the blond, at the hollows in his cheeks, the puffy red-rimmed eyes, the thin fingers that clutched the book he was reading. He was really skinny, and he looked so weak- he wondered how the boy mustered any energy to clean. If Itachi had seen him- Sasuke shuddered at the thought and glanced around the room for a trash can to throw his empty wrapper. Though he no longer felt hunger pangs, he wanted a real meal, a well-rounded one for a growing ninja.

Leaving the room, he headed into the kitchen and saw a small bin in a corner. Peering inside, a whiff of chocolate blew his way and he spied several wrappers at the bottom, along with what looked like a half eaten sandwich. Sasuke tossed the wrapper inside, then headed for the door, donning on his sandals, which to his horror, were damp. Lifting as sandal to his face, Sasuke sniffed it and jerked his head away. The familiar scent of foot sweat had been replaced by detergent, and he sent an incredulous look at Naruto's bedroom door before putting it on his feet and unlocking the door.

As he opened the door, he squinted into the mid-morning light, grimacing at the blaring sun, and realizing just how gloomy the spotless apartment was. Closing the door behind him, Sasuke headed down the stairwell, glancing at the other apartments, noticing that the whole floor was eerily silent. But as he headed down to the first floor, he saw people moving about inside of the rooms. Moving out into the village, he glared at the happy faces of the civilians, their faces so relaxed and carefree. Sasuke stopped by a stall and had rice and fish, drowning away the sweetness of the chocolate that sat unhappily in his stomach. When he was finished, he headed for the Academy, aware that by the time he arrived it would be lunch.

Entering the Academy he watched as the other children ate their lunches, talking, laughing, or tossing kunai at trees- perfectly comfortable- perfectly safe. Sasuke stuffed his hands in his pockets and headed for the rooftop, knowing that very few of the students bothered to go there.

"Hey Sasuke-kun!" one girl called, and he glared at her.

"Where have you been, Uchiha-san?" some boys called

"I heard he dropped out-'' one kid whispered, and Sasuke's shoulders tensed at the remark. Like hell he would! His pace quickened until he was at the roof, where he sat leaning against the fence and took a deep breath through his nostrils. An Uchiha drop out of anything? Not likely. He would show them- he may be one of the last- but he would be the best.

Sasuke remained on the roof until lunch was over, then he headed for his class. Upon entering, the other students stared, as if he were reported dead or something. Sasuke stared coldly back, until their nosy eyes looked away, except for Iruka-sensei, whose warm eyes were filled with concern and relief.

"Sasuke," the man said with his calm voice- unless he was shouting. "It's good to see you back. You've missed much, but I'm sure you'll catch up quickly." Yes, yes he would. Sasuke nodded towards the man, thankful that he wasn't making a big deal of it, and sat down in the second row, as far away from the weird pink haired girl who kept staring at him on and off. Mizuki- sensei, an assistant of Iruka-sensei, handed him a small stack of back assignments, and he got to work on them quickly enough, tuning out the sound of the other students. He hated this place.

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Naruto stripped the bed, pulling the blanket and sheets from the mattress and piling them on the carpet. Sasuke had slept in this bed, and the thought of it remaining unwashed caused his skin to tingle uncomfortably. The dark haired boy had left after he had eaten, and Naruto hoped he would not return.

HemusthemusthemustWeneedhimneedhimneedhimHewillshowustheway.

Naruto cringed at the excited voices in his head, Them, the ones who tormented him along with the villagers. Naruto dragged the linen to the hamper, while his eyes clouded with tears. Why do we need him? He's just going to hurt us- I know he will. He's a villager. What can he show us beyond pain?

POWERPOWERPOWERPOWERPOWERPOWERPOWERPOWER.

Naruto screeched and stumbled, crashing into the dryer, bashing his head, and dropped to his bony knees. Pain burst through his skull, and he curled up in a ball as he felt blood ooze from the wound on his forehead.

He prayed it would heal slowly.

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Sasuke exited the Ninja Academy, mood sour and bitterness running through his mouth as he headed into the street. By the end of the day, the whole Academy was privy to his tragedy, a lot of 'ohs' and 'that Uchiha?'s…accompanied by round eyes and barely veiled whispers. All of it left him angry and unlikely to strike up a conversation with all the nosy students, who no doubt wanted to know what it was like to lose everything one loved. He wandered around Konoha, trying to avoid the inevitable, which was going back to the Uchiha compound, back to death. He stood next to street vendors and hawkers, biting his fingernails and remembering that it was a bad habit, only to do it again five minutes later as he watched villagers move on with their perfectly normal lives.

He wondered what Naruto was doing, and could only imagine that he was cleaning, or sitting in that corner surrounded by books. Did Naruto get lonely? Sasuke stifled a sigh and headed back to the compound, even though he had sworn that he wouldn't return there. It wasn't like he had a place to go unless he wanted to spend it in an orphanage- which he had heard was the last place one wanted to go.

Arriving at the gates, his eyes darted to all the vacant houses, many with signs that death had come way too quickly; food still in bowls, laundry hanging on the lines. He entered the compound with hunched shoulders and a pale face, quickly heading toward the main house, which never used to seem so big until now. Arriving at his home, he took a deep breath and was appalled by the dust that hung in the air. He eyed his surroundings, taking in the dust that sat comfortably on the tabletops, and floated in the last rays of light produced by the fading sun. He shut the blinds quickly and headed up the stairs to his room, thinking that compared to Naruto's place, his own would seem like a dirt trap.

When in his room, he dug all the jutsu scrolls that his father had given to him, most of them fire based, and began to practice the hand movements and the build up of chakra. Twice during the hour of practice he had jumped at the creaking of the house, or a bird bursting from the brush outside his window. He even shut the curtains in his room and wondered why he even bothered-no one would come here.

Another hour later, and he had ceased to study the jutsu, instead he wandered the house, ran a rag over the kitchen counter, and for the fifth time wondered what Naruto was doing. Was he still reading? Eating? No, he doubted that Naruto would be eating. Sasuke opened the kitchen cabinets and eyed all the packaged foods that sat uneaten in them, countless meals that his mother would never make again. He should share them.

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The bed had long since been remade, his wounds had been logged into the small brown leather book that he kept next to his pillow, and his apartment was decontaminated. All was as painless as he could possible get it, except that he was so weak, he could not stand anymore. Naruto stayed on hands and knees, eyes clouded by tears, body feeling flushed, and yet cold at the same time. There was a racket in his head, bouncing around his skull, many voices that sniped and collided, shouted and whispered- such a cacophony of noise and pain that he wanted to curl up in a ball and attempt to sleep it away. But he wasn't in his room, and it wasn't safe out here; he could feel them trying to peek through the windows, raging at the newspaper that blocked their prying eyes, wanting to see if there was a monster still in here.

Naruto turned and crawled towards the kitchen. He needed nourishment, water and maybe a candy bar for the sugar and caffeine. They wanted something more- most likely meat, but he didn't like it when meat was accompanied by bloody scenes, animals, people- flesh tearing, blood dripping, and screams of terror and pain. There were monsters in his head, and they wanted blood.

He gripped the sink and pulled his frail body up, leaned over the sink and turned on the faucet, drinking greedily, until his stomach stretched and ached. With the water in his belly, he could walk to his room, where it was safe, and as he slowly made his way to the hallway, someone knocked on his door. Naruto froze, the voices paused, and silenced reigned in the apartment. Naruto's eyes trained on the bottom of the door, where the outside hall light seeped in and what looked like the shadows of feet hovered. It wasn't the Hokage, he knew, since the man had been there yesterday, and the mere thought of a villager trying to come in made sweat appear on his pallid face.

There was another knock on the door, but it was less assertive, and was accompanied by an uncertain, "Naruto?"

It was Uchiha Sasuke? Naruto swallowed painfully. What did he want? - why was he back? Images of villagers standing behind the black haired boy almost sent him into a blind panic if not for the insistent voices chanting, Lethiminlethiminlethiminlethiminlethiminlethiminlethiminlethimin.

But he had just cleaned everything! Tears of defeat clouded his eyes and trailed hotly down his face as he went slowly to the door, pulling his hood up to cover as much as he could before he unlocked and opened the door a crack to peer out at the other kid. Sasuke stood outside the door, face flushed and eyes alternating between peering at him and looking elsewhere. There was a large blue pack strapped to his back, and it seemed jammed full of outside things that he just knew he wouldn't like in his home.

Lethiminlethiminlethiminlethiminlethiminlethiminlethiminlethimin.

Naruto moved back a foot and opened the door as wide as he would allow, hoping that the large pack strapped to Sasuke's back wouldn't rub so hard on the door as the boy squeezed himself through. Sasuke's nose wrinkled as he placed the pack gently against the wall, and removed his sandals. He flexed his shoulders and then managed what may have been an attempt at a smile as Naruto quickly shut and locked the door, allowing his eyes to sweep the area; sure he was going to catch one of the villagers watching him from the shadows. He did not see anyone, and this only made him more apprehensive, that they were so good at hiding and watching him.

Naruto quickly retreated to his room, feeling ill and not wanting to eat any longer. This return visit reeked of routine, and no doubt Uchiha Sasuke would be returning everyday, contaminating his apartment daily. Naruto sat in his corner, pulling his hood down over his tear stained cheeks, imagining days filled with constant cleansing, running over things twice- no three times in order to remove the filth that Sasuke would bring in. His door opened and Sasuke slipped in, holding an indigo blanket and matching pillow.

Naruto pulled himself up and quickly snatched the blanket and pillow from the startled boy.

"I-Is this all you brought?" he demanded weakly, and the Uchiha hesitated before pursing his lips and shaking his head. Naruto turned and quickly headed down the hallway, stopping before the large travel pack. Sasuke sighed and opened the zipper, pulling out articles of clothing, another pair of sandals, several large parchments of paper that he recognized as ninja jutsu scrolls, and at the bottom, food.

Naruto gathered all the cloth and headed for the hamper, ignoring the sigh that followed him. There wasn't anything he could do about the scrolls, but he would run a disinfectant wipe over all the food that were wrapped in plastic, boxes, or containers. The voices whispered through his head in contentment, and the headache subsided to the point where the knot at his shoulders actually relaxed. Naruto took a deep breath as he dumped all the clothing into the washing machine and actually felt a wave of relaxation flow through him. He moved into the living and peered at his returned guest, and watched in chagrin as the other boy pulled the refrigerator forward and plugged it in. His kitchen cabinets were open, and to his horrified fascination, it seemed that Sasuke was trying to fill them up with food. Naruto's shoulders sagged as misery returned; he would have to go over the kitchen later on tonight.

Sasuke pushed the refrigerator back and turned toward him.

"Are you hungry?" he asked, dark eyes focused intently on his face. Naruto blinked and shuddered, smoothing down his hood and quickly retreated to his room. He sat in his corner and covered his face with his pale hands; the headache was returning, and Sasuke was ruining his carefully calculated routines with a cruel efficiency that reeked of villainy.

Ten minutes later Sasuke entered the room, reeking of some kind of food, foreign to him and permeating his apartment. Sasuke sat on the bed, an arm full with scrolls that he idly went through before glancing at him every once in a while. He did not like that stare, it was often the look the Hokage donned before he was about to do something to him.

"You really should eat, you know," Sasuke said in what seemed like a weak attempt at being authorative. "My mo-'' a funny expression came over his face, a paling of the features before it went blank. "You're too weak. How do you expect to protect yourself?"

Naruto's heart began to pound, his headache increasing. Protect himself? That was why he stayed here most of the time- for protection. Did Sasuke know that someone was going to hurt him? He wanted to hide from Sasuke, who didn't make him feel safe. Sasuke was fingering the scrolls, black eyes still focused on him.

"You should join the Ninja Academy Naruto, and become a shinobi, like me, so that he-'' he once again cut himself off with a thinning of the lips, but Naruto didn't notice, now that the blood that was pounding in his head angrily now drained from it, leaving him dizzy. Join the Academy?! Become a shinobi? That would mean going outside, talking to the villagers, touching them. He was ill, just at the thought, even as Sasuke seemed to nod to himself with resolve.

"It'll be easy to get you signed up," he was saying to himself, "They accept just about anybody…and I'll train with you." He was glaring angrily at the scrolls now, fingers gripping the paper. "He'll never be able to take-''

Naruto curled up in a ball and covered his ears, Their laughter echoing throughout the reaches of his mind. His eyes rolled up into his head as darkness dragged him under. He knew that it wouldn't be long before he was jolted awake by some scene of pain, blood, and death; it upset him, the idea of waking up to Sasuke's black eyes.

TBC

It's very subtle, but Naruto is already starting to rub off on Sasuke.