Hero
Sasuke tapped his pencil against the edge of his desk, cheek on hand, facing Naru�s still empty desk. He couldn�t make heads or tails of what Iruka was saying, and judging by the looks on the people�s faces, neither did anyone else.
Managing to tune in for just a few moments, he realized why. Iruka wasn�t making any sense what-so-ever. He was leaving sentences unfinished, and jumping around from subject to subject, and back again.
Sasuke knew that Naru often times stayed after class with Iruka, and every now and then, he had seen the two of them walking around town together, and once in a while, Iruka would bring a cut of steaming hot ramen for the other boy to school, but never had he realized just how much that Iruka cared for Naru. Not until today anyways.
Both his and Iruka�s heads swivelled to the door when they saw a flash of oarnge in the corner of their eyes.
�Uzumaki Naruto! Where the hell have you been?!� Iruka demanded, his voice raising to a new pitch.
Naru looked at him, his eyes showing that he was thinking of something else. �Busy,� he replied, then stifled a yawn.
Sasuke could see the bags that were under his eyes, and wondered what Naru was missing sleep over. Then he wondered why he wondered such a thing. And then he wondered why he was still thinking about it.
Iruka looked at him, before motioning Naru to sit. Naru complied, slouching into his desk, and putting his head on his forearms.
His face was facing Sasuke, and Sasuke noticed just how empty and void his eyes looked. He forced himself to turn away from Naru, asking himself why he was noticing what a beautiful shade of crystalline blue Naru�s eyes were, and wondering how he had found himself getting lost in them.
Throughout the entire class, he had to scold himself to stop it, because somehow, he had found himself lost within Naru�s blank eyes, and he could never quite remember how he had found himself looking.
The bell rang. The students got up. As Naru got up, Iruka placed a hand on his shoulder, and told him to wait with him after school. Naru said something, but Sasuke didn�t hear, for he was already out of the class.
Sasuke sighed, and ran his hand through his blue-black hair. He headed towards the art-room. Knowing Naru was okay suddenly made him realize that he hadn�t touched his sculpture at all that day.
Yet, while he was heading towards the art room, he still couldn�t get his mind off of the sunny boy. He wondered why the boy�s eyes were so listless. He wondered why he cared. He told himself he didn�t care, and to stop thinking about it, only to realize that he was still thinking about it. By the time he had gotten to the art room, he was about ready to tear the hair right out of his head.
He got out his key to the art room � which the school had been kind enough to provide him with � and walked in, closing the door behind him. He leaned against the wooden door, allowing himself to breathe in the sent of paint and clay, and to relax in the darkness.
Eventually, he pushed himself away from it, and made his way to his sculpture. Carefully, he unwrapped the plastic, and adjusted the hand, if only to see if it was still wet. He soon lost interest, and wrapped it back up, before going over to the counter.
He lifted it up, and scooped out a mound of clay that resided in the bottom. Sitting at a table he began to mold it. In the dark, without a single light on, and only the natural light from the sun outside being his guide.
*
His watch went off, and he looked at it, turning on the greenish light that was inside it. 11:30. He blinked. How had it gotten so late so quickly? He had scarcely noticed, the only thing alerting him to the passage of time was that soon he was only sculpting in the soft glow of the moon and stars, and street lights.
He wrapped his sculpture, and placed it by his one of Ino. Then he washed his hands off, and grabbed his binder. He didn�t need a jacket. It wasn�t even cold out, but even if it were, he didn�t ever wear a jacket. He didn�t need it.
His brother had once commented that Sasuke must be cold blooded or something.
He gave the sculpture one last glance, before sighing and shaking his head. He wished he could work on it longer, but the school alarms went off at 12.
It�s not like his parents would much care if he came home late after all. They were both dead, and his brother had left home shortly after.
He looked up at the moon as he walked along the empty streets. The gentle woosh of cars on the highway that seemed so far away one of the only noises he could here. Well, besides his own, echoing footsteps.
He paused and looked around when he stepped on grass. He was taking the long way home, and he hadn�t even noticed. He usually didn�t. Except, sometimes, on these darkened nights, when he had just that much on his mind, he�d allow himself to spend a little extra time, wandering around, late at night.
His ears pricked when he heard the quiet squeal of unoiled hinges, and blinked, remembering that there was a swing-set somewhere around here. He heard it again, and, for the oddest of reasons, was drawn towards it.
When he got there, he paused, and forced his breathing to become as quite as he could make it, as if even the slightest breath would scare the being away.
There, straddling a swing, hands wrapped around the iron chains, and forehead resting on his hands, was Naru. His eyes were listless, and didn�t seem like they were crying, but it looked like he was on the very brink of it.
Feeling slightly uncomfortable, Sasuke shifted his weight, and cleared his throat.
Naru jumped, flung himself off the swing, and stood threateningly in the shadows, the light from a lamp gleaming brightly off of a blade that he had just pulled out of who-knows-where.
�Naru,� Sasuke crooned soothingly, �it�s okay. It�s just Sasuke.�
He could see the blue eyes which were illuminate eerily blink, and the pupils widened. �Sasuke?� He called out, as if to challenge the other boys claim.
Sasuke stepped into the light of the lamp, holding up his arms. �Sasuke.�
Naru stepped into the light, pushing the blade into his sleeve somewhere.
�Do you carry that with you all the time?� Sasuke asked cautiously.
Naru nodded. �Just not when I�m playing, because if I get tackled it might cut something important.� He smiled.
Sasuke sat down in one of the swings, and watched as Naru followed suit. �What are you doing out here?� Sasuke asked.
�I could ask you the same thing,� Naru shot back, glaring.
�I just came from the school,� Sasuke smirked. �Your turn.�
�The school?� Naru raised an eyebrow. �I knew you were smart, but I didn�t know that you practically lived there.�
�I was working on a sculpture.� Sasuke�s mind flashed back to the sculpture of the fox he had been working on. He didn�t know why he had suddenly decided to make it, since he was never really that interested in animals. �You still haven�t answered my question.�
�I was thinking, okay?� Naru snapped, then began to push himself back and forth, his legs pumping, as he climbed higher and higher.
�Must�ve been a new experience for you,� Sasuke grinned, enjoying seeing that twitch that suddenly began to tweak at Naru�s eyebrow. But Naru just kept on swinging, higher and higher.
�Where were you?� Sasuke asked suddenly. The question came unbidden, unplanned, and he would�ve looked as embarrassed as he felt he hadn�t had as much control over himself as he did.
Naru stopped pumping, though he made no move to stop himself. �Sasuke.� Naru said quietly. So quietly, that Sasuke could barely hear him. Which may have come in as more of a surprise than the solemn look that had filled Naru�s eyes once again.
Sasuke made a grunting noise, as if to tell Naru to go on.
�Do you remember, the day at the cafeteria?� Naru asked.
Sasuke forced the blush that had risen to his cheeks to subside, as Naru stopped himself. �Yeah.�
�I had come to ask you... actually, I wanted to ask you....�
Sasuke blinked. Was this the great, number one loud-mouth, actually nervous about something?
�I�m...� Naru quieted himself, and looked off into the blackened night. �You have a truck, don�t you?�
Sasuke blinked. Well... this certainly was... not what he was expecting. �Yeah...�
�Can I borrow it? Tomorrow. It�ll be during school, so you won�t have to worry about needing it while I�m using it. I can drive. I have my license. See?� He pulled a card out from his pocket. �And if anything happens to it, I promise that somehow I�ll pay for it. I�ll do your homework for a year and��
Now Naru was just rambling. �Don�t!� Sasuke interrupted swiftly, �do my homework. I�d fail if you did.�
He tried not to feel any regret at the hurt look that appeared in Naru�s eyes, but instead he swallowed. Yelling like that hurt his throat, since his voice was usually so quiet. �Why do you want to use my truck anyways?�
Naru focused at the dirt that was now under his feet. �I... I�m moving into an apartment, and I need to move my stuff. I mean, I only need it for my bed, and some of my other bigger things, but...�
Sasuke looked at Naru. �Moving out? Why?�
�I...� Naru bit his lip, then glared at Sasuke, his eyes full of fire and life once again. �It�s none of your business.�
�Why don�t you ask Iruka to help you then?� Sasuke questioned.
�I... I did. He doesn�t want me to move out on my own just yet, so he figures if I can�t get any help to move, then I won�t.�
Sasuke sighed, then another unbidden question rose up to his lips. He managed to fight it back, then think about it, and how to word it. �You and Iruka are close, right?�
Naru nodded a little, then leaned back in the swing, still holding onto the chain and looked up at the stars.
�What�s your relationship with each other?�
It wasn�t until after the words were out of his mouth, did he realize that�s not how he wanted to ask.
Naru straightened up, and looked at him curiously. �Why does it matter?�
�I was just curious.� He sighed when he saw the look Naru shot him. �Do you want my help or not?�
Naru nodded energetically, his eyes brightening at the possibility that Sasuke might actually help.
�Well, when I was just little, Iruka met me.� Naru smiled, his eyes closing happily in the memory. �He used to live in the place I live, and he came back lots.
�Well, I was kinda stupid back then. I�d take the finger paints, and smear them all over the walls, and I�d cut girls hair, and onetime I even poured glue in someone�s hair.� He chuckled at that.
�One day, when Iruka had come to visit, I had climbed a bookshelf to paint the ceiling. But then the bookshelf fell. Iruka caught me, and then asked me if I wanted any ramen, and we�ve been doing it ever since. Of course, he made me stop with my games.� Naru stuck out his tongue.
Sasuke almost smiled, before Naru opened up his baby-blues, and looked at him, his eyes sparkling. �So, can I borrow your truck?�
Sasuke looked at him, his face emotionless. �No.� He answered. �You can�t drive my truck, and you�re never going to get behind the wheel in it.�
Naru�s face filled with anger, and just as he opened his mouth to speak � or yell � Sasuke raised a finger, and placed it on Naru�s lips.
�Give me your address. I�ll pick you up at noon.�
Part five |
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