Chapter Twenty-Four

   "Well that's just fucking great, Naruto." Sasuke said to his friend, after he told him the news that had been eating him alive. He hadn't made it home till the next day, because he had fallen asleep underneath Hinata's warm blanket, and Sasuke spent the night at Sakura's. Though he didn't mean to spring it on him, the minute Sasuke walked through their front door, he had to tell him. Like he expected, Sasuke was just as surprised as he was. "I know man." Naruto said while anxiously scratching the back of his head, making Sasuke sigh deeply.

"Sakura and I just started dating, and there's already so much on my plate. Now there's this shit. What are we supposed to do?" Naruto shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know. I talked to Hiashi, and he said we shouldn't confront him about it, you know? But we have to see him tonight, and I don't know how I'm gonna be able to do that." He said honestly, not sure how he was going to react when he had to look that liar in his eyes.

"Even if we did confront him about it, he'd know that we were spying on him, and besides he's been lying all of this time, who's to say he won't lie to us again, if we asked him for the truth?" Naruto nodded in agreement, while he leaned against the wall.

"Hiashi said he'd help once we came up with a plan, we just need to come up with one, because we just can't let him get away with this, you know?" Sasuke just sighed deeply before randomly saying, "Itachi has a son." Naruto's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Really? That's crazy, Sasuke. You can't-" He cut him off while nodding his head, "I know."

"Should we ask him?" He watched as his friends onyx eyes stared into his blue ones. A nervous look came to Naruto's handsome face, as he watched his friends left eye twitch after he asked that question. "Alright, never mind," He said while putting his hands up in defense.

"Did you see him at all yesterday?" Sasuke shook his head, "Just Izumi, Meiko, and some guy named Obito. He knew me actually, and I have no clue who he is." Naruto's eyebrows rose in surprise, and he asked, "Shouldn't we be trying to figure out who he is then?"

He shook his head, "No. I really think I should start to try and put that all behind me, if I want things to work with Sakura." Though he meant what he said, subconsciously he knew that it was far from being over. "Wow, so you're serious about her?" Naruto asked with clear surprise in his tone.

"I am, and she really needs me right now. I can't give her my all if I'm still chasing after my brother. He has a son, he's had to have changed. Maybe vengeance isn't the best thing anymore." His friend gave him a questionable look, almost waiting for him to say sike.

"She's changed you, Dude." He shrugged while saying, "Hardly. I'm killing Sasori the next time I see him." Naruto rolled his eyes and sighed deeply, "Are you still jealous? We agre-" He cut him off, "He assaulted her."

His eyebrows rose in surprise, "Did something else happen? Hinata kinda of mentioned something a while ago, but she always makes it seem like Sakura doesn't realize it's assault." Naruto said, remembering the morning he picked her up from Sasori's apartment.

"She doesn't! And it's like she keeps blaming herself for the things he does to her. She had bruises from where he held her down, and the guilt is just really getting to her. I just wish she'd talk to someone, because I'm starting to really worry about her."

His friend nodded in understanding. "What do you mean? Did she say she was..... you know?" Sasuke nodded, "She said she had been thinking about it a lot more recently, and she couldn't really trust herself to be left alone." It broke his heart to hear that about his friend, and it made him shake his head. "Well you don't think she'd act on it, do you? B-because we're all here for her, you know?"

Sasuke just sighed deeply, "N-no, I just hope that she wouldn't, because she's so strong, and I know she can get through this." Naruto nodded in understanding, "Well I get it. Just tell me what you want to do, and I'll help you out with the whole Sasori thing. There's no way he can get away with doing what he did."

Sasuke nodded in agreement, before looking at the clock that sat against the wall of their living room. "I don't know how I'm gonna see him tonight without losing it." Just the thought of seeing Sasori's face angered him, and Naruto could tell by the way he clinched his fist.

"Well that isn't until seven, I say we go ruin their sleepover." Naruto said, referring to the slumber party that their girlfriends were having with their other friends. Looking down at his watch, Sasuke saw that they had almost two hours to spare, and shrugged nonchalantly, though he wanted to see Sakura just as much as Naruto wanted to see Hinata. "Let's go."

The girls were having their fun as they all sat in TenTen's room in the attic, having relatively deep conversations about old topics. "I don't know, I'm just waiting for him to realize he's not ready, because he said he was, but I don't believe it." Sakura admitted while her friend braided her hair, after washing all of the temporary dye out.

"I thought it was what you wanted though." She shrugged her shoulders, "I really love him, but we're both just so fucked up. Like I've managed to relapse, and be hospitalized, all in the span of two weeks."

"Did you ever ask Sasori about that?" She shook her head, as they referred to asking him if had anything to do with her seizure. Like she told Sasuke, she didn't want to tell her friends about what happened, because she already knew what they would say, and she didn't want to face the reality of it all. Though she didn't want to face it, it was constantly shoved in her face, because she couldn't forget what happened even though she tried.

The last two days, Sasuke had spent the night with Sakura, because her mother was working, and he didn't want her home alone after what she confessed. Sasuke was usually enough to help her sleep throughout the night, but her anxiety had been making both of their nights practically restless as she talked in her sleep, or would randomly cry from a nightmare.

Though the nightmares themself were horrifying, the look of pure exhaustion in his onyx eyes broke her heart, every time he woke her up to comfort her, and it made her sick. The feeling of feeling like a burden was starting to weigh on her, and all she wanted to do was be able to control herself, but she felt all of her self control slipping away by the day.

"I didn't, we didn't exactly have the time." TenTen laughed a little, "If you keep letting him treat you like shit, your mental health will be in terrible shape." Sakura laughed a little while bringing her water bottle to her lips, "My mental health is already in shambles. It literally can't get any worse." She said with a deep sigh, before her friend placed her hands on her slouched shoulders.

"I love you, Sakura, and regardless of how you may feel right now, we all love that you're here with us right now. You're hurting, and I think you should talk to your mom, and try to go back to therapy." Ino said truthfully, worrying about her friends well being. She shook her head, "All I ever do is talk about my feelings."

Rolling her light blue eyes, Ino sighed while saying, "No you don't, and that's why you're having so many anxiety attacks. You're letting it all build up, and we all know how unhealthy that is."

They all nodded in agreement, and TenTen followed up with, "You've given us so much helpful advice over the last few months alone, and now you have to take your own advice, Babe." Placing her hand against her cheek. Her inviting brown eyes stared into her cold empty ones, and her heart ached for her. "I wish I could take your pain away." Sakura just shrugged her shoulders with a small smile, "Really I'm fine, you guys."

Hinata and TenTen glanced at each other, before they both engulfed their friend in a hug, making her laugh cutely. "I love you guys." Ino laughed too, "You know what'll cheer you up?" She asked, "No?" A smile came to Ino's beautiful face. "A makeover. Oh and then tomorrow we can go try on dresses for the winter formal." TenTen groaned while pulling away from Sakura, "Are we actually going to that? Those are so lame."

"I don't care, it's our senior year, and I want to at least go to one dance with Sai." "Why? All the fun isn't until after the party anyways." She rolled her eyes, "Shut up we're all going. So let's go shopping."

Before Sakura could groan, there was a knock on the wooden door followed by Sasuke and Naruto. "Hey, you guys." Naruto said with a smile, making his girlfriend smile, before he outstretched his hand to help her up from the floor. "What are you guys doing here?" Hinata asked with a smile, "We missed our ladies." He answered honestly, making Hinata laugh while Sakura kissed Sasuke's cheek. "How are you?" He asked her softly as she stood in front of him. "I'm fine. How are you?"

Hinata had told her about everything, and she knew that he definitely wasn't okay after what he had just found out. "I'm okay. Sorry to intrude on your night, I just wanted to see you." A blush came to her cheeks, and Ino smiled while shaking her head, "Great, now I miss my boyfriend." TenTen laughed while nodding in agreement, "Right?"

"So what were you guys up to?" Naruto asked while taking a handful of popcorn from the bowl on her nightstand. "I'm trying to convince them to go to the winter formal." Ino answered, making Naruto smile.

"That'll be so much fun, Princess. I've never been to one of those before." "You haven't?" Hinata asked, and he shook his head. "I always thought it was pointless really. But I'd love to do that with you, you know?" They watched a blush came to her face as her hand brushed the hair out of her face, and tucked it behind her ear.

"Come on, how can you say no to that, Hinata? You too, Sakura. Take their first dance virginities." They all laughed, "First dance virginities, huh?" Sakura said while shaking her head, as Naruto threw his arm around his girlfriend. "Yeah, take my virginity, Princess." She laughed and playfully hit his chest.

"Fine, Naruto." Ino smiled while clapping her hands together. "Yay, I say we go dress shopping tomorrow." She said with a bright smile on her face, "What color are you thinking?" Sakura asked her, "Honestly I'm not sure, but none of us can wear the same color, okay? That's like my biggest pet peeve."

"Why?" Naruto asked, and the girls all glanced at him. "Because, you just don't do that." Noticing the hostility in Sakura's voice he rubbed the back of his neck, "O-oh okay." Hinata could've laughed at his expression. "I call Red." TenTen said, making Sakura groan. "Red is my color, TenTen."

Sticking her tongue out at her, she teased her friend, "Should've called it." Sakura shook her head while laughing, "You're annoying." "What are you guys doing tonight? We're baking cookies after the pizza gets here." She said to Sasuke, feeling his gaze on her face.

"We actually have to leave pretty so-" He said, before noticing the excited look on Sakura's face fade. "We can bake a cookie or two." Her smile reappeared, before she kissed his cheek cutely, "Yay, let's go."

Sasuke smiled at her reaction while he was dragged off to TenTen's kitchen. "They're so cute." Ino said with a smile, making them all nod in agreement as they trailed behind them. "I'm glad they finally went steady." Naruto said, making the girls nod while asking, "Does he seem happy?" He smiled cutely, happy for his friend.

"He really does. How about her?" "We know she is, it's just going to take her a minute to actually get settled into it. The only guy she's ever really liked was Sasori, and they never really dated, you know?" That surprised Naruto, because Sakura seemed to always have it together, and compared to Sasuke, he thought anyone would be better at relationships.

"In that case, maybe they're perfect for each other." They all laughed at that, "I'm happy for them." TenTen said with a smile, before they arrived in the kitchen. "I'm so excited, what's your favorite cookie?" Sakura asked her boyfriend with a smile on her face, making him smile too. "Hmm, sugar cookies probably, how about you?" "I like sugar cookies too."

The beautiful smile on her face subconsciously made him feel better, because it was so genuine that even her emerald eyes seemed to sparkle. Though he knew that depression was somewhat incurable, her smile alone gave him hope that she would be able to take care of herself.

Hearing their friend softly clasp her hands together as she heard her doorbell ring, Sasuke was interrupted from his thoughts. "That must be the pizza." "We got pineapple and cheese pizza, I hope you guys like pineapple." Ino said, and Naruto tried not to gag at the thought of eating pineapples on pizza.

Seeing his expression, Hinata laughed and asked him, "You don't like pineapple?" He shook his head instantly, "I love it, just not on pizza." Sakura teased him while taking a slice of pizza, "Coming from a guy who used to eat Ramen seven days a week." He shrugged his shoulders while taking a bite of his pizza, "Ichiraku Ramen is the best place out there, Sakura."

Sakura rolled her eyes, "You're exaggerating." Naruto looked to his best friend for help, "Sasuke, tell her she's wrong." The young man grimaced before taking a bite of the pineapple coated pizza.

They all knew the temper Sakura had, and the last thing he wanted to do was to tell her she was wrong about anything. "She's not." Naruto rolled his blue eyes, "She's got you whipped already." Sakura blushed, while Sasuke shrugged his shoulders with nonchalance. "What about it?"

They all laughed at what he said, before Hinata kissed Naruto's cheek, "Where's that ramen place you love so much? We should go." Naruto smiled at his girlfriend, "We should! Then we'd prove them wrong." Sakura narrowed her eyes while saying, "You're not going all the way to Takigakure just to get ramen."

"Well maybe not tonight, but I'll take her there, and it'll be great, Princess. I'll show you my childhood home and everything." Hinata smiled brightly at the thought of that. "That sounds great, Naruto."

"Don't you guys remember that time we went to that karaoke bar, we'll have to go there too." Naruto suggested, and Sakura smiled at the memory. "We should all go visit sometime, my grandparents are traveling, so we could stay at their lake house." Tenten nodded in agreement, "We should do it to celebrate your birthday." Ino clapped her hands together in excitement, "That'll be so fun! I can't wait to celebrate with you, Sakura." She shook her head with a light blush on her face, "I love you guys."

Twenty minutes passed, and the guys had to say goodbye to their girlfriends just as they finished the first batch of cookies. "Call me if you need anything tonight, okay?" Sasuke said to his girlfriend in a soft tone, while they stood underneath the front door's threshold.

"I'll be fine. Be safe tonight, okay? I-I know you'll probably see....him tonight, but don't do anything regretful. I want you safe." She said as his hands cupped her beautiful face, and his thumbs gently caressed her cheeks. Though he heard everything she said, he didn't want to make any promises, so he smiled at her, before kissing her plump lips.

"Will you be okay seeing him tonight?" Hinata asked her boyfriend while in his warm embrace, as the early winter breeze swept across their exposed skin. "I think so, seeing you really made me feel better, you know?"

A smile came to her face, and she peered up at him with her lavender eyes that always brought a smile to his face. "I've been thinking about what you said last night." She said softly, "O-oh? I'm sorry about that by the way, I wasn't really thinking."

Hinata shook her head, "Don't apologize, you were just spiraling, because of everything you had just found out, you know?" He nodded, though he genuinely meant what he had said to her.

"Can we do something this weekend? I miss being alone with you." She asked him while playfully pouting her bottom lip. "Of course, I miss you too, I'll call you tonight, okay?" A nod of her head, followed by his lips on her's resulted in a goodbye, before Sasuke And Naruto were heading in the direction of their meeting.

~ "Now that we've discussed everything, you all are free to go. Unless anyone needs some clarification on their tasks for this week." When no one responded, and he nodded, the young men left the room.

Naruto and Sasuke tried to briskly walk away from the group of young men, as they hoped to avoid them completely, but they were forced to stop when they saw Sasori, and his friends smoking at his sports car. Their eyes stayed on the pair, as theirs did the same, though none of them said a word. They were a few feet away from each other, and neither Sasuke nor Naruto planned on saying anything to them.

Both of them knew what they were capable of, and although Sasuke wanted him dead, he had other important things on his plate; Like making sure his girlfriend wouldn't act on her suicidal ideologies.

The thought alone made him pull out his phone to text her, while feeling their gazes from across the lot. "Aren't those the brats from the other night?" Kisume asked, watching the Blond as he opened the drivers side of his car. "Yup." Deidari answered while putting out his cigarette, about to make a scene with the fire arm that sat attached to his hip.

"Don't do anything stupid." Sasori and Naruto warned their friends, while Sasori made eye contact with Sasuke. "They're not worth it." Sasuke said truthfully, while his hand reached for the passenger side door of Naruto's sports car, as he did the same.

"I say we teach them a lesson." Deidari said before impulsively starting towards the young men, making his friends follow him, and Naruto curse under his breath, while pulling his car key from the ignition. "Fucking great."~So sorry for the wait you guys! I'm going to be updating/editing the story a little more in the next few days, so expect some notifications:)))

Thank you all!