There's a Reason He Doesn't Sleep

A week later

"Naruto."

"I trust you." The blond quickly responded, looking into the dark eyes of the boy across from him. "But-"

"Then why can't you just tell me?" Sasuke asked, once again taking Naruto's hand in his.

Naruto's eyes strayed from the Uchiha's to the mop the waiter now handled. A set of words repeated in his mind, ones he often found himself waking up to in the middle of the night as he dreamt of what could've happened that night.

'There's only one thing you can do, Naruto. Live in fear.'

There was something about those words, he didn't know when he heard them, but they acted like some sort of threat. Should he speak, what would happen? Live in fear, why? From whom?

"Naruto." Sasuke's voice once again pulled the boy out from his thoughts. "Look, I'm sorry, Whatever it is, you must have a reason to not tell me." He sounded mad. He gripped Naruto's hand a bit gently, and for some odd reason, Naruto felt the need to yank it away again. No touch could be trusted, not even Sasuke's. "Look." Sasuke then smiled, sighing away whatever was eating at him and changing the topic. "I got our tickets for today's concert, so we should be leaving early."

Agreeing, Naruto stayed silent while Sasuke asked for the bill.

After exiting their usual breakfast spot, they walked out into the park where they usually met up with the others whenever they got together. Naruto tried to be happy, deciding not to make Sasuke worry anymore as they strolled towards the center of the park. He laughed as Sasuke teased the ducks swimming in the pond and when said ducks almost retaliated against them. Walking further in towards the fountain, Sasuke bought the blond a crepe from the crepe stand set up on the side of the sidewalk; the two shared it while they waited for Sakura to arrive.

"Naruto! Sasuke!" Following the voice, the two watched as Sakura ran towards them, Kisame and Itachi right behind her taking their time. "Sorry to hold you guys up!"

Sakura Haruno, a girl of nineteen years of age and Naruto's best friend. She was a very smart girl, graduating at the top of their class right above Sasuke. She had pink hair cut just above her shoulders and had striking turquoise green eyes that Naruto secretly envied. Her and Naruto were once rivals for Sasuke's love, but all of that disappeared when the girl suddenly lost interest.

Sakura ran the last few feet and finally came to a stop before them to catch her breath. Her loose mint shirt moved with the small late October breeze, making her black bra noticeable through the thin material. She had on small shorts, layered on top of some black leggings to keep her warm from the autumn air and a pair of brown scruffy boots. Wrapped around her waist was Kisame's red flannel shirt; she probably took it from him. Finally catching her breath, she stood up straight and smiled. "I bumped into your brother and Kisame. They wanted to come along, hope you don't mind at all."

"It's fine." Sasuke greeted her with a hug. "We're still a bit early, anyways." He stepped back, allowing Naruto to hug her, too. "Naruto is fine with the company."

He was still mad, Naruto knew it. He knew the Uchiha was probably hoping he'd make him call her to cancel, but Naruto didn't and now he was in the receiving end of his little tantrum. Either way, Naruto ignored him, he could've called her himself without needing Naruto to tell him.

"What's up, Naruto? How's it going?" Itachi and Kisame finally walked up to the three, Itachi hanging an arm around Naruto's shoulders to piss his little brother off.

"I'm good, you?" Naruto asked, chuckling a bit as Sasuke frowned at his brother for separating the two.

"Good, good." Itachi nodded. "Let's go, though. Let's leave these losers behind, we got a band to see." The older Uchiha laughed, leading the blond away from the three and laughing as Sakura and Sasuke insulted him back.

Naruto had this feeling of pushing himself away; anybody who came in direct contact with him, it felt...nauseous.

"Wait, you guys are going, too?" Naruto asked, looking up at Itachi as he cluelessly walked towards the exit of the park ignoring Sasuke's bickering behind them.

Itachi nodded. "Konan would kill us if we're not in the crowd." He grinned. "Plus, Pein gave Kisame and I free tickets, so who can say no to that?" He chuckled, almost laughing as Sasuke complained about how he had to buy the tickets from Pein. "Oh, shut up Sasuke." Itachi shouted over his shoulder, sticking his tongue out at his brother. Kisame and Sakura laughed along as the two brothers bickered back and forth. "Anyways, Naruto. We're going to have a good time, right?"

"Yeah, it'll be fun." Kisame added, suddenly joining them as he escaped from both Sasuke and Sakura's arguing. "Everything's much fun when we're all together, right? Just chill and let's have fun." The man smiled as he took out his car keys.

Somehow, something about that sentence made Naruto want to vomit.