Sasuke kept looking at Naruto, every now and then, a curious glance was thrown his way. Naruto didn't blame him; of course he was acting weird. A week ago, something had happened to Naruto and even now, the boy kept blaming himself for not being able to do anything. Did that really happen? Had it just been his imagination? Naruto had found it so hard to believe that he was a victim; he was in denial. This didn't happen to him, did it? No, it couldn't have.
He knew everyone at the party, there's no way anybody could've done that to him, right? They were all his friends, family even. Pein and Kisame had been knocked out, Sakura and Ino had continued drinking with Deidara and Sasori. Hinata had gone home, giving Tenten, Sai and Choji a ride home as they were too drunk to drive. Itachi was with Konan, and Kyu had been with his friends. Even Gaara and his siblings had spent their entire time in the kitchen mixing drinks.
Naruto couldn't remember, no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't. His memory was a mess since all he could remember was blacking out and opening his eyes to a most surreal sight. Was there even anybody in the room to begin with? Had it all been a lucid dream? Try as hard as he must, he just couldn't remember let alone come to terms with it. He couldn't believe it even happened, he didn't want to believe.
Sasuke sat and ignored the conversations happening around them while he kept his eyes on a spaced out Naruto. Once feeling like the silence seemed to cover them enough, he spoke. "So," Sasuke picked his food, watching as Naruto once again spaced out for what seemed to be the umpteenth time this week. "Sakura's joining us this afternoon if you don't mind." He raised his fork to his mouth, waiting for Naruto to say something before biting into it. "Naruto?"
"It's fine." The blond answered, his voice cracking a bit as he came back to his surroundings. "I mean, I don't mind, she can come along." He clarified, looking down at his plate and noticing he had barely eaten anything.
Sasuke raised his eyebrows as he chewed slowly and stared as Naruto picked his food but not once taking a bite. "Okay, that's it." The Uchiha dropped his fork on his plate loudly, gathering the attention of the other people having breakfast outside. "Something's wrong with you. You've been acting weird since last week, now what is it?"
"W-what? No I haven't. I'm fine." Naruto lied, furrowing his eyebrows as he took a bite out of an unappetizing strip of chicken. "You're seeing things."
"Seeing things?" Sasuke asked. "Naruto, you've zoned out for the hundredth time since we woke up, and that was barely two hours ago. You almost got hit by that biker back there and now you're telling me you're fine with Sakura joining us? Come on, babe. Usually you would fight me to call her and cancel, but instead you're agreeing. Something happened, Naruto. Now tell me, what is it?"
"What? N-nothing happened, I swear. I just don't feel like arguing today." Naruto nervously looked down at his hand as Sasuke reached out and gave him a soft grip. Feeling anxious, Naruto clumsily snatched his hand from the Uchiha's and accidentally knocked down the tall glass of water on the floor. "S-shit!"
"I got it." The waiter walked over, carefully picking up the large pieces of glass before walking inside the establishment and coming back with a broom. Sasuke eyed the nervous blond with narrowed eyes as he kept apologizing to the waiter.
"You don't trust me?" Sasuke then asked, his voice sounding hurt as he looked over towards the blue eyed male. "Naruto, look at me." He ordered, getting Naruto's attention off the small glass shreds on the floor.
Did Naruto really trust Sasuke? Of course he did, but...would Sasuke believe him if he told him? How would he react? Most victims weren't believed of such accusations, much less if they had no idea who it was. What would happen if Naruto came out and said it? What are the chances that Sasuke would believe him?
"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.